"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 160: Yet, Slaughter
Never overestimate humanity's capacity for governance and rule.
In fact, in this war-torn era, most clan leaders who rose and fell in the torrent of war had no long-term vision whatsoever.
Ninja like the Senju brothers and the young Madara Uchiha, who harbored ideals of pacifying the chaotic world, were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Someone like Yūshin, capable of institutional planning, could also be considered a hero of his time... though he simply copied the later Hidden Village system to save trouble.
As a transmigrator, Yūshin's perspective was more detached. If he wanted to pursue further institutional innovation and reform, it wasn't without ideas, but he felt there was no need to gild the lily.
In short, setting aside extreme exceptions, what was the general intellectual level of ordinary ninja?
Without question—the level of wallowing in mud pits.
Take these two clan leaders from the Rkawa and Uotani clans, for example. They thought they had discovered Yūshin's "human weakness" and planned to exploit this weakness to eliminate him.
As for what chain reactions would occur after eliminating Yūshin, whether they'd face massive retaliation from the Fireflies, or even provoke the more powerful Senju Alliance... well, they'd deal with that later.
They weren't completely disregarding consequences, but their strategy for handling those consequences was extremely makeshift—take it one step at a time, cross that bridge when they came to it. For now, if someone needed killing, they'd kill them.
More precisely, one of the two clan leaders was indeed such a "reckless type," while the other was merely pretending to be one.
The two sides discussed their plan to deal with Yūshin. In this plan, Rkawa and Uotani would contribute forces in a six-to-four ratio, with the battlefield preset on Rkawa territory.
Therefore, Rkawa, citing their greater contribution, demanded that after the successful assassination, their side would hold the dominant position in the two-clan alliance.
Although the Uotani clan leader argued vigorously and almost came to blows, he ultimately had to accept this arrangement... Distribution according to contribution—whoever contributed more got more spoils. This logic was sound.
Conversely, the Uotani clan leader's demands seemed unreasonable.
However, after the Uotani clan leader left Rkawa village territory, the gloomy and angry expression on his face instantly vanished, replaced by composure and calm.
He was an old schemer, one who had disguised himself as a brute for years. This disguise could be called far-sighted planning—otherwise, how could he so smoothly gain the trust of another brute?
Because the other brute had always believed that although the two clans were opposed, the two clan leaders were actually kindred spirits.
Joining forces for one big score—this was merely the Rkawa clan leader's wishful thinking.
"Clan leader, does the Rkawa Clan really have the ability to deal with that Yūshin? If things are exposed, the Fireflies organization will definitely enter our territory completely."
A trusted ninja beside the Uotani clan leader asked hesitantly.
"It doesn't matter. Whether Rkawa succeeds or not doesn't matter, but they will indeed pay the price for their actions... Just as you said, the Fireflies will enter this region and then clear out our longtime nemesis—the Rkawa—for us."
"Clan leader, the Rkawa's destruction would be good, but when the time comes and we face a powerful dragon crossing the river, how should we position ourselves?"
"Powerful dragon? A powerful dragon naturally needs a matching opponent... Don't forget, I am a spy."
This clan leader certainly didn't have the bizarre experience of going undercover and becoming a crime boss. He called himself a spy simply because he had once discovered and eliminated an infiltrator from a great ninja clan.
Since then, he had been impersonating this spy to maintain contact with that great ninja clan, and his identity remained unexposed to this day.
Using the Fireflies' power to eliminate enemies, then bringing in other forces to fight the Fireflies to mutual destruction. After both sides suffered losses, both would surely withdraw from this unfamiliar region—who would be left to control this place then?
At that time, the Uotani clan leader would both imitate the northern Moriyasu Clan in surrendering to the Fireflies and continue maintaining his spy identity, disguising himself as "one of their own" for another great ninja clan...
He was planning a "micro-scale" version of vertical and horizontal alliances.
This person's mind worked quite well.
One could only say that in borderlands beyond the reach of great ninja clans, small and medium ninja clan leaders could still fully exercise their initiative. Also, generally speaking, brutes really couldn't outmaneuver old schemers.
After the Uotani clan leader returned to his own village, he immediately weighed his words carefully and wrote a secret letter. This letter then traveled through hidden channels out of the jungle and over the northern plateau.
