Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Li Anshi and took a deep breath.
He never would have imagined that Li Anshi would propose such a plan regarding the Land of Whirlpools.
Indeed, if the entire Uzumaki clan were to integrate into Konoha, it would cause a huge upheaval in the village's power structure.
However, if the Uzumaki clan that integrated into Konoha had no Jonin, and was composed of only low-to-mid-level ninjas and children who had not yet become ninjas, then for Konoha, it would be a hundred benefits and no harm!
Without Jonin, it meant that the Uzumaki clan that joined Konoha could not pose any threat to the village's power structure.
In fact, the various ninja clans could even intermarry with the Uzumaki, thereby enhancing the potential of their future generations and obtaining a portion of the Uzumaki's sealing techniques.
And with Lady Mito Uzumaki present, the various clans of Konoha could not go too far with the Uzumaki.
More importantly, through intermarriage, the Uzumaki clan could quickly establish a firm foothold in Konoha.
As for the future, when the Uzumaki ninjas grew up and Jonin appeared among them, the process would not be too fast. For the other clans, they could also accept the Uzumaki ascending to the roundtable of power.
"Alright!"
After simulating the scene of the Uzumaki clan integrating into Konoha in his mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately nodded, approving of Li Anshi's proposal.
"However, Anshi…"
"Before you go to the Land of Whirlpools, I hope you will take a look at these."
After speaking, Hiruzen took out a few documents from his desk drawer and handed them to Li Anshi.
"What are these?"
Li Anshi took the documents, his eyes sweeping over them, and his expression suddenly became strange.
These documents in his hand were all letters from the Stone, Sand, and Cloud villages. The content was to hope that Konoha would not interfere in the affairs of the Land of Whirlpools.
As a reward, they would copy the sealing techniques they obtained from the Uzumaki and give them to Konoha.
From these letters, Li Anshi also understood why, in the future, although Konoha had not acted in the matter of the Land of Whirlpools, it was Konoha that ultimately inherited the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques.
Of the four great ninja villages, three had copied the sealing techniques they had plundered and given them to Konoha. Coupled with what Kushina Uzumaki had brought, it could be said that Konoha had obtained at least eighty percent of the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques.
If Mito Uzumaki were to add some more, it would not be strange for them to have the complete set.
As for the other great ninja villages, they had only obtained a portion of the sealing techniques. By studying this portion, they could greatly increase the stability when sealing the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.
But Konoha had a complete "Sealing Squad" and could cultivate ninjas skilled in sealing techniques in batches.
It could be said that in the matter of the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, Konoha was the biggest winner.
"I understand."
"Since these three villages have this intention, I will leave them a portion of the sealing techniques."
"As for the Mist Village, we'll see if they're sensible."
"If they are, I'll leave them some as well."
"If not, then however many they send to the Land of Whirlpools, that's how many will stay there!"
Seeing that Li Anshi understood his meaning, the smile on Hiruzen's face grew even wider.
Indeed, Li Anshi was a ninja with the mindset of a "Kage."
Tsunade was still too young.
If it were Sakumo Hatake, he would certainly not have said such things.
Of course, if it weren't for Li Anshi standing up for Sakumo, perhaps the current Hiruzen would have already started to expose him to the dark side of the village.
Hiruzen also knew that with Sakumo's character, if he were to come into contact with this darkness, it would surely cause him a great deal of mental shock.
However, to become a qualified Hokage, besides the sunny and affable public image, one must also be able to bear the darkness that comes with the village.
In Li Anshi's memory, the future Hiruzen had let Danzo Shimura bear the darkness of Konoha in his place.
But the current Hiruzen had already decided to bear the darkness of Konoha himself.
Hiruzen believed that when Sakumo could bear the darkness of Konoha, that would be when he was truly qualified to be the "Hokage."
However, because of Li Anshi's statement, Hiruzen felt that even if the Hokage of Konoha was someone with a dazzling Will of Fire like Sakumo, he could still make the village strong.
Just like the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, he had an even more naive personality than Sakumo.
But under his powerful strength, which surpassed the understanding of the entire ninja world, the world had been shaped into the form he desired.
This was the absolute "will" brought about by absolute strength.
