"Fled the battle?"
After hearing Toshio's words, Hanare could not help but freeze for a moment.
As the strongest ninja in the Land of Keys, Hideki had always served as the leader of Lockfront Village.
After overthrowing the rule of the daimyo, he had even become the true ruler of the entire Land of Keys.
And now, with a powerful enemy approaching, the village leader had actually fled?
"Everyone can testify to this. I have no reason to lie to you."
"When I see him again, I'll personally kill him!"
Toshio clearly did not want to talk more about Hideki. Instead, he turned to Hanare and asked, "But you… why did you suddenly come back? Did you complete your mission?"
"And who are these people?"
Hearing the question, Hanare immediately explained, "They are ninja from Konoha. They came this time to liberate the Land of Keys."
At those words, Toshio's pupils shrank. When he looked at Hanare again, a trace of killing intent appeared in his eyes.
"What do you mean liberate us?"
"Did you defect to Konoha?"
Hanare sighed and tried to persuade him. "You have no idea how prosperous Konoha Village is now. If we submit to Konoha, the people of the Land of Keys will definitely be able to live prosperous lives."
"Traitor!"
Toshio flew into a rage and raised his hand to slap Hanare.
But just as he moved, his wrist was suddenly grabbed by a man who had appeared out of nowhere.
Toshio struggled desperately, but he could not break free. Instead, he felt as if the bones in his wrist were about to be crushed.
Through gritted teeth he said, "Who are you supposed to be?"
Hanare's face lit up with joy.
"Lord Yuzuru!"
The ninja of the Land of Keys all turned pale with shock.
Lord Yuzuru?
Could it be that legendary Uchiha Yuzuru?
At that thought, everyone immediately showed expressions as if facing a great enemy.
Naturally, they assumed the giant stone soldier puppets were Yuzuru's doing, created to conquer the Land of Keys.
Toshio glared fiercely. "Uchiha Yuzuru, don't think that using such methods will make us submit. Even if we die, we will never hand the Land of Keys over to you."
"And you…" Toshio stared coldly at Hanare. "Don't say such righteous-sounding words. You're nothing but a traitor!"
Crack!
A crisp sound of bone breaking interrupted Toshio's words.
He clutched his wrist and crouched on the ground in agony.
Yuzuru spoke calmly, "I have no interest in explaining anything to you. I'm only here to announce my intentions."
"From now on, the Land of Keys will be under my jurisdiction. All positions of power will be appointed by me."
"I will give you the right to oppose me. But correspondingly…"
A bone spike appeared in Yuzuru's hand and instantly pierced through Toshio's heart.
"The price of exercising that right is your life."
After he finished speaking, the ninja of Lockfront Village fell completely silent.
After Hideki fled, Toshio had been the strongest among them.
Yet now, that strongest warrior had been nailed to the ground like a slaughtered chicken.
Combined with the performance of Uchiha Obito and Hatake Kakashi when they destroyed the giant stone soldier puppets earlier…
Just three people had already placed overwhelming pressure on the more than one hundred ninja of Lockfront Village.
"Don't struggle uselessly. Even if you resist, there is only death waiting."
"Hideki has already betrayed the village. Are you really going to fight to the death for a strategy he made?"
Hanare's anxious words struck the hearts of every ninja in Lockfront Village.
One by one, they lowered their heads in silence.
People were afraid of death.
The Land of Keys had already fallen. Strange giant stone soldier puppets were everywhere.
Perhaps surrendering to Uchiha Yuzuru might actually be a good thing for the Land of Keys.
At least with his powerful strength, they might be able to rescue the country from those puppets that slaughtered anyone they saw.
"I surrender!"
No one knew who spoke first.
But soon, the other ninja of Lockfront Village also dropped their weapons.
They knelt on the ground and bowed respectfully to Yuzuru.
Just then, three ninja of Lockfront Village walked in while escorting a man and a woman.
"Lord Toshio, we captured two suspicious people—"
Before they could finish speaking, they were stunned by the scene before them.
What was going on?
Seeing the three men standing there in a daze, Hanare quickly explained the situation.
The three opened their mouths as if to speak, but in the end they simply knelt before Yuzuru like the others.
"All of you, get up. Clean this place up."
"I've already sent someone to notify them. It won't be long before ninja from Sunagakure arrive and eliminate those puppets."
"Thank you, Lord Yuzuru!"
The ninja of Lockfront Village quickly scattered and began working.
Yuzuru patted Hanare on the shoulder.
"Hanare, stay here for the time being. Someone will come to assist you."
"Alright."
"Go take care of things."
After receiving permission, Hanare—who had long been anxious—immediately ran toward the village.
Everyone needed a pillar of support right now.
She had to take responsibility.
After everyone left, the captured man suddenly shouted.
"Lord Yuzuru? Are you Lord Yuzuru?"
"We have something we wish to report to you!"
Yuzuru looked at the man and woman with curiosity.
"Who are you?"
The man immediately replied, "My name is Taruho. I am the bodyguard of the shrine maiden of the Land of Demons."
"This person here is the shrine maiden of the Land of Demons. Her name is Shion."
After hearing Taruho's explanation, Yuzuru raised an eyebrow.
He already had some guesses about the origin of the giant stone soldier puppets.
He stepped forward and looked at Shion.
"The shrine maiden of the Land of Demons… why are you here?"
Shion raised her head and looked at Yuzuru.
"The Land of Demons has already fallen. Everyone has been killed."
"Our subordinates fought desperately to carve out an escape route for the two of us."
"The giant stone soldier puppets in the Land of Keys are probably slaughtering people because they are pursuing us."
Hearing this, Uchiha Obito asked from the side, "So you're the root of the problem."
"What exactly are those puppets? And why are you being hunted?"
"If I remember correctly, the Land of Demons doesn't even have ninja."
At Obito's question, sorrow appeared in Shion's eyes.
She suppressed her emotions and spoke.
"My mother once sealed a monster called Moryo. It possesses an immortal body and extremely terrifying power."
"But for some reason, not long ago Moryo broke through the seal."
"Controlling those giant stone soldier puppets is one of Moryo's abilities."
After finishing, Shion's voice trembled slightly.
"If Moryo isn't stopped, it will destroy the entire ninja world."