Jūbei’s explosive takeoff had somehow allowed him to remain airborne through precise chakra control. No one had expected him to be capable of such a thing.
If some ignorant commoner happened to see Jūbei like this, they would surely cry out, "A monster!"
In reality, Jūbei had merely received the recognition of the yōkai known as Gamen-sama.
Gamen-sama was a type of nukekubi—a yōkai whose head could separate from its body. It was affectionate toward its family, loving those close to it, yet ferocious and terrifying toward outsiders.
In that respect, it was remarkably similar to Jūbei’s personality.
Though physically crippled, Jūbei possessed an unyielding spirit and was an extremely proud man. He was willing to bow before Uchiha Kei, the man who had shown him respect, and use the body he had left to clear a path for him.
Everyone called him a sycophant and a flatterer.
He would openly admit it without the slightest shame.
"That’s right, that’s right! I’m my lord’s treacherous courtier."
But whenever he marched into battle bearing the glory of Uchiha Kei, soaring through the sky was the only style befitting Jūbei.
The man who constantly proclaimed himself a cripple and a useless wreck was, in truth, one of the most ruthless figures among the Kōga shinobi.
He was ruthless to others—and even more ruthless to himself.
Like Tenzan, he wasn’t particularly well-liked.
Now, as Jūbei flew through the air to fight on behalf of his lord, his thoughts drifted back to the countless moments he had shared with Uchiha Kei.
Back then, Lord Kei had not yet become so gloomy.
When they first met, Kei had smiled broadly, wrapped an arm around Jūbei, and asked without the slightest restraint:
"Hahaha! Jūbei, how did you end up in such a miserable state? How did someone cut you down to just a torso?"
Faced with such a straightforward lord, the one who felt awkward wasn’t Jūbei, nor was it Kei.
It was the Iga shinobi behind Kei—Tenzan, Gen, and Jingorō.
They were the three who had cut Jūbei down to a torso.
And after becoming a cripple, Jūbei had transformed himself into a monster in his quest for revenge.
A monster that crawled on its belly and attacked with its tongue.
Unfortunately, he had lost his chance for revenge.
After learning that his former enemies had now become his comrades, Jūbei was still somewhat displeased.
But Lord Kei didn’t mind at all.
Instead, he carefully asked Jūbei about the battle he had fought against the Iga.
Jūbei was still a little proud whenever he talked about it.
Tenzan had genuinely defeated him—but only after Jūbei had already lost all four limbs.
As for the elderly Gen and the treacherous Jingorō, they had only managed to injure him through sneak attacks.
But a defeat was still a defeat.
When it came to shinobi, only the result mattered, never the process.
Jūbei had originally thought that such a record would make Lord Kei consider him useless.
Instead, Lord Kei had greatly admired him.
"We really do have an incredible Jūbei! When you fight, you only pick the strongest opponents. Not everyone has the courage to fight even when they know they can’t win. Jūbei, you’re really strong."
From that day onward, in Kei’s eyes, a cripple became a warrior who challenged only the strongest.
And from that moment, Jūbei became willing to use his life to uphold the identity of the warrior his lord had bestowed upon him.
Today, this fearless man seemed to have already prepared himself for a final farewell.
Jūbei was skilled in divination and possessed an uncanny ability to foresee danger and avoid calamity. Time and again, he had managed to escape situations that should have ended in certain death.
But today’s divination had given him neither fortune nor misfortune.
There were only two words:
"Heaven’s Punishment."
Such an ambiguous omen was something he would normally never dare touch.
Who knew what kind of punishment Heaven might inflict?
But as a man, there were some things one simply could not retreat from.
It was a promise between himself and his lord.
A promise between a new life and the chance to achieve something great.
"At this point, even if it is Heaven itself, I will still fight it."
In truth, Jūbei didn’t need divination to understand how dangerous this journey would be.
He might have no reinforcements.
He might have to face the entire Sarutobi Clan alone.
He might even have to confront Hiruzen Sarutobi—the man who currently stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world.
Anyone would feel a chill at the thought.
Yet Jūbei did not retreat.
