The cries of despair from Mount Myoboku, along with its subsequent counterattacks, meant little to Hyuga Soushu. At least for now, what mattered most to him was dealing with the threat far away in the Land of Water.
Based on that strange prelude where the ninja frogs of Mount Myoboku mysteriously exposed their hiding places, Soushu directly concluded it had been deliberate sabotage by hostile forces—though whether it was Ryuchi Cave's doing or White Zetsu's interference remained uncertain.
Yet regardless, this did not prevent him from shifting his focus toward the upcoming campaign in the Land of Water, after eliminating internal threats back at headquarters.
Three days after the battle that annihilated the ninja frogs of Mount Myoboku, Soushu ordered the Standing Ninja Army stationed in the Snow Country, together with three hundred Kumo ninjas, to cross the sea under the covering assault of the Privateer Fleet and launch an invasion into the southern islands of the Land of Water, swiftly wiping out the Bloodline faction's garrisons stationed there.
Even though only about thirteen hundred troops were deployed, the official involvement of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation sent shockwaves throughout the entire Bloodline faction. Immediately, they reinforced their defenses by dispatching additional garrison ninja forces to the central islands across the sea, entering a standoff with the corporate ninja army.
Meanwhile, the arrival of reinforcements from the mainland greatly boosted the morale of New Mist clan's ninjas, who had previously struggled desperately against overwhelming odds. Now reinvigorated, they launched fierce counterattacks, aiming to link up with their mainland allies and unify the fronts under one strategy.
At the same time, although Hyuga Soushu himself did not personally lead the expedition, he was busily recruiting every usable ninja he could find, preparing to throw them all into the bloody meat grinder that was the Land of Water.
Simultaneously with the landing of the Standing Ninja Army in the Land of Water, Soushu extended invitations to all Four Great Hidden Villages, calling upon them to join a Coalition Force under the banner of peacekeeping operations in the Land of Water, aiming to carry out a righteous campaign aimed at restoring peace and correcting the chaos.
However, while the Hidden Villages were quite tempted, internal interests made decision-making difficult, so Soushu needed to keep raising the stakes to build pressure and push the Four Great Villages to commit.
The most direct target, naturally, was those stubbornly defiant rain ninjas from the Land of Rain.
Although today's Rain Ninja Village no longer had any organized, combat-ready ninja forces left, as the saying goes—"a dead camel is still bigger than a living horse." Compared to mere ronin ninjas, who were no better than a bunch of riffraff or low-level ronin, the Rain Ninjas possessed superior fighting spirit and jutsu proficiency—even if only sufficient for front-line attrition warfare.
Moreover, there was one heavyweight figure among the Rain Ninjas—their leader, Sanshouo Hanzo.
Upon receiving Hyuga Soushu's invitation, Sanshouo Hanzo immediately dropped whatever he was doing and rushed to Hakone Prefecture city at top speed.
After the explosion that carved through the Hengduan Mountains of the Land of Rain, the region's climate underwent immediate changes. While it would take more time before the environment transformed completely, the reduced frequency of floods allowed civilians to cultivate more wastelands. Additionally, the demand for labor caused by the excavation of canals provided many jobless citizens with an opportunity to work in exchange for food.
All in all, the Land of Rain was gradually improving. Though these changes naturally meant greater involvement from the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, Sanshouo Hanzo no longer had the luxury to dwell on that.
After all, even a ninja would go hungry without enough food.
This proverb about bowing for a handful of rice—that's exactly what it means.
"How is the Land of Rain doing these days?"
Immediately after arriving at Hakone Prefecture city, Sanshouo Hanzo received an audience from Hyuga Soushu. The first sentence he heard was a warm inquiry about the state of the Land of Rain.
"Everything is getting better now—we have food supplies, farmland, and jobs as well."
Sanshouo Hanzo offered readily, "The arrival of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation has indeed brought tremendous change to the Land of Rain."
"That's good to hear."
Hyuga Soushu was never particularly resistant to subtle flattery, so he generously continued, "Next, the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation will launch another major assistance plan—to jointly develop mineral resources in the Land of Rain. We hope to reach a cooperative agreement with the Rain Village."
"Of course, the Rain Village must also demonstrate genuine cooperation!"
Hyuga Soushu intentionally emphasized the word 'cooperation.'
"I'd be glad to hear more details!"
Sanshouo Hanzo agreed without hesitation.
What could the struggling Rain Village possibly have that others would want? Sanshouo Hanzo himself didn't know; after all, nowadays besides the abundant rainfall that only caused floods, the Land of Rain seemed utterly worthless.
