Naruto's civilian cannon fodder starts with the three-body technique

Chapter 383: The Plot to Steal the Country
Someone actually dared to directly kill a daimyo?! This is outrageous! What terrifying political upheaval and consequences will this trigger?!

Even Tsunade's pupils shrank at this moment, and Koharu Utatane's face drained of all color.

However, Umino Sasuke remained unusually calm. Standing atop the Great White's back, his voice, amplified by chakra, resonated clearly throughout the battlefield, carrying an undeniable authority and icy coldness.

"The daimyo of the Wind Kingdom has been executed; those who surrender will not be killed!"

These words struck like a thunderclap, resounding in everyone's ears.

A moment of deathly silence fell over the battlefield.

Everyone's gaze was involuntarily drawn to the gap in the city wall where the smoke and dust were slowly dissipating.

The headless corpse, dressed in a magnificent robe, slowly fell to the ground, next to which lay the head, its eyes wide open, rolling on the floor.

"It really is a famous name!"

"The Daimyo is dead! He was killed in public by Konoha ninja!"

"Your Highness!!!" The loyal guards cried out in heart-wrenching grief, feeling as if the sky had fallen.

The other soldiers were ashen-faced, their last shred of fighting spirit vanished. They had lost their protectors; what were they fighting for?

Conversely, after a brief moment of shock, the Konoha ninja army erupted with even more fervent fighting spirit and morale. Although they were shocked by Captain Umino's audacity, victory was within their grasp.

"kill!!!"

Someone shouted first, and the Konoha ninja army launched a general attack on the huge breach in the city wall like a flood breaking through a dam.

Unstoppable!

Sasuke Umino was the first to leap off the back of the giant white building, landing precisely on the broken section of the collapsed city wall like a divine warrior, achieving the "first ascent." With his hands flying, a series of sharp wind-style ninjutsu whistled out, continuously widening the gap, clearing away the scattered resistance, and paving the way for the main army to follow.

Koharu Utatane, no longer caring about her manners, practically tumbled up the castle wall and rushed to Sasuke Umino's side, her face deathly pale and her voice trembling:

"Umino Sasuke! Are you insane?! How dare you kill him?! He's the Daimyo of the Land of Wind! This will bring us enormous trouble, and what about the Hokage—"

Sasuke Umino turned to look at the panicked Koharu Utatane, his tone unusually calm, even carrying a faint smile: "Elder Koharu, calm down, this isn't true."

Koharu Utatane was startled and subconsciously followed Sasuke Umino's gaze to look at the headless corpse again. She looked at the head again. After all, she was an experienced ninja. After careful examination, she found some clues. Although the appearance and clothing were those of a daimyo, nobles often valued their lives, so it was very possible that it was a fake.

"You mean—a stand-in?!" Koharu Utatane instantly understood. After the huge shock came a huge surprise and a feeling of utter relief.

“That’s right,” Umino Sasuke said calmly. “The real daimyo are probably already taking advantage of the chaos to escape.”

Koharu Utatane's heart immediately settled back into her stomach. Instantly, her eyes sharpened, and her politician's instincts returned. She immediately understood the purpose of Umino Sasuke's public "slaying of the daimyo." This was an excellent plan to quickly break the defenders' will to resist and achieve a swift victory, minimizing Konoha's losses.

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
Koharu Utatane immediately adopted a resolute and righteous expression, channeling her chakra, and her voice echoed across the battlefield: "The Daimyo of the Land of Wind has been executed. The righteous army of Konoha will only punish the ringleaders, and will not question those who were coerced. Those who lay down their weapons will be spared! Those who resist will be killed without mercy!"

Her words confirmed that "the daimyo is dead," and completely shattered the last psychological defense of the Wind Kingdom's garrison.

"We surrender, please don't kill us!"

"Surrender!"

Clang! Clang! Clang—!
The sound of weapons falling echoed everywhere. The remaining defenders and warriors discarded their weapons, knelt down, and surrendered. The sporadic resistance was quickly extinguished.

The Konoha ninja army surged into the Daimyo's residence at an almost unbelievable speed, quickly taking control of key roads, treasuries, and palaces.

Just as Umino Sasuke had predicted, the real daimyo, under the protection of his shadow and his most elite "Guardian Ninja" forces, had already fled in panic from the soon-to-fall daimyo's mansion through a secret underground passage, heading towards the Temple of the Wind in a disheveled state.

