Chapter 322 — Question
At the second "beep," the call connected.
"Hello, husband, are you back?"
Mikoto's voice came from the other end.
Her voice wasn't hoarse from just waking up.
Clearly, Uchiha Mikoto had been awake for a while.
It was around seven o'clock now, which was about right.
Normally, Uchiha Mikoto also woke up around seven.
After all, she had to prepare breakfast, so she would wake up a bit earlier to account for the preparation time.
"Yes, we're bathing in the bathhouse; we smell too bad. We'll be back after we clean up."
"Mmm, where's Izumi? Is she with you?"
"Yes, she'll come back with us later. Remember to make her noodles."
"Izumi isn't hurt, is she?"
Uchiha Itachi was next to Fugaku and also heard Kaa-san's voice from the phone; his expression shifted slightly.
He felt a bit helpless, sensing that Kaa-san's concern for Izumi now surpassed her concern for their three brothers.
But he wasn't jealous or anything; in fact, he was happy to see this happen.
Izumi was actually quite pitiful, having lost both parents at a young age and living alone. Although she had the family's help, the care of close relatives would never return.
He was quite happy that Kaa-san could care for Izumi so much.
Fugaku glanced at his eldest son and said, "Of course not. With me watching over her, are you still not reassured? No one is hurt; everyone is fine."
"That's good. Alright, I'll hang up now. I'm going to prepare breakfast for you."
"Okay, bye-bye."
…
"A passage to another world?"
As Fugaku spoke, the two Hokage Advisors, Uchiha Sihu and Hyuga Hizashi, exchanged glances. If anyone else had said that, they would have probably slapped him; making fun of them wasn't amusing.
But since Hokage-sama said it, it was worth believing.
Even if it sounded a bit outlandish.
But after exchanging glances, they immediately chose to believe.
"Hokage-sama, are you saying you've already been to that world? What kind of world is it?"
Uchiha Sihu asked curiously.
Fugaku said, "The power used in that world is different from the Chakra of our Ninja World, but it's not too dissimilar, like Ninjutsu. However, there might be many more strong individuals over there than here."
Fugaku continued without stopping, "Therefore, I've decided that after unifying the Ninja World, we will advance into that world, bringing its resources back here using storage scrolls. We can even send people to be stationed there permanently."
Uchiha Sihu scratched his head, not hearing specific information about that world, but Hokage-sama's next sentence made his eyes widen.
"Unify the Ninja World?"
He trembled with excitement. Although he had known such a day might come since Fugaku awakened those eyes, he didn't expect it to arrive so quickly!
Hyuga Hizashi was also stunned by these words.
Only Nara Shikaku remained calm, observing Fugaku for a moment, then carefully choosing his words:
"Hokage-sama, now is actually not a good time to start a war."
Fugaku raised an eyebrow.
"Elaborate."
Nara Shikaku nodded and continued, "Currently, our Village is striving for prosperity and developing well, but population is still a relatively important issue. If we want to unify the Ninja World, our population will certainly be insufficient. I suggest we can start by targeting one Village to deter other countries. At the same time, we can send people to occupy the Land of Hot Springs, or even just occupy the area where the 'gate' is located and prevent anyone from entering.
After that, we can slowly send people to that world, gather enough intelligence first, and then consider other ideas."
Nara Shikaku was still relatively cautious.
Currently, everything about that world was unknown; only a few pieces of information were known: one, it was similar to Ninjutsu, and two, their combat power was stronger than theirs.
Thus, a rash attack could very likely lead to a counter-invasion. It was better to first gather intelligence about that world and proceed step by step.
"Although the population is insufficient, we don't need to send people to control other Villages. We can destroy other Villages, accept those who are willing to submit, and eliminate those who are not."
Uchiha Sihu expressed a different opinion.
"Destroying a Village can have a deterrent effect, but not much, right? Like when we destroyed Hidden Cloud Village, didn't Iwagakure still come out to compete with us for the land resources of the Land of Lightning? If we hadn't retreated, we probably would have fought them."
He continued, "I'm just worried that when we explore that world, the remaining Villages will cause trouble."
"If no one manages them, won't destroying other Villages lead to chaos?"
Hyuga Hizashi frowned.
He didn't explicitly state whether he supported or opposed, only raised a question.
"If no one manages them, all sorts of monsters will emerge, and who knows how many people will die then."
Nara Shikaku sighed. This was also why he didn't immediately agree with Hokage-sama's goal of unifying the Ninja World. The main reason was the Village's insufficient manpower. Even if they conquered other Villages, they wouldn't be able to manage them. It was better to leave a few villages and let them remain stable.
After a few more years of development, when the Chunin and Genin in the village grew up, then they could work towards the goal of unifying the Ninja World.
"Nara Shikaku makes sense. I don't want to cause an era of chaos; too many deaths are not what I want to see."
Fugaku nodded faintly and said, "Then it's settled. Let's start by targeting one Village. Which one do you think is good?"
Seeing Hokage-sama set the tone, Uchiha Sihu, though somewhat unwilling, had no choice but to temporarily abandon his goal of persuading Hokage-sama to unify the Ninja World.
Hyuga Hizashi said, "Hidden Mist Village—ever since Iwagakure attacked them last time, they don't even know where their Village moved to. Should Hidden Mist Village be directly excluded? We can't even find them to target them."
"Yes, among the Five Great Ninja Villages, four remain. Excluding Hidden Mist Village, that leaves only Iwagakure and Hidden Sand Village."
"Hidden Sand Village is so weak; eliminating them wouldn't have much deterrent effect. It's better to choose Iwagakure. Iwagakure has been very active recently, even mobilizing large troops to attack Hidden Mist Village.
Among these three Villages, Iwagakure is the strongest. I think after we eliminate Iwagakure, we will definitely deter the remaining two Villages. Hidden Mist Village and Hidden Sand Village are both severely weakened and haven't recovered. The two Villages combined probably can't even defeat Iwagakure."
Uchiha Sihu analyzed.
"Sihu Advisor makes sense. I also agree to use force against Iwagakure."
Uchiha Sihu's expression softened slightly when he heard Nara Shikaku voice his support.
"Advisor Hizashi, what are your thoughts?"
Uchiha Sihu asked.
Seeing the three look over, Hyuga Hizashi shrugged and said, "I also agree."
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