Chapter 326: The Great Lords Bow Their Heads, Her Feet Upon the World
Night had fallen.
Konoha.
By now, the village had expanded so much that calling it a "village" hardly did it justice anymore — "city" was the more fitting word.
Even at this late hour, Konoha showed no sign of settling down for the night. Noise and celebration filled every corner, the whole village still riding high on the victory — and the Fifth Hokage's authority had, in this moment, reached heights beyond anything the village had ever known.
Inside the Hokage Building, though, the staff found themselves plunged right back into a fresh round of high-intensity work, a stark contrast to the celebration outside.
And it wasn't just the staff. Even Sakura herself sat at the head of the conference table, faintly bored, half-listening to the handful of people gathered before her hashing out the shape of what came next.
Besides Sakura herself, the room held Tobirama Senju, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, Tsunade, and Shikaku Nara — Konoha's inner circle.
"With the Four Great Villages and several minor ones now entirely unable to stand against Konoha's might, how should we proceed with these remaining powers?"
Koharu, much like Homura, seemed to have found a second wind entirely, practically glowing with energy.
"I already told Yuki — three days. Once the three days are up, if they haven't surrendered, they can't blame me for what comes next."
The Hokage sat at the head of the table, one hand propping up her chin, speaking with all the enthusiasm of someone discussing the weather.
"Three days, hm..."
"That should be enough time. But what if they choose to resist regardless?"
Tobirama rubbed his chin, glancing meaningfully at the Hokage.
"Hmph. With Konoha's might as it now stands, none of them would dare refuse to submit."
Koharu let out a cold snort, speaking without a shred of hesitation, a flicker of killing intent in her eyes.
"That won't do. If we take that approach, how are we meant to actually govern the shinobi world afterward?"
Shikaku cut in immediately.
"Under the Fifth's leadership, Konoha's might has reached unprecedented heights, true — but if we take too hard a stance, there's no guarantee these people won't simply choose mutual destruction over surrender."
Shikaku — Konoha's acknowledged strategic mind — frowned as he spoke.
"Mutual destruction?"
"They'd need the means for that first."
Koharu waved the concern off, unbothered.
Her mindset was still rooted firmly in the old era of the hidden villages, where might made right — and it showed.
"Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys."
"If they hold firm on resistance, pick the loudest one and wipe them out — a warning to the rest."
From the head of the table, the Hokage's voice cut in, flat and unbothered.
"That—"
"Would work."
Koharu hesitated for a moment, but Tobirama immediately cut in, endorsing the Hokage's suggestion without reservation, and Koharu had no choice but to let the matter drop, moving on to the next item instead:
"And the nobility — how should we handle them?"
Homura's expression stayed calm as he spoke, evidently having already worked out his answer well in advance:
"Announce it publicly: any noble willing to renounce their title has their assets confiscated to the state, save for an annual allowance of one hundred thousand ryō per person, guaranteed for five years — and their past conduct will not be held against them."
"Any who remain fixated on their old dream and refuse to comply — their household and bloodline will be wiped out entirely."
"As for the daimyō themselves — give them three days to arrive in Konoha in person and present their seals of office as a gesture of submission."
"After that, select capable individuals from among the nobles who choose to submit and dispatch them to administer the various regions."
"And one more thing..."
Homura spoke at length, clearly having spent considerable time working through his strategy already.
The bottom line was simple: they couldn't just execute everyone outright. That would only plunge the shinobi world into chaos, and Konoha didn't have the manpower to govern that kind of collapse.
The nobility had no shortage of corrupt officials, true — but there were genuinely capable people among them too.
"And what of the corrupt ones who choose to submit?"
Tobirama regarded Homura with a measure of approval.
"Simple. Send Yamanaka-clan shinobi. Ordinary men and women — it won't take much effort at all."
"Anyone found guilty of embezzling more than one million ryō gets executed on the spot."
Homura's tone stayed calm, but the sheer ruthlessness underlying his words sent a chill down Shikaku's spine.
Truly — the older they get, the more merciless they become. He's seen enough storms in his life to have no patience left for half-measures.
A threshold of one million ryō would probably see roughly seventy percent of the empire's officials executed.
"And if the resulting personnel shortage causes chaos in a given region?"
Shikaku asked.
"Then we kill slowly, and take our time."
"Cultivate new talent while we sharpen the blade at the same pace."
Homura took an unhurried sip of tea.
No one in the room bothered raising the question of what to do if someone actually chose to resist outright.
Resistance, after all, required the means to resist in the first place.
Everyone in the room nodded slightly at that, evidently in agreement with Homura's approach.
Sensing the moment was right, Tobirama spoke up, seemingly offhand:
"Once the world has bowed and all four seas belong to Konoha — it will be time to found an empire."
At that, every head in the room came up sharply, a spark in every eye — except the Hokage's, who looked, if anything, on the verge of dozing off.
Found an empire!
The first empire in history to encompass the entire shinobi map, in full!
"Founding the empire is the natural next step."
