Chapter 287: Too Many Answers, Now I Don't Know Which Homework to Copy!
No one was having a very happy New Year…
The Konoha high council did not take a holiday for the New Year. They held several high-level meetings in a row, but in the end, they couldn't come to any conclusion.
The Third Hokage, a turtledove of peace, was reluctant to make a clean break with the Daimyo's mansion. Konoha's high-level officials could only bicker back and forth, time and time again. The two Hokage advisors, Danzo Shimura and Fugaku Uchiha, began a new round of fighting.
This continued until the Hidden Mist Village announced a list of the Land of Water Daimyo's crimes to the entire ninja world. Among them were the basics: persecuting citizens, being fatuous and lecherous, and levying exorbitant taxes.
There were also some rather bizarre crimes, such as compromising with other Daimyo, selling out the interests of the Land of Water, and even one that claimed he had enslaved citizens of the Land of Water and ninjas of the Hidden Mist, selling them to Orochimaru as materials for human experiments.
It sounded a bit absurd…
But after thinking about it carefully, it seemed to have some truth to it…
The Hidden Mist's actions exacerbated the conflict between the ninja villages and the Daimyo. The ninjas and citizens of every country were waiting for the final results from the Five Great Nations.
"This can't go on. We'll have to connect with the Daimyo about the new year's budget soon. If Konoha's attitude is too ambiguous, the result will not be optimistic for us!"
"Let's just abolish the Daimyo system!"
"Hmph, the 'one nation, one village' system was left behind by the First Hokage!"
"Then does Lord Danzo have even half the strength of Lord First Hokage?"
"If it weren't for the First Hokage's mercy, how could your Uchiha clan have survived to this day, let alone covet the Hokage's seat!"
"Lord Danzo, watch your words!"
"All of you, shut up for me!"
Tsunade slammed a fist on Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk. That solid wood desk finally couldn't withstand her abuse and instantly shattered into pieces!
Tsunade clapped her hands and said in a cold voice, "We can't usurp the throne like that fellow Rasa. In that case, let's follow the Hidden Mist's method and send the ANBU to collect evidence of the Daimyo's crimes!"
"But before that, Itachi!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his head, looked at Itachi's composed appearance, and said softly, "For the sake of the village's new year's budget, I'll have to trouble you to make a trip to the Daimyo's mansion for the time being. Wait for our news there! If the village decides to abolish the Daimyo system…"
"…Lord Hokage, an urgent intelligence report from the Land of Lightning!" Kakashi Hatake knocked politely on the door and presented a scroll.
This scroll was here to add to the chaos.
With the arrival of spring, the Konoha high-level meeting had stopped its pointless chatter. They had just decided to send an envoy team led by Itachi Uchiha and an ANBU contingent led by Kakashi Hatake, when Konoha received the latest intelligence from the Land of Lightning…
To ensure the safety of the Land of Lightning's Daimyo, the Fourth Raikage had publicly announced to the ninja world that he was moving the Daimyo's mansion into the Hidden Cloud Village. Even a crow with a small brain capacity could see that this was "holding the emperor hostage to command the nobles!"
In just half a month, the Hidden Cloud had dispatched thousands of ninjas, quickly seized power in all the towns of the Land of Lightning, and completely sidelined the Daimyo's mansion!
Who would have thought that the thick-eyebrowed Fourth Raikage, A, actually had some brains. As expected, any ninja in the world who could sit in the position of a village's Kage was not to be underestimated!
Now, there were more and more standard answers, and Konoha no longer knew which homework to copy. It felt like all these answers were very reliable, but copying all of them was not appropriate.
The Hidden Sand Village could guarantee its own economy, so the Fourth Kazekage could, because of his Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, wantonly usurp the throne.
The Hidden Cloud Village had preserved its strength the most during the Third Great Ninja War, so they could command their ninjas to quickly occupy the Land of Lightning.
As for the Hidden Mist Village… that was the private land of a trash organization. Within that organization was a grandmaster-level politician. That person could do whatever he wanted. Who knows, he might be sitting in the Mizukage's office handling business right now!
In the Hokage's office: the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi; the Hokage candidate, Itachi Uchiha; the Hokage's Assistant, Tsunade; the high-ranking official of the Defense Department, Jiraiya; and the Hokage Advisors, Fugaku Uchiha and Danzo Shimura.
Right now, they were the six most powerful people in Konoha.
