Naruto: Tango with Death

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Once at the Daimyo's Palace, Takashi quickly led me to the Daimyo himself, to his living quarters. But as Takashi knocked on the door, there was no response, so he called out, "Father?"

A second later, the door was opened, revealing a face I did not like very much. And the opposite was even truer.

Madam Shijimi took a second to recognize me, but when she did, she made an obvious scowl as she said, "Konoha's bitch is here?"

Well, it's been a long time since I've been called a bitch. Lately people have gravitated more towards monsters. Guess she was good for something at least, bringing me nostalgia.

Takashi looked embarrassed, and a little angry as he said, "This is the Shogun mother! Please behave yourself!"

Madam Shijimi's scowl worsened, but in the end she said, "Your father is with the Council."

Then, she walked back in, slamming the door behind her. Takashi himself looked surprised for some reason, but it wasn't really my place to ask, so I instead said, "Let's go?"

Takashi broke out of his daze and nodded, leading me to another wing of the palace. As we approached our destination, we started hearing voices, which only got stronger as we approached.

Then, we arrived before opened doors, with two armed guards standing before it, blocking the way. As we tried moving in, the two stopped us, and Takashi said, "Get out of the way."

One of the two guards sent a look at me and said, "Of course, my Prince, but you can't just bring anyone with you."

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "It seems the nobles won't be the only ones I'll have to educate."

Before he could reply, I appeared next to him and smashed his head into the door frame, knocking him out with a loud sound that muted the entire room, who suddenly noticed us.

The other guard was looking at me with wide eyes, and before he could attack I grabbed his shoulder, my fingers digging into his skin to directly hold his bone as I said, "You are talking to the Shogun, so be happy your head wasn't chopped off. Bring your friend to the infirmary, and make sure no such mistake is made again."

He was obviously quite scared, and nodded as he finally realized who they had messed with.

"What is the meaning of this!"

The room was made in a way to give it a great acoustic, as it roughly followed the design of a Roman theatre, and so despite those words being spoken in a not so loud voice, I heard them clearly.

I looked at every face within the room, and with the trouble I created, it was not the Daimyo who spoke up, but one of the nobles.

All the nobles sat in rows in front of a stage, where the noble who spoke stood. As for the Daimyo, he stood a few feet behind, his shoulders slumped.

While the unconscious guard was escorted off by the one still awake, I stepped into the room and moved to the stage.

The noble on it followed me with his gaze and asked, "Are you deaf?"

I ignored him, and walked up the stage at a normal speed, and arrived on the stage, right next to him. He looked like he wanted to add something, so I flared my chakra at him, making him flinch and take several steps back. It was only a small part, so that's all it did.

Now that I had the stage for myself, I said, "As I said, I am the newly instated Shogun. Before any more misunderstanding is made, I answer only to the Daimyo, so watch your mouth in front of me."

The nobles all looked at each other, some looking worried, some angry, and some cunning. Doesn't make a difference to me.

The one I had scared seemed to gather some of his courage back as he asked, "You stand before the Fire Council! You cannot act as you wish in here, no matter your position!"

As he said that, he sent a look at the Daimyo, who shrunk on himself. He looked like he was about to say something to me, but as we looked at each other in the eyes, he froze for a moment, before sighing and taking a step back.

Smiling at that, I said, "You, with the loud mouth. Who are you?"

The noble was sending threatening looks at the Daimyo, but the mention of his identity seemed to spark something in him as he puffed out his chest and raised his chin to say, "I am Lord Hirahisa, Governor of…"

I interrupted him with a sharp whistle, making him gasp as two figures appeared next to me. Those two were Anbu.

I said, "Investigate Lord Hirahisa's mansion in the city, you have the Shogun's permission to deal with any resistance as you wish."

The two nodded wordlessly and disappeared, leaving a shocked room behind. Hirahisa was gasping, struggling to find the words he sought. Even the Daimyo looked shocked.

In response, I addressed the room, "It would seem that I will need to clear some things out for you, so allow me. The supreme authority in the Land of Fire is the Daimyo, not the Council. And we currently are in a civil war, so I, as the Shogun, am legitimized to use any amount of force I see fit to deal with the rebels."

It didn't take a genius to understand what I just said. The nobles may have managed to coerce the Daimyo into creating the Council, but I made it obvious that wouldn't work with me.

This wasn't a democracy, here the powerful ruled, and while that power can be either personal or political, in any case I was stronger than the Council, so they had no choice but to bow before me, or break.

Lord Hirahisa finally found the words to express his thoughts, "I don't see a reason to stay here any longer and listen to this child! Everyone, let's get out!"

The nobles started raising their voices in agreement, getting up from their seats while the Daimyo looked in anguish.

As for me, I scoffed, before erupting with a large part of my chakra. It instantly flooded the room, and all the nobles were forced back to their seats, with Hirahisa falling to the ground. The Daimyo, despite not being aimed, had to lean against the wall next to him not to fall.

My chakra pressing down on the nobles, it also made my voice louder and more impactful as I said, "I don't remember allowing you to leave. This isn't a children's playground, you don't get to come in and leave willy nilly."

I kept my chakra on them for a few more seconds, before taking it off. The nobles did not move an inch despite regaining their freedom of movement though, and stayed rooted to their seats as they looked at me in fear.

A few minutes of silence passed, with Hirahisa looking at me with a mix of hatred and fear. Finally, the silence was broken with the arrival of two people, my Anbu.

They stopped next to me, and one of them handed a bunch of letters to me, while the other said, "We found this in a secret room in the attic."

Looking over the letters, I asked, "Found any resistance?"

The Anbu, who was a woman wearing a wolf mask, nodded, and said, "Lord Hirahisa's wife."

The nearby lord froze as he remembered what I had said about any resistance, but fortunately for him, Wolf added, "She didn't represent any threat, so we ignored her."

I nodded, and finished looking over all the letters. Then, I looked at Hirahisa with a smile, and said, "Writing letters for the rebels?"

Hirahisa refuted, "You have no proof that I…"

I cut him off, "Lord Hirahisa, you are being arrested for colluding with the rebels. You are hereby stripped of all your land, titles and privileges. Men, throw him in a cell."