Had there been even a single feasible alternative, he wouldn't have led his Rain Ninjas into an expansionist war back then, which eventually triggered the Second Great Ninja War.
Therefore, as long as Hyuga Soushu didn't demand the outright dissolution of the Rain Village, Sanshouo Hanzo believed he could accept anything else.
"Yesterday, the company's Standing Ninja Army officially entered the southern islands region of the Land of Water to maintain peace. I hope the Rain Village can join us in upholding justice."
Hyuga Soushu declared solemnly, "Of course, more importantly, Mr. Hanzo, are you willing to contribute a part toward peace in the Ninja World?"
"Peace..."
Sanshouo Hanzo was genuinely taken aback.
Such a beautiful word had never crossed paths with the man known as the Semi-God in his entire life.
"The civilians in the Land of Water are caught in dire straits, and even within the Bloodline faction, a huge internal conflict brews. The Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist, who command the Ninja Force, and the Mizukage of Mist are locked in fierce disputes over power."
Hyuga Soushu briefly explained the background before formally extending his olive branch, "Therefore, to ensure peace across the Ninja World and the well-being of its people, the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation has decided to carry out a measured intervention in the Land of Water, striving to quell the chaos and vigorously restore production."
"This..."
Sanshouo Hanzo felt his confusion deepen, unable to grasp Hyuga Soushu's true intentions.
These words sounded noble and inspiring, lofty both in purpose and motivation, occupying the moral high ground. But the problem was, if he recalled correctly, the current descent of the Land of Water into hellish chaos had definitely not been without Hyuga Soushu's and the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation's constant scheming behind the scenes.
"In other words," Hyuga Soushu declared, "I intend to establish a Ninja World peacekeeping force under the name of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation to jointly intervene in the war-torn Land of Water."
Seeing that Sanshouo Hanzo Satori hadn't grasped the underlying intention in his wording, he directly revealed his hand: "And after success, we will definitely not shortchange any Hidden Villages willing to uphold justice!"
"What happens after success then?"
Initially hesitant deep down, Hanzo became restless at the mention of post-success arrangements.
After all, compared with the barren Land of Rain, even though the Land of Water was currently in shambles, it still surpassed the Land of Rain by countless times!
"After success, the territory of the Land of Water will be divided seventy-thirty!"
Hyuga Soushu stated decisively.
"Of course," he added, "this division will be through the method of trusteeship. After all, the territorial integrity of the Land of Water must be respected. However, since the legitimate Mist ninja clan is currently lacking the strength, this less-than-ideal measure is necessary to expedite the restoration of governance order in the Land of Water."
Finally, Soushu hypocritically appended.
"Only thirty percent for us?"
Hanzo showed some disappointment.
Even if the Rain Ninja Village committed its full military force, they couldn't muster many capable fighters, naturally making it difficult to claim significant benefits from the post-war interests.
"How could it be? Seventy percent will go to us, with only thirty percent allocated to the Rain!"
Soushu feigned great surprise: "You should know that both the Corporation and other Villages preparing to commit military forces are risking themselves to initiate this war! How could we let the righteous ones suffer losses!"
"Well then," Hanzo's heart finally settled at hearing this, "upholding justice naturally falls on us as Rain ninjas' responsibility!"
The Ninja World was a desperate place where even Rogue Ninjas longed for peace.
Peace was a dream for commoners—longed for yet always beyond reach.
This was especially true for civilians in the Land of Water who had suffered constant warfare.
Yet after the noble order of Water Daimyo collapsed completely, helpless civilians became the biggest victims in conflicts between New Mist clan ninjas and Bloodline faction ninjas.
Privateer Ninjas added to their suffering with constant harassment, plunging these civilians even deeper into despair.
As they say, desperate times call for change, and hardship breeds new ideas. After a period of confrontation between the Bloodline faction's Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist Ninja Force and Hidden Mist's main headquarters, the stalemate was eventually broken by a Standing Ninja Army conducting an amphibious expedition.
Though Fuguki Suikazan refused to give up command of the Bloodline faction's Ninja Force, after southern islands fell, most of their military forces were already deployed along frontline positions facing Hidden Mist's main headquarters. He could barely scrape together enough forces to stabilize the front lines, let alone launch a counterattack or retake lost lands.
This situation caused subtle discontent within the Bloodline faction Ninja Force.
Though these Bloodline faction ninjas were brutal and bloodthirsty, the original reason for initiating the civil war was precisely to change Mist's injustices throughout the Land of Water. Despite failing due to lofty ambitions exceeding abilities and excessive killings that directly resulted in complete ruin of the Land of Water, they still firmly believed their original intentions were good.
