Naruto: I Became Tsunade's Husband and Took Over Konoha

Chapter 537 - 536: Furious Lashing of the Mining Slaves

After hearing this news, Black Zetsu sucked in a cold breath. He said, "I understand!" Then he burrowed into the ground, heading for the Fire Temple. Ryun Uchiha looked at the floor where Black Zetsu disappeared, falling into thought.

He was not worried that Black Zetsu would betray him and join Otsutsuki Isshiki instead. Black Zetsu was a part of Otsutsuki Kaguya’s soul, possessing all of Otsutsuki Kaguya’s memories. Like Otsutsuki Kaguya, he also disliked Otsutsuki Isshiki.

The reason was, "Otsutsuki Isshiki is too ugly!" It was truly strange. Over time, this strand of soul force had developed its own subjective personality and mistakenly believed itself to be Otsutsuki Kaguya’s son.

Ryun Uchiha shook his head. Then he briefed Tsunade on the next steps of the operation and pulled her into his arms. "Wife, after this matter is concluded, the ninja world will usher in true peace. Then we won’t have to be as tense as we are now."

Tsunade pressed her cheek against Ryun’s cheek and said softly, "Be careful in everything. Rou Rou and I will be waiting for your return." After saying this, she pushed Ryun away and began smoothing out the wrinkles on his clothes.

These were details Ryun often overlooked. Now he was going to the Cloud Village to excavate iron ore. When going out, one naturally needed to pay attention to their appearance. After everything was taken care of, Tsunade smiled and said, "Go on! My Hokage-sama!"

"Wait for me, my Hokage-sama’s wife!" After saying this, Ryun kissed Tsunade’s red lips. After a long while, Ryun turned around, formed a hand seal with his right hand, and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.

A flash of golden light accompanied Ryun’s figure as he vanished from the villa. Tsunade wore a worried expression. Her husband had done too much for the ninja world, for Konoha.

If possible, she wished Ryun could rest, not work so hard, always thinking about the ninja world.

Cloud Village

Ryun’s figure appeared atop the village’s mining veins in the Cloud Village. There were quite a few Konoha shinobi guarding the area. They stood tall and straight, not daring to be negligent. They held a belief in their hearts: to serve the Hokage-sama with utter devotion, even at the cost of their lives.

Originally, this place was of utmost importance to the Cloud Village. Izuna Uchiha naturally recognized its significance to the Cloud Village as well. Therefore, he ordered the original Cloud shinobi guarding the mines to be relieved of duty and replaced with his own people. Furthermore, he decreed that seventy percent of the iron ore mined daily be stored in Konoha’s warehouses, with the remaining thirty percent allocated to the Cloud Village for maintaining daily life and weapon needs.

Now that the ninja world was at peace, the demand for weapons had greatly decreased. Ironware for daily life could also last a long time, so the civilians and shinobi of the Cloud Village had no objections.

Ryun’s appearance immediately caught the attention of all the shinobi. A Konoha shinobi below shouted, "Who goes there! How dare you come to Konoha’s Iron Mine Mountain!"

One Hyuga shinobi activated his Byakugan and looked up. Upon realizing it was Ryun Uchiha, he quickly said, "Everyone, stop! The Hokage-sama is here! This is the Hokage-sama!"

Hearing the Hyuga shinobi’s words, the other shinobi immediately knelt on the ground, respectfully addressing him as Hokage-sama!

Ryun smiled, then landed in front of the Hyuga shinobi. The Hyuga shinobi looked up at Ryun, his eyes burning with fervor. It was this very lord who pacified the chaos of the ninja world that had lasted a thousand years within a week. The four great hidden villages were thus unified under one banner.

He had opened a new Chapter in the history of the ninja world. Now the entire world was Konoha, with all nations coming to pay homage. Any one of these deeds was worthy of being recorded in history!

"You have all worked hard. As citizens of my Konoha, you are relegated to the task of guarding iron ore mining!" Ryun did not expect them to understand too much, so his primary approach was to reassure them.

"Not hard at all, not hard at all! Serving Konoha, no task is hard!"

"Hokage-sama, have you come to see us?"

"Hokage-sama, how is Konoha doing now?"

Seeing the shinobi asking questions all at once, Ryun smiled. He then found a rock to sit on. Seeing this, the Konoha shinobi gathered around him, with only two or three continuing to guard the mine, overseeing the Cloud Village mining slaves at work.

However, their eyes held dissatisfaction. Why? A few of us are stuck guarding the mine, while you all get to chat with the Hokage-sama! They even saw some slaves slacking off and whipped them with their lashes.

The slaves’ eyes held humiliation and hatred, but they dared not look at the Konoha shinobi. The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit. They were remnants of the old forces loyal to the Fourth Raikage. When resisting Izuna Uchiha’s army, they had also killed many Konoha shinobi.

Being alive now was already good enough. As for hatred...

