"Good morning."
Hyuga Soushu inhaled deeply, placing his right hand on the thin blanket below his waist.
"Ugh... cough cough cough!"
A coughing sound came from under the moving blanket. After catching her breath, Mahiru Uchiha peeked out from under the blanket with a bright smile at Hyuga Soushu. "Morning."
"I should really say something next time..."
Hyuga Soushu sighed. Although he had the conscience to offer some words of dissuasion, he ultimately followed his heart's most honest desire and kept his warnings to himself.
After all, it felt damn good, if you ask me!
"Then shall I continue?"
Mahiru Uchiha's big eyes sparkled with suggestive delight. Without waiting for Hyuga Soushu's reply, she dove back in and resumed her morning bite session enthusiastically.
Nearly an hour later, Soushu finally got up and changed clothes, feeling refreshed while being attended to by Mahiru Uchiha, who had claimed victory in today's opening round.
Unlike the former Hyuga Clan Leader, who had an entourage of numerous attendants and grand ceremony, even after seizing power over his entire clan and controlling the colossal Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, Soushu continued living in his usual disciplined manner.
Besides messenger ninja assigned specifically for delivering orders, there were no other unnecessary personnel in Soushu's mansion—not even common cleaning maids or cooks.
Everything was handled personally by Mahiru Uchiha, and she thoroughly enjoyed doing so.
Such a lifestyle naturally earned admiration among other members of the Hyuga Clan.
It is hard to transition from simplicity to luxury, yet surprisingly easy to go the other way around; even among ninjas, few manage to retain their original ways, especially not someone of Soushu's caliber.
Following a gradual stabilization in the Ninja World situation, Soushu had entered into an extremely disciplined routine.
Every morning he would wake up thanks to Mahiru-chan's bite session, feed milk, engage in vigorous activity, then begin handling official duties, not resting until noon. Sometimes when workload piled up, he'd even work overtime until two in the afternoon!
Now that's what I call a dedicated ninja!
However, when Soushu walked into the Chief Office Mansion's administrative hall today, he found the waiting room already packed with ninja from various clans seeking audience.
This was rather unusual.
Due to its nature, the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, aside from its directly controlled Standing Ninja Army, delegated regional affairs to respective ninja clans responsible for them. Thus beyond times of joint conferences, these clan ninja rarely left their territories to seek private audiences.
"What is this?"
Soushu glanced questioningly at his attendant ninja.
"The Northwest Border Defense Forces' progress in the Land of Waterfall has fallen far short of expectations."
The attendant ninja spoke very skillfully.
At the same time, he quickly pulled out a report and submitted it before Soushu.
"All infiltration units have gone missing within the Land of Waterfall?!"
Soushu casually flipped through it, his eyelid twitching instantly. "Set up meetings between these representatives and me!"
"At once!"
The attendant ninja immediately bowed respectfully.
After Hyuga Soushu strode into his office with deliberate calm, he turned to summon the ninja representatives from the waiting room who had come seeking assistance.
Not long afterward, four clan representatives arrived at Hyuga Soushu's office, led by attending ninja aides.
"Tell me what exactly happened."
Hyuga Soushu spoke indifferently after finishing the report, as if discussing something trivial and insignificant.
Although outwardly calm, internally, Soushu was quite furious.
Even though the Land of Waterfall wasn't recognized as a neutral territory, the seven clans overseeing the Northwest Border Defense Forces—primarily the Inuzuka and Aburame families—had still acted arbitrarily without filing any prior notice through the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation system.
If only that were all, it would have been acceptable. Just like how Soushu himself held onto most of the profits in the Land of Water within the Hyuga Clan, following the principle of whoever develops benefits first, it was normal in terms of interest distribution.
But then why run here crying for help after suffering defeat?
Did they think the Hyuga Clan existed just to patch up problems and serve as a command center for tactical excuses?
"We admit there were mistakes on our part."
The Inuzuka Clan Leader detected Soushu's displeasure and immediately assumed full responsibility: "The Inuzuka Clan alone decided to infiltrate Takugure; the other clans went along reluctantly. Now we've suffered a defeat we don't even understand why, and that is indeed the Inuzuka Clan's fault."
Hearing that, Hyuga Soushu's expression slightly softened.
Seeing this, the Inuzuka leader quickly pressed forward: "However, the biggest issue lies in the fact that the Takugure ninja somehow possess an unknown secret jutsu that resulted in total loss of contact with our infiltration unit—we don't even know if they're alive or dead. This demonstrates their military capabilities shouldn't be underestimated. Otherwise, if they strike at a moment's notice, we could suffer catastrophic losses before we're even prepared!"
