Naruto: I'm really not an evil scientist!

Hiruko stood to the side, his posture upright like a pine tree, yet he keenly noticed the subtle changes in the air.

He sensed that some people were already unable to contain their restlessness, their eyes gleaming with eager anticipation, ready to voice their self-righteous "insights"—but how could Beiliuhu give them that opportunity to disrupt his carefully laid plans?

So he turned his head slightly and gave a wink to the eunuch who had been standing quietly by the door.

The eunuch was extremely astute and instantly understood Beiliuhu's intention. He did not nod in response, but a barely perceptible ripple flashed in his eyes, like a ripple on a calm lake, silent and still.

A few seconds later, the eunuch walked in with steady steps, neither hurried nor slow.

He leaned close to the ear of the daimyo of the Land of Fire and whispered a few words in a very low voice.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire looked puzzled at first, his brows furrowed, as if he had heard something incomprehensible.

Then his expression changed dramatically. First, he showed a look of ecstasy, his upturned lips almost reaching his ears... No, upon closer inspection, it was clearly a forced expression of suppressed grief and shock, with beads of sweat even appearing on his forehead.

He stood up abruptly and exclaimed, "What?! Such a thing has happened... As the guardians of the entire Land of Fire, how can we stand idly by and do nothing about this!"

"Gentlemen, there are still many doubts surrounding this matter. Let us set them aside for now and wait for the King of the Tea Kingdom to arrive. Then everything will naturally become clear. I shall take my leave now." After saying this, he hurriedly left, his steps slightly flustered, as if something terrible was chasing him.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire is, after all, the local tyrant, and holds a pivotal position in this land.

Once he left, the meeting, which was already rife with hidden agendas and undercurrents, naturally could not continue.

But... what exactly happened that made him leave in the middle of the meeting? Everyone was filled with doubts, like countless ants crawling in their hearts, itchy but unable to find the answer.

Some people secretly speculated: "Could it be that his wife is about to give birth? But there's no need for him to be so flustered."

Left with no other choice, the crowd dispersed temporarily, their faces filled with confusion and bewilderment, their steps faltering, as if they were still immersed in their earlier doubts and unable to shake them off for a long time.

Lao Da was also in the crowd, but due to his status, he didn't dare to ask.

Now that the crowd had dispersed, he took advantage of his good relationship with Biruko and sneaked up to her, asking in a low voice, "What... exactly happened just now? Why did Your Highness suddenly leave?"

Hiruko smiled slightly, a hint of amusement in his eyes, like a cunning fox: "I told him that a little girl's dog accidentally ran into Konoha's minefield, and its fate is unknown."

The dog was the little girl's only friend, and she's crying her heart out, she's a complete sorehead, and she needs someone to help her… No, I'm not telling him directly, it's because this has been on TV.”

The more he listened, the more confused he became, his brows furrowing like two small hills: "A dog... for a dog... to interrupt such an important meeting... even if we save that dog, what use will it be to the Land of Fire?"

Hiruko silently raised his head, his gaze deep, as if piercing through the air before him and looking into the distance: "Perhaps it's the approval rating."

Lao Da was even more astonished, his eyes widening like saucers: "But we're not an electoral country! The position of Daimyo is hereditary!"

Hiruko shook his head slightly, a hint of emotion in his voice: "That's why he longs for the respect and love of others... No matter what, the image of an old man who cares about a little girl can't be too bad, can it?"

Lao Da was still somewhat puzzled: "But even so..."

"Then let me ask you this, Your Excellency, do you know where the Land of Tea is?" Hiruko suddenly asked.

Lao Da was taken aback, an embarrassed expression appearing on his face: "How would I know about something like this! And, that little girl's dog..."

Hiruko looked away again, sighing inwardly: ...I knew it, nobody cares about the Land of Tea, nobody pays attention to it.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Shisui stood blankly in the center of the battlefield, surrounded by wave after wave of elite rebel troops charging towards him like a tidal wave.

Their eyes were filled with madness and determination, like a pack of reckless beasts willing to pay any price for their goals.

Before him stood the rebels, who appeared frenzied and fearless, brandishing their weapons and roaring so loudly it seemed to tear the sky apart.

Behind him stood the king's personal guards, even more ferocious and determined to defend him to the death. Their eyes revealed unwavering resolve and loyalty; they were willing to pay any price, even sacrifice their own lives, to protect their king.

These two groups of warriors, of the same language and race, are now entangled together, slaughtering each other madly, as if they were mortal enemies. Every slash and every sword strike is filled with endless hatred, as if they want to completely annihilate each other.

Although the Land of Tea is a small country with few ninjas, after a whole day of fierce fighting, even an elite like Uchiha Shisui couldn't help but feel mentally exhausted. His eyelids were drooping, and his body felt as if all his strength had been drained, making every movement incredibly difficult.

Unwittingly, even his beloved knife, which he never parted with, was chipped in several places. The blade gleamed with a cold light, yet it also carried a hint of weariness, as if telling the story of the cruelty and ruthlessness of this war.

