"One... one billion?" Kusanosuke's body trembled again, shivering uncontrollably as if struck by a sudden chill.
One billion... that was an astronomical sum.
He glanced briefly at the people around him, and the world seemed to spin. That meant that, out of the more than twenty of them, at most only five could survive?
But soon, he made up his mind.
Already consumed by fear, Kusanosuke naturally had no desire to die. As for the others? The village was gone, what meaning was there in living or dying now? As the leader, his position was already in name only. Would they really continue to follow him in the future?
The others seemed to catch a strange glint in his eyes, and the atmosphere instantly grew tense and sinister.
No one knew who moved first, but a kunai suddenly stabbed toward him.
It seemed he had been expecting this, he dodged instantly and countered with a shuriken that lodged in his attacker's neck, killing them on the spot.
The others also began to attack, turning on those nearest to them.
After a brutal struggle, only seven of the senior members of Kusa remained, each wounded, but with uncontrollable excitement on their faces.
"Please wait a moment. We'll get you the money right away."
The seven all knew the village's true situation. Over the years, through political maneuvering and squeezing the village dry, they had amassed considerable wealth, and among themselves there was less suspicion.
They arrived at an unremarkable courtyard. Together, the seven formed hand seals, and in a nondescript corner of the yard, a hidden entrance slowly revealed itself.
But before they could enter, a figure suddenly appeared before them. A massive sword swept horizontally in an instant, slicing all seven cleanly across the chest.
As he fell from the air, Kusanosuke wanted to curse at the top of his lungs. In that final moment, hatred completely eclipsed his fear. But he could no longer utter a word.
After taking all the wealth Kusa had accumulated over the years, Shin felt nothing as he looked over the devastated village. The others, however, couldn't help sighing.
At first, they hadn't intended to go so far. But Kusa had pushed them too far. Even at this point, they had the audacity to try to turn the tables.
It was time to completely overturn the image of Konoha as weak and easy to manipulate, a reputation left by Hiruzen.
As for whether the other ninja villages would band together to start the Third Great Ninja War?
Shin thought, I wish they would.
During the Second Great Ninja War, since Tsunade was not yet Hokage, many of his high-tech creations had gone unused.
If war started again, it would not be as restrained as last time. Once it began, it would mark the day of unifying the shinobi world.
The stench of blood was so overwhelming that the group felt uneasy. After leaving Kusa, they found a scenic spot to rest. Around then, Kushina slowly regained consciousness.
When Minato expressed concern, she waved it off, saying she was fine, though her expression was extremely grim.
Tsunade was about to go comfort her, but Shin stopped her, saying that some things, the first time you experience them, require time to process. It was a necessary step, and with Minato there, that was enough.
Tsunade thought about it and realized he was right.
You can't teach someone certain lessons with words, only experience can do that. Excessive naivety harms both oneself and others.
Two hours later, the six of them set out again, this time targeting Hanma, who had fled during their massacre of the village.
That guy's sensory abilities seemed quite sharp, he had sensed what happened to Kusa and bolted in a panic, not staying a second longer.
He truly hadn't expected that the current Hokage and her aide would actually wipe out an entire village, without fear of incurring the condemnation of the whole world. But reality left him no time to think. That unnerving sensation of being hunted came upon him once again, making his hair stand on end.
How many times had this happened already?
That feeling of thinking you have a chance to escape, only to find that no matter where you run, you can't get away, it was enough to drive anyone insane.
For someone like him, whose mental fortitude was pitifully weak, it was especially torturous. He had become numb to it.
He even had a premonition that, if this went on much longer, he might give up running entirely and beg Shin to just kill him quickly.
It was at that thought that, while burrowing underground, he suddenly jerked to a halt, as though something had grabbed hold of him.
The next instant, with him at the center, the earth and stone below suddenly heaved outward, quickly forming a massive underground chamber.
Before he could react, the six appeared above, standing on the surface and staring coldly at the figure suspended in midair.
Only then did he see clearly, his legs were bound by sealing chains, even the chakra within his body was sluggish, and all around the chamber, barriers had been set up, turning it into a trap with no way out.
"Hahaha!" He suddenly let out a bitter, mournful laugh, as if mocking his own pitiful fate.
To that, Shin had only one thing to say, character determines destiny.
There wasn't much to describe about the fight itself. Hanma was only good at running, and with no way to escape, facing six opponents, he was little more than a lamb to the slaughter, especially when Shin immediately took his pair of Mangekyō Sharingan as research material.
A wild Mangekyō Sharingan, what a treasure.
The group glanced at the mangled corpse on the ground, feeling neither pity nor any real satisfaction at vengeance.
Mito... was gone after all.
Though strictly speaking, it had been her own choice, the death of a family member was still a sorrow.
After collecting the body as research material, the group returned to Konoha. Everything seemed back to normal, with only the Senju clan's compound still under reconstruction.
However, the destruction of Kusa sent shockwaves through the entire shinobi world, forcing the major ninja villages to convene another meeting.
This time, the atmosphere was heavy. No one spoke for a long while after sitting down.
Though Kusa was destroyed, only those with chakra had been killed.
The civilians, though some were casualties in the Tailed Beast Ball barrage, had mostly escaped, carrying news of the event far and wide.
But this was not what weighed most on everyone's minds.
What truly crushed their spirits was the explosive news that during the Nine-Tails' rampage in Konoha, Shin had suppressed it with one hand.
Even the fearsome Tailed Beast Ball had been caught by Shin, without him taking the slightest injury.
Such a terrifying feat sounded like sheer fantasy, but it had truly happened, striking fear into every heart.
By now, everyone understood, the balance that had long held in the shinobi world was broken once again, returning things to the era of Hashirama.