"Now that we have swept the world clean, the old title of 'daimyō' no longer suits what's coming. A new title of honor is called for."
"The ruler of a single nation shall be called Emperor. The one who rules over all under heaven shall be called Sovereign."
"The ruler of this new state shall bear both — Sovereign Emperor."
Koharu spoke up, and Shikaku found himself glancing between her and Homura, a suspicion forming.
These two old foxes probably had this whole thing worked out between themselves well before this meeting even started.
"With the Hokage's fist having subdued every great power under heaven, she alone is worthy of the title Sovereign Emperor."
Homura looked toward the Hokage at the head of the table, his gaze burning with conviction.
The Hokage looked up at that, and under the weight of every gaze in the room, gave a light, unbothered nod of agreement.
And with that, the entire future of the shinobi world had been settled, right there in that conference room.
By the time Sakura left the Hokage Building, night had fully set in — and a figure was already waiting outside, had been waiting for some time.
"Ino?"
Sakura's expression softened at the sight of the striking figure waiting for her.
"Sakura."
The young woman — Ino — broke into a smile at the sight of her.
"Things have been way too busy lately. I haven't had a single chance to come find you."
"You're not mad, are you?"
The two of them walked side by side down a street that, despite the lateness of the hour, still blazed with warm light — just like their old days walking to and from the Academy together.
"Of course not. I know you're the Hokage."
"You're busy every single day."
"It'd be pretty selfish of me to bother you over something like that, wouldn't it?"
"My Lord Hokage?"
The two girls walked hand in hand together, the warm yellow lamplight pushing back the night's quiet cold, lending the darkness a certain warmth of its own.
"Since when did you learn to tease me like this?"
"I'm the Hokage, you know."
"I ought to punish you for that."
Sakura shot the purple-clad girl beside her a mock-stern glare.
"Oh my, my Lord Hokage — however will you punish a poor, defenseless girl like me?"
Ino leaned in close, a playful glint in her eyes.
"How about this — your punishment is staying by my side forever."
"Bringing me tea every single day. How's that sound?"
"Scared yet?"
Hearing that, Ino couldn't help the smile that broke across her face.
"My Lord Hokage bullying me like this — aren't you worried what people might say?"
Watching Ino's sly grin, Sakura answered, entirely unbothered:
"I'm the Hokage. I make the rules here."
"Since when did outsiders get a say in that?"
Looking at the pink-haired woman in front of her, something bright and easy settled behind Ino's clear blue eyes.
"Well, since my Lord Hokage has spoken — this poor, defenseless little girl supposes she has no choice but to obey."
"Defenseless, my ass."
"You could probably knock out a cow bare-handed."
At that, Ino froze for a beat, then flared up, indignant.
"That was a figure of speech! A figure of speech!"
"Can you even understand a metaphor?!"
Realizing a beat too late that she'd been baited, Ino swung a fist at Sakura's chest, sputtering.
"You jerk, quit messing with—"
But she yanked the punch back mid-swing, on reflex.
They're not that big to begin with. What if I punch them flatter?
A hand caught her retreating fist before it could fully pull away, and Sakura clutched at her own chest, playing wounded, her performance thoroughly overdone.
"OW! That hurt!"
"No wonder — one punch from Ino, and she's already wounded the invincible Lord Hokage herself!"
Watching that transparently bad acting, Ino huffed, furious.
"Sakura, you're messing with me AGAIN!"
But Sakura had already stepped past her, glancing back over her shoulder with a grin.
"So what if I am?"
"I'm the Lord Hokage."
"If Ino's not satisfied, she's welcome to come catch me."
"And if you catch me, I'll let you~~~"
"Hehehe~~~"
Watching the maddeningly punchable pink-haired figure ahead of her, Ino gave chase without a second thought, shouting, furious:
"Sakura, you little—!"
"Get back here so I can pound you!"
And with that, one pink blur and one purple blur went tearing off through the streets of nighttime Konoha, chasing each other into the dark.
—
The world shook.
Wind, Lightning, Water, Earth, Rain, Waterfall, Iron, Bears, Rice Paddies, Snow — ten nations had joined forces to form the largest coalition of shinobi ever assembled in history, marching against Konoha — and within just three days, that entire coalition had been utterly, completely crushed.
The Fifth Hokage, Sakura Haruno, had shattered the enemy's lines single-handedly, cutting down the Third Tsuchikage — Ōnoki of the Two Scales — in personal combat!
Akatsuki, the very organization that had once thrown the Fourth Great Ninja War into chaos, had been wiped out entirely on the Land of Rain front, by the Hokage's own hand, single-handedly!
In the Land of Rain alone, seven Kage-tier powerhouses had fallen to her blade: the Third Tsuchikage, the acting Kazekage, Akatsuki's leader Nagato, Deidara, Kisame Hoshigaki, Hiruko, and Sasori of the Red Sand!
