Ōnoki had read Uchiha Ren's revised Will of Fire.
He had even read it several times.
The theory was excellent.
But putting it into practice was extremely difficult.
The first obstacle was ideological conditioning.
That kind of mental shackle was truly mysterious—
And almost impossible to break.
"Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born superior?"
That phrase had become commonplace in the Rabbit Country.
It had been repeated for more than two thousand years.
The spirit of resistance embodied by those words had also been rooted in the bones of the Rabbit Country's people for more than two millennia.
Damn it!
If life became impossible—
Kill the bastard responsible!
So what if he was the emperor?
One blade across his neck—
And he would still die!
However, such a theory was still far too profound for the ninja world.
Even Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had failed to understand it.
They clearly possessed enough strength to transform heaven and earth across the entire ninja world.
Yet they chose to cooperate with the daimyō and nobles.
With one impulsive idea—
They created the grotesquely distorted one-country, one-village system.
The shinobi village belonged to the shinobi village.
The country belonged to the country.
What a "brilliant" concept!
The violent organization possessing the greatest military force did not belong directly to the nation.
The daimyō could not sleep peacefully.
The Kage could not sleep peacefully either.
Well—
Senju Hashirama probably slept perfectly well.
He created a complete mess.
But he also stood at the summit of the ninja world and had Senju Tobirama cleaning up after him.
Now Uchiha Ren was cleaning up after him too.
The current situation gave even Uchiha Ren a headache.
Such a severe headache that he had directly abandoned Konoha's old-fashioned shinobi.
He placed all his energy and hope upon the village's new generation instead.
The conditions in the other shinobi villages were undoubtedly worse.
Ōnoki already found it difficult to persuade the older generation in Iwagakure to learn how to conduct business.
Convincing them to rebel was completely impossible.
Moreover, a great village like Iwagakure consumed enormous resources every day.
Traditional shinobi villages possessed limited sources of funding.
Without national support and a steady flow of missions, Iwagakure's own enormous size would quickly crush it.
Not every shinobi village could become self-sufficient like Konoha.
Konoha could live extremely well even without financial support from the daimyo.
Once economic sanctions arrived—
It did not matter how extraordinary a village's methods were.
Without money, it could collapse within minutes.
Amegakure was the perfect example.
The daimyō's economic blockade was enough to tear the Land of Rain apart from within.
Had Konoha not continuously injected resources into it, the country would probably have collapsed already.
Most of the shinobi who joined Hanzō of the Salamander's rebellion had acted impulsively.
They had been provoked by a few words and became uncontrollable.
The moment the situation began deteriorating—
They would become potential traitors.
At any moment, one of them might stab Hanzō in the back and exchange his head for wealth and status.
Perhaps Hanzō wanted to remain proud and refuse to kneel before the daimyō.
But there were plenty of traitors inside the village who wanted nothing more than to kneel.
In life—
People ultimately desired only a few things.
Money.
Women.
Power.
To the daimyō, those things were no more valuable than dirt.
If someone killed Hanzō of the Salamander, the daimyō could give him wealth he could never spend and the most beautiful women in the ninja world.
Even if he wanted one of the daimyo's own women—
The daimyo could surrender her.
As for titles—
Prince Equal to the Emperor.
Heavenly Strategist General.
Even Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Whatever title someone desired, the daimyō could search through ancient texts and choose one for him.
In the past, no matter how much the daimyō and great shinobi villages disliked each other, both sides endured it so their lives could continue.
The daimyō never used economic sanctions.
The shinobi villages never openly rebelled against the daimyō.
But now—
That fragile paper barrier had been torn apart!
Amegakure had launched the most thorough rebellion possible against the daimyō.
Konoha was flourishing without depending upon its daimyo.
Konoha had already created the path forward.
Everyone else only needed to copy its work.
Unless absolutely forced, who wanted to live under another person's control?
Konoha's answer was worth one hundred points.
Even if the other shinobi villages merely copied it—
They should still score more than sixty!
Who didn't know how to slaughter pigs?
Could a warlord truly lose money while conducting business?
The ninja world also possessed the enormous advantage of extremely low human rights.
Everything Uchiha Ren had done was intended to make those foolish shinobi understand one thing—
Ninjutsu was not only useful for killing.
It could also be used for production.
Anything the daimyō could do—
Shinobi could do as well.
Even without starting capital, they could follow Konoha in slaughtering pigs and taking their share.
They could easily earn their first fortune.
Therefore—
Hurry up and awaken, damn it!
Follow Konoha and kick those parasites into the garbage heap of history!
Only shinobi could transform this world into something better and more advanced.
