As the morning sun slowly rose on the second day, Uzumaki Minako ignored Tsunade's pitiful, watery-eyed expression. Using the excuse of "the best medical treatment only Konoha has," she personally shoved Tsunade and the other four into the teleportation array.
"Hatake Sakumo. Might Guy."
The two young jōnin who had come to see them off were still feeling regretful over the forced disbandment of the Silver Team. Hearing Minako call their names, they immediately straightened up and performed a formal salute.
"Lady Minako."
"You two, just like the five of them, are seedlings personally valued by the Chairman."
Uzumaki Minako looked at their youthful faces, still carrying traces of downy softness, and her gaze drifted for a moment. Unconsciously, she realized that she herself was no longer far from the age of being called an auntie.
(Am I… no longer comparable to those young and beautiful women?)
Thinking of the new member who had been brought into the bedroom last night, the beautiful married woman—still not yet twenty-eight—let out a quiet sigh in her heart. Outwardly, however, her smile remained gentle and composed.
"Never allow carelessness to place you in danger. For a ninja, intelligence gathering is always the highest priority."
"We understand, Lady Minako."
"Good. But don't lose your courage or your drive to advance either. I trust the two of you can grasp the proper balance."
Uzumaki Minako took out a scroll and gestured for Hatake Sakumo to accept it, then said calmly,
"This is a forbidden technique the Chairman asked me to pass on to you—the Eight Gates Technique. I hope the two of you will make good use of it and not fall short of your aspirations."
Both men dropped to one knee, their voices filled with reverence and excitement.
"We will not disappoint him!"
Forbidden techniques were synonymous with overwhelming power—true trump cards.
In the Military Affairs Department of Konoha, the merit required to exchange for such techniques was something only elite jōnin were even qualified to attempt, often requiring years of nonstop missions to accumulate.
And yet now, it had been handed to them so easily.
This act of recognition alone was enough for Hatake Sakumo and Might Guy to engrave their gratitude deep into their bones.
"I'll be heading back now. Continue your recovery."
Leaving the highest watchtower, Uzumaki Minako returned to the palace and headed straight for the innermost chambers, fully intending to properly deal with those thieving cats.
Even if she herself was also one of those who had tasted forbidden fruit, she still had to make sure they understood their place—so they wouldn't forget who the real authority was.
Pushing the door open, she found—just as expected—that Uchiha Soren was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, four bodies lay sprawled across the bed, jade-like and unrestrained.
The heavy scent of musk in the air caused Minako's cheeks to flush faintly.
"Lady Minako."
Having already witnessed Minako's terrifying strength, the three women first had Lilynette cast a cleansing spell, then used a third-tier spell—Major Wound Recovery—to restore some of their stamina. After getting dressed, they stood neatly to one side.
As for the completely exhausted Clementine, she was helped up by Edss, her face pale and filled with humiliation, forcing herself upright on her own strength.
"…Clementine, was it?"
Uzumaki Minako looked at the golden-haired beauty whose face was filled with resentment. Her heart remained utterly unmoved.
As an external conqueror, everything on this continent was destined to belong to the ninja world—and by extension, to the Chairman himself.
All things were to be ruled by Uchiha Soren. A captured female warrior was no exception.
This woman, who clearly had yet to understand her situation, was not worth Minako's patience.
The ninja world's administrative system had only been established for three or four years. Countless positions remained vacant, and daily affairs piled up like mountains.
Uchiha Soren handled the grand direction; the countless smaller branches were shouldered by the Secretariat and then pushed downward layer by layer.
The three members of the Four Weapons had been assigned as her deputies and were already handling civil administration.
The feudal aristocratic system of the Kingdom was simply beyond redemption—out of ten parts of the people's potential, not even one or two were properly developed.
Most regions grew in savage, uncontrolled ways. Whether people lived or died depended entirely on a lord's mood.
Compared to the old daimyō era, power was even more centralized, taxation even more brutal.
With no spare time to waste, Uzumaki Minako understood everything the moment she saw Clementine's defiant gaze.
She raised her hand.
Boundless chakra condensed into a solid palm and lifted Clementine straight into the air.
"I don't like your eyes."
Minako's voice was calm.
"You're the Chairman's captive woman. Killing you isn't realistic—but making you suffer a little is perfectly acceptable."
"Humans possess five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch."
(This power… Lilynette didn't lie!)
Suspended in midair without the slightest ability to struggle, Clementine stared at Uzumaki Minako in shock. Even at her peak, she would never have been able to resist this power—every cell in her body trembling instinctively.
It made her recall the Black Scripture's godkin hybrid—Zesshi Zetsumei.
One of Zesshi's regular duties was to give new recruits a "welcome."
Absolute domination. Absolute destruction.
Hero-level experts?
No different from pigs and dogs.
Clementine's self-created technique Windstep Break had been casually dismantled and reforged into Super Windstep Break, shattering her pride into fragments.
"On the first day, I'll seal your sense of smell.
On the second, your sense of taste—if that look remains.
By the fifth day, all five senses will be sealed.
As for the sixth day…"
Uzumaki Minako smiled faintly.
"That outcome is something you definitely don't want to know."
"Death is the end of all life. But being unable to die, unable to control one's fate—that is absolute suffering."
Tadpole-like sealing scripts crawled across Clementine's face, then sank into her skin.
She twitched her nose—
And smelled nothing.
"Clementine will be handed over to Miss Sukarma for guidance.
Lilynette, Edss—you two, come with me. There's still a great deal of administrative work today."
Uzumaki Minako set Clementine down and turned to leave. Her long crimson hair swayed naturally behind her, glowing softly under the corridor's sunlight.
Lilynette and Edss hurried to follow.
Left behind, Sukarma stepped up to Clementine and spoke gently,
"Clementine, you've already died once. I hope you'll cherish this life."
"Perhaps it feels unfair—but having walked this far, with so much blood on your hands, you should know better than anyone that the world has never been fair."
Clementine slowly sat up. Looking at Sukarma's sincere expression, the storm in her heart gradually calmed. She exhaled deeply and muttered,
"Of course I know."
Then she cracked a crooked smile.
"At least under your protection, I can ignore the Theocracy's pursuit now."
"I assume you don't mind a big troublemaker like me?"
"Troublemaker?"
Sukarma blinked, then laughed.
"The ones who should be worried next… are the Theocracy, not you."
"Welcome to the Four Weapons, Clementine."
"…It's my honor, Captain Sukarma."
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