...
The news of the Senju Alliance's establishment, quickly followed by the Ancient Well Alliance's "official announcement," spread throughout the entire Shinobi World in an instant.
What was the key point? Both alliances declared they would take over certain territories.
At this moment, all the great ninja clans jolted awake, suddenly realizing that the traditional model seemed unworkable, because single ninja clans simply couldn't contend with these multi-clan coalitions.
And these coalitions began "staking territorial claims" the moment they were established.
Fast—these damn moves were too fast, making all other great ninja clans look like a bunch of idiots... The entire Shinobi World began experiencing dramatic changes because of this.
At this time, any great ninja clan leader with a brain understood they had to quickly follow suit.
What era was this? Still fighting traditional wars?
Because the Shinobi World, while not small, wasn't large either—but regardless, it couldn't possibly accommodate too many great nations.
If they didn't follow suit in establishing multi-clan alliances... put it this way: even if you didn't unite, others would definitely band together, and if nobody wanted to play with you, you'd be finished.
Facing the substantial threat of the Senju Alliance and Ancient Well Alliance, other ninja clans had to seek cooperation partners even if they had to hold their noses.
If only the Senju Alliance existed in the Shinobi World currently, some insensitive ninja clans might still not realize the world was undergoing dramatic change. But the problem was the Ancient Well's quick follow-up... too damn conspicuous.
These two alliances' territorial claims instantly made it feel like they had carved up half the Shinobi World.
One could say the Shinobi World's "development trend" was still buried in sand yesterday, but today it was displayed so blatantly before everyone's eyes.
Great ninja clans unprepared beforehand might lack a foundation of trust, but under pressure from the Senju Alliance and Ancient Well Alliance, they had to form new alliances capable of contending with them at the fastest possible speed.
If anyone dragged their feet and moved slowly, they might quickly lose their traditional living space... either face clan extinction or continue existing as small ninja clans scraping by in some corner of the Shinobi World.
On the plateau above, among rolling peaks, a certain ninja clan's village was hidden within.
The ninja here, always known for their coldness, had become extremely restless due to the Shinobi World's dramatic changes.
The ninja here called themselves the Ishikawa Clan.
In a meeting room at the village center, clan leader Ishikawa Suijin held an unlit pipe in his mouth. He appeared to be in his late forties, with gray hair and beard, looking very composed but actually anxious inside.
"Still no news? How many ninja clans are willing to respond to our call?"
Beside this clan leader sat a young ninja in his twenties named Ishikawa Mudo, unremarkable in appearance, with earth-brown eyes.
He answered in a cool, measured voice:
"Clan leader, please don't be impatient. At least the Sumashi, Mamizu, and Hikaru clans have already responded to us... They're willing to discuss alliance matters with us, and alliances need time."
Ishikawa Suijin glanced at the young man—was it his place to tell the clan leader to "not be impatient"?
Forget it, no point arguing with him.
Precisely because this young man was bold and careful, possessing both strength and potential, this clan leader considered him promising material and promoted him to his side.
Ishikawa Suijin stood up and came to the window, looking down at the scene outside... He was indeed under great psychological pressure. After all, he never expected that upon waking up, the Ishikawa Clan would be standing on a cliff's edge.
The reason causing the Ishikawa Clan to face such a precarious situation wasn't defeat in battle, but changes in ninja organizational structure—who could they complain to about this?
Senju Alliance, Hashirama Senju, Fireflies organization, Yūshin...
Were these people just bored out of their minds?
However, complaints aside, Ishikawa Suijin was still very rational. He knew the Ishikawa Clan had to make changes accordingly, or they'd truly face eternal damnation.
He sighed, his gaze falling on a little boy playing carefree in the distance.
This little boy was only six years old but was quite remarkable. If you asked what was remarkable about him...
At six years old, he already had a huge, bulbous red nose—wasn't that remarkable enough? This could be considered a natural anomaly.
"Clan leader, new intelligence!"
A newly received piece of intelligence made the contemplating Ishikawa Suijin snap back to attention.
He took the intelligence and immediately frowned after reading it through.
"Senju Alliance... Land of Fire... Fireflies moving west... What does this mean? They want to expand west too?"