The sheer brutality of the battle before him even reminded him of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

At that time, the entire ninja world was in chaos. Everyone was gambling everything, and everyone had a reason not to lose. They fought for their beliefs and goals.

However, war is cruel. It is like a merciless harvester, allowing only one winner. The rest are all losers, ghosts, and disappear into the long river of history.

Countless ninjutsu techniques rained down on the ground as if they were free, blooming into dazzling yet deadly flowers of slaughter. Their brilliance shone brightly, yet they took away one vibrant life after another, causing the earth to tremble.

Now, such a tragic situation is happening before his eyes again.

However, what decided everyone's lives at this moment was no longer the ninjutsu he was familiar with, but the cold and sharp swords, spears, and halberds in the soldiers' hands. They gleamed coldly in the sunlight, like the scythe of death, mercilessly reaping lives.

"Why did this happen... Why did it turn out like this... It shouldn't be like this!" As a veteran who went to the battlefield at a young age, Uchiha Shisui was already used to the cruelty and ruthlessness of war. He had built a solid defense in his heart, and ordinary scenes could hardly touch his heart anymore.

But no matter how you look at it, this war is really too strange, like an absurd farce that leaves people completely baffled.

Originally, he was ordered by the Fifth Hokage to deliver something to the ruler of the Land of Tea. The ruler received him politely, with a warm smile on his face, a smile as warm and friendly as the spring sunshine.

Uchiha Shisui didn't know what was written in the secret letter, but after reading it, the ruler of the Land of Tea was overjoyed, his eyes shining with excitement. He not only invited him to stay for dinner, but also ordered someone to bring him a bottle of cola, praising it loudly: "Very fresh, very delicious."

...This assessment seems inappropriate for a beverage; it's more appropriate for a delicacy.

However, since it was the king who spoke, Uchiha Shisui wouldn't be foolish enough to contradict him directly. He would just accept whatever the king said, though he secretly found it amusing and a slight smile played on his lips.

But what this young ruler did next was completely incomprehensible to Uchiha Shisui.

He pulled out the bank draft tucked inside the secret letter and began recruiting soldiers in front of Zhishui, as if he were about to conquer all directions and dominate the world.

Although the great war has ended, the people who were forged in the war and are full of martial spirit still exist. They yearn for battle and want to make achievements, like a pack of hungry wolves searching for prey.

Even in a small country like the Land of Tea, as long as you raise a flag and provide enough food and pay, people will naturally come to serve as soldiers and earn a living. Not to mention when the king summons them, there are even more people who respond.

However, the slogan they shouted was really... "Cola is prosperous, tea country is thriving!" Such a bizarre slogan can be said to be a once-in-a-century occurrence, making people speechless with laughter, as if they had heard a huge joke.

Even stranger, however, was the reaction of the retainers.

Not only did they disobey the king's orders, but they also gathered all the cola they could find while concentrating their forces, and then... poured it out without hesitation, as if it were some kind of monstrous flood, their faces showing disgust.

Uchiha Shisui was very puzzled, his brows furrowed, and he pondered to himself: What magic does this cola have that can make two respectable groups of important people start fighting? There must be some unknown secret hidden behind this.

The battle was extremely fierce at one point. At the most dangerous moment, the personal guard of the ruler of the Tea Country was almost overwhelmed by the enemy—the retainers had more troops than the ruler, as if the ruler were the traitor. The situation was extremely precarious.

Fortunately, at the most critical moment, Uchiha Shisui stepped forward, like a towering mountain, protecting the central army and stabilizing morale.

He single-handedly killed more than a dozen experts who had sneaked over to kill the king. He was agile and his swordsmanship was fierce. He moved among the enemies like a ghost, and wherever he went, the enemies fell down. The king's morale was greatly boosted as a result.

The young king of the Tea Kingdom was quite decisive. He took the opportunity to put on the great armor passed down from his ancestors. The armor gleamed with a cold light, as if telling the story of past glories. Each piece of armor carried the memory of history.

He picked up the vermilion spear used by his ancestors; the red tassel at the tip fluttered in the wind, adding to his majesty, as if proclaiming the dignity of the ruler to the enemy.

He charged into the enemy ranks, hacking and slashing, sustaining more than a dozen wounds but fighting to the death. His battle robe was stained with blood, but it only strengthened his resolve to fight. His eyes revealed a fearless courage, as if nothing could stop him, and in the end, he shook the morale of the enemy army.

In any case, the monarch is the legitimate ruler of the country, the symbol of the country, and represents the authority and dignity of the country.

Fighting against the king's army carries an inherent psychological burden for the vassal legions. Not everyone is willing to bear the stigma of killing the king, a crime that would bring eternal infamy and condemnation from the world.

Then, with the help of Uchiha Shisui and the subsequent army, the enemy finally retreated, like a receding tide, leaving behind only a mess, corpses lying haphazardly on the ground, blood staining the earth red, and a strong smell of blood filling the air.

