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Chapter 325 — Ownership of the Western Islands
He quickly found the Tsuchikage's office on the third floor.
Fugaku didn't hide his presence anymore and knocked directly on the door.
"Come in."
An old voice came from inside the room.
Fugaku pushed the door open and entered.
Upon entering, he saw a small old man with a red nose sitting behind a desk, looking down at something.
"What is it?" Ōnoki asked without lifting his head.
"Ōnoki, what are you doing?"
Hearing this unfamiliar voice, Ōnoki was startled, then his gaze sharpened as he looked up.
"Who are you? How dare you—"
When he saw those mysterious eyes, Ōnoki's subsequent words got stuck in his throat.
Ōnoki's face changed drastically. In his childhood, he had followed the Second Hokage to Konoha Village to seek peace and had seen Uchiha Madara's Mangekyō Sharingan. The fear that night brought him still lingered deep within him.
Seeing those eyes instantly reminded him of the terror of that night.
What made his scalp tingle was that these eyes looked even more bizarre than Uchiha Madara's!
They had rings of purple patterns, yet were surrounded by tomoe!
What kind of eyes were these?!
Although he didn't recognize the name of these eyes, he was certain they were related to the Sharingan.
His first reaction was to force himself to look down and avoid the person's gaze, but before his body could act, he had already fallen under Fugaku's genjutsu.
Fugaku's ocular power was so terrifying that he didn't need to severely injure Yagura Karatachi, the Fourth Mizukage, alongside Nagato and Konan first like Uchiha Obito did before taking advantage of a weakened state.
With the overwhelming ocular power of his Rinne Sharingan, he directly suppressed Ōnoki's will and controlled his consciousness.
After controlling Ōnoki, he then used Mind Body Disturbance to examine Ōnoki's memories.
Watching at four times speed, this process took an entire afternoon.
Under Fugaku's manipulation, the controlled Ōnoki summoned the Anbu Commander.
The Anbu Commander entered without any precautions, glanced at Fugaku, and was immediately controlled.
Fugaku also used Mind Body Disturbance to examine the Anbu Commander's memories. After finishing, he released control of the Anbu Commander and hid himself before the Anbu Commander regained consciousness.
He then controlled Ōnoki to issue orders to the now-conscious Anbu Commander, instructing him to bring back the ten ninja from the passage, stating that each of them could be given important positions.
The Anbu Commander didn't notice anything amiss. After receiving the orders, he went out and indeed saw ten ninja standing in the passage, so he took them away.
After the Anbu Commander left, Fugaku stepped out from the side and released the remaining ten Konoha ninja from his personal dimension.
He had already finished examining Ōnoki's memories and knew which positions could be immediately replaced without causing disturbances.
After arranging the remaining ten Konoha ninja, Fugaku left Iwagakure.
He used a Shadow Clone to guide the Complete Body Susanoo while he closed his eyes and remotely controlled Ōnoki.
Ōnoki, under ocular control, was now nothing more than a puppet.
Whatever Fugaku told him to do, he did.
He was controlled even more thoroughly than Yagura Karatachi, who had once been controlled by Uchiha Obito.
For the next few days, Ōnoki neither returned home nor met anyone.
He deliberately avoided close family members to prevent them from noticing anything abnormal.
When issuing commands, he had people wait outside the door, strictly prohibiting anyone from entering the office without permission.
His explanation to his family was that he had important political affairs to handle and would temporarily live in the office.
Given Ōnoki's absolute authority within his family, no one dared question his decisions.
Such behavior also did not raise suspicion, as Ōnoki frequently stayed away from home due to official duties.
Fugaku only used this excuse after fully reviewing Ōnoki's memories.
As for others, no explanation was needed.
Due to the prestige of Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, no one dared to question him.
Over the next few days, the ninja squad dispatched to the eastern sea to search for traces of Kirigakure was recalled.
Iwagakure gradually became isolated.
However, because the time was short, no one yet noticed that their Tsuchikage had a problem.
While Iwagakure settled down under Fugaku's indirect control, Konoha Village also sent envoys to negotiate with the Land of Hot Springs.
The royal family of the Land of Hot Springs was initially reluctant when they learned Konoha wanted their western territory. But after being openly threatened by Konoha's envoy, they honestly handed it over.
The Daimyō of the Land of Hot Springs was heartbroken. The ceded land accounted for nearly half of the country's territory, and the Konoha envoy also declared that no one would be allowed to set foot in the western region.
Helpless, the Daimyō had no choice but to submit before the behemoth that was Konoha Village.
If Kumogakure still existed, he would not have feared Konoha. But that former protector had already been destroyed by Konoha itself.
Not wanting to follow Kumogakure's fate, he immediately agreed.
What slightly comforted him was that most of the ceded land consisted of ordinary residential areas. The prosperous hot spring districts remained in the east, which still provided the majority of the country's income.
Though painful, the loss was survivable.
After securing the western territory, the Nara Clan jōnin in charge ordered residents to relocate within three days.
After three days, anyone remaining without justification would be handled by Konoha ninja.
With evacuation orders first issued by the Daimyō and later reinforced by Konoha's threat, western residents fled faster than anyone expected.
They were used to peaceful lives. Previously, under Kumogakure's protection, almost no one dared provoke the Land of Hot Springs.
Now, those forcing them out were from Konoha—the village that destroyed Kumogakure.
Even their own Daimyō urged them to flee.
Only a fool would dare test Konoha's methods.
Fortunately, there were no such fools.
For three consecutive days, families carrying their belongings flooded the main roads.
Three days later, the Nara Clan leader dispatched five small teams to thoroughly clear the western region.
Though it accounted for half of the Land of Hot Springs' territory, its actual area was small—smaller than a single city in the Land of Fire.
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