As time passed, the power struggle between Mist's three great clans and the nobility of the Land of Water intensified.
Within just a month, the samurai serving under the Land of Water nobles had completed rearming themselves. They now wielded large quantities of powerful explosive tags and finely-crafted katana blades that somewhat compensated for their abilities compared to average lower- to mid-level ninja.
Besides strengthening their military capabilities, the noble families also recruited through underground black markets a group of former samurai ronin from the Land of Iron after its surrender, sending them all into the Land of Water as cannon fodder against ninja forces.
Additionally, some impoverished ninja from the Land of Rain were enticed by generous rewards to endure long hardships crossing through territories controlled by the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation and the Land of Fire to reach the Land of Water and serve under the noble houses, exchanging swords and blades for bloody payments.
Therefore, the clan heads of both the Hozuki and Suiton Clans gradually realized that the balance of power was shifting from one-sided dominance toward relative equilibrium. As for the Kaguya Clan, widely considered as mindless brutes gathered together, they were barely regarded as anything more than war tools by both clan leaders.
"The origin of the explosive tags has been confirmed."
After completing a secret investigation, the Suiton Clan Head urgently arranged a secret meeting with the Hozuki Clan Head to share his findings: "The explosive tags in the samurai's hands came from the Uchiha Clan!"
"This isn't exactly news anymore, is it?"
The Hozuki Clan Head responded somewhat exasperated.
The Uchiha Clan's specially-made explosive tags had very distinct features, practically serving as their trademark. Any experienced ninja could easily identify them. Considering how long peripheral forces of ninja clans had clashed with noble samurai factions, if their intelligence units hadn't even grasped this basic situation yet, then maybe both clans' information personnel might as well swallow a lump of natto whole and choke themselves to death.
Moreover, weapon sales represented traditional business for the Uchiha Clan—whether steel-made ninja tools or special explosive tags, these were all considered high-end goods among ninja circles, with massive quantities sold every year. Under such circumstances, even knowing that samurai obtained their explosive tags from the Uchiha Clan proved essentially useless!
"No! That's not the key point!"
The Suiton Clan Head stated seriously: "According to intelligence from the continent, the explosive tags that reached the samurai's hands were produced within recent months!"
"What's more, they're from the same production batch from the Uchiha Clan!"
To strengthen his persuasiveness, the Suiton Clan Head added this final sentence at the end.
"Hmm…"
The Hozuki Clan Head immediately froze.
Obtaining explosive tags from the Uchiha Clan versus mass procurement directly from the Uchiha Clan represented completely different concepts.
Due to the existence of underground black markets, although the Uchiha Clan distributed massive amounts of weaponry, realistically speaking, except confirming the origin point, tracking circulation channels became impossible after distribution. After all, these ninja tools have a long shelf life, so it wasn't unusual for certain wealthy merchants to purchase and stockpile them for decades before artificially inflating prices during wartime.
But if these explosive tags had recently entered the Land of Water in large quantities—recently produced and from the same batch—the situation was completely different!
At the very least, this proves one thing—someone placed a direct order with the Uchiha Clan and had it delivered straight into the hands of the samurai in the Land of Water!
"Also, it's not just explosive tags. The samurai's katanas also come from the Ninja World Continent. Although these weapons bear no inscriptions indicating their origins, judging from the forging techniques, they're practically identical to the ninja tools sold to us by the Hyuga Clan!"
Clan Head Suiton continued.
At the same time, he pulled out a scroll from his robe and gently placed it in front of Clan Head Hozuki.
"What are you trying to say?"
Hozuki Clan Leader frowned, hesitating slightly before picking up the scroll and reading it.
"There's no direct evidence proving that the military supplies in the samurai's possession came from those greedy executives at the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, but we can be certain that all these weapons were produced by them!"
Clan Head Suiton leaned forward, his voice steady but firm: "The most likely explanation is that there's still an undetected smuggling route operating within our country! Otherwise, how could these weapons cross oceans and fall into the hands of nobles?"
"If it's just transporting a few sealing scrolls, tracking the source would indeed be difficult."
The Hozuki leader paused, then slowly shook his head. "Maybe we shouldn't dig too deep into this."
"Why not?!"
Suiton's face flushed red with anger. "We're not in cahoots with those Hyugas and their Byakugan or anything!"
"What if we actually find something during the investigation!"
Hozuki cut him off directly.
Suiton was momentarily stunned.
What if the investigation really did uncover ties between the arms smuggling and the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation?