The Konoha ninja army advanced at a very fast pace and quickly took control of most of the key areas.

Koharu Tsurugi stood in front of the slightly messy palace, her face showing a hint of fatigue, but more so a sense of relief at completing her mission and a touch of unease.

She quickly walked to Umino Sasuke's side and said urgently in a low voice, "Sasuke, the overall situation is settled, but there is still one crucial step! We must immediately find and 'protect' the Daimyo of the Land of Wind. We absolutely cannot allow anything to happen to him, nor can we allow him to fall into the hands of those with ulterior motives. There is no room for error. As long as the Daimyo is under our control, we will be able to take the absolute initiative in the subsequent negotiations and control the situation in the Land of Wind!"

Sasuke Unno's eyes flickered slightly. He naturally knew that the "daimyo" left in the palace was just a substitute, and the real daimyo had already fled under the protection of the shadow.

He originally intended to point it out directly, but as the words were about to come out, a bold plan to control the Wind Kingdom instantly took shape in his mind.

Capturing a daimyo and completely controlling a daimyo are two completely different concepts. The benefits and strategic advantages brought by the latter are incomparable to those of the former.

“Elder Koharu is right,” Umino Sasuke replied calmly on the surface, while secretly forming a hand seal, and a shadow clone that looked exactly like him quietly appeared.

"Let's go without delay!" Koharu Utatane, without any suspicion, led Sasuke Umino's shadow clone and a team of elite ANBU into the palace to "search for and protect" this crucial "Daimyo."

Meanwhile, Sasuke Umino's true form used the Spore Technique to instantly merge into the ground and pursue the real Daimyo.

……

Meanwhile, in a desolate desert a dozen miles away from Daming Prefecture.

The daimyo of the Land of Wind, surrounded by elite warriors and shadow guards, was fleeing in disarray along a hidden trade route towards the Temple of Wind. He had already changed out of his magnificent daimyo robes and donned what appeared to be ordinary merchant attire, yet the fear and humiliation in his eyes were impossible to conceal. Hearing the gradually subsiding but still faintly audible shouts of battle from the direction of the capital behind him, the daimyo's face was ashen, his heart still pounding wildly.

"Useless! They're all useless! Sunagakure is useless, and these samurai armies are useless too! They couldn't even hold them off for half a day, no, not even an hour!" He cursed under his breath, his voice trembling slightly with fear and anger. "And those parasitic nobles, they're stingy when the country is in trouble. Once we recover our lost territory, we'll make them pay!"

The shadow silently guarded his side, its voice still steady as it comforted him: "Your Excellency, please calm down. As long as you arrive safely at the Temple of Wind, with the temple's defenses and the strength of the monks, we can gain a foothold. Konoha is fighting on two fronts and will definitely be eager to end the western front so they can deal with Iwagakure on the Takigakure front. At that time, we can negotiate with Konoha. As long as you are not captured, in order to quickly stabilize the situation, the terms of the ceasefire agreement they sign will not be too harsh. The Land of Fire also looks down on our desert and cannot station troops there for long. The future of the Land of Wind is still in your hands."

These words slightly calmed the Daimyo's anxious emotions. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. That's right, his judgment was the same as his shadow's. His pleasure-seeking cousin from the Land of Fire had no interest in this barren land of the Land of Wind, and the Konoha ninjas were even less likely to stay here for long. As long as he escaped and wasn't caught, there was still hope of turning the tide.

However, just as a glimmer of hope was rekindled in him...

On a sand dune ahead.

A figure appeared silently without warning, as if it had always been standing there, quietly waiting for their arrival.

The man was dressed in a Konoha Jonin uniform with a white trench coat over it. His face was calm and his eyes were deep. He was the last person they wanted to see at that moment—Umino Sasuke!
Daiming's heart leaped into his throat, his face turned deathly pale, and he instinctively took a step back, hiding behind the shadow.

Shadow also froze, his single eye flashing with extreme vigilance, his muscles tensing instantly. He had no idea how the other person had appeared in front of him!
Umino Sasuke's gaze calmly swept over the panicked "caravan," a faint smile playing on his lips. His voice rang out clearly: "Daimyo, you seem to be in a great hurry. Where are you planning to go on vacation?"

Da Ming was so frightened that his soul almost left his body, and his lips trembled so much that he couldn't utter a word.