Ishikawa Mudo also came over to look at the intelligence content. After brief consideration, he said:
"Currently we haven't formed a united force, so this is a good opportunity for them to expand their sphere of influence."
Honestly, this was somewhat projecting their own thinking onto others. The Land of Fire already occupied the most fertile lands and actually had little desire to expand territory... Expanding west would mean either eating sand or drinking northwest wind—what was the point?
"Cut it off! We must cut off any claws they extend toward us!"
"When will Sumashi and the others arrive? Didn't they say there was a lack of mutual trust? One joint combat operation should at least cultivate some trust, right!"
"Clan leader, look, you're getting anxious again... Don't be anxious. Our purpose in inviting them is to confirm alliance intentions. If you temporarily add meeting content now, aren't you increasing the difficulty of reaching consensus among all parties? Things must be handled one at a time."
"...Are you the clan leader or am I the clan leader?"
"I think... I could also handle the position of clan leader competently."
"..."
Ishikawa Suijin began to suspect whether he had been too amiable in normal times.
...
Another person also considered "amiable" was Yūshin, but such evaluations weren't necessarily positive sometimes. Instead, they easily led certain people to have unrealistic fantasies... because kind people get bullied.
Given Yūshin's stereotypical impressions of the "Land of Rain," he didn't rashly lead his team into the rainforest region... Considering certain extreme situations, they needed to make full preparations before taking the next step.
Therefore, during this period, the Fūma Clan, who rarely participated in combat missions, became the main characters in the camp.
After the organization's combat strength became relatively abundant, the Fūma Clan began taking on more production tasks.
After the Land of Fire started establishing "ninja alliances," their ninja tools were rarely sold externally, instead being converted to internal supply only.
According to previously obtained intelligence, many ninja clans in the "Land of Rain" were skilled at using poison gas attacks. Therefore, to be safe, Yūshin ordered the Fūma Clan to craft anti-poison ninja tools.
Since Yūshin didn't trust semi-open air filtration gas masks, he required full-face coverage with external air cylinder gas masks.
You're good at poison gas? Heh, we'll bring our own air—not even dogs would breathe the rainforest air!
Considering that if conflict occurred, battles wouldn't last too long, Yūshin felt gas masks just needed to work at crucial moments.
Yūshin inspected the samples made by the Fūma Clan and felt they generally met his requirements, but some details needed improvement.
"The tube has problems—easily cut or disconnected..."
"Then... should we armor the soft tube?"
"Good, genius creativity!"
If weight wasn't considered, it was indeed quite genius, but not considering weight was impossible.
"Lord Yūshin, those two ninja clans have finally sent word. They hope to hold talks with us at a designated location."
Before leaving the Fūma Clan's frontline workshop, Yūshin received the latest intelligence from Nara Hideyuki, who had hurried over.
"Fine, agree to their request. However, while they can designate the location, we'll control the specific meeting time... Tell them our side needs rest after consecutive battles."
Hmm, consecutive battles, not one person dead, but needing rest.
"Lord Yūshin, we need to be vigilant. These two ninja clans give me a bad feeling."
Nara Hideyuki knew Yūshin was always thorough in his considerations, but couldn't help reminding him.
Actually, seeing the Fūma ninja working like dogs here, Nara Hideyuki also knew his reminder was somewhat redundant, but...
Consider it filling gaps and checking for omissions.
If they wanted to discuss border issues, they could just send heavyweight ninja to the frontline camp directly—why bother with designated location meetings?
Yūshin glanced at the "future person" Agan following behind Nara Hideyuki and asked him:
"What do you think?"
"I think... we really should be vigilant."
Hatake Sakumo actually felt there was no need to remind Yūshin at this time—he wanted to confirm Yūshin's attitude instead.
"Lord Yūshin, recently this region has been spreading your reputation as 'the one who doesn't kill,' but if those two ninja clans take hostile actions against us next... what should we do?"
In Hatake's impression, Lord Yūshin's reputation had been good from beginning to end, so he worried Yūshin might be constrained by this reputation.
But Yūshin didn't mind—wanting to use reputation to threaten him? They were truly delusional.
"I hope we don't encounter situations where kindness is thrown back in our faces, but if we really do..."
"Then what else can we do..."
"Just slaughter them."
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