"I will destroy the Land of Wind!"
As soon as Shu Shiraishi finished speaking...
The vanguard unit's exhaust pipe suddenly spewed out a thick plume of black exhaust fumes.
The diesel engine roared furiously, the sound sending the fine sand on the ground flying everywhere.
The tracks started to rotate.
The sound of metal rubbing together was piercing.
The hastily sewn white flag of the Sunagakure on the ground was directly caught in the heavy iron teeth.
"Sizzle."
The white cloth tore and tangled with mud and sand, turning into dirty, tattered strips.
The armored convoy did not stop for a moment.
Like a sharp dagger forged from pig iron, it pierced straight into the heart of the Land of Wind.
The capital of the Land of Wind, Daimyofu.
This place is hundreds of kilometers from the border. The wind and sand cannot reach this fertile oasis.
The main hall was filled with the smoke of precious sandalwood incense.
Several dancers dressed in sheer veils were swaying their hips to the beat of the drums, the silver bells on their ankles jingling.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind leaned against a soft couch covered with a white tiger skin.
He wore a loose silk robe, revealing his white belly.
He held an agate wine glass in his right hand. The red wine swayed with his movements.
He took a sip and let out a loud burp.
The liquor dripped down his chin and onto his clothes, but he didn't bother to wipe it off.
"Any news from the front?" the daimyo asked lazily.
The high-ranking official kneeling below quickly kowtowed, causing his official hat to tilt slightly.
"Reporting to the Daimyo, a message from Sunagakure says that Konoha is gathering forces at the border. Advisor Chiyo has already deployed defenses."
The high-ranking official straightened his hat, a smile plastered on his face.
"Those Konoha peasants are just here to extort money. The Land of Wind is all desert; they can't get their supplies delivered."
" Sunagakure is a terrible place with treacherous terrain. Even if we really fight, and it drags on for half a year or more, Konoha will run out of food."
Da Ming snorted.
"Six months?"
He handed the agate cup to the maid beside him, and casually pinched her waist.
The maid forced a smile, enduring the pain.
"That old hag Chiyo took so much of my military funds. If she can't even last six months, I'll cut off all her land taxes this year."
The music continued. The strings of the shamisen were plucked very quickly.
Daming squinted, tapping his fingers on his thigh.
Sudden.
The bronze mirror on the pillar in the very center of the main hall swayed slightly.
"Buzz."
A dull tremor came from beneath the floor.
Daming frowned. "What's that noise?"
Before he finished speaking, the tremor suddenly intensified, as if dozens of elephants were stampeding outside.
The maidservant lost her grip on the wine jug.
It crashed onto the bluestone bricks with a "crash," scattering shards of porcelain everywhere.
The aroma of wine filled the air.
"What should I say...?"
Daiming straightened up.
"Boom!"
The two thick, vermilion wooden doors of the main hall, each three meters high, suddenly shattered.
The entire door panel slammed inwards, smashing onto several dancers.
The screams were completely drowned out by the loud crashing sound.
Wood chips and dust poured into the main hall like a torrential rain.
The pungent smell of diesel fuel instantly overwhelmed the high-end sandalwood fragrance.
A dark green Chakra rolled directly over the threshold.
The iron bulldozer blade shattered the white marble steps.
The heavy tracks rolled into the main hall.
"Click. Click."
The gold-leaf-covered floor tiles were mercilessly crushed, reduced to a pile of rubble.
The dark, smoothbore cannon barrel was pointed straight at the daimyo's face.
The gun barrel still emitted the residual heat of burning gunpowder.
Da Ming was dumbfounded.
He opened his mouth wide, forgetting even to breathe.
The mental string that had been held in place for six months was crushed to dust by this suddenly appearing metal monster.
A group of Uchiha Jōkan wearing black vests and red ribbons tied around their necks.
He jumped off the armored vehicle behind the tank.
Their military boots pounded on the broken paving stones as they charged in like wolves.
"Everyone, squat down! Hands behind your heads!"
The leading Uchiha officer was gripping an electrified baton.
He slapped the high-ranking official on the back with a stick.
The high-ranking official screamed and collapsed onto the shards of porcelain, his palms bleeding profusely from the cuts.
Daming's legs went weak.
He wanted to run, but his body wouldn't obey him. His silk robe slipped off his shoulders, revealing half of his body.
A warm stream flowed down his groin, carrying the stench of urine.
The Uchiha officer strode up the steps.
He grabbed Daimyo's hair in one swift motion.
