Chapter 182: Your Konoha Village Should First Consider How to Survive
"That's right, it belongs to the Land of Fire. More precisely, it belongs to the daimyo of the Land of Fire—not you."
Yasushi pointed at Itachi's nose, sneering dismissively: "What are you?"
"To put it bluntly, you're just a dog kept by the daimyo."
"Ah, no wait—Konoha Village is the dog kept by the daimyo. You're merely the family dog's lackey—not even as good as a dog!"
"When others become dogs, they at least want some meat to eat. But you—you actually think you're human!"
"Is the Land of Fire's business yours to decide?"
"Is Konoha Village's business yours to determine?"
"Others flatter you a bit, saying you have a Hokage's broad perspective, can think from a Hokage's angle—and you actually believed it!"
"You idiot—clearly you're a lackey, yet you insist on thinking like a person."
"But have you considered—maybe the dog's master wants to eat dog leg meat?"
"Enough, Itachi, don't continue arguing with him. Come back!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen on the side watched Itachi being driven by Yasushi's words until his face flushed red, his entire aura fluctuating violently, the Mangekyo spinning rapidly in his eyes—looking about to explode. He couldn't help feeling alarmed, fearing Itachi would suddenly go mad and become Konoha Village's enemy. He hurriedly called Itachi back.
"Shisui, Yasushi has gone astray, his thinking has become extremely radical. Everything he says is nonsense—don't take it to heart, don't think about it."
"You just need to know—he's Konoha Village's enemy. Everything he says, everything he does, aims to destroy Konoha Village."
"As long as you're clear on this point, when you encounter him in the future, you won't be provoked by him, lose composure, or be exploited by him."
"When facing such enemies, don't talk to them—just attack directly."
"Haha... What a cunning old fox Sarutobi Hiruzen is!" Yasushi pointed at the Third Hokage, laughing loudly, then turned toward the many shinobi nearby:
"You probably don't know this—the content of this territorial cession and reparations treaty wasn't proposed by the Land of Fire's daimyo, but was Sarutobi Hiruzen's idea!"
"He first sent a letter to the Land of Fire's daimyo, then used the power of the daimyo's noble faction to persuade the daimyo to agree, finally bringing about this treaty."
"Clearly it was his rotten idea, yet he deliberately puts on an appearance of bearing humiliation and heavy burdens, throwing the blame on the daimyo's head, making everyone think the daimyo was greedy for life and afraid of death, forcing him to sign this traitorous treaty."
"His reputation suffered among ordinary commoners, but in all Konoha Village shinobi's hearts, he's already ascended to a divine altar, casting an immortal golden body."
"He only needs to sacrifice the Hokage title to freely obtain massive resources and supplies from the daimyo's side to rebuild Konoha Village."
"One can only pity those foolish nobles, truly believing that canceling the Hokage position would make Konoha Village's shinobi sincerely pledge loyalty to the daimyo."
"Little do they know Sarutobi Hiruzen has long managed Konoha Village into an iron block, easily able to sideline whatever leader the daimyo sends."
"Meanwhile he can hide behind the scenes, continuing to wield Konoha Village's power, secretly manipulating Konoha Village's development."
"These political methods are truly astonishing!"
Originally under Sarutobi Hiruzen's careful planning, all shinobi's impressions of him were mostly sympathetic.
Though he signed traitorous treaties, those treaties were what the daimyo wanted signed—nothing to do with him. He was merely a scapegoat.
But after Yasushi's explanation, when everyone looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen again, their gazes all changed.
What a political animal! A heart full of schemes, constantly calculating others at every moment!
Even Jiraiya and others looked at their own Hokage with surprise, completely unable to believe what Yasushi said.
Sarutobi Hiruzen also hadn't expected Yasushi would know the inside story, much less expect Yasushi would publicly expose these matters.
He frowned but didn't refute, fearing Yasushi would produce some evidence. Instead, he deflected:
"The affairs between the Land of Fire and Konoha Village are far beyond what you, an Uchiha rogue ninja, can understand."
"How the daimyo and I cooperated to turn the tide—someone like you, a rogue ninja without the Will of Fire, naturally cannot comprehend."
"If you want to use such petty tricks to sow discord between the daimyo and me, you're thinking too much."
"If you don't believe me, go ahead and tell the daimyo. See how he responds."
"As for sidelining whatever leader the daimyo sends—that's even more absurd."
"Henceforth all Konoha Village shinobi will pledge direct loyalty to the daimyo. This won't change."
"Konoha Village will forever be the Land of Fire's Konoha Village. Konoha Village's shinobi will forever remain loyal to the Land of Fire's daimyo."
"As for you, Uchiha Yasushi—the Fourth Shinobi World War has ended. Konoha Village won't let you go. You can start preparing for your fugitive life."
"Haha..." Yasushi laughed so hard he bent over, pointing at Sarutobi Hiruzen mockingly: "With Konoha Village's current pathetic state, you still dare threaten me?"
"Your Konoha Village should first consider how to survive!"
"You don't think just because the war ended, Konoha Village is safe, do you?"
"You don't think the shinobi world only has the Akatsuki organization as a threat, do you?"
"Before those organizations with thousand-year inheritances, what are the Five Great Nations? Nothing but sandcastles on the beach displayed openly. Destroying them takes no effort at all!"
"What?!" Now everyone's expressions changed.
If someone else said such things, these Kage mostly wouldn't take it seriously—they'd consider it wild talk.
But Uchiha Yasushi's situation was different.
Not even mentioning the so-called Akatsuki organization that suddenly emerged recently, powerful enough to destroy Konoha Village, with a leader possessing the legendary Rinnegan like the Sage of Six Paths.
Just based on intelligence gathered from various sources—one of Uchiha Yasushi's ocular abilities was prophecy.
Through this ocular jutsu, Uchiha Yasushi could obtain much intelligence ordinary people didn't know.
Then what he mentioned about "thousand-year inherited organizations" might not be groundless.
Since the shinobi world had three sacred summoning beast lands as thousand-year holy grounds, then other similar organizations secretly existing wasn't impossible either.
Not to mention anything else—that bounty exchange's existence probably already exceeded a thousand years.
The Raikage and Onoki exchanged glances, both secretly raising vigilance, planning that after returning today, they'd invest more effort in intelligence, specifically exploring those historically ancient organizations' secrets to see if they could gain some benefits.