Chapter 074: King or Outlaw?

“Though you have captured me, remember this: at least, I was once the uncrowned king of the Land of Waves!”
Even in despair, Kado tried to cling to his former glory.
“I demand to be treated with dignity!”
Yet his words could no longer change anything; his era was over.
Naruto paid no heed to Kado’s protests, instructing everyone to proceed according to the established protocol.
“No! You can’t treat me like this!”
Unwilling to suffer the fate of an ordinary prisoner, Kado shouted loudly,
“I was once the uncrowned king of the Land of Waves! How can you treat me this way?”
The people escorting Kado, residents of the Land of Waves, scoffed at him.
“He’s nothing but a thief who brought disaster upon us, claiming to be some uncrowned king—ha!”
“I’m no thief!”
Kado struggled and cried out, “Since ancient times, the victor becomes king and the defeated a bandit. Are you victors now rewriting history, casting me, once a king, as a mere criminal?”
“What king and bandit? Clearly, it’s the bandit who lost and the king who prevailed!”
Dragging Kado along, a villager growled with resentment, “Do you have any idea how much suffering you’ve caused us? You a king? If you hadn’t been defeated, it would be a miracle!”
Kado ignored the words of these ordinary villagers, turning instead to Naruto.
“Tell me, how do you intend to handle me? Will you really have history record me as a mere bandit?”
Naruto glanced at him and replied,
“I plan to let the people of the Land of Waves decide your fate, and let them judge whether you were a king or a criminal.”
“You want those peasants to judge me? No! You can’t do that! They’re not qualified, they don’t…”
Kado’s protests faded as he was dragged further away.

———

Dazna felt a surreal detachment from everything that had happened today.
He had once thought he might never witness Kado’s defeat, perhaps believing that victory would only come to the Land of Waves in the era of his grandson Inari.
He had also imagined, one day, seeing Kado’s downfall with his own eyes, perhaps in his final days, lying in bed, hearing the joyous news and passing away with a smile.
He’d considered giving up drinking, taking better care of himself, so that he might witness Kado being driven out atop his proudest achievement—the great bridge.
But the pain of helplessness in reality had kept him from escaping the numbness of alcohol.

Today, as he left the construction site and habitually climbed the village’s high platform to overlook the steel bridge, what he saw in the distance made him doubt his own eyes.
Was that... the triumphant procession?
Dazna watched as massive steel robots marched toward the village, their demeanor celebratory.
Villagers cheered, rushing to greet the robots, as if they’d received news of some great event.

“I heard Kado was defeated and captured. Everyone’s gone to see the spectacle.”
Descending the platform, Dazna caught hold of a white-haired ninja wearing a red battle coat and a forehead protector marked with the word ‘oil’.
The white-haired ninja had been heading to join the crowds, but Dazna intercepted him.
When Dazna inquired, the ninja replied as such.
Near the village entrance, the two squeezed into the crowd.
The white-haired ninja, looking at the jubilant villagers around him, sighed,
“The Land of Waves is truly chaotic now—war everywhere. I don’t quite understand what makes Kado different from other great clans.”
“When other clans are defeated, there’s always someone to mourn and follow them into the grave.”
“But when Kado fell, all I saw was cheering. Is he especially unpopular?”
“Unpopular doesn’t begin to cover it!”
Another villager chimed in, “His crimes are too numerous to list! We all wish he’d die immediately—no one would mourn him!”
“Then whoever defeats Kado must be especially beloved?”
The white-haired ninja asked curiously.
The villager laughed,
“Of course! Anyone who defeats Kado is a hero to us, to the whole Land of Waves!”
After a pause, the villager added,
“But Lord Naruto is different. He’s our hero even if he hadn’t defeated Kado.”
“Oh? Why is that? What makes Naruto so special?” inquired the white-haired ninja.
The villager pointed to the distant bridge and then to the prosperous village, exclaiming,
“Absolutely! All of this is thanks to Lord Naruto!”
“That bridge—Master Dazna led us in building it for years and never finished. Lord Naruto came and, in just a month, completed that wide steel bridge!”
“And our village, once so run-down, where we often went hungry—after Lord Naruto arrived, we eat the finest rice every day, to our hearts’ content! We live in beautiful new buildings!”
“With such a good life, who else could be our hero but Lord Naruto?”
“Certainly not that useless daimyo!”
Another villager burst out laughing,
“Of course not! That daimyo can’t even protect his own country, yet expects us to call him a hero? What a joke.”
“Honestly, who doesn’t wish our daimyo could be a strong, upright hero who stands up for us?”
“Sadly, he’s never been that kind of person. He just hides in his castle, moaning that Kado won’t listen to him, won’t give him respect, but never dares to confront Kado himself.”
After those words, the crowd grew somewhat silent.

———

The triumphant procession passed before the crowd, and when people saw Kado bound atop a giant steel robot, the atmosphere erupted once more.
Standing tall on the robot, the golden-haired youth greeted the villagers with poise and grace. The white-haired ninja wearing the ‘oil’ forehead protector felt a sudden sense of déjà vu.
He thought he glimpsed a familiar figure.
No, he’s gone now—this is his son.
Your son has become an extraordinary man, Minato.

“This is what a true man should be,”
The white-haired ninja sighed, “To answer the expectations of a whole village and nation, to shoulder the responsibility of a hero, to protect his comrades well—that’s how a man should be.”
The villagers all agreed, raising their voices in praise for Naruto.
Amidst the crowd, a child suddenly said,
“If only Lord Naruto could become our daimyo! Then we’d have a real hero for a ruler!”
The surrounding people were stunned at first, then began discussing excitedly.
Yes, our daimyo cannot be a hero, nor can he protect us.
Why shouldn’t we let the hero who can defend us become our daimyo?
They remembered the legend of how the Land of Waves was born.
On this barren island, people once offered their loyalty to a brave warrior, hoping he would become their protector and bring them peace.
Now, they could do just as their ancestors did—pledge their loyalty to another courageous soul who brought peace, prosperity, and abundance!

The crowd’s discussions grew feverish.
Seeing the commotion, the white-haired ninja quietly slipped away, unnoticed by all.
He seemed to have confirmed something and left the village, venturing across the Land of Waves.
With his travels, the news of Kado’s defeat began to spread quietly across the island.
As people hid from the ravages of war, learning that Kado’s power had been destroyed, they rejoiced everywhere.
The state of the village building the bridge was also circulated throughout the land.
Naruto and his companions became heroes in the hearts of the people of the Land of Waves. They not only liberated the country, but brought hope, light, prosperity, and abundance to its future.

After all this, the white-haired ninja returned to the fishing village.
At this moment, the village was hosting an unprecedented trial.
Naruto did not act as the judge himself. Instead, he built a high platform, placed Kado atop it, and invited all ordinary people of the Land of Waves to be the judges, so together they could pass judgment on Kado’s crimes.