348. The Daimyo's Edict of Self-Reproach

"General Danzo, all of this was done by Kazuma and the others on their own! It has nothing to do with me!"

"I swear, from now on, I will support whatever you want to do!"

"Just let me go, and everything can be discussed!"

After being released from his "silence," the Daimyo hurriedly pleaded in a panic.

In front of others, he might still flaunt the authority of being the most noble figure in the ninja world, but in front of Danzo...

Well, if he dared to act high and mighty, his head would likely roll in an instant.

Facing the Daimyo's pleas, Danzo's face revealed a meaningful smile.

He slowly walked up to the Daimyo, sat down on the chair prepared by Kakuzu, crossed his hands, and leaned forward slightly.

"To be honest, I didn’t originally plan to take action against you," Danzo began. "If you had accepted the transition of power quietly, you might have been able to retire with dignity as the ruler of a nation."

"Unfortunately, human desire is endless."

"Once you’ve tasted the sweetness of power, it becomes impossible to let it go easily."

"Power and desire are the beginning of disaster."

As Danzo spoke, the Daimyo's face grew paler with each word.

By the end, the Daimyo had no idea what Danzo was saying anymore.

All he could do was apologize and beg for mercy repeatedly.

This man, once hailed as the most noble figure in the ninja world, now groveled before Danzo like a stray dog.

The scene was truly pitiful.

Yet, Danzo's eyes showed no emotion. He had seen such scenes too many times.

Human nature was always fragile.

Finally, after listening to the Daimyo's meaningless pleas, Danzo waved his hand dismissively.

In the next moment, his eyes glowed brightly.

A surge of ocular power poured out from his Sharingan, forcefully invading the Daimyo's mind.


The Daimyo didn’t even have time to react before his mental defenses were easily breached.

This outcome didn’t surprise Danzo.

After all, these nobles had lived in luxury since childhood—how could they possibly have any willpower?

Thus, without much effort, Danzo easily subdued the Daimyo.

Shortly after, within just an hour, the Daimyo publicly issued an Edict of Self-Reproach!

The main content of the edict was as follows: Due to his own indulgence, the nobles and ministers under him had become corrupt and decadent, neglecting their duties and engaging in reckless behavior, oppressing the people and causing widespread suffering!

Fortunately, thanks to General Danzo's efforts, the Daimyo had finally realized the severity of the problem.


He was deeply remorseful and determined to reform, vowing to thoroughly address these issues.

However, the Daimyo felt that his own abilities were insufficient to lead the Land of Fire forward.


Therefore, he decided to appoint General Danzo as the head of a new cabinet, composed of capable, fair, and honest individuals.

This cabinet would be responsible for the historic task of "correcting wrongs," striving to investigate all the crimes committed by the nobles and make them public!

Finally, through trials, the appropriate punishments for these nobles would be determined!

As soon as this "Edict of Self-Reproach" was issued, the entire capital was thrown into an uproar.

This was the first time in the history of the Land of Fire that a Daimyo had stepped forward to publicly admit his mistakes.

Moreover, he had announced that a series of investigations and trials would be conducted against the nobles.

This was... absolutely fantastic!

To put it bluntly, the people of the Land of Fire had long suffered under the oppression of the nobles.

Especially in this city, where nobles were concentrated, ordinary citizens lived in constant fear, terrified of accidentally angering a noble and being beaten to death.

Now, General Danzo had arrived.

Not only had he defeated those despicable nobles, but he was also going to put them on trial!

This was truly a cause for celebration!

To prove that this wasn’t just empty talk, Danzo directly summoned a large number of ninjas from Konoha, surrounding the entire capital tightly.

Based on the crimes and lists compiled by Root, all the nobles who had committed heinous acts were arrested.

Even the Left and Right Ministers, high-ranking officials of the Land of Fire, were captured!

That night, the capital was ablaze with light.

The nobles tried every possible means to escape, but under the combined efforts of the city guards and Konoha ninjas, there was nowhere to hide.

Even hiding in basements or wells was futile.

After all, among the Konoha ninjas dispatched this time were many from the Hyuga clan.

Although their scouting range was only about a kilometer, it was more than enough to capture these fleeing nobles.

For a time, the entire capital was in a state of panic.

And the mastermind behind all this—Shimura Danzo—stood atop the highest point of the castle, calmly observing everything in the darkness.

Although the sky was growing darker, in Danzo's eyes, the world before him was becoming brighter and clearer!

The turmoil and chaos in the capital continued until late into the night.

It wasn’t until the sky began to lighten that Aburame Ryoma came to report:

"Lord Danzo, all the names on Root's list have been apprehended."

"A few of them committed suicide during the arrest process. I failed to stop them in time. My apologies."

Ryoma's voice was filled with shame.

After all, as ninjas, they had allowed these ordinary people the chance to commit suicide, which was quite embarrassing.

Danzo, however, simply shook his head, indicating that it was no big deal.

In such a chaotic situation, mistakes were inevitable.

They were ninjas, not machines, and it was impossible to avoid all errors.

As long as the overall direction was correct, that was enough.

After confirming that Danzo wasn’t angry, Ryoma cautiously asked, "Lord Danzo, how do you plan to deal with these nobles?"

Danzo had no intention of hiding his plans from Ryoma.

"Those on the red list will be executed after their crimes and evidence are made public."


"Those on the yellow list can be spared. Some of them have abilities and can be given a chance to atone for their crimes through service."

"As for those on the green list, they will be promoted to key positions in the cabinet to assist with the upcoming tasks."

Before launching this operation, Danzo had not been unprepared.

He had spent a great deal of effort compiling information on the nobles of the capital, dividing them into three lists: red, yellow, and green.

The red list was the largest, containing the most heinous criminals who deserved to die multiple times over.

The yellow list included those with lesser crimes, not deserving of death, and some with useful talents who could be given a chance to redeem themselves.

The green list was the smallest, consisting mainly of those who had pledged allegiance to Danzo early on.

These were the people Danzo planned to heavily rely on—essentially, the collaborators.