Although Ryun was talking to everyone and answering all their questions, he sensed a surge of hatred. It came from that mining slave.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the slave. He would not reprimand his own people for the sake of so-called face. Therefore, after answering everyone’s questions, Ryun stood up and walked towards the shinobi who had wielded the whip.

The Konoha shinobi who had used the whip paled. Had Ryun seen him whipping the slave just now? This is bad, this is bad. It’s my fault. I couldn’t control my emotions for a moment. Will the Hokage-sama punish me?

Thinking this, the whip-wielding shinobi closed his eyes. Beads of sweat the size of beans began to form on his forehead. The other shinobi also held their breath for him, while feeling nervous for themselves as well.

Such incidents often occurred at the mining site. It wasn’t that the Konoha shinobi enjoyed whipping, but these remnants of the old village were always lazy. If this continued, it would affect Konoha’s mining plans!

They were served white steamed buns, fish, and meat every day, yet they slacked off at work, each more cunning than the last.

To avoid affecting the quotas set by the higher-ups, these originally kind Konoha shinobi were also forced to become strict overseers.

They would scold and beat them frequently.

Ryun walked up to the whip-wielding shinobi and patted his shoulder. "Well done!" he said with a smile.

This stunned all the Konoha shinobi and slaves present. The whip-wielding shinobi looked at Ryun in disbelief.

Ryun took the whip from his hand, then gripped it, took aim at the slave who had emitted malice earlier, and lashed out.

*Crack!*

"Argh!" That slave was whipped so hard that a large piece of flesh was torn off. Blood continuously overflowed. His face full of pain, he fell to the ground, groaning.

The other slaves stopped their work, wanting to check on their companion. Little did they know, Ryun’s whip lashed out seven or eight more times in succession.

*Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!*

The slaves who were whipped suffered at the very least swollen blood vessels and red marks. The worst had their flesh torn open, lying on the ground, groaning incessantly.

This action not only scared the slaves so much they wet their pants, but even the Konoha shinobi sucked in cold breaths.

Their Hokage-sama was truly ruthless. However, they only dared to think this secretly in their hearts. After all, no village leader wanted their image in the hearts of their village’s shinobi to be one of brutality.

The slaves’ eyes held fear and resentment. If it weren’t for this man giving the orders, they would still be high and mighty shinobi. They would still be shinobi who were considered superior in any village’s restaurant!

It’s all because of him, because of this Ryun Uchiha! He reduced them to the lowly occupation of mining slaves!

Ryun ignored their hostile stares and slowly spoke. "Has Konoha mistreated you in terms of food, clothing, or daily necessities?"

Most of the mining slaves shook their heads, but the hatred in their eyes did not diminish. They still stared死死 at Ryun.

"Has Konoha made you work day and night without rest?" Ryun asked again.

The slaves’ eyes held confusion, their gazes somewhat evasive. "No."

"Has Konoha, because you are mining slaves, deducted your wages or your holidays?" Ryun asked once more.

These three rules were regulations he had ordered before conquering the ninja world. If anyone violated them, he would show no mercy.

Now he was asking to give them a chance. If the Konoha shinobi had truly done these things, he would apologize to them. Furthermore, every single Konoha shinobi present would be dealt with by him.

However, after these three questions, all the mining slaves lowered their heads. They had three meals a day with fish, meat, steamed buns, and rice. Their working hours were divided into day and night shifts. They even had two days off every week. Their wages were even slightly higher than those of the workers who mined the Cloud Village’s mines back in the day.

They suddenly remembered, it seemed Konoha shinobi really hadn’t mistreated them all this time!

Ryun sneered. "I suppose not! If there were, you could speak up. I would personally execute him. Along with his superior, I would whip him ten lashes!" After saying this, Ryun looked at the mining slaves, his eyes devoid of any fluctuation.

All the mining slaves lowered their heads. Usually, each of them claimed to be Cloud Village shinobi, loyal to the Cloud Village, which was why they ended up like this. They were the righteous ones. Ryun Uchiha and his people were the invaders, the evil ones.

But today, Ryun laid out all the treatment, all the facts. They suddenly felt that such a life wasn’t so bad. Two days off every week, wages not much different from those of shinobi.

People are just cheap. They always feel dissatisfied, uncomfortable, never cherishing what they have. Only when someone stronger than them appears and points all this out do they wake up.

The Konoha shinobi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Ryun’s words. Originally, they thought the Hokage-sama, for the sake of face, would rebuke and lecture them. They were prepared for it.

But they didn’t expect that upon seeing all this, Ryun not only didn’t lecture them but instead stood together with his own people, violently attacking those mining slaves.

Moreover, they had not violated a single one of the rules Ryun just mentioned. They followed every one because they were Konoha shinobi, possessing the magnanimity of a great village. Because they were Konoha shinobi, they must follow the Hokage’s rules. Because they were Konoha shinobi, they disdained engaging in petty actions like deducting wages or holidays!