Shadow forced himself to remain calm, stepped forward, and stood in front of Daming. He forced a humble smile, typical of a caravan manager, and bowed, saying, "Sir, you have misunderstood. We are just an ordinary caravan from Loulan. We heard about the war in Daming Prefecture and hurriedly withdrew. We wanted to detour back to Loulan. We are by no means important figures. Please do us a favor."

His acting was superb; his tone and demeanor were impeccable. Even their attire and the items they carried made them look like an ordinary, frightened caravan.

However, Umino Sasuke simply looked at him indifferently, his eyes seemingly able to see through all pretense: "The Loulan caravan? They're dressed quite convincingly, but... this owner's soul aura is quite noble."

His gaze shifted to the "wealthy businessman" behind the shadow, who, though dressed plainly, exuded an air of privilege and was now trembling with fear.

Upon hearing this, both Shadow and Famous's expressions changed drastically.

Soul aura? He can actually sense soul aura?! This ability is unheard of; any disguise is meaningless in the face of it.

"Attack!" Knowing he could no longer pretend, Shadow roared and instantly formed hand seals.

However, Sasuke Umino was faster.

"Water Release: Twin Dragon Bullets Technique!"

In this arid desert environment, two enormous water dragons, composed entirely of highly condensed chakra water, appeared out of thin air, emitting deafening roars, and attacked the shadow and its guards from the left and right.

The scale of the attack was extremely frightening!

"Protect the Daimyo!!" The shadow's eyes widened in fury as he frantically channeled his chakra.

The surrounding samurai guards roared and drew their weapons, or used ninjutsu to try to defend themselves.

But all this is in vain!
The power of an A-rank water-style ninjutsu is already immense, let alone an advanced water-style ninjutsu improved by Umino Sasuke. These two water dragons were incredibly agile and far more powerful than usual, precisely dodging the defensive earth-style rock ball that the shadow had hastily unleashed.

Rumble!
what--

Screams came and went.

Where the water dragon passed, the elite samurai guards were either struck by a high-speed, high-level summoned beast or torn apart by the raging water. In an instant, they were either killed or maimed. In just one exchange, apart from the daimyo and his shadow who were protected by the rock sphere, all the guards were wiped out.

The yellow sand was stained red, and severed limbs and broken weapons were scattered all over the ground.

Sasuke Umino stood with his arms crossed, not continuing the pursuit, but coldly staring at the lonely rock ball.

The rock sphere dissipated, revealing a pale-faced, still-shaken Daimyo inside, and a shadow blocking his way with somewhat disordered breathing. Clearly, while the shadow had blocked the main impact, it had also withstood considerable pressure.

"Now, can we talk about surrender?" Sasuke Umino's voice remained calm, yet carried an undeniable pressure.

Shadow glanced at the daimyo behind him, whose face had turned deathly pale, and then at the guards who had been instantly cleared from the area. A struggle and despair flashed in his single eye. The difference in strength was too great. For the daimyo's safety, perhaps surrendering was the only option.

However, just as Shadow's heart wavered.

Daimyo suddenly shoved him away. Although his body was still trembling, his eyes flashed with an almost insane ruthlessness and the pride that belonged to Daimyo.

He stared intently at Umino Sasuke, his voice shrill with fear, yet unusually firm:

"You want me to surrender? Don't even think about it! Umino Sasuke, don't think I don't know you wouldn't dare kill me. I am a daimyo, and you are just a mere ninja. If you dare to kill a daimyo, you will be trampling on the bottom line of the entire ninja world and the noble class. At that time, forget about becoming Hokage, even Konoha won't be able to protect you. Your Umino clan will be despised and suppressed by the entire ninja world because of you, and you will never be able to rise again! Can you bear the consequences?!"

His words were not entirely empty boasting. The impact of killing a daimyo was extremely negative, enough to provoke the common hostility and sanctions of all major powers and daimyo prefectures. This was indeed a sword hanging over the heads of all ninjas, and the Uzumaki clan was a cautionary tale.

Upon hearing this, Shadow's heart stirred. Yes, no matter how strong Umino Sasuke is, he is still a ninja. Does he really dare to defy the world?
Faced with the daimyo's stern threat, a cold glint flashed in Umino Sasuke's eyes, but he still spoke calmly: "Oh? It seems that Your Excellency has chosen to resist to the end? Then don't blame me for being impolite. Fists and feet have no eyes, and it would be bad if I accidentally injured Your Excellency's precious body later."

The threat in those words was unmistakable.

(End of this chapter)