July 14th, 27th year of the Land of Fire Calendar ( Flying Swallow 27)
"Dong-dong-dong-" Three chimes pierced the council hall, announcing the official end of the "All-Noble Assembly," which would determine the fate of the Land of Fire.
Outside the palace, banners stretched like a forest, obscuring half the sky, and the sound of drums and horns made the floor tiles tremble slightly. According to regulations, 321 flags embroidered with the gold crests of each family should have been hung high outside the palace, but at this moment, only 163 flags fluttered in the morning breeze. The remaining 158 flagpoles were empty; the crests that had been taken down by the retainers from midnight last night to early morning this morning were now covered with a dense array of nail holes, like countless cold eyes, silently watching this world-renowned event.
Queen Tian Flying Swallow raised her hand in greeting, and the master of ceremonies, holding the register, called out the names aloud:
" Katsuragi Clan -- not yet arrived!"
"Ano Clan -- Not yet arrived!"
" The Saruwatari Clan - not yet arrived! The Wind Demon Clan - not yet here! The Amemori Clan, the Kosaka Clan..."
With each verse, the air in the hall grew heavier. When the list was finished, the master of ceremonies knelt and reported, "Your Majesty, 163 noble families are present, and 158 are absent; among them, 28 are high-ranking noble families."
The hall fell silent instantly, except for the Queen's laughter, which sounded particularly jarring in the stillness.
After Queen Tian Flying Swallow finished laughing, a slight smile played on her lips, but her voice was as cold as frost. "All the nobles are the wings of the Land of Fire. Now that more than half of those wings have been broken, can the Land of Fire still soar to the heavens?"
A soft rustling sound came from below the steps. The nobles present all knew perfectly well that the 158 absent families were all members of the rebel Noble Alliance of the Land of Fire. As for the 163 families present today, apart from the 13 staunch noble forces that had shared weal and woe with the Daimyo Prefecture for generations, the rest were nothing more than opportunists who would cheer and support others on ordinary days, but would definitely make all sorts of excuses if asked to send troops and supplies.
The Queen surveyed the hall and slowly said, "I grant you one last chance—those willing to supply the nation with provisions and troops, stand to my left; those who wish to hesitate and observe, stand to my right."
In an instant, the crowd in the hall split into two. To the Queen's left, only the thirteen most loyal noble families— Fujiwara, Tachibana, Taira, Oe, Sugawara, Seiwa, Ise, Fujinami, Kuga, Sanjo, Saionji, Saionji, and Tokudaiji —knelt and kowtowed, their voices shaking the roof tiles. "We have received the grace of the state for generations, and we are willing to offer the grain from our entire clan's fiefdom and the soldiers of our clans to serve Your Majesty!"
To Tian Flying Swallow's right, the 150 noble families exchanged glances, none of them moving an inch. The Queen's eyes instantly turned cold, and she muttered to herself, "It seems you intend to remain neutral and observe. In that case, you'd better hurry back. Don't blame me for showing no mercy on the battlefield."
In the afternoon, in the conference room on the top floor of the Hokage.
Queen Tian Flying Swallow, the Fourth Hokage Kagami Uchiha, Minister of the Administrative Department Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha Military Police Force Uchiha Bi, and more than thirty other high-ranking officials of Konoha sat down for a secret meeting.
The Queen, her hand on the hilt of her sword, spoke with resolute determination, "Over the past five years, I have trained a corps of three million commoner warriors, ready to be deployed at any moment. If these nobles remain obstinate, I will have no choice but to wipe them out with swift and decisive action."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the noble forces are deeply entrenched. Killing them is easy, but cleaning up the mess will be difficult. If the Land of Fire falls into internal strife, how will we deal with the wars between the Land of Wind and the Land of Lightning? At that time, the Land of Fire will be teeming with noble spies. Beset by both internal and external troubles, the country will be on the verge of collapse. We must prioritize peace within the country."
Mitokado Homura also stepped forward to advise, "The various clans of Konoha are connected by blood with the nobles of the various cities. The Inuzuka Clan, Aburame, Aburame, Hyuga, Nara, Akimichi, and other families all have marriage ties with nobles in various regions. If Konoha rashly uses force against the nobles of the Land of Fire, it may lose its own composure first. "Yamanaka
Hatake Sakumo stood up and said, " The Konoha Army will strictly guard the borders of the Land of Fire and will never allow foreign troops to set foot on the land of the Land of Fire."
Utatane Koharu said gravely, " Konoha shouldn't interfere in the domestic noble disputes; please, Your Majesty, resolve this yourself."
Kagami Uchiha's gaze was calm. After a moment of contemplation, he finally made his decision. " The Hokage's direct Anbu and the five major Konoha ninja legions shall, effective immediately, enter a state of high alert, with no slackening in external defense; as for the internal conflict, Konoha shall remain neutral."