Uchiha Ren did not fear the other villages becoming stronger after awakening.
They were already too late.
Konoha's momentum had fully formed.
It possessed the largest population in the Land of Fire.
The most advanced technology in the ninja world.
The most active capital markets.
The greatest military strength.
Over the next ten or twenty years—
Konoha would become a black hole.
It would absorb everything from across the ninja world.
Elite shinobi.
Researchers.
Industrial raw materials.
Everything imaginable.
The gap would only continue growing.
Even now—
Konoha could launch a war to unify the ninja world.
Uchiha Ren was confident that Konoha would ultimately win.
But the cost would be too great.
The longer Konoha waited, the smaller the cost of unifying the world would become.
Why rush?
"Amegakure is supported by Konoha."
"But the daimyō have issued absolute orders demanding that we destroy Amegakure."
"In the future…"
"We will inevitably oppose Konoha because of the Land of Rain."
"We may even enter a war against Konoha."
"Should our shinobi villages stop the Hokage and obstruct Konoha's plans merely for the sake of the daimyō?"
Ōnoki's voice was heavy.
A cigarette rested between his fingers.
He inhaled deeply.
The smoke remained inside his lungs for a moment before slowly flowing from his nose and mouth.
Thin streams of pale blue smoke spread through the air.
Stop Konoha?
Go to war against Konoha?
What a terrifying thought!
The Third Raikage and Suitō could not answer Ōnoki's question.
Images of Konoha's horrifying logistical capabilities immediately appeared in their minds.
And that was only the tip of the iceberg!
Neither of them knew how powerful Konoha had truly become.
Nor did they want to test its strength.
Because if they tried—
It might become their final attempt!
"So…"
"Perhaps it is time for us to make a choice."
"The era has changed!"
"If Iwagakure continues rigidly following old traditions, there will be only one path left for us—death!"
"After the Sky Village is dealt with, I intend to imitate Konoha and carry out reforms within Iwagakure."
"As for Amegakure, do whatever you wish."
"Iwagakure will no longer participate."
Ōnoki no longer wanted anything to do with the mess in the Land of Rain.
He intended to station a portion of Iwagakure's forces along the border and merely maintain appearances.
The front line could not lie.
But battle reports certainly could.
They could also continue deceiving the daimyo into providing military funding.
A sinister smile appeared in his heart.
Raising bandits to preserve one's own importance—
Ōnoki was highly skilled at such little tricks.
That would be enough.
"After the Sky Village is destroyed…"
"The most important matter for me will be rebuilding Kumogakure."
"I must also focus all my energy upon the village."
"Even if we intend to destroy Amegakure, it will have to wait until Kumogakure has been rebuilt."
The Third Raikage immediately followed.
His own village was the highest priority!
The efforts accumulated by his ancestors could not be destroyed in his hands.
He had no interest in eliminating Amegakure now.
Although the Third Raikage lacked any desire to fight the Land of Rain—
He possessed an enormous desire to use the war as an excuse to collect money.
A very strong desire!
He would use the destruction of Amegakure as leverage when negotiating with the Lightning Daimyo.
First, he would demand the initial funding needed to rebuild Kumogakure.
Then he would continuously use the same excuse to squeeze more money from the daimyo.
The method was somewhat dirty.
But there was no choice.
Everything he did was for Kumogakure!
"Since both of you have said so, Kirigakure naturally won't spoil the mood."
"Truthfully, I have little interest in Amegakure either."
"You both understand that the Land of Rain is far too distant from Kirigakure."
"Therefore, regarding Amegakure, we should cooperate sincerely."
"We can work together and perform several convincing shows for the daimyō."
Suitō understood more than he openly admitted.
But as Mizukage, he also faced his own difficulties.
He had never wanted to fight Amegakure.
Who the hell wanted to cross an entire sea merely to wage war?
The Water Daimyo had forced him!
Now the situation was clear.
Konoha supported Amegakure.
Iwagakure and Kumogakure intended to pretend obedience while secretly resisting their daimyō.
How could Kirigakure fall behind?
"Agreed!"
"No problem!"
The three men quickly reached a consensus.
They would all muddle through together—
And squeeze money from their daimyō together!
"In that case, what about Sunagakure?"
Suitō mentioned the village.
Whether they were dealing with Amegakure or Konoha, it would be best for all four great villages to act together.
"Sunagakure's relationship with Konoha is extraordinary."
"I previously discussed this privately with the Kazekage."
"He still cannot bear to give up Konoha's assistance."
Ōnoki spoke calmly.
Konoha and Sunagakure had grown increasingly close over the past several years.