Although Sakumo did not have the strength to change the will of the ninja world like the First Hokage, with Li Anshi standing behind him, the entire ninja world would also make way for Konoha.
Of course, making way was one thing; Li Anshi would not, under these circumstances, make Konoha the enemy of the entire ninja world.
He could withstand the malice of the ninja world, but Konoha could not!
Make few enemies, make many friends. When Konoha completed its transition, its will would replace the will of the entire ninja world!
"I'll write you a leave-of-village permit."
Taking out a blank sheet of paper, Hiruzen quickly wrote a mission permit for Li Anshi.
The management of ninjas in a village was very strict.
To enter or leave the village, one had to have a permit issued by the Hokage, which also stated the time of departure and the deadline for return.
If one did not return to the village at the appointed time, they would be questioned. In serious cases, they could even be branded a "rogue ninja" and a bounty placed on them.
Every year, in every village, many ninjas became rogue ninjas and wandered the world for this reason.
Some of these were truly spies from other villages who had defected after being found out but did not dare to return to their original village.
Because if they failed their infiltration mission, their village would not acknowledge them, giving other villages a moral pretext for attack.
And some were truly ninjas who had not returned to the village for certain reasons and had missed the deadline for the village's investigation, thus being declared "rogue ninjas."
A small portion of these were ninjas deliberately released by the great villages to gather intelligence.
No one knew if the "friend" you were with was a spy from a certain village.
Similarly, because everyone had a bounty on their heads, for the sake of survival, rogue ninjas would also kill each other, using the other's head to exchange for the funds needed for living at the underground exchange.
Therefore, there was almost no "trust" between rogue ninjas.
Hiruzen naturally did not want Li Anshi to become such a "rogue ninja."
Or rather, he didn't dare to brand him as one for such a reason.
What a joke!
Hiruzen could be sure that the moment he issued a bounty on Li Anshi as a rogue ninja, all the villages in the ninja world would probably be searching for him, wanting to invite him to join their own village.
And he could not stop it.
Compared to a Little Li Flying Dagger with ties to a village, a Little Li Flying Dagger with no ties was the most terrifying existence.
Because no one knew when he would go on a killing spree, or who his blade would be pointed at…
Li Anshi himself felt that his life in Konoha was not bad. He had two good friends in Sakumo Hatake and Tsunade.
So, unless it was necessary, he didn't want to become a rogue ninja.
Taking the permit from Hiruzen, what satisfied Li Anshi was that it only stated the time of departure and had no return time.
This meant that as long as he carried this permit, even if he played outside the village for ten or eight years and then returned, he would still be a ninja of Konoha and would not be regarded as a rogue ninja.
Perhaps the future Sannin, Jiraiya, also had such a permit.
"Then I'll be going."
After waving to Hiruzen, Li Anshi put the permit in his pocket and left the Hokage's office.
Coming down the stairs, he saw the mission registration ninja secretly sizing him up.
He found this slightly amusing and smiled at him when he caught him looking out of the corner of his eye again.
Rustle…
To his surprise, his smile startled the ninja, and the mission documents piled in front of him were reflexively pushed away.
In an instant, this corner of the first-floor lobby was a mess of flying papers.
"Uh, am I that scary?"
Seeing the ninja's reaction, a few black lines appeared on Li Anshi's face.
No wonder this guy was assigned to mission registration. He was such a coward!
To be scared by his own smile, who knew what would happen if he were sent on a mission.
He didn't know how such a ninja had passed the squad leader's assessment.
Perhaps he was a nepotism case!
After silently concocting an identity for this timid ninja in his mind, Li Anshi left the Hokage's building.
"Anshi, I knew you would be here!"
Just as he walked out of the building, Tsunade's figure appeared before him.
He understood Tsunade, and in turn, she understood him very well.
Even if she hadn't reacted after he left the shop, after some thought, she could guess what he was going to the Hokage's building for.
"I'm very grateful for everything you've done."
"But, as my maternal grandfather said, when the Land of Whirlpools broke the treaty and did not stand up when Konoha was in peril, it had already lost the value of being saved by Konoha."
"Now that the Uzumaki clan can have two of its members join Konoha and fulfill my grandfather's dream, he has no more regrets."