"What did you just say?"
Kurotsuchi, her eyes wide with astonishment, blocked Bai Mo's path and stared intently at him.
"Kill the Daimyō—what? Have your brains, you ninja of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, been implanted with thought imprints, controlled by Kotoamatsukami, so you must be loyal to the Daimyō?"
Bai Mo smiled faintly, repeated himself, and then questioned Kurotsuchi.
"..."
Hearing Bai Mo's words, Kurotsuchi's rebellious spirit flared, but she didn't dare to truly agree with his view. She could only change her approach:
"If we, Iwagakure, kill the Daimyō and monopolize the Land of Earth, the other four Daimyō will not stand idly by. They will gather their respective Villages to attack Iwagakure, and then I will be the sinner."
"Alas."
Bai Mo shook his head and sighed.
He said no more and continued on his way towards Amegakure.
Kurotsuchi was left stunned by Bai Mo's actions.
She was waiting for Bai Mo to persuade her with some method, but it just ended?
"Tell me, what was wrong with what I just said!"
Kurotsuchi gritted her teeth, used the Light-Weight Boulder Technique to accelerate and catch up to Bai Mo, grabbing his arm and speaking in a pleading tone.
"You want to develop, yet you're unwilling to change."
"You want to be first, yet you dare not be the first to step forward."
"From establishing the Village system to the Ninja Academy to the Anbu, you repeatedly emulate Konoha, picking up scraps, never thinking of making autonomous changes.
Do you think this is child's play?
This is a revolution, a revolution against the lives of the Daimyō, against the lives of the remnants of the old era."
"In an era of great struggle, the strong thrive, and the weak perish.
If you don't kill the Daimyō today, if you're unwilling to change, then someday someone else will kill him.
Not just him, but also others in Iwagakure and the Land of Earth.
But you won't care; you just need to continue obeying the Daimyō's orders, to be a piece of meat on the Ōtsutsuki Clan's chopping block.
Then you'll just watch, kneel, and beg for a savior from heaven.
If you're lucky, the savior succeeds, and you continue to cling to life.
If you're unlucky, the savior fails, then you all just wait for death."
Speaking of which, Bai Mo looked back at Kurotsuchi, who was holding his arm: "I originally thought the Tsuchikage's goal was to lead the Land of Earth and Iwagakure to prosperity, but I didn't realize the Tsuchikage was just a lackey."
"Ugh!"
Bai Mo's words deeply stung Kurotsuchi's heart, almost making her let go of his hand.
Kurotsuchi's chest heaved, and she opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but found herself speechless.
"Speaking of which, is the Daimyō's status really that useful?
Konan, the Daimyō of the Land of Rain has been gone for a long time, right? How about I become the Daimyō of the Land of Rain?
Then I'll hold a Daimyō meeting, discuss with the other Daimyō, give them some benefits, and have them send all the young and beautiful female ninja like Kurotsuchi over, how about that?"
"Don't ask me."
Konan gave Bai Mo a side-eye and said nothing more.
"Damn it, are you treating us as tradable items?"
Kurotsuchi's exasperated voice came from behind Bai Mo.
"When did you get the illusion that you weren't a tradable item?"
"Then I ask you, if the Daimyō of the Land of Earth really issued such an order, would you obey it?"
"Don't tell me that you can accept an order to break peace treaties and incite war against your will, but for such a 'small matter,' you would defy the Daimyō's command.
Let me put it another way: the Daimyō of the Land of Earth gives you two options: one is to assist him in starting a war, and the other is to come here and be a footmaid. Which do you choose?"
Bai Mo glanced behind him.
"..."
Some things are best left unsaid.
Kurotsuchi fell silent again.
Bai Mo's words completely tore off the veil of pretense.
He was explicitly saying—her so-called Tsuchikage was just a lackey.
She didn't consider the Village or her comrades, nor herself; the Daimyō's orders were the first rule.
"Then what should I do?"
Kurotsuchi softened.
Her voice softened, and the hand gripping Bai Mo's also relaxed.
"Abolish the Daimyō system. You, as the Tsuchikage, will completely control the Land of Earth and implement your ambitions.
