Naruto: Starting by Marrying Uchiha

Shika Town! This is the target town under the rule of the nobles.

"You lowly merchants, daring to do business in Lord Kamakura's domain without paying taxes and trying to escape, do you have a death wish?"

A sharp-faced man, his face heavily powdered and pale as a ghost, blocked a convoy trying to leave the town, surrounded by a dozen samurai and several dozen foot soldiers.

How rampant are the nobles in the ninja world?

It can only be described in one sentence.

When it comes to not acting like humans, they truly excel! There's nothing they won't do.

The ordinary civilians of the ninja world live in hell, largely thanks to these nobles.

Less than one percent of the noble class occupies over eighty percent of the means of production. Coupled with backward productivity, it's no wonder the common people can't live well.

"Lord Hyori, we've already paid the taxes! These goods are urgently needed supplies for the southwestern ninja army!"

Honda Masaru pleaded desperately.

If it were just money, he wouldn't be so distressed.

But these goods were materials privately purchased for Takashi.

The other party not only wanted money but also intended to seize the goods, which he couldn't accept, so he tried to sneak away, only to be caught.

"Hmph, just some vulgar people, do you think you can use them to pressure me?"

The sharp-faced man named Hyori said while whipping Honda Masaru's back.

In reality, he was just a noble's steward.

But in this land, he was the supreme authority.

As for the ninjas?

In the eyes of the noble class, they were just hired thugs, not worth considering.

Just as Honda Masaru was being beaten and begging for mercy, preparing for a big loss.

"Are the vulgar people you're talking about us?"

A voice interrupted the actions of both parties.

Step, step!

A short-haired young man, wearing a black tight-fitting outfit and elbow-length gloves, looking heroic and handsome, slowly entered the town through the gate, followed by ninjas wearing Konoha forehead protectors.

With an imposing presence and a grand entrance, Takashi arrived just in time to see the 'noble steward beating Honda Masaru,' and felt a surge of anger.

Back in the ninja academy, Honda had treated him to a few good meals.

He thought the intelligence was exaggerated, as the Honda Trading Company was a collaborator with the ninja army, and with his backing, he didn't expect any noble to disrespect them.

But he underestimated the nobles' limitless audacity.

Ninjas naturally revered the nobles, thinking they were truly 'Heavenly Dragons,' didn't they?

"What... what do you want to do? I am Lord Kamakura's steward, even your Konoha's Third Hokage must treat me with respect!"

Hyori was somewhat panicked, directly pulling out the banner of the Third Hokage.

Indeed, from the nobles' perspective, Konoha was merely the hired 'thugs' of the Land of Fire, not highly regarded.

It was only out of respect for the ninjas' power that they acknowledged the 'Double Jade (Daimyo, Hokage)' concept, but in the nobles' hearts, they truly looked down on Konoha.

The population and territory under any major noble's jurisdiction were much larger than Konoha's, so how could they respect it?

"Is that so!"

Takashi walked up to him with a playful glint in his eyes.

As for the samurai and foot soldiers, just as they were about to do something, they found a kunai at their throats. Any slight movement, and the Konoha ninjas would unhesitatingly slit their throats.

With Takashi's status as a commander, as long as he didn't do anything detrimental to Konoha, the southwestern ninja army would follow his orders.

Whoosh! A flame ignited at Takashi's fingertip.

Then, under the terrified gaze of the sharp-faced steward named Hyori, he extended a flame spear through the man's forehead.

"Flame Finger!"

Takashi actually wanted to call it 'One Yang Finger.'

But he thought the style was too mismatched, so he decided to call it this instead.

This move had great potential for development.

In battle, an unexpected strike like this could definitely achieve surprising results.

The inspiration for the jutsu came from 'Chidori Sharp Spear!' Just like how the Flame Cloak borrowed from 'Chidori Stream.'

Overall, when developing jutsu, Takashi almost drained the future Sasuke dry (Sasuke: Please, act like a human!).

"Let's go!"

After taking down the opponent with one move, Takashi quickly left with the southwestern ninja army.

Not appearing too close to Honda Masaru was to protect him, which the other party surely understood.

If he showed too much importance, his enemies would definitely target him in the future, which would be troublesome.

This level was just right.

It indicated that he valued the partnership but wasn't too close.

"Takashi-kun, should I go and clean up the opponent's family?"

Hyuga Aotsuki asked softly beside him.

Looking at her pure and beautiful face, it was hard to imagine such words about wiping out an entire family would come from her cherry lips.

"Let's rescue the troops first, then you and Koji can disguise as bandits to raid them. At least give those nobles some face, we can't act directly!"

