Chapter 92: Threat from the Daimyo? Laughable
Hearing Danzo's words, Kei could not help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.
For a moment, he did not even know what to say.
Destroying one's own ally first so the enemy would not have a chance to do it instead was not the kind of thing an ordinary person could even bring themselves to say.
But if it was Danzo, then somehow it felt perfectly reasonable.
It fit his character completely.
To profit at the expense of others, without any bottom line at all, that was Danzo's nature.
Originally, in his youth, this side of him had not been especially obvious.
But the more power he gained, the more clearly it revealed itself.
And truthfully...
If they followed Danzo's proposal, it actually did have quite a bit of practical value.
After all, given the relationship between Konoha and the Uzumaki Clan, the Uzumaki would never expect Konoha to suddenly strike first.
As long as Konoha arranged for people to enter the Land of Whirlpools and then launched a surprise attack, they could likely wipe out the Uzumaki Clan with little difficulty.
The entire process might not even cost them many losses.
After all, in the eyes of the Uzumaki Clan, Konoha was unquestionably one of their own. They would never be properly on guard against them.
Once the Uzumaki Clan was destroyed, all of their sealing techniques and bloodline inheritance would fall completely into Konoha's hands, leaving no chance for others to seize them.
The plan was, in truth, highly feasible.
And the benefits were obvious.
The only problem was that it was utterly shameless.
"Have you gone mad, Danzo?"
Homura and the others stared at him as if they were looking at a lunatic.
"The Uzumaki Clan is our ally, and you actually dare entertain thoughts like that?"
"So what if they are our ally? And so what if they are not?"
Under their gaze, Danzo's expression remained perfectly calm, cold to the bone.
"In this chaotic age, ally and enemy are merely positions on a wheel. They can change at any time."
"The Uzumaki Clan may be Konoha's ally today, but who can say whether they will not betray Konoha tomorrow?"
"Only by firmly holding the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques and bloodline in our own hands can Konoha avoid future losses and prevent others from taking them."
"You really have lost your mind."
Homura and the others found his words difficult to accept.
The originally quiet meeting room quickly dissolved into argument.
Kei stood to the side and watched them quarrel with some amusement in his eyes.
After becoming Hokage, he had finally begun to understand Hiruzen's original state of mind.
From the position of Hokage, people who worked diligently were indispensable.
But at the same time, someone like Danzo, a person who could handle the ugliest, dirtiest work for Konoha, also could not be completely absent.
Otherwise, if everyone in the village had standards that were too clean, then when something truly unspeakable needed doing, there might not even be anyone capable of carrying it out.
Danzo was unquestionably the best candidate for dealing with Konoha's filth.
"Enough."
Seeing the argument before him becoming more and more heated, Kei raised a hand and stopped it.
"Danzo, speak less."
He said indifferently, "Whatever the future may hold, for now the Land of Whirlpools is still our ally."
"Under that premise, what we should be discussing is how to stop Kumogakure from attacking our ally, not how to murder our own ally first."
"Lady Mito is still in the village."
At present, Mito was still alive in Konoha.
Given her ties to the Uzumaki Clan, there was no way she would sit and watch Konoha move against her own people.
That was far too unrealistic.
If Konoha tried to act against the Uzumaki Clan, there would be a great many consequences to deal with afterward.
Mito simply disliked conflict.
That did not mean she lacked the power for it.
Danzo likely did not truly understand how terrifying Mito was, which was why he could speak so arrogantly now.
From the very beginning, his proposal had no chance of becoming reality.
"Kei, you will regret this!"
Hearing Kei's words, Danzo fixed his gaze on him, and there was obvious disappointment in his eyes.
What kind of situation is this?
For some reason, looking at Danzo's face and listening to his tone, Kei suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
Thus, in front of everyone, he spoke again.
"Danzo."
"I am the Hokage."
"Hmph!"
Rejected by Kei, Danzo slammed the door and walked out, carrying the air of a man convinced that the whole world was drunk while he alone remained sober.
That really did feel satisfying.
Watching that scene, a smile appeared on Kei's face.
He then turned toward Koharu.
"Within the Land of Fire, where is the closest location to the Land of Whirlpools?"
"This... it should be this stretch of coastline here, nearest to the Land of Whirlpools."
Koharu took the map, searched it for a moment, and then pointed it out.
"From there, it would take only half a day to reach the Land of Whirlpools and provide support."
"Then we'll build a base there."
Yuu spoke evenly.
"It just so happens that our control over the Land of Fire should deepen as well."
Some time earlier, while the allied Konoha and Kumogakure forces had been fighting the Kinkaku Brothers' rebellion, many other things had also been happening across the Land of Fire.
For instance, large numbers of Konoha shinobi had already been dispatched from Konoha to suppress bandits throughout the country.
