"That... That's against the rules!" The announcer screamed in protest, as if the rules were some sacred law that couldn't be overturned. "You can't just kill the owner of a winning fighter!"
I turned my gaze to him. "Do not presume to tell me what I can't or can do, nor that your rules can bind someone as noble as me! He was filth, trying to touch his better, someone of true noble blood, that is what he gets."
My words, my very argument, made it very difficult for anyone to argue with me, because I invoked my noble status. The very same nobility that allowed these people to treat shinobi and samurai like mere objects, tools, or weapons.
It was status and wealth that allowed them to act like they wanted, and now I threw that right back at them. If they were to argue with me, they would be arguing against their own interests.
And while they could try and target my rank of nobility, they couldn't easily do that. It was well known by now that I had lived for years as a guest in the Fire Daimyō's palace.
That meant that he recognized my noble status, and given that he was the Daimyō of the largest and most powerful nation in the world, the richest noble of them all, he was above all and beneath none in noble circles.
So if even he recognized me as someone worthy of being his guest... others couldn't really challenge my claim of nobility without challenging his authority.
The crowd started murmuring, a low whispering filling the stands and VIP booths, everyone was trying to figure out what to do, yet... they came up empty.
They couldn't even target Karin because, despite the Land of Whirlpools having fallen, it had still been around in their lifetime, and the Uzumaki clan had been its rulers.
That made the Uzumaki clan a Daimyō clan!
So the Uzumaki's nobility didn't need to be explained; even a fallen Daimyō was still a Daimyō.
It was fine when Uzumaki didn't mention it, didn't bring it up, that way everyone could just treat them as shinobi, as tools, but once it was brought up, it couldn't be ignored.
Even if Kanna and Karin were far removed from the leaders of the Land of Whirlpools, as the last two remaining Uzumaki, that meant they were next in line.
Karin was the heir to a country, a fallen one, yes, but her noble rank was still impossible to ignore once brought up.
During my time in the Hyūga clan, I had learned how to deal with nobles, how to navigate the complex structure they operated within. The Hyūga clan had, after all, been a noble clan before they became a shinobi clan. They had kept many of their old traditions and ways of dealing with nobles.
And now I used that knowledge to protect Karin.
The announcer was just a commoner who had a knack for working a crowd, but he was not a fool. He recognized the shift in the atmosphere, the silent but deadly dance of power. His professional survival instinct kicked in.
"M-my deepest apologies, Lady Kaguya-hime!" he stammered, bowing so low his forehead nearly touched the sand of the arena. "A terrible misunderstanding! Lord Masaru clearly overstepped his bounds! An unforgivable offense against a noble lady and her vassal!"
He had caught on quickly. By framing Karin as my vassal, he was reinforcing the social hierarchy that put me at the apex of this situation. It also subtly implied that Karin was under my protection and thus, by extension, under the protection of the Fire Daimyō's authority.
"It seems," he continued, straightening up slightly but keeping his head bowed, "that the victory is… void. With the owner disqualified, the match is declared a draw. Let us have a moment of silence for Lord Masaru, who tragically lost his life to his own arrogance."
The crowd, eager to defuse the tension and move on from the horrifying spectacle, lapped it up. A respectful, if slightly hollow, silence fell over the coliseum, punctuated only by the distant sound of the waves.
Down in the arena, Rikuto stood frozen, a statue of terror. His world had just been shattered. His master was dead, his victory nullified, and he was now an unowned fighter in a coliseum where ownership was everything. Worse, he had just been part of an incident that had angered a woman who could kill a noble with a flick of her wrist, and no one dared to challenge her.
He was smart enough to understand that while they didn't seem willing or daring enough to blame me for anything that happened, he didn't have the same protections. But at the same time, he also didn't have the courage to try to change the situation.
I took a step forward, the bone blade in my hand retracting back into my palm with a soft, sickening sound of bone and flesh knitting back together. I walked over to where Karin stood, her face pale, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and a dawning, terrifying understanding.
My actions were deliberate. I was not just retrieving a girl; I was reclaiming my property, reasserting my authority. I knelt down, picking up the ID tag that Rikuto had dropped. I didn't even look at him. He was irrelevant now.
I turned to Karin, my expression softening almost imperceptibly. "Are you hurt?" I asked, my voice low enough that only she could hear.
She shook her head, unable to speak.
"Good," I said, fastening the tag back around her neck. "Stand up straight. You are an Uzumaki. You do not bow to anyone."
Yet clearly, she took the loss hard. "But... I lost," she whispered, a single tear tracing a path through the dust on her cheek.
"You fought well," I corrected her, my tone firm but not unkind. "You faced a stronger, more experienced opponent and you held your own. You learned a valuable lesson today about the dangers of Fire Release ninjutsu, did you not?" I asked, and she nodded slowly. "Then that is all that matters, as long as you learn and grow stronger, you need not fear a loss. I will protect you. Remember that."
Then, I turned my attention back to the crowd. My gaze swept across the VIP booths, making eye contact with a few of the more powerful-looking nobles. I let my killing intent flare again, just a brief, sharp reminder of what they were dealing with. "This matter is concluded," I announced, my voice ringing with an authority that brooked no argument. "The entertainment may continue."