Takashi nodded.

Since the goal was to establish authority, it was only natural to see it through to the end. 

At the same time, it was an opportunity to make a substantial profit; after all, the wealth of the nobility was considerable, and such benevolent individuals were always welcome.

This noble's situation was not an isolated case.

While it couldn't be said that all nobles were so greedy and foolish, at least more than half were. He was hopeful for more such opportunities in the future.

Not only could he make a statement, but he could also seize the chance to fill his pockets.

If anyone suspected it was his doing, they would need to provide evidence. If they couldn't, did they really think this 'sage' was a pushover they could easily manipulate?

"Good!"

Hyuga Aotsuki took a deep look at the location of the city lord's mansion, committing it to memory.

Once the siege was lifted, she would bring Yamakawa Koji to visit this 'benevolent person' who sponsored their cause.

Before long, the ninja army arrived at a forest.

This was also where Orochimaru, with his remaining troops, was surrounded.

"Random ninja 1, you go..."

With Hyuga Aotsuki by Takashi's side, they naturally had an overwhelming advantage in intelligence, allowing him to issue orders to preemptively deal with the hidden Sand Ninja scouts.

Teams accelerated out to clear the targets.

Having Hyuga Aotsuki was like having a map hack.

However, Takashi couldn't expose her range of vision, so he only sent teams out when they were within a kilometer, making it appear that her vision was limited to the normal range of a branch family member.

With this method, the southwestern ninja army could silently infiltrate the core battlefield without alerting the Sand Ninja.

Boom!

Takashi faintly heard the loud commotion from afar, knowing that the battle had reached the point of close combat.

"I'll go ahead, Tianren, you're in charge."

With that, he accelerated forward.

Whoosh! Flames enveloped his body, and he transformed into a fiery meteor, disappearing from the others' sight.

No one in the southwestern ninja army found his actions strange.

The strong naturally have the right to be willful.

Meanwhile, Nara Jukumo smiled wryly, leading the ninja army forward at a standard pace.

On the other side, Orochimaru, in coordination with Manda, used traps, poisons, and other means to fend off the Sand Ninja's attack.

Fighting one against three!

Even though Granny Chiyo's strength hadn't fully recovered due to her puppets, she was still formidable.

Moreover, Rasa and Pakura grew stronger as the battle progressed.

After multiple battles, their strength was now comparable to that of Kage-level fighters.

If Kitsuchi hadn't left, Orochimaru would have been in an even worse situation.

As it stood, although his injuries had been resolved with the Orochi Substitution Technique, his condition had plummeted.

Orochi Substitution Technique!

It was considered Orochimaru's core secret technique.

A masterpiece combining summoning techniques and biology.

Inspired by a snake's ability to shed its skin.

Even if he suffered fatal injuries, he could resolve them with this secret technique.

It was also the secret technique Takashi coveted the most.

Unfortunately, its development was too challenging, forcing him to set it aside for now, though he already had a development concept.

Just as snakes can shed their skin, a phoenix can be reborn from the ashes.

With a concept in mind, the omnipotent chakra could surely accomplish it.

The most crucial aspect of developing a ninja technique is 'creativity,' so Takashi was confident he could develop it, provided he had enough knowledge.

"Orochimaru, you have nowhere to escape this time!"

Rasa controlled the gold dust to restrain Manda while attacking Orochimaru's will.

Unfortunately, Orochimaru's tenacious will was unyielding, even in the face of adversity. He withstood Pakura's fierce attacks while guarding against Chiyo and Rasa, giving them no opportunity to strike.

With Orochimaru bearing the brunt of the pressure, Nara Shikaku and the others barely maintained the battle without collapsing.

But now, the number of Konoha ninjas had dwindled to less than six hundred, less than half of what they had before the battle, indicating the staggering losses.

Moreover, most were injured, on the brink of collapse.

"It's over!"

Nara Shikaku suddenly realized his chakra was depleted, and he sighed inwardly.

The Sand Ninjas had been rotating in their pursuit, maintaining their chakra well.

But as the pursued, they had no way to conserve chakra, so the enemy had been suppressing and harassing them, waiting for their chakra to run out.

Without chakra, ninjas were not much stronger than ordinary people, and the Sand Ninjas could easily slaughter them.

A kunai flew towards him like lightning.

With chakra, dodging would have been easy.

But now, even though his mind wanted to dodge, his body told him it was impossible.

Just as he was about to give up hope, a voice as melodious as heavenly music reached Nara Shikaku's ears.

(End of Chapter)