In the days that followed, reports of daimyo across the nations meeting with misfortune surfaced one after another.
The daimyo of the Land of Earth slipped on the stairs and died on the spot.
His only son inherited the position.
The newly appointed daimyo believed the Land of Earth could not be safe without the shinobi of Iwagakure, so he ordered a five-hundred-percent increase in the village's monthly funding.
All of it was to be used for the development and construction of Iwagakure.
In addition, the new daimyo of the Land of Earth personally donated fifty billion to Iwagakure.
The daimyo of the Land of Water took his entire family on a sea voyage. Due to a mistake by the captain, the cruise ship accidentally struck a reef, and everyone on board died.
Fortunately, the daimyo's second son had stomach trouble that day and didn't board the ship, thus narrowly escaping death.
The position of daimyo naturally fell to him.
Like the others, the newly appointed daimyo said that since all the other daimyo had supported their villages, he certainly couldn't fall behind.
He increased Kirigakure's funding by eight hundred percent on top of its original budget.
The Land of Wind encountered a once-in-a-century sandstorm, and the daimyo's entire family was swept up and killed.
The retainers had no choice but to select a new daimyo.
Just like in other countries, the new daimyo felt the shinobi of Sunagakure lived too miserably and poured out all his wealth to support the village's path to prosperity.
The daimyo of the Land of Lightning, who hadn't appeared for many years, declared that he couldn't lag behind.
However, no one had seen the daimyo of the Land of Lightning for a very long time; usually, it was a representative who relayed his words.
In a single night, every major shinobi village received immense gifts from their daimyo.
Both shinobi and villagers received various benefits issued by their villages.
Education became free, medical care became free, ninja tools were forever at twenty percent off, and all missions issued by the mission hall—regardless of difficulty—had their rewards increased by twenty percent.
Such policies brought smiles to everyone's faces.
Those daimyo who had always been selfish and cared only for their own enjoyment all met with tragic deaths in "natural disasters" and "accidents."
Not a single one survived.
People in every village discussed this heatedly.
"Those daimyo must've done too many heartless things."
"Exactly! Exactly!"
And soon, their chatter shifted toward the Hokage.
"I think Hokage-sama used his personal charm to win over the new daimyo, which is why our village received so much financial support!"
"All thanks to Hokage-sama!"
Similar statements spread throughout every major shinobi village.
...
Hokage's Office.
Shimura Danzō looked at the intelligence scroll in his hand, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
"Just as Renya said…"
Those Kage, once they understood the true "use" of a daimyo, naturally would not let such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by.
It was just that the excuses they used—each one was more ridiculous than the last.
Forget it. Everyone knew what was really going on.
"Danzō, the other countries really did imitate us."
Hiruzen looked emotional, finding all of this unbelievable.
He never expected that the daimyo, who had always stood above everyone else, had now become nothing more than ATMs for shinobi.
And all of this was inseparable from Renya.
If not for Renya's suggestion, they would still be panicking over how to make the daimyo approve funding.
It was true that Renya breaking the unspoken rules of the shinobi world was outrageous, but once everyone broke the same rule…
It only meant the rule itself was the problem.
Hiruzen was no longer worried about this being exposed.
Because everyone was doing the same thing.
"Hiruzen, I told you—everything I do is for the village."
Shimura Danzō looked at his friend with a proud expression.
"Yeah, I believe you!" Hiruzen no longer dared to casually refute Danzō.
Everything Danzō had done recently had indeed benefited the village.
It could only be said that Hiruzen was the conservative type, while Danzō was the extreme type.
But fundamentally, both wanted the village to become stronger—they simply viewed problems from different angles.
Their personalities made it unavoidable.
The conservative Hiruzen normally would never do anything extreme.
Unless absolutely necessary.
For example, he would only choose to fight if the enemy came knocking.
But the extreme Danzō was different.
He was the type who would proactively start a war.
...
Senju Tobirama's Residence.
"Kid, you really went and killed the daimyo."
Senju Tobirama's expression was complicated.
He had suspected that once Renya went to the daimyo's mansion, the daimyo would not have a good end.
Sure enough, after just one trip, the previous daimyo "died of poisoning" during a family banquet.
As for whether it was poisoning—well, those who knew, knew.
"What do you mean 'killed'?" Renya looked baffled. "The daimyo just ate something bad. Don't slander me,!"
Senju Tobirama: "…"
This brat was getting addicted to playing dumb?
"Enough. Tell me exactly what happened."
Renya scratched his head awkwardly and recounted everything that had taken place in the daimyo's mansion.
Senju Tobirama listened, then sighed helplessly.
"Do you understand that once this gets exposed, Konohagakure will be condemned by the entire shinobi world? We might even be attacked by everyone…"
This kid still didn't think things through enough.
Even using the Sharingan to control the daimyo would've been better than killing him.
At least it wouldn't give them the confirmed guilt of assassinating a daimyo.
Having lived from the Warring States period to now, he understood too well the consequences of killing a daimyo.
In that era, shinobi who killed their employer would be hunted by everyone.
And their clans might even be wiped out.
"You're overreacting." Renya smiled casually and pulled out a document from his robes.
Senju Tobirama instinctively took it.
Once he saw the contents, he froze in place.
It felt as though his entire worldview had been shattered.
The document clearly listed the accidental deaths of daimyo across the nations, and the unconditional support their successors were giving the shinobi villages.
"They…"
Senju Tobirama didn't even know what to say.
It seemed other villages' Kage had seen how much money Konoha was making and immediately copied their approach.
Now there was no longer any need to worry about exposure.
All five great nations had committed the same outrageous act.
This brat had singlehandedly overturned the daimyo system that had lasted for thousands of years in the shinobi world.
Now daimyo were nothing more than puppets of the shinobi villages.
Replaceable at any time.
Other shinobi villages also gained full support from their daimyo, and everyone was desperately developing their villages.
Whether this was good or bad… who knew?
As long as a war didn't break out, it was fine. But if a war did start, it would definitely be far more devastating than the First Shinobi World War.
The more wealth one had, the longer a war could last.
The essence of war was simply the uneven distribution of resources.
Even though every village now had daimyo support, one must not forget that a daimyo's wealth was tied to the nation's environment.
The Land of Fire was rich; its tax revenue every year was enormous.
But the Land of Wind was different.
Their tax revenue for an entire year might not match the Land of Fire's income from one or two months.
With such disparity, war was inevitable sooner or later.
Other nations would eventually eye the Land of Fire's abundant resources…
It was unavoidable.
Forget it—there was no point thinking too far ahead about things that hadn't happened yet.
Senju Tobirama dropped the thought and looked at Renya, who was sunbathing again.
"Alright, kid. Go cook."