Shinsei let Sakura tend to his wounds, his gaze drifting past her shoulder to the pale sky in the distance. Madara was right; the problem of the Descent of the Thunder God was more serious than he had imagined.
Replacing the nervous system is not a project that can be completed overnight, and before that, the window of time he can maintain Descent of the Thunder God is very limited.
If he couldn't defeat the enemy inside the window and it became a protracted battle, he would lose. Fortunately, he was aware of this, and he never intended to fight to the death during the battle just now.
He still has his real trump card up his sleeve; there's no need to use it now.
"Let's go." Shinsei straightened up, stretching his right shoulder which Sakura had immobilized. "There's still a lot to do back home."
With the daimyo dead, the power structure of the Land of Fire will undergo drastic changes in the coming days.
Fujiwara Munetsugu laid the groundwork in the capital; the public trial had already undermined the authority of the daimyo, and now Obito had thrown the daimyo's Obito in front of them.
Although the methods were cruel, in retrospect, this actually gave Shinsei an opportunity to completely reshape the regime of the Land of Fire.
With Minato Namikaze, the group no longer needed to travel so arduously. Shinsei also no longer needed to use his half-baked Flying Thunder God.
The group gathered together, holding hands. Minato placed his left hand on Shinsei's shoulder and then made a hand seal with his right hand.
The scenery changed, and when Naruto opened his eyes again, the gates of Konoha were already close at hand. The two huge wooden doors painted with the flame emblem were half-open in the morning light, and the Konoha symbol on the door frames was dyed gold by the rising sun.
"Wow, that's fast!" Naruto's eyes widened. "Dad, that move is so convenient! Teach me!"
"Master the Rasengan first," Minato said with a smile, patting Naruto's head with a indulgent tone.
The two Chunin taken aback when they saw Shinsei and his group, but then quickly stood up straight and bowed.
Shinsei nodded, said nothing more, and led everyone straight through the gate and onto Konoha's main street.
The shops on the street had just opened for business. The owner of Ichiraku Ramen was Gate of Opening when he saw Naruto. He instinctively wanted to greet him, but then he noticed the bandage wrapped around Shinsei's right shoulder and the battle marks that Kakashi's body still hadn't been cleaned up, so his smile faded a bit.
He opened his mouth, but in the end he just nodded to Naruto.
Shinsei walked along the street. There was an old woman selling vegetables, a ninja tool shop owner, teenagers doing morning exercises, and a mother with her child.
Shinsei waved to the crowd and then spoke.
"Dismissed for now. Kakashi, after you've rested, hand in the mission report to me."
Kakashi nodded and ordered his three disciples to disperse.
Tsunade was already waiting in the conference room of the Hokage Building.
She leaned against the window, her arms crossed, holding a scroll of intelligence that had just been sent from the capital.
When she saw Shinsei push the door open and come in, her gaze immediately fell on him.
She didn't ask about the injury, but walked straight over, placed her hand on Shinsei's shoulder, and medical Chakra seeped from her palm, quickly circulating around. After a moment, she withdrew her hand, her tone indifferent.
" Sakura handled it well, but don't use Lightning Release again for a while."
Tsunade walked to the seat next to the head of the room and sat down, spreading the intelligence scroll on the table.
"Let's get down to business first. The situation in the capital is more complicated than what you saw on the road."
The daimyo's eldest son has already gathered a group of former retainers, preparing to ascend the throne himself in three days.
Fujiwara Munetsugu's secret letter stated that the leader of the conservative faction was Matsumoto, who was the cousin of Matsumoto, the Vice Minister of Home Affairs who was dismissed during the public trial.
This person gathered more than a dozen hereditary nobles, claiming that the Council's trial was the result of coercion by Konoha, and demanded the restoration of the daimyo's full power.
"As expected." Shinsei sat down in the main seat and stretched his right shoulder, which was still immobilized. "What does Professor Shikaku think?"
Shikaku Nara walked from the corner of the conference room to the table. He had been standing in the shadows, holding a scroll that was already mostly filled with writing, and there were several fine blood vessels in the whites of his eyes, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept all night.
He unrolled the scroll, which was densely covered with the framework of the Council's proposal, the handwriting so neat it looked printed.
The Nara Clan never takes things lightly when they're using their brains.
"I drafted the framework of the plan overnight, and it boils down to three key points."
Shikaku tapped three sections on the scroll with his fingertip.
"First, the Council consists of three parts: ninja representatives, civilian representatives, and enlightened nobles."
Each group has an equal number of members, and major decisions are made by vote. Second, the Hokage serves as the chairperson of the council, possessing veto power and the authority to make temporary decisions on urgent matters.
Third, the position of daimyo will be temporarily retained, but only as a ceremonial, nominal post, and will not participate in actual decision-making. Simply put, the daimyo's power will be divided into three parts and distributed to different people.
"Keep the daimyo title?" Kakashi frowned. "The daimyo's eldest son is about to ascend the throne. If we keep the daimyo title, wouldn't that give him the legitimacy to seize power?"
"Not keeping it would be more troublesome." Shikaku shook his head. "The daimyo system has existed for thousands of years, and the people are used to it."
If it were canceled all at once, conservatives would incite public opinion to claim that Konoha had usurped the throne.
First, transfer real power to the Council, rendering the daimyo an empty shell. In ten or twenty years, when the next generation grows up, the title of daimyo will naturally be forgotten.
Tsunade nodded. "Cutting flesh slowly with a knife is safer than beheading it in one stroke."
Shinsei walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out a thick document.
He threw the file on the table.
"That being said, I do not want someone like that to become the Daimyo of the Land of Fire."
Kakashi opened the file, which contained detailed information about the daimyo's eldest son.
Some forcibly took women as concubines, some trained in Ninjutsu, and others collected orphans to conduct experiments on them in secret.
Kakashi frowned and read it carefully.
The tenth brother said that he had vaguely heard rumors about the eldest son of the daimyo before. However, this was the first time he had seen such detailed information.
The level of depravity is so high that even Orochimaru, compared to him, could be considered an upright and honest good person.
Shikaku Nara Sei frowned and couldn't help but speak up.
" Lord Hokage, wouldn't you like to reconsider? There's no tradition of a daimyo not existing in the last thousand years."
Shinsei grinned and said nonchalantly.
"Tradition? The people of the Land of Fire will get used to it. The absence of a daimyo will be the new tradition."
Tsunade seemed to remember something and gently shook her head.
"You are the Hokage, I respect your opinion."
Shikaku Nara wanted to say something, but nodded and answered seriously.
" Lord Hokage, I obey your orders."
Shinsei glanced at Kakashi, Kakashi remained silent, intently reading the document in his hands.
"Alright, it's settled then. Lord Shikaku Nara, I need you to draft a new plan."
"Land of Fire, it's time for a new era."