Uchiha Ren's words struck Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, two people who had held Konoha's power for decades, like a bolt of thunder, leaving them stunned on the spot.
Of course, this was precisely the effect Ren had intended.
At this stage, the plan for Konoha to merge with Sunagakure and Amegakure absolutely could not be made public. Otherwise, it would trigger enormous backlash.
Having Sunagakure become an affiliated shinobi village under Konoha was certainly difficult enough to believe, but the impact would be far smaller than Konoha actually merging with Sunagakure.
Moreover, this explanation would provide excellent cover for many of Ren's subsequent actions.
It was truly killing several birds with one stone.
"Elder Uchiha, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want! Sunagakure isn't some minor village like Kusagakure or Yugakure. How could one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages possibly agree to become an affiliated village under Konoha?!"
"Forget Sunagakure. Even second-rate villages like Amegakure and Takigakure would never agree to become affiliated villages under another village!"
After recovering from their shock, Homura and Koharu's first reaction was disbelief.
What Uchiha Ren had said sounded completely absurd to them.
Did Konoha even have affiliated shinobi villages?
It had in the past.
When Konoha had first been established, it had been jointly overseen by the "God of Shinobi," Hashirama Senju, and Uchiha Madara, the "Ghost of the Uchiha."
At that time, several minor shinobi villages surrounding the Land of Fire, such as Kusagakure and Yugakure, had been affiliated with Konoha and followed its lead.
But those small villages were essentially opportunists. They attached themselves to whoever was strongest.
After Uchiha Madara defected from Konoha, Hashirama Senju died, and the First Great Ninja War broke out, small villages such as Kusagakure and Yugakure became battlefields in the conflicts between the great nations.
Their affiliated relationship with Konoha gradually became merely nominal and eventually disappeared altogether.
Those minor shinobi villages had essentially possessed little real sovereignty. That was why they had been willing to become affiliated villages of Konoha when Konoha was at the height of its power.
But any shinobi village with even a moderate degree of strength would never agree to become subordinate to another village.
Take Amegakure, for example.
Although it was only a minor shinobi village, it had directly declared war on Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure, thereby igniting the Second Great Ninja War, without ever lowering its head to another village!
If even Amegakure had been willing to go that far, then how could anyone expect one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Sunagakure, to willingly submit?
"If they had a choice, naturally they wouldn't agree. But the problem is that Sunagakure has no choice."
Uchiha Ren calmly explained.
"Because of Elder Chiyo's disastrous decision-making, we were able to occupy Sunagakure almost without a fight and capture the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, along with a large number of Sunagakure civilians."
"Although Sunagakure immediately redeployed several thousand Sand shinobi from the border defenses to surround and eliminate us, their parents, wives, children, relatives, and friends were all in our hands."
"What could those shinobi possibly do against us?"
Homura was startled.
"You targeted the civilians of Sunagakure?"
Ren glanced at Homura's deeply wrinkled face and spoke indifferently.
"Don't worry. I'm not that foolish. I merely used certain benefits to persuade those civilians of Sunagakure to stand on our side."
Homura and Koharu were both stunned again, even more confused than before.
They simply couldn't understand how Ren had managed to accomplish such a thing.
By all rights, Ren was an invading enemy who had attacked Sunagakure. The civilians should have been ready to fight him to the death, or at the very least refuse to cooperate.
How could they possibly have chosen to stand on Ren's side?
Before Homura and Koharu could ask, however, Ren waved his hand.
"Enough. That's just an insignificant detail. I won't waste time elaborating on it here."
Homura and Koharu felt their blood pressure rise.
How could that possibly be an insignificant detail?
It was obviously the key to the entire operation!
But since Ren had no intention of explaining, there was nothing they could do about it.
Ren continued.
"In any case, after this operation, I effectively seized Sunagakure's lifeline and forced them to compromise with Konoha."
"Senju Clan Head and I also held several rounds of negotiations outside Sunagakure with Elder Chiyo, Elder Ebizō, and the other senior officials of Sunagakure. We reached several agreements."
"First, Sunagakure will become an affiliated shinobi village under Konoha."
"Second, Sunagakure will completely disarm and agree to allow Konoha to station troops within the Land of Wind to assist with their defense."
"Third, Konoha will send personnel to participate in Sunagakure's administration. They will serve as elders of Sunagakure and possess both supervisory authority and veto power."
At this point, Minato Namikaze interjected.
"Oh, right. We've already decided who will be sent to Sunagakure to guide and oversee them. It will be Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin."
"I've already discussed this with Tsunade-senpai. She agreed to take on the position. She'll formally assume the post once our negotiations with the other villages are concluded."
By this point, Homura and Koharu were practically numb.
They didn't even know what to say anymore.
Could something like this really be accomplished?
Yet judging from Ren and Minato's serious expressions, they certainly weren't joking with them.
Ren continued.
"However, considering how enormous the impact of this arrangement will be, it could provoke fierce opposition from the shinobi and civilians of Sunagakure and the Land of Wind. Therefore, the senior officials of Sunagakure and I have unanimously agreed to conceal certain aspects of the arrangement."
"For example, we won't publicly announce that Sunagakure has become an affiliated shinobi village under Konoha. Instead, we'll say that Sunagakure and Konoha have entered into a deep cooperative partnership."
"And the centerpiece of this cooperation is precisely the major project Elder Homura mentioned earlier: the East-to-West Water Diversion Project."
"Our plan is to divert surplus water resources from the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers into the Land of Wind, thereby improving the environment of the Land of Wind."
"The benefits this project will bring to the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers go without saying. As for Konoha, apart from providing additional mission income for our shinobi, the main benefit is that it gives us a reasonable justification to disarm Sunagakure."
"We can then have the shinobi of Sunagakure work on the project, transforming the nature of their role from 'weapons' into 'tools.'"
"It's a plan in which everyone comes out ahead."
Homura and Koharu exchanged a glance.
Both could see the unease in the other's eyes.
Uchiha Ren really was ruthless.
He had actually managed to come up with a scheme like this.
Following Ren's plan, it probably wouldn't take long before the shinobi and civilians of Sunagakure gradually accepted Konoha's guidance.
Before long, Sunagakure really would become Konoha's most loyal little brother.
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