"There’s actually such a good thing!"
After hearing the red-eyed man’s threat, the Iga shinobi became even more ruthless.
The hostage-taker held his blade against Gen’nosuke and waved it threateningly, but he did not dare to actually strike. He screamed himself hoarse, but unfortunately, no one took his threat seriously.
The slaughter continued in an orderly fashion.
The only person on the battlefield who still cared about Gen’nosuke was his master, Hyōma.
The Iga shinobi had rarely gotten a chance to watch the Kōga Group make a fool of itself. Naturally, they were more than happy to see this particular joke grow as big as possible.
The Kōga shinobi, meanwhile, wanted to use their actions to completely separate Gen’nosuke’s behavior from the Kōga Group.
They absolutely could not allow Lord Kei to think that the outcome caused by Gen’nosuke was an act of overreach by the Kōga Group.
We Kōga shinobi will never hesitate to kill for Lord Kei. We would gladly risk our lives for him without batting an eye.
Gen’nosuke is an outlier within the Kōga Group. He represents only himself. His actions have nothing to do with the Kōga shinobi.
Hyōma sheathed his blade and calmly walked through the crowd toward the red-eyed man holding Gen’nosuke hostage.
The path beneath his feet was paved with the corpses of the red-eyed people.
Every step Hyōma took seemed to strike directly at Hong Malu’s heart.
His pupils widened.
His body trembled.
Fear descended upon him.
Yet Hyōma completely ignored the red-eyed people.
The blind Hyōma stared at Gen’nosuke with his empty, sightless eyes.
The red-eyed man holding Gen’nosuke hostage summoned what little courage he had left and treated this blind man as his final lifeline.
This was the only person who still seemed to care about the hostage in his hands.
His last hope.
Even if he could not save all his clansmen, at least he could preserve his own life.
If I’d known this would happen, I never should have gotten involved with Hong Malu.
Following the Uchiha wouldn’t have been so terrible after all.
"Hey, you blind man! Tell your people to stop, or I’ll kill him!"
Fear taken to its extreme became anger.
But when fear continued without end, even the anger it produced became pitifully weak.
Unfortunately for the red-eyed man, he was putting on his performance for a blind man who simply did not care about the thoughts of a few red-eyed villagers.
Hyōma had only one concern.
His disciple.
Gen’nosuke was a child he had personally raised.
He was not merely his disciple.
He was also the son of Hyōma’s elder sister—his nephew.
Unfortunately, the boy had grown up with everything going his way.
He had never experienced genuine failure.
And so, a single failure was enough to crush his spirit.
As long as the result Lord Kei wanted was achieved, Lord Kei had never cared about the precise process.
At most, the current situation had taken a slight detour from what Lord Kei expected.
It was hardly something beyond redemption.
Yet this child was standing there motionless, pretending to be profound.
It was merely a small mistake.
At worst, the Iga shinobi would laugh at him for a while.
Could this child really not even accept that?
Then what’s the point of staying alive?
Kid, kill him.
Hyōma merely wanted to see what his disciple was struggling with.
But seeing his disciple remain completely unmoved truly disappointed him.
The red-eyed man holding Gen’nosuke hostage was also caught off guard.
For a moment, he had no idea what to do.
No matter how valuable Gen’nosuke’s life was, he certainly had no intention of dying alongside him.
Hong Malu, however, reacted quickly.
He desperately tried to seize this final opportunity to explain.
Uncle, Lord Gen’nosuke is innocent. He’s a good person. We were forced into this. There must have been some misunderstanding.
Lord Gen’nosuke can prove it for us.
Please tell your people to stop. We harbor absolutely no ill will toward you. We’ll agree to anything you ask of us.
The blind man ignored him.
What were you doing earlier?
The Uchiha had come here with a mission of slaughter, not one of offering amnesty.
Amnesty had belonged to the era when Gen’nosuke was in charge.
That era was already over.
Whether they harbored ill will or not was irrelevant.
Completing Lord Gen’nosuke’s mission was the priority.
When Lord Kei valued them, even if they had genuinely attempted to seize the Uchiha’s possessions today, it would not have been a major problem.
But once Lord Kei had more important plans and no longer valued the red-eyed people, these people would be fit for only one purpose:
To become experimental subjects in the Uchiha laboratories.
Hyōma ignored Hong Malu and spoke only to Gen’nosuke.
"Child, dying on this battlefield would be a good end for you. If you survive, you’ll have to face the questioning of both the Kōga and Iga Groups."
"Your vanity has trapped you in a prisoner’s dilemma. Even if Lord Kei understands that this was an accident, no follower of a greater lord can allow something like this to happen."
Hyōma was deliberately pushing Gen’nosuke.
He wanted to force the last bit of pride and spirit out of the boy.
But to Hong Malu, those words had already become a declaration from the Grim Reaper.
Gen’nosuke isn’t that important.
Even if he isn’t being held hostage, the moment he tarnished the reputation of the person above him, his death was already inevitable.
That was what Hong Malu heard in Hyōma’s words.
If even someone as important as Gen’nosuke could simply be sentenced to death, then there was no need to mention the fate awaiting the red-eyed people who had caused today’s rebellion.
Hong Malu no longer knew how to continue begging.
He could only look at Gen’nosuke with an innocent expression.
For so long, Gen’nosuke had looked after them.
Hong Malu hoped that this man, who still possessed some standing, could use whatever influence remained to him before his death and say a few words on behalf of the red-eyed people.
Someone still cared about Gen’nosuke.
That at least proved Gen’nosuke still had some influence.
Hong Malu desperately wanted to cling to that last shred of favor.
But after experiencing their betrayal, Gen’nosuke remained completely unmoved.
He was still trying to understand why he had been betrayed.
Scene after scene from the past flashed through his mind as vividly as though they had happened only yesterday.
He had come to the Land of Rivers and met Hong Malu.
That strong and sunny young man had admired him, sincerely sought his guidance, and humbly learned from him.
Whenever he encountered a problem, Hong Malu would seek his help immediately.
Whenever he gained even the slightest success, he would present the best of what he had obtained to Gen’nosuke.
Gen’nosuke had always believed that he and Hong Malu shared a relationship that was both that of teacher and friend.
He had believed that such a relationship could be trusted.
He had once described to Hong Malu how wonderful life was for the Uchiha in the Land of Fire.
He had also told him that the red-eyed clan might actually be descendants of Uchiha who had remained outside the main clan.
In truth, they were family.
He had wanted to bring Hong Malu back to the Uchiha.
And Hong Malu had seemed to yearn for the life of the Uchiha as well.
But why?
Why, in the end, had they made this choice?
Why had they chosen to betray him?
Gen’nosuke could not understand.
Hyōma’s arrival brought Gen’nosuke slightly back to his senses.
Unfortunately, he did not hear a single word Hyōma said.
Gen’nosuke, who had kept his head lowered the entire time, suddenly raised it.
A single tear of blood slid from the corner of his eye.
Then—
A colossal surge of chakra erupted into the heavens.
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