"This kid is simply a madman," Onoki cursed inwardly, then spoke, "This demand of yours is too exaggerated. We cannot possibly agree to such a condition."
"Heh heh, what are you afraid of? I remember your relationship with Hidden Cloud Village isn't that good, is it? Don't you want to avenge the accumulated grudges of generations?" Lin said with a smile.
"A grudge is one thing, but war is another. Hatred cannot be a reason for starting a war. You should know that the original reason for starting the war was not for revenge, but for the benefit of the nation, and hatred only accumulated during the war afterward. So your reason is invalid," Onoki said calmly.
"In other words, you won't help unless there's a benefit to you, right?" Lin's eyes narrowed slightly, and he slowly spoke.
"Heh heh, you should know that Hidden Cloud Village is not an ordinary small ninja village. Clashing with a great ninja village is no game. If it's just a small-scale conflict, fine. But once the war expands, it could even become the fuse for the Fourth Great Ninja War.
At that time, I'm afraid both your Sakura Ninja Village and our Hidden Stone Village will be dragged into the quagmire of war, unable to extricate ourselves. Currently, our Hidden Stone Village is completely unprepared for war," Onoki said with a cold laugh.
"Is that truly the case?" Lin's low voice resounded. His jet-black pupils calmly looked at Onoki, revealing no surprise at Onoki's answer.
Onoki's brow suddenly twitched. He looked at Lin with an unchanging expression and said with a smile, "Oh, am I wrong? You should know that now is a time of peace after the end of the Third Great Ninja War. Whether they won or lost,
every nation and ninja village suffered heavy losses, including the Land of Fire and Konoha Village, who were victorious nations. And as a defeated nation, the Land of Earth paid huge war reparations in addition to the money and ninjas consumed by the war. Do you think we still have the ability and intention to start a war?"
"Heh heh, Akatsuki," Lin said with a faint smile. Hearing Lin's words, Onoki's pupils slightly constricted, and he immediately recovered his composure. He spoke as if nothing had happened: "What are you talking about? Akatsuki? What is that?"
"Akatsuki is a mercenary organization that has become active in the ninja world in recent years. It's an underground organization that intervenes in small wars or assassination missions for the purpose of earning bounty. Their activities are very secretive. The organization is full of powerful S-rank rogue ninjas. Am I right?" Lin said with a smile.
Onoki's brow slightly furrowed. He slowly said, "What do you mean?" "Heh heh, why pretend to be confused? Don't you, Hidden Stone Village, often hire Akatsuki? Not only to eliminate some active rogue ninjas and small countries in the Land of Earth and its surroundings,
but also to secretly ambush elite ninjas sent out on missions by the Land of Lightning several times. However, their hands and feet are quite clean, so they haven't been caught by Hidden Cloud Village." Lin said with a smile.
"As the leader of the Land of Sakura, I haven't been idle these past few years either. Your Land of Earth and Land of Lightning are our key targets of concern. Even if you hide well, we can still find some clues. Compared to Hidden Cloud Village, we also know some inside information, don't we?" Lin said calmly.
After a moment of silence, Onoki chuckled, "You're a truly extraordinary young man. You can even investigate such things. I realize I underestimated you." There was no need to keep pretending. Some things didn't need proof.
"Heh heh, I should be the one saying that. There's no need to spend a single soldier. You just need to spend money to help you remove the thorn in your eye, and at the same time, because you didn't sacrifice ninjas from your own village, it also counts as accumulating power for your own village. It's truly killing two birds with one stone, isn't it?" Lin said with a smile.
"Since you know about the Akatsuki organization, you must have investigated this organization as well, right?" Onoki said with a chuckled. "Hmph, don't try to change the subject. I know about this organization because this organization once wanted to invite me and Deidara to join them, but we repelled them." Lin said calmly.
Onoki's brow slightly furrowed. At this moment, Lin continued, "You hire the Akatsuki organization so frequently. Isn't it because you want to consume the opponent's power while accumulating your own? You've also seen the development of the Land of Lightning these past few years, haven't you?
With their personality, a great ninja war will break out sooner or later. Even hiring Akatsuki is a drop in the bucket. Hidden Stone Village might be their first target, not just because you hired Akatsuki to assassinate their ninjas,
but also because your two countries are geographically closest. More importantly, the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allied nations, so it's not easy to strike at them. The remaining great nation is only the Land of Earth. Isn't that right?"
Onoki's brow suddenly twitched. He didn't speak. Clearly, Lin had hit a nerve. Over the years, the Land of Lightning's military power had expanded rapidly. Not only had the number of ninjas expanded, but they also continuously collected ninjutsu and developed tool-forging techniques. The entire nation's military budget grew year by year, causing Onoki constant worry.
Originally, he also wanted to propose a plan to increase military spending to counter the Land of Lightning's development, but the Daimyō of the Land of Earth disagreed. Instead, because the ninja world was in a period of peace,
he requested budget cuts, and the funds given to Hidden Stone Village were far less than during the Third Great Ninja War. So Onoki had no choice but to save his own strength and use Akatsuki to deplete the opponent's strength.
"Heh heh, Tsuchikage, now is the best opportunity. The Third Hokage was killed by Orochimaru, and Konoha's strength was greatly reduced by my heavy damage. Hidden Sand Village also suffered heavy losses in the Konoha Crush plan.
Moreover, their Fourth Kazekage also died at Orochimaru's hands. Now, even the Kazekage hasn't been chosen yet. Hidden Mist Village, they were just freed from the bloody mist not long ago, and are still slowly recuperating. And they are far overseas, so they don't have the ability to intervene." Lin said with a chuckle.
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