Kankurō couldn't quite keep up with Kairen and his shadow clones' behavior, and quietly asked Temari,
"Sis, is there something wrong with that guy's head?"
Temari thought for a moment. "Maybe!"
The group followed behind and soon arrived at a shrine platform atop a high terrace.
Kairen lit three sticks of incense and bowed to worship Heaven and Earth.
Wolon and Fenchu each held a plate—the offerings presented to the heavens.
"Mm~ (╯ε╰)."
Wolon couldn't keep its mouth in check and secretly ate the offerings to the heavens.
"Rumble rumble—"
Suddenly thunder roared, the sky turning from clear to overcast, as if heralding something.
Wolon: "Mm~ (꒪⌓꒪)"
It hurriedly put the offerings back and put on an innocent bear act.
Kairen kicked over the altar and pointed at the lightning-filled sky, cursing,
"You thieving heavens?"
"Boom!"
A bolt of lightning split down from the sky and struck Kairen directly.
The power of the lightning was far from a match for Kairen, but it still left him somewhat disheveled, half his face scorched.
Kairen flew into a rage. As the saying goes, when the Son of Heaven is enraged, commoners suffer.
In the ninja world there was only one sky—whoever saw him didn't offer a cigarette?
"Fine! You dare oppose me!"
"Death Gate—Open!"
Kairen opened the Death Gate, and chakra surged through his entire body.
All his power turned into light; that enormous pressure crushed the surrounding buildings into fragments.
Wolon and Fenchu couldn't bear this tremendous pressure and both transformed into Golden Mode.
The shadow clones scattered in a panic.
"Oh no, the boss is about to drop the bomb—run, everyone!"
"Can't beat it! I'm out! I'm out!"
The encircling Sunagakure council of elders was even more miserable—pressed to their knees by Kairen's chakra pressure, submitting to this power like the heavens themselves.
Gaara clenched his teeth and held on, staring at Kairen in disbelief. "This kind of chakra?!"
Having lived with One-Tail for many years, Gaara was extremely sensitive to tailed-beast chakra.
The danger Kairen's chakra brought far surpassed that of a tailed beast.
Its intensity was dozens of times greater.
"Th-this… this is his full power?"
Kairen on the high platform turned into a beam of light and flew toward the lightning-flashing sky.
"Heavens, can you take this bomb?"
"Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble…"
After a roar that shook the heavens, a super explosion erupted in the sky.
The massive shockwave from the sky swept through like a typhoon, rolling up the desert sand, kneading it into a lump, and making a pancake.
In the time of two breaths, the sky turned clear again—seems even the heavens had to submit to Kairen's rage.
...
Mount Myōboku.
The aged great toad slowly closed its eyes.
"Forget it. The story has reached its end. Any change is just a side branch."
...
After Kairen revived again. With a flick of his sleeve, he instantly raised a sandstorm across the great desert.
Wolon and Fenchu changed back and continued stealing the offerings.
"Mm~"
Below, the shadow clones took their positions one after another.
Sunagakure also lined up, sincerely convinced. After witnessing Kairen's full power, aside from Gaara still struggling in his heart, everyone else gave up resisting.
Kankurō almost peed himself. Just now he seemed to have spoken a bit too loudly to Kairen—would this affect his next reincarnation?
Canon announced loudly from the side, "Bring the Daimyō of the Land of Wind!"
A group dragged up the Daimyō of the Land of Wind and the nobles. Without Sunagakure's protection, these guys were like lambs to the slaughter.
Even after being tied up, the Daimyō of the Land of Wind didn't forget his status as a ruler, pointing at Kairen and scolding,
"I am the Daimyō of the Land of Wind, kid—hurry and release me! My uncle is the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, my cousin is the Daimyō of the Land of Earth…"
"Touching me is the same as opposing the Five Great Ninja Nations. Release me now and I can appoint you as the Southern General!"
Kairen's shadow clones seemed not to see him at all.
A shadow clone walked up holding a great blade. The sharp gleam of the blade reflected sunlight, and the Daimyō of the Land of Wind screamed madly.
"You're serious? Hey! Hey! Hey! Dad! Don't kill me!"
Canon shouted, "Sacrifice!"
The shadow clone touched the Daimyō of the Land of Wind's neck—stiff as a board.
Then look at his little patch of land: immortal vapors drifting, hot water steaming.
He was scared into peeing himself!
The executioner shook his head, then a single horizontal slash— the blade like drifting snow, stained with blood, and down fell a fine head.
"This…"
Temari clenched her fists, staring in shock at the Daimyō of the Land of Wind's eyes that would not close even in death.
"He… he just died like that!"
Gaara watched silently, saying nothing. Although this Daimyō had given him plenty of trouble, he was still, after all, their ruler.
"No matter how noble the status, it still can't stop power."
Gaara looked earnestly at Kairen's figure, then murmured,
"Naruto, can you become even a sliver of a turning point to defeat him?"
He immediately shook his head. With power like this, he didn't know who could be a match for Kairen.
The executioner then slaughtered the nobles of the Land of Wind one after another, finally dyeing the Taihe Temple crimson.
Doctor Snake walked up and asked Kairen, "Want to start a livestream to announce it to the world?"
Kairen: "???"
Doctor Snake smiled. "It's a long-distance projection technique I developed based on Magic Lantern Body Technique. No matter how far, as long as there's enough chakra, it can project you."
Kairen flicked his dragon robe.
"Go live. Title it 'I Want to Be Emperor.'"
"Got it!"
Doctor Snake formed the seals and started the stream.
In an instant, anywhere crowds gathered, a huge image appeared overhead.
A man in a black dragon robe, with silver-white hair, looked down coldly upon the ninja world.
...
Konoha.
Tsunade was bathing with Shizune when Shizune suddenly stared out the window in a daze.
Tsunade was puzzled and also turned her gaze outside.
"Damn it, someone's peeping!"
Naruto's group was chasing Sasuke's figure when Ino's sudden cry drew everyone's attention.
"Look, it's that handsome guy from that day!"
Everyone looked up together and saw the enormous illusory screen.
Naruto recognized Kairen at a glance. "It's him. What's he trying to do? Huh?! Gaara."
From the illusion, Naruto saw Gaara's figure, ranked beneath Kairen, seemingly as his subordinate.
"Great, Gaara's not dead."
Shikamaru's eyes were fixed on that blonde girl, and he let out a breath of relief in his heart.
Last night he couldn't think about tea or food, worried about Temari's safety. Now that he saw she was safe, the weight in his heart was finally lifted.
The first thing Kakashi observed were the corpses lying across the steps. The image was a bit unclear, so he lifted his forehead protector, revealing the Sharingan.
"That is… the Daimyō of the Land of Wind!"
"What?!"
----------------
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (415 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)