Mito Uzumaki stood up and retorted, "The Land of Whirlpools' million-strong army and the 100,000- Vermilion Bird Corps are willing to assist the Queen in quelling the rebellion. The Noble Alliance is targeting my Vermilion Bird Corps and the Land of Whirlpools. Surely the Hokage wouldn't disagree!"
Tenmei stood up and said, "The 100,000- Azure Dragon Corps is willing to assist the Queen in annihilating the noble rebels. The Ten Family will never allow anyone to bully them."
Hokage Kagami Uchiha said solemnly, "I also participated in the war to destroy two countries back then, but the allied forces of the various countries numbered more than 30 million. How could just three legions with 300,000 ninja soldiers resist them? The Vermilion Bird Corps can participate in the war, but the other four legions must guard the border like nails for me."
The Queen rose from her seat, her cloak fluttering as she turned. "Since that's the case, I will handle this matter of quelling the internal strife alone. The Vermilion Bird Corps should also go to the front lines to defend against the allied forces. I also hope that Konoha will not interfere in the war between the Land of Fire's nobles! This is in accordance with the original agreement of one village per country."
Five days later, the entire Land of Fire was engulfed in flames.
The 158 noble families who did not attend the conference publicly issued a joint proclamation, "A Proclamation Against Queen Tian Flying Swallow Yan," accusing the Queen of "suppressing nobles with commoners, massacring nobles, replacing ritual and music with weapons," and establishing Regency Council, temporarily using the old capital Katsuragi as its center, and assembling an "eight million-strong allied army," calling it a war of a hundred tribes.
Queen Tian Flying Swallow could only fully control three cities: Capital of Fire, Kasai, and Kume. The three million civilian warriors she trained consumed enormous amounts of resources every day, but fortunately, she had prepared in advance and stockpiled countless provisions and weapons, enough to supply her three million-strong army for three years.
The thirteen loyal clans united in their support for the Queen, gathering a million-strong army and providing countless provisions.
"One hundred thousand men of the Tachibana Clan, clad in armor, are rushing day and night to the royal banner."
The Fujiwara Clan opened their treasury, distributing all their gold and silk, and recruited 30,000 ronin, who called themselves the Vermilion Flame Army " and swore to follow the queen to the death.
However, those 150 noble families, like weather vanes, either closed themselves off or secretly colluded with the Regency Council, watching the situation unfold.
The various nations of the Shinobi World also assembled large armies and marched towards the border of the Land of Fire:
The Land of Wind reinforced its borders with 8 million troops against the Land of Rain; the Land of Earth's noble army confronted the Iwagakure; the Land of Land of Lightning's Kumogakure Village sent envoys to make contacts everywhere and dispatched an army of ten million, divided into three routes, to attack the Land of Fire. The Land of Hot Water sent a million troops to attack the Land of Fire Land of Fire; the Land of Rivers Land of Iron five million troops to attack the Land of Fire; and the Land of Rivers sent five million troops to attack the Land of Fire of Fire. Spy agents from various countries gathered in the Land of Fire, all waiting for the Land of Fire to escalate so they could seize the opportunity to gain a share of the spoils.
July 21st, the plaza in front of the castle tower in the Capital of Fire.
Queen Tian Flying Swallow, clad in crimson-gold armor, stood beneath the royal banner on the high platform, facing an army of three million, and loudly swore an oath:
"I am not a bloodthirsty person, but I had no other choice!"
The nobles have ruled the city for a thousand years, enjoying taxes generation after generation, yet they know nothing of the hardships of farming; I, the king, have given land to the people, and they resent me for taking away their benefits.
The nobles, who wielded private armies and forged their own weapons and armor, disobeyed public orders. When I, the king, reformed the household registration system and made the people equal, they feared that I would weaken their power.
Now they have amassed an army of eight million, intending to restore the old aristocratic system and leave the common people with nowhere to stand and no food to eat. I, the king, swear today to live and die with you all:
If the city falls, then everything will perish with it.
If food supplies run out, then we will share the hunger with the people;
If the sword breaks, use bone as the blade!
Even if blood stains the mountains and rivers, I, the king, will never yield an inch of land!
The three million civilian soldiers below the stage roared in unison, "We are willing to fight to the death for our king! We are willing to fight to the death for the common people of the world!"
On this day, the sky over the Land of Fire was a blood-red hue. On the Hokage Rock in Konoha, Kagami Uchiha stood alone in the wind, gazing at the distant horizon and muttering to himself, "I hope this Land of Fire will finally see peace. These are truly turbulent times. I really miss the Third Hokage."