What followed was a series of crushing battles. Uchiha Shisui led the lord's army in a relentless pursuit, their steps firm and powerful, as if they intended to wipe out all the enemies and restore peace to the Land of Tea.

Overall, apart from being a bit dangerous at the beginning, the war was not so difficult later on.

The Land of Tea is very small, with only a dozen or so cities in total. Its soldiers are few in number and scattered in various places, like chess pieces.

Seeing that they could not defeat the king's army in one fell swoop, the morale of the retainers continued to waver, like a candle in the wind, which might be extinguished at any moment. Fear and despair were revealed in their eyes.

Apart from the first few cities, the rest of the cities were pacified with a simple proclamation, encountering almost no resistance. It was as if those cities had already given up resistance, waiting for the arrival of the ruler and the arrival of a new order.

No, this battlefield is not without its dangers.

At the very least, when attacking the impregnable castle of the head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Shisui sensed an extremely powerful and strange chakra from afar. The chakra was like a surging, unstoppable wave, or a howling wind sweeping across the sky and earth, carrying a chilling sense of oppression that made him shudder and his body tremble slightly.

The owner of that powerful chakra seemed to have keenly sensed his presence as well. In an instant, a subtle connection seemed to form between the two, as if an invisible yet strong thread was tightly binding them together.

Strangely, the owner of that powerful chakra did not engage in any entanglement with Uchiha Shisui. Instead, like a frightened wild beast, he chose to retreat directly, as if he was extremely afraid of confronting him head-on and thus destroying the situation that could have been salvaged or dealt with.

Although the enemy's departure allowed the king's army to successfully capture the city, which was undoubtedly a good thing, there was something very strange behind it all!

Why would the two sides suddenly start fighting over something as seemingly insignificant as cola?

What secrets lie hidden within this seemingly absurd conflict? And what does that suddenly appearing, mysterious enemy truly mean?

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Chapter 396 Win, Win Big!

Uchiha Shisui looked at the lord's army, who had already won but were now running rampant in the city.

Like ferocious and brutal beasts, they dragged one noble person after another from their homes and cruelly bled them dry; the bloody scene was too gruesome to bear.

Is this still the disciplined and obedient legion he remembered?

Their behavior was so brutal and without any moral compass, like a pack of mindless beasts who only knew how to destroy and kill wantonly.

The world was changing too fast, so fast that even Uchiha Shisui couldn't quite understand it. He felt as if he were in a strange and absurd world, and everything around him seemed unreal, like a dream.

Finally, Uchiha Shisui, who was also covered in wounds and scars, stood before the ruler of the Land of Tea.

The ruler of the Tea Country is only in his early twenties, young, vigorous, and full of life.

In an attempt to boost morale, he had acted rashly, inflicting far more injuries than Uchiha Shisui. His clothes were stained crimson with blood, the glaring red standing out starkly in the sunlight, yet it couldn't conceal his extraordinary excitement. His face radiated the joy of victory, as if he could already see his glorious future.

When Uchiha Shisui met him, the ruler of the Land of Tea was standing there receiving first aid from several doctors.

Those bloody wounds were shocking to see, and they looked so painful that they evoked pity in people.

But the ruler of the Tea Country was not concerned with these things. He kept muttering, "How could they be so weak... My hastily assembled army can defeat them... So all the fear I've had for the past ten years has been this bunch of good-for-nothings?"

"Was everything my ancestor told me in my dream true...? Waiting until the people from Konoha arrive before launching an attack is indeed the best time..."

His eyes revealed a sense of confusion and doubt, as if he had lost his way in the darkness, pondering the meaning of life and the true value of this war.

...During the previous battles, Uchiha Shisui had a vague feeling that this lord seemed a bit unreliable, acting rashly and impulsively. He would launch an attack without any thorough preparation, as if this war, which concerned the fate of the country and the lives of countless people, was just a child's play, without considering any consequences.

In retrospect, he was far more unreliable than anyone imagined... to actually believe in such things as ancestors appearing in dreams is utterly absurd and unbelievable.

If this is truly just his wild and unfounded speculation, then how should this war end...? Should the land of tea once again descend into chaos and misery?

But he won, that's an indisputable fact.

In any case, the ruler of the Tea Country won. The vassal army, which should have been vastly outmatched in strength, was quickly defeated. The ruler's group, which was in a weaker position, was decisively defeated in one battle. It was as if all of this was a clever arrangement of fate, which was unpredictable and left people to sigh at the impermanence of life.

What the ruler of the Tea Country needs to do next is much simpler.

He was originally the ruler of the country, possessing supreme power, like a god who controlled the fate of the entire nation.

He only needed to label those powerful ministers as traitors, and he could naturally and gradually consolidate domestic power and firmly grasp it in his own hands.

The problem that had been bothering him for over a decade was suddenly resolved, as if the gloom that had plagued him for so many years had finally been dispelled by the warm sunshine, and he felt exceptionally relaxed.