"Ah!" Daming felt as if his scalp was being ripped apart, and he let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
The officer didn't treat him like a human being at all.
He grabbed the man by the hair and dragged him off the white tiger-skin couch.
Daming's bare feet tripped on the edge of the steps, causing his knees to bruise.
"Insolence! I am the Daimyo of the Land of Wind! You lowly..."
Daming was kicking his legs wildly in pain, but he was still putting on airs.
The officer stopped in his tracks.
He slapped Daming's fat face hard across the backhand.
"Smack!"
Several bloody teeth flew out and smashed into the incense burner.
Da Ming's face instantly swelled up to a liver-colored hue, and his ears were ringing. He was completely stunned.
"Take away."
The officer dragged the daimyo out of the main hall like a dead dog, pulling him by one leg.
The obese man dragged his enormous body across the floor tiles, his ornate clothes rubbing against broken glass and wood chips.
A broken trail of blood was left behind.
Outside the main hall, in the square.
Hiruzen Sarutobi knelt on the ground, his shoulders numb from the weight of the camera, which weighed dozens of kilograms.
The skin and flesh chafed from the metal base had long since scabbed over, but were softened and sticky from being soaked in sweat.
He mechanically adjusted the camera, aiming it at the entrance of the main hall.
Looking at that lofty and powerful name, he was dragged out half-naked.
Daming rolled in the mud, crying and begging for mercy.
Hiruzen's vision was blurry. He glanced at the mechanical clock on the armored vehicle next to him.
The clock hand points to four in the afternoon.
It's been a while since they launched their attack from Konoha.
Twelve hours. Just half a day.
They swept across the border, leveling Sunagakure, and then raced hundreds of kilometers before crashing through the gates of the Daimyo's mansion.
They didn't encounter any decent resistance at all.
The Land of Wind, the most expansive land in the Shinobi World, is gone.
"Take a picture over there."
The Anbu next to him kicked Hiruzen in the shin.
Hiruzen numbly raised the camera upwards.
On the tallest spire in Daming Prefecture.
A Konoha Ninja, standing on a roof tile, chopped down the flagpole of the Land of Wind with a single stroke.
Half a flag fell from the building.
He pulled out a brand-new red and white Gunbai and a leaf flag from his pocket.
Unfold it and tie it to the iron pole.
The wind is strong.
The Konoha military flag fluttered in the wind at the highest point in the Land of Wind.
The fluttering flag follows the camera on Hiruzen's shoulder.
It transforms into cold electromagnetic signals.
It traveled through the ionosphere high in the sky and spread throughout the entire Shinobi World.
Land of Earth. Iwagakure.
A secret meeting room deep underground.
Ōnoki sat in a wheelchair. His back had just been immobilized with a cast.
The bandages were wrapped from her chest to her thighs.
He gripped the metal armrests of the wheelchair tightly with both hands, his fingernails leaving several white marks on them.
The large screen on the wall emitted a pale, cold light.
In the scene, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind collapses under the weight of the train tracks.
The dull thud of the wooden structure breaking came through the loudspeaker.
His name was tied to the tank's exhaust pipe like a pig.
The conference room was packed with high-ranking officials from Iwagakure.
There were dozens of people, and not a single one of them was breathing heavily.
The air was frozen solid, like a sheet of lead.
Someone tilted their teacup, and scalding tea poured onto their crotch. They didn't utter a sound of pain.
Quiet.
A deathly silence.
Land of Lightning. Kumogakure.
Dai Raikage stood in front of the Dodai.
His tall frame was hunched over, and he covered his face with his hands.
He dug his fingers into his hair and pulled hard on his scalp.
Half a day. Half a day's time.
The Land of Wind is gone.
This speed has exceeded their understanding of "war".
This is not a war. This is a one-sided cleanup.
"This..."
In the Iwagakure conference room, the intelligence chief's lips trembled.
It broke the deathly silence.
He suddenly stood up. The wooden chair behind him overturned and crashed to the ground.
"Half a day?! A great nation was destroyed in half a day?!"
The intelligence minister's voice cracked completely, like a chicken with its neck being stepped on.
"This is impossible! The Land of Wind has three thousand Sand Ninja! It has the natural barrier of the desert!"
He grabbed his hair with both hands, hysterical.
The scream was like a spark thrown into a barrel of explosives.
The deathly silence was instantly ripped apart.
The entire conference room erupted in a commotion that seemed to tear the roof off.