Chapter 374: Do you really think I wouldn't dare strike you?

"Lian, Lian Ye..."

Yuanfei Rizhan's voice trembled.

If I didn't mishear earlier, was Lian Ye insulting the Daimyo?!

It's over, really doomed!

In his ingrained Ninja Mindset, one must never provoke the Daimyo.

Yet Lian Ye insulted and threatened the Daimyo, an act of extreme treason.

That's basically pushing Konoha into a fire pit!

"You, you bastard!"

After a brief stunned moment, the Daimyo quickly recovered.

The barbaric ninja before him actually dared to insult him!

He, fuming, pointed at the composed Tuan Cang and scolded loudly.

"Hokage, are the ninja of your village of this caliber?"

"I think we should reduce financial support for Konoha from now on!"

These untrainable White-eyed Wolves.

All these years we don't know how much unjust money we sent to Konoha, and now Konoha's ninja dare insult us.

"Suit yourself," Tuan Cang spread his hands.

I don't know whether that was said to the Daimyo or for Lian Ye to hear...

"Fine, fine!" the Daimyo laughed breathlessly: "Konoha Village, prepare to bear the wrath of the Daimyo's Residence!"

Without the Daimyo's Residence's support, Konoha Village could never develop.

He no longer intends to allocate funds to Konoha.

A village that cannot be disciplined has no need to exist.

"Noisy," Lian Ye said softly.

A flash of blade.

Everyone present was stunned; the Daimyo's finger pointing at Tuan Cang was cleanly cut off at the root.

"Aaah—"

"My hand, my hand!"

The Daimyo clutched the wound, rolling on the ground in pain, emitting a heart-wrenching wail.

He never imagined Lian Ye would actually strike!

"Lord Daimyo!"

The great hall instantly descended into chaos, countless guards surrounding Lian Ye and his two companions.

"Lian, Lian Ye..."

Ri Zhan's face turned deathly pale, trembling, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Damn it!

Lian Ye actually attacked the Daimyo!

The Ninja Perspective cultivated since childhood instantly began to crumble.

For a moment, he couldn't help but start questioning life.

Ri Zhan's ingrained Ninja Perspective shattered, leaving him rooted, at a loss.

Harming the Daimyo means Konoha is finished.

From this moment on, the Daimyo can no longer fund Konoha Village.

"Ri Zhan, calm down, it's not a big deal," Tuan Cang said softly, looking at the desperate Ri Zhan.

Ri Zhan: "???"

Not a big deal?!

We already cut off the Daimyo's finger, and that's not a big deal?

As soon as this matter gets out,

Other employers would never send missions to Konoha.

Thus, the village's ninja would lose their sole source of missions.

It won't take long before those ninja definitely leave the village!

"Nonsense, you guys are too much!" Ri Zhan's shattered shout.

He didn't expect things to evolve into this uncontrollable state.

Had he known, he would have used forceful means to stop the two.

"Enough, Ri Zhan." Lian Ye turned his head, looking at the flushed, angry Ri Zhan, and said lightly: "It's just a Daimyo, right?"

"Kill him, then replace him."

"Y-You want to kill the Daimyo?!" Ri Zhan wore a face of disbelief.

These words made his already shattered worldview even more fragmented...

Killing the Daimyo is an act with extremely detrimental impact.

In Lian Ye's mouth, it seemed like a trivial matter.

"Protect Lord Daimyo!"

The surrounding guards, seeing this, drew their weapons, eyeing Lian Ye warily, yet none dared to advance.

They were all just ordinary guards.

Letting them suppress those troublemakers is fine, but confronting powerful ninja is best left alone.

"You bastard, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you!"

The Daimyo winced in pain, his face turning pale, and his venomous gaze fell on Lian Ye.

This barbaric ninja actually dares to strike at me.

It's outright treason!

"Kill him, kill him for me!"

The Daimyo, blinded by rage, lost his reason and even forgot the gap in power between them.

None of the guards dared to step forward; the hands gripping their swords kept trembling.

Sending them to kill a ninja is just sending them to their deaths, isn't it?

A month brings only a few tens of thousands of taels—what fate am I toying with!

The money belongs to the Daimyo's Residence; the life is my own.

—If I die, then I have nothing.

"Daimyo, you don't seem to have grasped the situation!"

Lian Ye looked at the Daimyo, still shouting incessantly at this point, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Did you really think I wouldn't dare to kill you?"

Perhaps the Daimyo is used to being arrogant, plus the unwritten rule that ninjas never strike the Daimyo.

It makes the Daimyo firmly believe that Lian Ye wouldn't dare to kill him…

Unfortunately, Lian Ye isn't a ninja bound by the Ninja Mindset.

He is fundamentally different from that antiquated Ri Zhan.

"Heh heh, if I die, Konoha Village can just wait to go bankrupt!" The Daimyo, clutching his broken watch, snarled.

"Let Konoha Village be buried with me!"

Precisely because of that, he concluded that Lian Ye wouldn't dare to kill him.

It was merely a failed negotiation, an attempt at intimidation and bribery.

Lian Ye stepped on his thigh, and a "Crack!" of bone splitting rang out.

"Aaah—"

The Daimyo let out another painful wail, trying to roll on the ground, but his thigh was pinned by Lian Ye, preventing him from rolling.

"You have a son, right?" Lian Ye suddenly asked.

The Daimyo was in such pain he couldn't answer, only howling continuously.

"If you die, it's fine; your son can succeed as Daimyo," Lian Ye said to himself. "If he obeys, I'll let him settle into the role of Daimyo.

"If he doesn't obey…" Lian Ye's voice grew colder: "His fate will be the same as yours."

"You… you…"

Fear finally showed on the Daimyo's face.

He realized the barbaric ninja before him had no hint of joking.

This guy really wants to kill me!

He's scared, truly scared.

"Please don't kill me… I don't want to die yet…"

The Daimyo's arrogance vanished, replaced by a pleading expression.

If Lian Ye weren't pressing his thigh, he'd probably be kneeling on the ground, begging.

He wasn't thinking about Lian Ye's prior disrespect.

Now he only wants to survive.

"I still like the way you were before, wild and untamed."

"Ninja Lord, I was wrong, I truly was wrong…"

"You're not wrong; you just know you're about to die."

Lian Ye lifted his foot that was on the Daimyo and then kicked his stomach.

The Daimyo instantly curled like a shrimp and flew backward, landing on the ground, wailing in pain.

"Rest assured, I have no affection for you Daimyos."

"I won't let you die easily."

Lian Ye's gaze slowly fell on the surrounding guards, "But before that, I'll clear out the small fry first."

The guards, hearing this, showed despair, just about to fight to the death.

Lian Ye then appeared before them.

"Pfft—"

The sound of blades slicing flesh rang out, bodies falling to the ground one after another.

The guards didn't even have time to let out a scream.

Soon the great hall was filled with a thick, bloody stench.

…

…

ps: Changing the update schedule—normally two updates, weekends three to four updates…