The enemy had already come to cause trouble on his own territory. He could not simply remain silent.
Even if his side could not immediately adjust its overall strategy, someone still had to deliver a powerful response at the first possible moment.
This was a matter of face.
A matter of pride.
A matter of the confidence they had accumulated among the people under their protection over the past several years.
From the moment he had been given the name of a warrior, Jūbei had sworn that he would never become the kind of man who merely cursed back when someone dared to strike him.
"Heh."
Uchiha Tenzan was arrogant enough.
So what?
As long as he couldn’t kill Jūbei, then Jūbei would fight him to the bitter end.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, let me see just how much you’re really worth!"
Jūbei spat a strange thorn-like weapon from his abdomen.
The demonic spike began spinning around him.
This weapon was Jūbei’s trump card.
"Masakado’s Severed Head!"
Legend said that this was the bamboo pole that had once been used to impale the severed head of Taira no Masakado, and that it had absorbed all of Masakado’s resentment.
When the time was right, it could draw upon that resentment to summon disasters such as plagues, earthquakes, and lightning strikes.
This was the source of Jūbei’s confidence.
Today was the day of Heaven’s Punishment.
It was also the day he would unleash Heaven’s calamities.
But a natural disaster was still a natural disaster.
Its power was immense, but so were its side effects.
Because its attacks were indiscriminate, it was very easy for Jūbei himself to be caught in the destruction.
Yet Jūbei was completely unafraid.
"Move out!"
Jūbei advanced alone at the head of the force.
The shinobi followed behind him, with the Kōga shinobi serving as their shadow assassins and more than a hundred red-eyed shinobi bringing up the rear.
The entire group made no attempt to conceal their movements.
They headed straight for Konoha.
They wanted Konoha to know exactly what was coming.
Konoha might regard this as a minor incident, but that did not mean Jūbei would.
This was no longer the era when the First Hokage’s Konoha had the final say in everything.
At the same time, Yakushi Kabuto and his brother, Yakushi Kanda, were also heading toward Jūbei’s territory to request reinforcements.
The cunning Kabuto went around spreading the news to everyone he encountered along the way.
"Come with me to see the daimyō! Konoha’s shinobi have come to bully us in Nanga!"
Surprisingly, the people of Nanga who heard Kabuto’s announcement were not frightened.
Instead, they put down their farming tools and picked up sickles and swords.
It seemed that everyone had been preparing for this moment long in advance.
"Really? Where are they? Let’s go straight there! We don’t even need to find the daimyō. I’ll bite those bastards to death if I have to!"
For some reason, a group of ordinary farmers actually possessed the courage to stand against shinobi.
Even samurai could not necessarily muster such courage.
As Kabuto continued spreading the news along the way, the number of civilians following him grew larger and larger.
Even Kabuto himself became increasingly excited.
With so many people supporting them, they absolutely had to bring Konoha down today.
Perhaps the recovery of Konoha itself would begin today.
And so, Jūbei and Kabuto eventually encountered each other halfway there.
The civilians whom Kabuto had swept along numbered as many as four thousand.
They were all ordinary people with virtually no combat ability.
Yet at this moment, they carried swords and spears in their hands, their fighting spirit burning brightly.
The sight left Jūbei utterly perplexed.
Looking at the furious farmers, Jūbei asked in confusion:
"What are you doing?"
His confusion came from seeing these civilians armed with weapons and heading toward his own territory.
Could they be planning a rebellion?
Sure enough, the people of the Land of Fire couldn’t be trusted.
Faced with Jūbei’s question, Kabuto suddenly became somewhat flustered.
He abruptly realized that his actions had begun to look like an attempt to pressure the lord into making a decision.
Originally, he had merely wanted to gather more supporters.
That way, it would appear that what he had done was justified.
But now that the moment had arrived, he finally understood that whether he was right or wrong had never been the real issue.
The world did not operate on the principle that whoever was right automatically got to decide everything.
Using popular sentiment to pressure those at the top into changing their decisions was one of the things the ruling class was least willing to accept.
For a moment, the young Kabuto didn’t know how to answer.
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