A new round of quarreling began. Danzo Shimura and Fugaku Uchiha were once again at each other's throats, looking as if they were about to stage a civil war right in the Hokage's office…
"I agree with learning from the Hidden Cloud's method!"
Danzo Shimura's scabbard slammed onto the ground as he said loudly, "The Land of Fire is not like other countries. It is vast, rich in resources, and has a large population. We may not be able to completely take over the Daimyo's political power all at once. It would be better to take the Daimyo under our control…"
"The Hidden Mist's method is clearly more worthy of reference!"
Fugaku Uchiha did not show any weakness, staring at Danzo's single eye. "Why not just abolish the Daimyo system directly, to avoid more trouble! Orochimaru and the Akatsuki are both coveting Konoha. They won't give us time to deal with internal turmoil in the future!"
"Fugaku Uchiha, you have never been in contact with political affairs. With your shallow ignorance, how can you understand the importance of the Land of Fire's Daimyo!"
"Lord Danzo, those words are completely baseless. You couldn't come up with any method a while ago, and now you're just parroting others!"
Given the long-standing grudge between the two, almost every time they encountered a political dispute, the argument would escalate into personal attacks, giving everyone present a headache…
"Ahem, actually, there's no need to be so troublesome, is there?"
The young Jonin coughed lightly into his hand. Seeing that everyone's attention had shifted to him, he couldn't help but say, "The 'one nation, one village' system was proposed by Lord First Hokage. Back then, it was so that the Daimyo would allocate a budget to support the ninja village's development, and the ninja village would protect the Daimyo. It was just a mission commission…"
"But I've looked at the village's financial situation. Ever since the end of the Third Great Ninja War, the budget has been decreasing year by year. Isn't the Daimyo's mansion the one that breached the contract first?"
Tsunade took a few steps forward, flicked him on the head with her finger, and said with dissatisfaction, "You little brat, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"No, continue." Hiruzen Sarutobi put his pipe in his mouth, looking at leisure. He seemed to have thought of something, although he felt that what the Hokage candidate was saying sounded vaguely familiar.
"If the Daimyo's funding for Konoha this year cannot meet Konoha's development needs, then it's equivalent to him failing to pay the commission fee. According to the requirements of the mission assembly point, the village seems to have no obligation to protect the Daimyo's safety with all its strength, right?"
Itachi Uchiha spread his hands. He had already made it clear enough. Everyone present basically understood what he meant.
Hiruzen mused, "And if the Daimyo... has an 'accident' as a result…"
"Then that would be Lord Danzo's problem… Sorry, slip of the tongue."
Itachi Uchiha shook his head, ignoring the furious Danzo Shimura to the side, and continued, "Whether it's the village's rogue ninja Orochimaru, the Akatsuki, or that elusive Zetsu, they all have a motive to attack the Daimyo's mansion, right?"
"Itachi, well said. At that time, our Konoha can righteously avenge the Daimyo. And whether it's the local nobles of the Land of Fire or the citizens, they will also share a common hatred for the enemy with Konoha…"
Hiruzen's brow gradually relaxed, and he smiled. "This method seems a bit familiar… What if the Land of Fire's Daimyo compromises as a result?"
"If the Daimyo is willing to fully support Konoha…" Itachi looked at the Third Hokage with a puzzled expression and asked in a low voice, "Then wouldn't it be enough for us to just maintain the status quo?"
Is the old man getting old!
Does he even need to ask this question?
And now the situation in the ninja world has been completely set on fire by the Fourth Kazekage's usurpation. The ninjas have their swords at the Daimyo's necks. Even if the Land of Fire's Daimyo has water in his brain, he will definitely continue to pinch pennies and cut the budget!
At that time, the Konoha ninjas responsible for protecting the Daimyo's mansion just need to loosen their hands a little, and wouldn't the whole Daimyo's mansion be gone?
And Konoha wouldn't even get its hands dirty!
The other people in the Land of Fire will also understand how dangerous this ninja world is for them when they lose the protection of Konoha ninjas. They will surely turn to Konoha with all their hearts…
As for why this method was familiar…
When internal conflicts cannot be resolved, temporarily set them aside and provoke an external conflict to unite the internal factions against the outside…
This was a technique that Tobirama had taught!
The Second Hokage had played it masterfully in the Hidden Rain Village. At that time, all the ninjas in the Rain were talking about allying with Konoha to attack Iwagakure. Didn't he teach you all this?
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