Although it sounded somewhat alarmist and exaggerated, given the Land of Waterfall's geographical position between the Herb Country and the Land of Frost, what the Inuzuka leader said held some truth.
"So you went ahead and acted on your own initiative?"
Nevertheless, Soushu responded coldly, "Has the coordination framework of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation fallen out of regard among the Seven Northwest Clans?"
"This mistake belongs entirely to the Inuzuka Clan; we accept whatever judgment the Director General sees fit!"
The Inuzuka Clan head maintained an upright, penitent posture.
Yet under these circumstances, Soushu couldn't afford to press too hard.
Despite evolving into the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation as the updated version of the Coalition of Ninja Clans, each individual clan essentially remained independent in reality—in addition to Standing Ninja Army cooperation and industrial collaboration. Even though interclan ties were strengthened through major trade activities across the Ninja World, they weren't completely united or inseparable just yet.
Therefore, it's understandable that the seven northwestern ninja clans chose to target the Land of Waterfall. After all, to the north of the Herb Country lay Iwagakure, a force impossible for the seven clans to move against alone. To the south was the impoverished Land of Rain. Even the most fertile parts — the central and southern Land of Rain — were already carved up among different ninja clans as spoils of war. If the seven northwestern clans wanted to expand their influence, then looking around with swords drawn, their only apparent soft target would be the seemingly easy target that is the Land of Waterfall.
"Have any of you considered how to deal with the tailed beasts of Takugure?"
Hyuga Soushu slammed the report down on the desk, stood up, and began pacing back and forth: "Honestly, I cannot understand this at all. With the combined strength of seven clans, how dare they challenge Takugure, a village that possesses tailed beasts? Are you thinking that just because the Hyuga Clan could do it, you can too?"
"It is our Inuzuka clan's mistake..."
The Inuzuka Clan Leader blurted out yet another cliché response.
"We're always making rash decisions and calling them excuses — I've had enough of this!"
Hyuga Soushu interrupted the Inuzuka leader without hesitation.
In his eyes, the real reason why the Inuzuka leader had adopted such a submissive posture was ultimately to hope that the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation could become involved in the Land of Waterfall; if this were in the past, Soushu would have agreed without hesitation.
But now was different.
After forming an alliance with Mist's three prestigious ninja clans, the Hyuga's power had already become extremely dispersed. Moreover, the immense profits gained from those dealings were already more than enough to satisfy the Hyuga Clan. Therefore, Soushu did not intend to create unnecessary complications at this time.
"The Ninja Clan Capital Corporation is a large collective organization — it's not a tool that any single ninja clan should use recklessly or manipulate for selfish personal gain!"
Soushu snapped sharply: "This kind of thinking proves that traces of the Will of Fire still linger in your mind!"
"This kind of dangerous mindset must be eradicated immediately!"
"Otherwise, the company isn't incapable of abandoning your clan altogether!"
His scathing words struck like thunder, forcing the seven clan heads to keep their heads lowered.
"I will send official correspondence to Takugure on behalf of the Hyuga Clan."
After venting his frustration, Soushu sat back down in his chair and spoke with his eyes closed: "But we're only asking for the return of our people captured by Takugure — whether alive or dead!"
Although the seven clan leaders weren't satisfied with this quite unexpected outcome, they dared not say anything further.
After all, if this matter really ended up being discussed openly at the Joint Meeting of the Ninja Clan United Companies, the seven northwestern clans — driven by selfish intentions and hoping to monopolize the benefits of the Land of Waterfall — would definitely face heavy criticism, making things even more embarrassing.
After a moment of silence, seeing no further comments from Soushu, the seven clan leaders could only bow respectfully and leave.
"What a nuisance!"
Rubbing his temples slightly due to irritation, Soushu sighed softly.
His anger toward these clan leaders wasn't simply due to disobedience but rather aimed at discouraging their attempts to probe into — or even infiltrate — the Land of Waterfall.
After all, the Seven-Tails Chomei currently in possession of Takugure, Soushu himself coveted greatly and intended to claim as his own.
Shortly afterward, Soushu resumed handling administrative duties.
At noon, while he was busy, a messenger ninja suddenly brought another urgent report from the eastern coastal Ninja Force headquarters.
"Major conflict erupted between aristocratic armed forces and Ninja Clans within the Land of Water."
