The Land of Wind, the Daimyo's Residence.
The residence, usually solemn and dignified, with its Zen dry-landscape gardens and exquisite corridors, was now in utter chaos.
Expensive silk screens had been knocked over, and fine porcelain lay shattered across the floor. Attendants and court ladies in lavish court attire screamed and scattered, only to be herded into a corner to squat by several ninja wearing standard Sunagakure vests, their eyes bright and their movements carrying the strength of wild bulls, as though they were rounding up chicks.
In the center of the hall, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, a pampered, slightly plump middle-aged man with a traditional shaved-pate hairstyle, was being "supported" on either side by two Sunagakure ninja as he sat in his gold-and-jade-inlaid seat of honor.
His "sitting" posture, however, was hardly dignified. He was practically slumped over, his tall court cap tilted to one side, his face deathly pale and his lips trembling.
"Y-you... does Sunagakure intend to rebel?! This is treason! Rebellion!" the daimyo shrieked with all his strength, his voice cracking with fear.
"I'll issue a proclamation! I'll have the other four great nations join forces against you! Wipe Sunagakure off the map!"
"Oh dear, Your Highness, that really hurts our feelings." A brutish-looking Sunagakure ninja whose arms were thicker than the daimyo's legs-a former member of the Bedrock squad who had been injected with basic gene serum-picked his ear and grinned, revealing teeth yellowed by wind and sand. His smile looked exceptionally "simple and honest."
"We're doing this for your own good! Think about how hard you used to work. Every year, you had to worry about that pitiful little allocation for Sunagakure. The treasury was already stretched thin, and you still had to scrape together money to feed us useless mouths.