After receiving the intelligence, Suiton had been furious and rushed over immediately to discuss countermeasures with Hozuki, so he hadn't really considered this question yet.
And more importantly, this was a potentially deadly issue!
"These weapons must have been smuggled through the underground black market by those continental nobles themselves, just like how those fat-cat nobles hire ninjas from places like the Land of Rain to fight for them."
Hozuki picked up the intelligence scroll and crushed it into dust using chakra. "As for evidence and suspicion? Those don't exist!"
"Then should we increase our military procurement quantities?"
After calming down, Suiton's rationality returned. "If we stockpile enough ninja tools, we'll cut off what's left for the nobles' private armies—and that works in our favor."
"Not a bad idea, but the problem is the financial investment required..."
Hozuki thought the straightforward approach was acceptable, but more importantly, what was the arms production capacity of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation? How much money would need to be invested to secure all upcoming supplies for a specific period? That part was crucial.
"Let me add one point—we don't actually need to buy everything the company produces during a given period. We only need to ramp up procurement while letting them know in advance that we're about to crack down on pirates and smuggling fleets!"
Suiton calculated quickly before adding, "This way, we can rapidly build up our inventory of ninja tools while clearly signaling our stance to the Capital Corporation!"
"If there are still mainland ninjas who have infiltrated into our borders even after our warnings,"
Hozuki Clan Head thought this approach was relatively better.
"Then treat them all as hostile, regardless of their identities. Kill them all on sight!"
Suiton Clan Head also revealed a rare ruthless expression.
"Very reasonable!"
Hozuki Clan Head strongly agreed.
In their eyes, since the last two Mizukage of Mist had already made such compromises, if Hyuga Soushu still couldn't control his subordinates, then they wouldn't hesitate to take severe action!
"Clan Head Soushu, I report that the 500,000 explosive tags destined for the Land of Water have been completely delivered!"
When Hyuga Soushu in Hakone Prefecture City received this message, he simply nodded and ordered, "Well then, cease all military exports. Also, relax border patrol forces slightly. If those penniless Rain ninjas wish to participate in the war within the Land of Water, just allow them passage."
"At once!"
The attendant ninja immediately noted both commands, then disappeared using Body Flicker.
Peace was definitely precious.
But man, it got boring real quick.
Though not particularly seeking amusement himself, Soushu held no deep reverence or superstition toward homeland traditions because of his past life memories, including but not limited to the village-and-country system.
Therefore, interfering in foreign affairs and betraying quasi-allies had become second nature to Hyuga Soushu.
However, plans often failed to keep pace with change—just like how rapidly the civil war intensity escalated in the Land of Water. He hadn't expected that those well-fed noble courtiers would actually go that far—actually drawing vast amounts of Gold Kan from their private treasuries to shower across the Ninja World, just to piece together armies with enough local superiority to fight back hard against the outer forces of Mist's Three Powerful Clans.
Under these circumstances, continuing secret support would probably no longer be appropriate. After all, if Mist's Three Powerful Clans became desperate enough, those noble courtiers in the Land of Water would truly face disaster.
"Talk about a pain in the ass."
After reducing an entire stack of paperwork nearly as tall as himself down to just a small pile, Soushu's habitual laziness suddenly resurfaced again.
So he gave himself a lazy stretch, then strolled out of the office.
Soon after his departure, a palm-sized thunder frog suddenly jumped into the garden outside the window, its mouth constantly opening and closing while producing absolutely no sound.
After some time passed, a colorful frog-like creature hopped onto the windowsill. Standing upright like a human being, after glancing left and right several times, it leapt forward and landed directly on Soushu's desk.
But instead of flipping through the remaining papers, it bulged its wide eyes and stared intently at the file cover, as if trying to burn every detail into its mind.
As footsteps approached from outside the office, both the thunder frog and this anthropomorphic strange frog immediately sprang back out the window. The thunder frog began croaking loudly.
"Kwak! Kwak! Kwak!"
The first sound the cleaning attendant ninja heard upon entering the room was a frog croaking from outside the window.
"Those guys are slacking off again."
Shaking his head slightly, the servant ninja planned to file a complaint about those responsible for removing such creatures, then began tidying up the room. As he worked, the diligent attendant wiped clean all traces from the windowsill and the desk.
Inside the Mizukage's Office of Hidden Mist Village, an envoy from Water Daimyo's court and several elders of Hidden Mist who favored maintaining the village-nation system gathered together. Even the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist attended this secret meeting.
