At the Land of Earth Daimyō's residence,
Ōnoki sat across from the Land of Earth Daimyō.
"I wonder what brings the Tsuchikage here today. This year's funding was already delivered to you quite early." Hidden Stone Village is grateful for your support, Daimyō-sama. However, I did not come here over financial matters."
"Oh?"
The Land of Earth Daimyō immediately became interested.
He hadn't expected Ōnoki to come to him for anything other than money.
Could it be that the old man had finally learned how the world worked?
"This time, I hope Daimyō-sama will issue an order to completely cut off all trade with the Land of Fire."
The Land of Earth Daimyō rolled his eyes.
As expected, Ōnoki was still the same stubborn fossil, completely incapable of flexibility.
You come asking me for help and show up empty-handed?
Who does business like that in the shinobi world?
"That would be inappropriate. Wars between shinobi are not something the Daimyō's court should interfere in. Much less completely severing all trade relations with the Land of Fire. Besides..."
At this point, the Land of Earth Daimyō paused and looked at Ōnoki as if he were an idiot.
"Ōnoki, do you have any idea how much money trade between our two nations generates in a single year? And now you want to cut it off just because you say so? Will you compensate the Land of Earth for those losses? Can you even afford to?"
"Daimyō-sama, I cannot afford it. Neither can Hidden Stone Village."
"Then don't say such nonsense again in the future. It's getting late, and I'm tired. I won't be entertaining you further."
The Land of Earth Daimyō clearly intended to send him away.
Ōnoki finally revealed his trump card.
"Daimyō-sama may indeed be considering the interests of the Land of Earth... but as for whose Land of Earth it will ultimately become, that is another matter entirely."
"Ōnoki, are you threatening me?"
"I wouldn't dare. It's just that Daimyō-sama seems not to have realized a cruel reality. Hidden Stone Village can contend against the Hidden Rain Village, but it absolutely cannot withstand an assault from the Hidden Leaf Village. And I believe the Fire Daimyō would never pass up an opportunity to expand his territory."
"Go on."
The Land of Earth Daimyō's expression darkened.
As a fellow daimyō, how could he not understand the ambitions lurking in the Fire Daimyō's heart?
They were all men who had lived for decades. Nobody needed to pretend to be innocent.
Without exaggeration, if Hidden Stone Village currently possessed the same strength as the Hidden Leaf Village, then over half of the Land of Fire would already belong to the Land of Earth.
And by the same logic, the Fire Daimyō undoubtedly thought the same way.
"We have already joined forces with Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Sand Village, Hidden Mist Village, and Hidden Rain Village. Together, we can lock the Land of Fire and the Hidden Leaf Village inside a cage. Any movement will affect the whole situation. They will be surrounded by enemies on every side and naturally won't dare act recklessly. Then we cut off their trade routes. Over time, the Land of Fire's economy will decline, and the Hidden Leaf Village will weaken as well. Meanwhile, we can seize this opportunity to catch up to—or even surpass—the Hidden Leaf Village."
Ōnoki calmly explained the strategy they had established during their meetings.
After extensive negotiations, they had finalized a comprehensive plan involving economics, politics, military affairs, and more—a full-scale assault against the Hidden Leaf Village on every front.
After hearing everything, the Land of Earth Daimyō found the plan rather good.
Except for one flaw.
"Tsuchikage-sama, what if the Hidden Leaf Village defeats every enemy surrounding them?"
"In that case, Daimyō-sama, all we can do is pray that the Fire Daimyō is merciful to his prisoners."
If even this failed, then there would be no next step.
Yes, they could continue developing and perhaps become stronger in the future.
But the problem was simple:
Who would dare compete in development against a Hidden Leaf Village no longer ruled by Hiruzen Sarutobi and no longer dragged down by Shimura Danzō?
By then, Kage-level shinobi would probably appear in batches. How were they supposed to compete with that?
"Tsuchikage-sama, from this point onward, all funds within the Land of Earth will fully support Hidden Stone Village. I only have two conditions. First: destroy the Land of Fire and the Hidden Leaf Village. Second: do not suffer excessive losses. The Land of Earth and Hidden Stone Village must not become the next target surrounded and attacked by everyone else."
The Land of Earth Daimyō had finally figured it out.
He had no choice but to support this matter.
After all, he couldn't gamble his life on the possibility that the Fire Daimyō might be merciful.
Besides, once reduced to a prisoner, wouldn't he simply become livestock waiting for slaughter?
"Thank you for your support, Daimyō-sama. This operation will not fail."
Ōnoki spoke with absolute certainty.
Of course, if we fail, Daimyō-sama probably won't ever see me again anyway.
...
Between Ōnoki and the Land of Earth Daimyō, the entire situation and balance of the shinobi world had to be laid out clearly so the Daimyō could make an informed judgment.
But in the Land of Lightning...
Things looked completely different.
"Daimyō, sign this document."
A slammed a document onto the table in front of the Land of Lightning Daimyō.
"Declaration of Complete Trade Severance with the Land of Fire."
The Land of Lightning Daimyō picked up the document and glanced toward Dodai standing behind A.
The meaning in his eyes was obvious.
Is this really how you people handle things?
Do you even still see me as the Daimyō?!
Dodai pretended not to notice at all.
In the past, he might have thought this method inappropriate.
But after dealing with the Daimyō's court multiple times, he had come to understand something.
Some people were just naturally spineless.
The nicer you treated them, the more arrogant they became.
People like that needed the Raikage to deal with them personally.
Bang!
A violently slammed his hand onto the table before the Land of Lightning Daimyō.
"What? Don't know how to sign your name?"
The Land of Lightning Daimyō jumped in fright.
"N-No, not at all! I was just looking for a pen! I'll sign it immediately, immediately!"
Seeing the Daimyō's miserable appearance, Dodai secretly laughed to himself.
Go on, act arrogant now. Where's that lofty attitude you used to have? Where's that untamed pride?
Sure enough, evil people needed even worse people to handle them.
Look how efficient this was.
Approved in one second.
...
Of course, where there was forcefulness, there was also persuasion.
In the Land of Wind—
The Land of Wind Daimyō dodged left.
Rasa immediately appeared on his left side.
He dodged right.
Rasa instantly appeared on his right side instead, grinning broadly.
"Hehehe."
"Get lost! I already said I won't agree! If you can solve the water problem, then forget cutting off trade with the Land of Fire—I'd hand over the Daimyō position to you myself!"
The Land of Wind Daimyō shoved him away while cursing nonstop.
"Are you insane? The entire Land of Wind relies on drinking water shipped from the Land of Fire! Cutting off trade with them? Are you crazy, or am I?!"
Rasa found himself completely unable to respond.
Water truly was the Land of Wind's greatest problem.
...
Compared to the Land of Wind, things went much more smoothly in the Land of Water.
The Land of Water Daimyō quickly agreed to sever all trade with the Land of Fire.
Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura was also very pleased with the Daimyō's understanding of the bigger picture.
"Um... Mizukage-sama, about this..."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot."
Karatachi Yagura hurriedly removed the ninja blade beside the Land of Water Daimyō.
Land of Water Daimyō: With methods like this, how could things not proceed quickly?
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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