Calling them inseparable would not be an exaggeration.
"We aren't asking Sunagakure to oppose Konoha immediately."
"I refuse to believe the Kazekage feels no fear toward Konoha."
"Then should we try again?"
"I think we should."
"This time, all three of us will approach him together."
—
Somewhere within a hidden valley of the ninja world—
The leader of the Sky Village had kept Angkor Fortress drifting through the sky for a long time.
Only a few days earlier had he finally chosen a secret valley and landed.
"The Land of Sky was destroyed?"
"Damn the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"
After finding a temporary base, the Sky shinobi leader immediately dispatched scouts to gather information about the ninja world.
He was particularly concerned about the Land of Sky.
The devastating news struck him like lightning.
He lost control of his emotions and roared wildly inside his office.
He had never expected it.
Those evil great shinobi villages acted so quickly—
And so ruthlessly!
Since they could not find the Sky Village, they attacked the Land of Sky instead!
The Sky Village had always followed the path of technological research.
Every step forward required enormous financial support.
Uchiha Ren understood this better than anyone.
Whenever he saw the terrifying amount of funding consumed by Konoha's Technology Department, his breathing quickened and his heart raced.
Sometimes, he almost wanted to take emergency heart medicine.
Naturally, Senju Tobirama understood too.
Given a choice, he would not have engaged in corruption or secretly diverted Konoha's funding into research.
Now the Land of Sky had been destroyed.
The Sky Village had become rootless.
Without financial assistance from the Land of Sky, many research projects would have to be suspended.
The researchers supported by the Sky Village would certainly begin causing trouble.
Researchers—
They were all somewhat insane.
For the sake of their work, they could genuinely commit horrifying acts.
At the same time, the Sky Village was wanted by the entire ninja world.
It had become a rat hunted by everyone.
If even the smallest piece of information leaked and reached any one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages—
The Sky Village would face annihilation.
"Threats from within and without…"
"How did everything become like this?!"
After venting, the Sky shinobi leader's throat became dry.
It still felt as though a fire burned inside him.
His mouth was dry.
He was terribly thirsty.
"Where is my honey water?"
"Where is my honey water?!"
The Sky shinobi leader shouted.
He loved honey water.
But the flask he carried was already empty.
"My lord, the honey water ran out yesterday."
"You drank all of it."
"Damn it!"
"Now I don't even have honey water…"
The leader's face had become pale after releasing his anger.
Now it turned bright red again.
Another torrent of foul language erupted from the room.
The Sky shinobi guarding nearby could not help showing sympathy in their eyes.
Serving a ruler truly was like accompanying a tiger.
That saying had not been exaggerated at all.
Time…
Please move faster!
Let the next guard shift hurry and replace me!
"Wow!"
"The Sky Village really can fly!"
"And it can really hide!"
"Exactly!"
The bald White Zetsu and the horned White Zetsu poked their heads from the grass and looked around.
The two had left special spores on Angkor Fortress.
Those spores could transmit signals.
The spores followed Angkor Fortress through the sky.
The White Zetsu chased them through the earth.
Because of the distance, the signals were inconsistent.
Sometimes they could sense them.
Sometimes they could not.
For days, the White Zetsu had followed the direction of the intermittent signals and raced back and forth across the ninja world.
Today—
They had finally located Angkor Fortress!
"Shut up, you two idiots!"
"Who told you to take out the camera?"
"It's enormous!"
"Aren't you afraid of being discovered?"
"We need a souvenir!"
"Exactly!"
"We haven't been this miserable in a long time."
"My legs are nearly broken from all the running!"
Black Zetsu looked at the ridiculous pair and became so furious he could barely speak.
He struck both of them on the head.
Bang!
Bang!
Two excellent heads.
The sound was extremely loud!
"Neither of you is joining me on another mission!"
Black Zetsu made up his mind.
He would never bring these two White Zetsu along again.
"Really?"
"Then can we work at Konoha Television?"
"Wonderful!"
"We can appear on television!"
The two White Zetsu happily slapped hands.
Bang!
Bang!
Two more crisp impacts rang out.
"Enough!"
"Mark this location."
"One of you will remain here."
"The other will return with me to find Elder Brother."
Black Zetsu spoke coldly.
"Who stays?"
"Should we decide with rock-paper-scissors?"
"Fine."
"Rock!"
"Rock!"
"Again…"
"Scissors!"
"Scissors!"
"Again."
"Paper!"
"Paper!"
Again.
"You two have had enough!"
Black Zetsu could no longer tolerate them.
He grabbed the bald White Zetsu and dragged him underground.