Including the Third Mizukage, all the Mist ninjas listened quietly to the emotional pleas of the envoy from the Land of Water, constantly agreeing with him while harshly criticizing the Hozuki and Suiton clans.
"Honorable Ladies, Elders, and respected Jonin," the envoy declared solemnly, "our nation has already reached a make-or-break moment for our very survival!"
After playing the emotional card, the envoy continued listing the dangers: "If we let them grow stronger unchecked, our legitimate order will be overthrown!"
"The legacy built by the First and Second Mizukages must never be claimed by the unworthy descendants of those two clans!"
"So," one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Fuguki Suikazan, asked, "where do you get those ninja tools and mercenary forces? Is there any external force supporting you behind the scenes?"
"There definitely isn't!"
The envoy immediately denied it: "The noble officials at the Daimyo's court simply collected some necessary supplies through the black market for self-protection; if the village is willing to rectify the situation and restore true authority, these stockpiled supplies will be transferred to represent the justice of Hidden Mist at the earliest opportunity!"
"Do you really expect us to take your word for it?"
An elder Mist ninja scoffed as he tapped his staff against the floor. "Those mercenaries from Rain Ninja Village couldn't possibly have traveled so far without deliberate permission to pass!"
"It's all about money, I assure you!"
The envoy quickly replied, "We paid heavily to establish connections with the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, so they chose to look the other way—as long as no more than one hundred Rain ninjas enter at once, they allow passage without question!"
"What good is giving money to those cowardly Rain ninjas!"
Another elder Mist ninja reprimanded him: "Would the Daimyo rather give money to outsiders than trust the loyalty of Hidden Mist!"
"This talk has gone too far."
Master Genzu, an elder ninja of Hidden Mist who held authority second only to none, spoke calmly and slowly, then resumed sitting in meditation.
The envoy sighed in relief.
The elders and Jonins also fell silent at once.
As one of the founding ninjas alongside the First Mizukage, Master Genzu's prestige even surpassed that of the Third Mizukage. His words represented the unified opinion of a major faction.
Even the Third Mizukage could not afford to ignore Master Genzu's opinion.
"Restoring order isn't beyond reach."
The Third Mizukage finally spoke.
The Daimyo's envoy immediately showed a pleased expression, but the Third Mizukage didn't continue, as if it were just an offhand remark.
"His Highness intends to double the village's military budget after order is restored!"
The Daimyo's envoy gritted his teeth—knowing he had no choice but to give something up—and tossed out his first offer.
"Even doubled, the village's military funds remain insufficient."
Master Genzu shook his head, clearly unsatisfied with this condition.
"All Mist Jonin and Elder will receive an annual pension of at least one thousand gold kan!"
The envoy continued raising the offer.
Still, no one spoke—just cold stares and silence.
One thousand gold kan was indeed a large sum—but only relative to the lower-ranked ninja.
"After restoring order, if the Hidden Mist wish to continue trade with the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, profits will be divided on a seventy-thirty basis. The actual operations can be handled by noble officials across the regions; all you gentlemen need to do is enjoy the returns."
The Daimyo's messenger unveiled his third condition.
This was also what everyone cared about most.
Although maintaining trade relations with the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation carried some risk of information leaks, compared to the immense profits gained, what did a little leaking matter?
"Why only seventy percent?"
A Mist Jonin muttered discontentedly.
The Daimyo's envoy was greatly alarmed: "Seventy percent is for the Daimyo and all the courtiers!"
"So we'd only end up with thirty?!"
The group of Mist Jonins immediately grew upset.
"Four-six split!"
The Third Mizukage spoke again, halting all further disputes. "Sixty percent goes to the village, forty percent to the aristocrats, and they're responsible for the sales themselves!"
"This..."
The Daimyo's envoy hesitated, struggling to decide.
"That's how it will be!"
Master Genzu slammed his serpent-topped staff and rose unsteadily to his feet, addressing them all: "Gentlemen, today is the day we uphold justice—perhaps even sacrifice ourselves for it! All who support restoring order, raise your right hands now!"
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
All the Elders and Jonins of the Hidden Mist immediately raised their hands in unison.
The Third Mizukage seemed indifferent, as if completely unconcerned about Master Genzu's overstepping behavior.
"In that case, go back and prepare accordingly!"
Master Genzu said, "At midnight tonight, launch collectively. The password is—"
[Paradise]!
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