As a result, the Bloodline faction's ninja were also unwilling to accept any loss of territory, growing increasingly frustrated with Fuguki Suikazan's constant hesitation.
"He refuses to commit fully into attacking Hidden Mist Village, and won't lead us southward to reclaim lost territories either! What's the point of remaining at these positions wasting food supplies like this?"
At the Bloodline faction's Ninja Force Jonin Meeting, one irritated Jonin—who openly opposed Suikazan's appeasement policies—was the first to speak up.
"We must either reconcile with Honorable Lady Namiko or take advantage of our remaining fighting spirit and launch a full-scale punitive expedition—either way, we can't afford to remain deadlocked like this!"
"Plus, our food supply has become seriously insufficient. We've been eating nothing but fish lately—I swear I smell like salted fish now!"
"Our production bases are nearly destroyed. There's no way we'll be able to keep up with food or weapons supplies now!"
Following this, many Bloodline faction Jonin started airing their grievances, each sharing their own struggles and hardships.
Fuguki Suikazan's expression grew darker by the moment.
The other six Swordsmen reacted differently—one wore a scowl, others shot deadly glares at anyone daring to speak out, and some simply shut their eyes as if indifferent to it all.
Suikazan observed all these reactions carefully.
"The hearts of our people have scattered," he couldn't help sighing inwardly.
Since the Anbu messenger dispatched by the Third Mizukage left last time, he had remained indecisive. Although he wanted to commit fully and strike back into the village to seize the leadership position, he worried about the possibility that Mist Ninja Clan members—who had seemingly quietened down—might attack from behind, leaving him caught between two fronts.
Furthermore, although Hidden Mist's headquarters sent an Anbu messenger in a highly visible manner, they hadn't taken any further actions after the messenger departed, leaving Suikazan unable to figure out exactly what the Third Mizukage was planning.
Because of this delay, the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation's Ninja Force attacked again, directly seizing control of the southern islands, which further reduced Suikazan's room for maneuver.
"You're absolutely right," Fuguki Suikazan suddenly declared.
Instantly, the indignant Jonin of the Bloodline faction fell silent.
Though they'd been speaking boldly, they had secretly reached out to—and received assurances from—Hidden Mist's headquarters beforehand. And besides, their complaints weren't without merit, which is why they dared to voice such opinions before the notoriously brutal Fuguki Suikazan. However, when Suikazan actually spoke, these Bloodline faction Jonin immediately fell quiet.
After all, under such heavy pressure from a major enemy invasion, the decisive moment for the Bloodline faction's legitimate succession struggle was approaching quickly; dying just before victory would be extremely regrettable.
"Gather forces tonight at two o'clock in the morning. Complete your preparations within two hours. All divisions of the Ninja Force must give their utmost effort to retake the village!"
How could Fuguki Suikazan not see through his subordinates' hidden motives? He spoke so harshly precisely because he had no choice left!
If the Third Mizukage had shaken hands and reconciled with them, those Crimson Mist faction Jonin and even the other six Swordsmen might still have had a chance to be spared—after all, they would still be needed for the upcoming battle. But Fuguki Suikazan, as the supreme commander of the Crimson Mist faction's Ninja Force, definitely wouldn't be allowed to remain in power. He might just end up choking on his dinner and dying overnight!
"Ahh!"
The Jonin from the Crimson Mist faction immediately erupted into uproar.
Even though they all acted tough, deep down, they still feared the Third Mizukage. Otherwise, they wouldn't have remained locked in this stalemate, nor secretly colluded with the Anbu messengers of the Mizukage, exchanging intelligence here and there.
But before Fuguki Suikazan, none of them dared openly defy him, fearing they might become scapegoats sacrificed before the war even begins.
"Any opinions, gentlemen?"
Fuguki Suikazan directed his gaze toward the other six Swordsmen, who also commanded portions of the ninja forces.
"Just fight it out already."
Raiga Kurosuki was the only one who responded verbally.
Fuguki wasn't happy about it, but he couldn't exactly lash out at the five silent Swordsmen either.
After all, unity—was still necessary, even if only superficially.
Yet internally, he was already plotting how he'd deal with those clearly disobedient five Swordsmen, and even those Jonin who were secretly communicating with the Mizukage, once he seized the position of Mizukage himself.
"No need to go through all that trouble."
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang inside the military tent.
Fuguki Suikazan was utterly shocked!
That voice—he knew it too well!
Looking back, from the dark corner of the tent, an elder in a long robe slowly stepped forward.
"Third..."
Fuguki Suikazan could hardly believe his own eyes!
It was actually the Third Mizukage himself, walking right into the heart of the Crimson Mist faction's military camp alone!
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