At first, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the local nobles had been supportive.
After all, suppressing bandits benefited them too.
A stable domain was always better than a lawless one.
And in the beginning, the results of this campaign had indeed been impressive.
Under the Konoha shinobi's strikes, bandit groups vanished one after another, and public security reached levels not seen in a long time.
But after that, the local lords gradually began to realize that something was wrong.
The Konoha shinobi were indeed serious about suppressing bandits.
But after suppressing the bandits, why were they not leaving?
That was the issue.
Under Kei's orders, Konoha shinobi had set up small outposts all throughout the Land of Fire.
These outposts were often built along smooth roads, major trade routes, and prosperous commercial paths, all under the banner of anti bandit operations.
At first, they really were being used to suppress bandits.
But later, their function changed.
Those anti bandit outposts quietly became toll stations.
Their main role shifted from suppressing bandits to collecting transit fees from passing merchants.
No matter who wanted to pass through, anyone crossing those points had to pay.
The justification was wonderfully elegant.
A route protection fee.
"After all, we are sending troops to protect your safety on the road. Isn't it only reasonable that you pay a little protection fee?"
"You should know, our anti bandit work is free!"
At that point, the nobles and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire learned a valuable lesson.
What is free is often the most expensive thing of all.
Once Konoha's anti bandit units entered a region, the bandits disappeared, but Konoha itself never left.
And there was absolutely nothing those nobles could do about it.
They could not win by force.
Within the Land of Fire, Konoha was the strongest military body and the only real one.
Across the entire country, Konoha could confidently say there was no one who could stand against it.
Even independent groups like the Fire Temple, which possessed some degree of strength, would still be easily crushed if they dared oppose Konoha head on.
And nominally, Konoha still remained the military institution of the Land of Fire, while the Hokage was recognized as the supreme military commander of the country, personally endorsed by the Daimyo himself.
As the supreme military leader of the Land of Fire, it was only natural for the Hokage to carry out anti bandit operations and martial control throughout the territory, was it not?
Establishing permanent outposts for long term anti bandit work was also perfectly reasonable, was it not?
Konoha not only possessed overwhelming force, but it also held the proper name and authority for acting.
It was the legitimate military organization of the Land of Fire, sanctioned by the Daimyo.
If those nobles wished to resist, they were free to try.
But if they were too reckless, they might also discover all sorts of unfortunate ways to die.
Drowning by accident.
Sudden disappearance.
Suicide.
And so on.
In this world, making someone commit suicide was not difficult at all.
A single glare from the Sharingan, supplemented with genjutsu, and an ordinary person would not even have the chance to resist.
In just a short period of time, Konoha had already begun hollowing out the noble class of the Land of Fire through those outposts.
And once things had reached that stage, Kei's next plan was naturally to establish military bases throughout the Land of Fire, so as to bring the entire country more firmly under control.
This was both a practical necessity and a natural part of development.
Only after reaching that stage could he truly draw out the full potential of the Land of Fire.
And now, since the issue of protecting the Uzumaki Clan had also arisen, the timing was perfect.
"Designate this location as Base Number One and begin construction immediately."
He gave the order plainly.
"Once construction is complete, you will take the lead in stationing forces there and ensuring the safety of the Land of Whirlpools."
"Yes."
Koharu nodded.
"What does the Daimyo think of our actions during this period?"
Kei's then turned toward Homura.
"The Daimyo.. seems to have quite a few complaints."
Homura hesitated for a moment before answering.
"As for the village setting up checkpoints and collecting tariffs throughout the Land of Fire, The Daimyo appears extremely angry."
"If this continues, the village may lose the Daimyo's funding."
"Lose the Daimyo's funding?"
A smile appeared on Kei's face.
"Is that all?"
"Actually, he said many other things as well."
Homura replied.
"But for now, the only true leverage he has over the village is that annual funding."
The so called Daimyo was, in the end, only that much.
If the shinobi had never realized the strength they truly held in their own hands, and had remained content to act merely as tools beneath the Daimyo, that would be one matter.
But once shinobi understood that these so called Daimyo were really just paper tigers, frail and hollow, then the title of Daimyo ceased to amount to much.
Like right now.
Faced with Konoha's gradual expansion and encroachment throughout the Land of Fire, the only real threat the Daimyo could still make was to cut off the annual subsidy.
"Nothing but paper tigers."
Kei's laughed softly, utterly unconcerned.
And not only him.
The others present were equally unmoved by the Daimyo's threat.
If the Daimyo refused to provide village funding, that would have been an extremely serious matter for many other villages.
Handled poorly, it could have directly affected the village's survival.
Sunagakure was the clearest example of that.
But for Konoha as it now stood, it meant nothing.
The reason was simple.
They had money.
.....
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