The contents of the report immediately furrowed Hyuga Soushu's brows.
This was definitely not a good sign!
Based on memories from his previous life, Soushu felt uneasy about the Third Mizukage of Mist.
Of course, it wasn't due to the Third Mizukage's strength itself, but rather uncertainty about whether the immortal Madara Uchiha truly lurked behind him.
Moreover, considering their power status, Mist had never heavily participated in The Great Ninja World War, so its strength could not be underestimated. Therefore, although Soushu remained highly vigilant toward that immortal old man constantly plotting secretly to reshape the ninja world according to his own wishes, he dared not act rashly until he could weaken the unity within Mist.
"A shame this pillow arrived so soon—I'm not ready for sleep just yet."
After reading through the report, Soushu couldn't help sighing with regret.
The issue was that despite recent signs of unrest caused by powerful clans growing too fast, the conflict between nobles and Ninja Clans still couldn't threaten Mist's foundations.
After all, if Mist's Three Powerful Clans really made up their minds, they could exterminate all noble courtiers throughout the islands of Land of Water overnight.
However, if Mist ended up governing regionally like the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation does, that would certainly not be what Soushu wanted to see.
Given the added difficulty of intervening across vast oceanic distances, plus the current lack of necessary long-range warships in the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation limited its ability to deploy military forces overseas.
So, after thinking it through, Soushu chose a different path.
"Send a letter to the Uchiha Clan."
Soushu summoned his servant ninja and commanded: "In our clan's name, purchase five hundred thousand Explosive Tags from the Uchiha Clan with delivery required within one month!"
"At once!"
Without asking further questions, the servant ninja promptly left to carry out the order.
For warriors who possessed chakra but lacked ninjutsu techniques as fighting professionals—aside from using chakra blade energy to compensate for attack deficiencies—the best long-distance offensive method involved attaching explosive tags to mid-to-long-range weapons like kunai before throwing them.
Thus, Soushu had no option but to take a less direct route—tilting the balance of power with military exports. Even if the noble forces had five million Explosive Tags at their disposal, it wouldn't matter much if Mist's Three Great Clans truly decided to strike. But currently, Mist still contained factions centered around the Third Mizukage and staunch traditionalists favoring maintaining the village-nation system. These groups served as checks that prevented Mist's Three Powerful Clans from daring to unleash total slaughter.
Moreover, the Explosive Tags of the Uchiha Clan bore unique clan traits. Not only were their power much greater than regular Explosive Tags, but they also carried special Fire Release runes exclusive to the Uchiha Clan. These ranked among the high-end ninja tools commonly used across the Ninja World, instantly recognizable by any seasoned ninja. Therefore, once these Explosive Tags reached the noble courtiers in the Land of Water via underground black markets, they not only caused wild speculation among Mist's Three Great Clans but could even send a minor shockwave to the hidden Madara Uchiha.
As for whether the final outcome would go as planned, even the Sage of Six Paths probably couldn't tell for sure.
"Quack! Quack! Quack!"
While Hyuga Soushu was contemplating his grand strategy within the Ninja World, an annoying croaking suddenly came from the garden outside the administrative hall.
"Those native Lightning Country thunder frogs again!"
The moment Soushu heard the sound, it irritated him.
These troublesome thunder frogs not only created unbearable noise but multiplied at an alarming rate. Although the Instructor Corps had long made eliminating these creatures a standard Genin task, complete extermination proved impossible—it was almost like they could pop up from underground overnight.
The attendant ninja knew Soushu's habits well. As soon as the frog noise started up, several figures appeared in the garden and swiftly killed off all the croaking pests with flying needles.
Soushu glanced casually and noticed nothing unusual, then prepared to continue handling official matters.
Suddenly, he paused mid-writing, thinking deeply.
Something just felt... off.
After pondering briefly, Soushu activated his Byakugan and scanned both above and below ground. Even deep beneath ten kilometers of rock layers, everything seemed normal.
Yet for a ninja, such an inexplicable feeling was never mere coincidence.
Therefore, Soushu rang the bell and summoned an attendant ninja, ordering, "Send the thunder frogs that were just captured and killed to the Medical Ninjas. Have them research a targeted poison specifically for this species."
The attendant quickly obeyed and departed.
Soushu closed his eyes briefly to sense his surroundings again, yet still sensed something odd.
"Forget it, I'll head back for dinner."
Glancing at the clock, Soushu decided it was time to return home and spend some quality time with Mahiru Uchiha.
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