And that wasn't all. From there, the Hokage had raced straight to the Land of Frost, where the Fifth Raikage had already fallen — and even after more than a dozen legendary, long-dead shinobi were resurrected to fight against her, every last one of them had been crushed without exception!
Not even Madara Uchiha — the Shinobi's Asura himself — had lasted a single exchange against the Hokage!
Tens of thousands of coalition shinobi, utterly, completely routed.
The entire shinobi world reeled at the news.
No one could hear of the current Hokage's power without a shiver of disbelief.
Tallying it all up — six of the Five Great Villages' Kage had already fallen by her hand!
It seemed as though anyone without sufficient status or reputation simply wasn't even worthy of dying at her hand.
And beyond that — Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha had shone brilliantly in this battle as well.
Naruto had single-handedly fought alongside Hiruzen Sarutobi to hold off more than a dozen of the shinobi world's finest, while Sasuke alone had held off both the Second Tsuchikage and Second Mizukage at once.
After this battle, the entire shinobi world bowed before Konoha, without exception.
Nothing remained standing in the way of Konoha's rise.
Every faction that had once dared to stand against Konoha found itself gripped by outright terror.
And it wasn't just the shinobi world's powers. The nobility, who'd ruled over the shinobi world for a thousand years, found themselves trembling too, unable to sit still.
Shinobi could only die once. But the nobility had spent generation upon generation drowning in luxury and excess — and they had no intention of giving any of it up willingly.
At the same time, Konoha issued its decree.
Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure were given three days to send envoys bearing their villages' official seals, submitting to Konoha's authority — or face the consequences.
Every daimyō of every nation — Wind, Lightning, Water, Earth, Rain, Rice Paddies, Waterfall, Hot Water, Iron, Grass, Rivers, Birds, Demons, Frost, Snow, and Bears — was likewise ordered to surrender their seal of office, or face the consequences.
And every noble across the world was ordered to renounce their titles, their household assets confiscated by the state, effective immediately — from this moment forward, nobility as an institution would cease to exist entirely.
Any commoner, any shinobi anywhere in the world who had suffered oppression at a noble's hands was invited to travel to Konoha and file a formal complaint — and should the accusations prove true, Konoha would show absolutely no mercy.
The announcement sent shockwaves through the entire world.
Konoha's ambition — its Hokage's true intent — was laid bare, for all to see.
They meant to swallow the entire world whole. To unify the shinobi world under a single banner.
To forge an empire unlike anything the world had ever seen.
Every noble in the shinobi world howled in grief and outrage at the news.
It's over.
It's all over.
A thousand years of ancestral legacy, utterly, completely finished.
The Land of Water's daimyō hurled priceless treasures across the floor of his own palace in a fit of pure fury, half out of his mind.
Ryūzawa Kasumiōji knelt, pale as a sheet, at the palace gates.
This shouldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening.
How did it come to this? How could it possibly come to this?
They'd gathered the strength of the entire shinobi world, and still failed to take Konoha down — and instead, Konoha had crushed every last one of their forces, completely.
But by now, none of it mattered anymore.
Every noble was going to pay the price for defying the Hokage.
Similar scenes were unfolding, again and again, across every nation in the world.
The nobility wept and wailed. The commoners celebrated with wild abandon.
This was Konoha's victory. It was the common people's victory.
Within those three days, the Land of Fire's own nobility became the first to feel the edge of Konoha's blade.
Heads rolled by the countless thousands. The public execution grounds ran red with blood, the executioners' blades growing dull from overuse — and still, noble after noble was dragged up to the executioner's block, without pause.
Crimson blood stained the soil of the Land of Fire, stained the hearts of its common people, and stained the eyes of every noble still left standing.
Even when the terror of the blade hanging over their heads drove them to a desperate, last-ditch defiance, not one of them could stand against so much as an academy-level Transformation Technique from an ordinary genin, let alone anything more.
And it wasn't just that. Even the nobles desperate enough to try hiring rōnin shinobi to protect them found no one willing to take the job.
Taking that contract meant declaring war on Konoha itself.
If the entire shinobi world's combined coalition army had already fallen to Konoha, what chance did they have?
Over those three days, heads kept rolling, one household after another wiped out entirely, and countless chests of gold, silver, antiques, and treasures were dragged out into the open.
The staggering scale of the wealth involved left everyone who saw it stunned — a thousand years of accumulated fortune, enough to turn every eye in the crowd red with astonishment.
All of that wealth, of course, was destined to fund the growth of the new empire.
Three days passed.
A vast crowd gathered in the central plaza at the heart of Konoha. The Hokage stood high on the central platform, robed in red and white, gazing down with perfect calm at the nearly thirty figures kneeling before her.
Darui of Kumogakure. Kitsuchi of Iwagakure. Kankurō of Sunagakure. Genshi of Kirigakure. And every daimyō the shinobi world had left.
Men and women who, until very recently, had lived lives of untouchable privilege and luxury, now lay prostrate together at the Hokage's feet.
Every great lord bowed. Her feet upon the world.
(End of Chapter)
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you