With that, I took Karin's hand and led her from the arena floor, not giving a single glance to the corpse of Lord Masaru or the terrified boy who had been his fighter. We left behind a stunned silence, a dead body, and a crowd that now looked at me with a new, profound respect, and no small amount of fear.
When we returned to our booth, Kanna was there. She didn't shout. She didn't cry. She simply wrapped her arms around Karin, her body trembling with a fury and fear she was barely keeping in check. She held her daughter tightly, as if trying to shield her from the world, from the reality I had just thrust upon her.
I poured myself a cup of sake, my movements calm and unhurried, as if I had just returned from a pleasant stroll. The silence in the booth was heavy, broken only by Karin's quiet sobs and the distant roar of the crowd as the next match was announced.
...
Naturally, what I had done wasn't something that could just be brushed under the rug that easily, it worked for the moment due to fear and shock, but it wasn't a long-term solution.
The rich and powerful would demand answers, and they did.
"Greetings, Kaguya-hime, and thank you for agreeing to meet with me," the manager of the coliseum, a fat old merchant named Daichi, greeted me with a bow. He was a smart man, one who knew when he was outmatched.
It was just him and me, Kanna and Karin weren't invited to this little chat. "Please, have a seat," he offered, gesturing to a plush velvet chair in the richly appointed private room. The table between us was polished mahogany, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The air was thick with the scent of sandalwood and expensive perfume. I could feel the nervous sweat beading on his forehead, the frantic thrum of his heart. I didn't need my Byakugan for that; it was plain on his face.
What my Byakugan did show me was the fact that we weren't alone, far from it, the office had fake walls, allowing for a hollow behind them, and in that hollow stood dozens of shinobi and samurai, no doubt guards to kill me should I attack.
Or they would try, and fail.
I had reached the level where numbers couldn't harm me unless the individual strength reached at least Tokubetsu Jōnin, and then ten, merely dozens wouldn't be enough.
Still, I didn't call him out on it, I understood that he felt the need for protection, and he even gave me enough face to not have visible guards by his side.
"You seem to have some concerns, Daichi-san," I said, my tone level as I took the offered seat. "Concerns about the... commotion this evening."
He wrung his hands, the rings on his fat fingers flashing in the lantern light. "Commotion is one way to put it, Lady Kaguya-hime. Another is... a disturbance. A breach of the coliseum's most sacred rules." He was choosing his words with care, trying to find a line between accusation and deference.
"I'm sure we have already established that those rules don't apply to me," I said firmly. "What we should discuss now is how we move forward from here, without any other disturbances." I leaned forward slightly, letting a sliver of my killing intent bleed into the room. It wasn't much, just a taste, but it was enough. The temperature seemed to drop, and Daichi flinched, his face paling.
"Y-yes, of course," he stammered, dabbing at his brow with a silk handkerchief. "The other owners... they are... concerned. An unowned fighter is a disruption. Rikuto is a valuable asset. And the death of Lord Masaru..."
"Lord Masaru died because he was a fool who forgot his place," I interrupted, my voice as cold as the winter snow of the Land of Iron. "He sought to lay a hand on an Uzumaki. To claim what is mine, and he paid the price. As for that brat, Rikuto, give him to the heir to Masaru or whatever." I gave a dismissive wave. "Or just have the coliseum take ownership until the proper heir is found. I don't care what you do with him."
Daichi blinked, processing this. He had expected demands, perhaps a compensation claim, or a power play for Rikuto. He hadn't expected me to so casually discard the boy who had "won" the fight. This was a problem he could solve, a way to restore order without challenging me. The boy was a prize fighter, and the Masaru clan, however diminished, still had resources.
"A wise and generous solution, Kaguya-hime," he said, the relief evident in his voice. "I will see to it immediately. There is just... one other matter."
I remained silent, waiting.
He took a deep breath, gathering his courage. "The girl... Karin. Her presence here, and the incident... it has caused a significant stir. The other nobles are... uneasy. They feel the... sanctity of their ownership has been challenged."
I let out a soft, humorless laugh. "Sanctity? You speak of sanctity in a place that trades in the blood and sweat of children? Do not pretend this is anything more than a gilded cage, Daichi-san. A market for flesh and bone."
He had the decency to look ashamed, but only for a moment. Business was business. "Be that as it may, Lady Kaguya-hime, the customers are... nervous. They are requesting some form of... assurance. A guarantee that their property will remain their property."
"What you mean to say," I said, my eyes narrowing, "is that they want to be sure they don't lose their heads, that they can keep their fun, and that force is kept out of it, allowing them to continue to think they are important." I summarized their desires with a sharp, dismissive clarity.
Daichi swallowed hard. "In... simpler terms, yes."
I leaned back in my chair, the velvet creaking softly under my weight. I considered him, the room, the hidden guards. This was the dance. The push and pull of power. They needed a spectacle, but they feared a revolution.
Nobles and shinobi were two different classes; only the Uzumaki had mixed them, and their fall didn't make the nobles miss sleep.
They feared a noble shinobi, not one who acted noble, but one who was noble, someone with both privilege and strength, power, and force.
And that was what I was.
Maybe the nobles weren't as foolish as I thought.
(End of chapter)
Support me at patreon.com/unknownfate - for the opportunity to read up to 30 chapters ahead.