Concentrate all resources, allocate them rationally, and develop comprehensively in economics, technology, diplomacy, and so on."
"Don't tell me you don't have that ability.
Based on the intelligence I've gathered about the Daimyō of various countries, it can be confirmed that the Daimyō and those high-ranking officials on their side are all incompetent good-for-nothings.
Even the future development of the Ninja World is centered around the Village, and all new technologies emerge from the Village.
All the Daimyō are just vampires preying on the Village and ordinary villagers.
In other words, if you put a dog in the Daimyō's position now, nothing would change.
If you think you're worse than a dog, then pretend I didn't say anything."
"..."
After listening to the first half of Bai Mo's speech, Kurotsuchi was about to say that she had no experience managing a country, but Bai Mo anticipated her thoughts again, leaving her speechless once more.
"Won't that be very tiring?"
Kurotsuchi asked softly.
Her asking this question could be seen as her having already compromised with Bai Mo's ideas.
"No, because I also reformed the Kage system after the change; only major events require the Kage's decision."
Bai Mo took out a new scroll and tossed it behind him, "The Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure has already taken my scroll and is preparing to change Kirigakure."
"Fifth Mizukage? Isn't the Fourth in power now?"
Kurotsuchi took the scroll and asked in confusion.
"The Fourth voluntarily stepped down due to the losses the Bloody Mist brought to the Village. If you have spies in Kirigakure, you can try to contact them, and you'll know."
"Alright."
Kurotsuchi didn't ask any more questions.
Since Bai Mo said so, it must be true.
After all, this matter indeed only required activating a lurking spy.
If not, sending people to investigate wouldn't be a secret as the new Mizukage takes office.
Learning that the Fifth Mizukage was a "kindred spirit," Kurotsuchi finally gained confidence and motivation.
"I didn't expect the Mizukage to be convinced by you before me. You should have told me earlier..."
Kurotsuchi laughed.
With "companions" and a "precedent," doing something that previously seemed "treasonous" became much easier for Kurotsuchi to accept mentally.
"So what are you going to do?"
It was Bai Mo's turn to ask Kurotsuchi.
"My current strength isn't enough. I want to cultivate here with you, improve my strength, and then deal with..."
"No need."
Deidara interrupted Kurotsuchi, raising his ring-adorned hand and chuckling,
"After I understood what Itachi, Kisame, and the strategist did in the Land of Water, I guessed the strategist's grand vision. So, when I returned to the Village this time, I conveniently dropped a modified C4 over the Daimyō's residence in the Land of Earth.
So, Kurotsuchi, thank me.
And, hurry back to be your Tsuchikage; don't even think about joining the organization! Hm!"
The C4 Deidara mentioned was not the bomb from CS.
Instead, it was the ninjutsu he originally developed to kill Itachi—C4 Garuḍa.
Garuḍa was a clone explosion ninjutsu similar to the Second Mizukage's Steaming Danger Tyranny.
He would create a human puppet identical to himself, and the puppet's body would be filled with countless tiny explosive spiders, imperceptible to the naked eye.
After the puppet exploded, the explosive spiders would scatter into the surrounding air and be inhaled by people.
Through countless miniature explosions, the human body would be completely destroyed.
The modified C4 Deidara spoke of was essentially the removal of the first step of Garuḍa.
Instead of using a puppet explosion for the initial wave of damage and dispersal, he directly sprinkled micro explosive spiders from the air like artificial rain.
Furthermore, the detonation method no longer required active detonation; instead, once the density reached a certain level and was subjected to pressure, it would automatically detonate.
This meant that there would be no reaction in the air; only when inhaled into the body would they settle and completely blow up the body.
Moreover, because they were micro-explosions, there would be no sound or flash of light. To the naked eye, people who were blown up would look like they had turned to dust from Thanos's snap.
It was quite a challenge for Deidara, who loved the excitement of explosions, to develop such a quiet, silent explosion.
....
The journey continues right now for our Jade Dragons! 🐉
For just $6/month, you can step into the advanced chapters and never face a cliffhanger again. Gain instant access to 50+ chapters immediately, support the story you love, and help decide its course.
🔗 Become a Jade Dragon:
patreon.com/J_Dragon