Fortunately, someone still understood the situation. Shuichi Takemoto stepped in to help him out of the predicament.
"Was it the butterfly seed inside your body controlling your movements just now?"
Gisei Shiraishi hurriedly nodded. Only then did the others heave a sigh of relief.
Aonobu Kawai suddenly asked, "Father said that butterfly seeds can be raised in multiples. Can you tell us how many you are currently raising?"
Gisei hesitated for a moment.
Shuichi Takemoto grunted impatiently. "Everyone here has a butterfly seed in their body. What is there that you can't say?"
"Four," Gisei said, scratching his head. "Can you tell me why you are letting me do this?"
He really couldn't figure out what these people were planning. Being bound to someone else like this was something that, normally, any sane person would refuse.
Not to mention that these people were either clan heads or heirs. Why would they willingly submit to his control?
Makoto Kawai, whose head was full of white hair, sighed. "Let me tell you. Alliances in the Warring States Period weren't so warm and fuzzy."
As Makoto explained, Gisei gradually fell silent, his expression growing complex.
The clan heads present were all from families that had advanced and retreated together with the Butterfly Users during the Warring States Period.
Alliances back then weren't just simple lip service. If a weak clan wanted to seek refuge with a stronger one, they had to offer something to earn that trust—either hostages or their clan's most important secret techniques.
His grandfather, Yukihito Shiraishi, hadn't asked for hostages or jutsu from these dependent clans. He only required their heads to host a butterfly seed.
Yukihito would explain the pros and cons of the seed in advance. If they agreed, the alliance was formed; if they disagreed, he wouldn't force them.
His grandfather did this not just to control these clans, but to ensure that the families dependent on the Butterfly Users could work together with one heart and trust each other completely.
Now, they wanted to gain Gisei's trust through the same method—to prevent this interest group from collapsing.
None of the old geezers who had survived until now were simple characters. They had long seen through the village's attitude toward the ninja clans, especially those that didn't belong to the Hokage's faction.
Just as Shuichi Takemoto said, once Konoha went to war with the outside world, all the clans here would be forced onto the battlefield.
When that time came, they would either become cannon fodder or have their flesh slowly carved away by dull knives; there was no other choice.
Apart from Gisei, they had no alternative. They could only follow the Butterfly Users down this one path to the bitter end.
Just now, in the Takemoto family's council room, the massive amount of chakra Gisei had released gave them a pleasant surprise.
This path wasn't necessarily dark; maybe Gisei could lead them onto a new road, just like his grandfather once did.
Finally, under Shuichi's arrangement, they agreed to this method.
After Makoto finished speaking, he stared at Gisei. "So, do you trust us now or not?"
Gisei closed his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air. When he opened them again, his entire demeanor had changed.
A compelling brilliance flashed in his eyes. A look of confidence appeared on his face, and his lazy temperament was swept away, replaced by a heroic and spirited presence.
He nodded to the crowd, then bowed deeply. "Thank you, elders, for your trust. I definitely won't let you down."
"Please rest assured, I will absolutely not use the butterfly seeds to do anything detrimental to you."
These clan heads had shown such great sincerity; Gisei was very satisfied.
He had checked with the system just now; even if they wanted to leak his information, they couldn't do it anymore. Since that was the case, he would make good use of this sincerity and power.
Shuichi Takemoto laughed with satisfaction. "That's more like it. You don't need to feel any guilt. If you really used the butterfly seeds to harm us, that would just mean you have water in your brain. Don't look down on us too much!"
Gisei nodded to show he understood. These clan heads used this method to show their support for him; there was no reason for him to cut off his own arms.
Even if he really wanted to harm them, he might not necessarily get his wish. If a clan head died, they could just replace them with another, but the trust would be gone forever.
Gisei could still distinguish which matters were trivial and which were critical. Moreover, with these trustworthy clans backing him, his plan could proceed much faster.
Makoto Kawai said, "We old geezers don't have many days left. The future belongs to your era."
Shuichi nodded. "That's right. But before we die, can you tell us the path you see with your eyes?"
Once these words were spoken, everyone looked at Gisei. This was what they truly cared about.
Even if they hadn't asked, Gisei would have stated his plan eventually. It was just that he had to slightly adjust the ultimate goal.
He knew very well that these people probably all hoped for him to become Hokage. But Hokage or whatever... Gisei had absolutely no interest in that.
However, apart from Anna Takemoto, there was no need for anyone else to know that.
Carefully weighing his words, Gisei began his performance.
"First, I want to ask everyone: do you want to support me to become Hokage?"
Everyone nodded, and a few individuals even revealed small smiles.
Gisei smiled back. "Since that's the case, let me first talk about the current situation."
"The Third is in his prime. If nothing unexpected happens, he will sit in the Hokage's seat for at least another twenty years."
Once these words came out, everyone fell silent.
Gisei didn't give them a chance to speak and continued, "Twenty years—I'm afraid none of you can wait that long, because such a long time is enough for too many things to happen."
"Not to mention the distant future, let's just talk about what is about to happen right before our eyes."
"Recently, there have been more and more strange rumors in the village about the Land of Rain. I assume everyone has noticed them."
"Even if Konoha declares war on the Land of Rain tomorrow, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Let's ignore what Hanzo is thinking for now and just talk about the situation in the village."
"Currently, the village is mainly divided into five factions. Every year, they fight each other in secret for power and profit. This is something everyone is well aware of, so I won't say much more."
"As the Hokage of Konoha, the Third definitely doesn't want to see this situation. He hopes everyone will contribute to Konoha, but he doesn't have the ability to integrate the village's power."
"After all, although the Third's strength is good, it hasn't reached the level of being invincible. If he really angers the ninja clans, it's not impossible for them to kill him."
"So he only has one path left: turn internal strife into external strife, and weaken the power of the ninja clans through war."
"Everyone should be clear about what kind of person Danzo is. He specializes in doing shady things for the Third."
"Unsurprisingly, the person stirring up war in the dark is him."
"I want to ask everyone, once the war starts, what do you think I should do?"