Kisame raised his hand seriously.
"This sir, but we still need to remain cautious of Konoha's military strength. The average quality of their academy students is extremely high, and their support systems for shinobi are also excellent..."
"And I've observed many of their shinobi personally. I didn't notice any signs of things being unsustainable either..."
Kisame thought of Might Guy.
During these last few months in Konoha, the two of them had become fairly familiar as morning training partners.
Kisame also knew Guy's story.
Back then, Guy could barely be said to have enough food and clothing. His nutrition was only just sufficient to sustain the physical demands placed on his body.
But after Konoha's welfare and support systems poured resources into him, Might Guy now ate well, lived well, and had light in his eyes. The changes were completely real and tangible.
Madara smiled faintly. He had already prepared his explanation in advance.
"Kisame, I do not deny Konoha's so-called shinobi welfare system."
"But what they are doing is digging their own grave! Sarutobi Hiruzen is forcibly stabilizing Konoha's political situation by selling off the legacy left behind by Senju Hashirama. There will be no future in that!"
"It's like drinking poison to quench thirst..."
"If Mizukage-sama wished to, he could do the same thing! But what Mizukage-sama seeks is Kirigakure's long-term stability and prosperity—maintaining internal unity and order far into the future..."
"Rather than shortsightedly throwing around welfare benefits and dragging things out one day at a time!"
Madara spoke slowly.
"Kisame, you must learn to see through appearances and grasp the essence. A village flourishing like blazing oil over a raging fire can still collapse in an instant. A prosperous situation may be nothing more than an illusion. This has happened more than once throughout Konoha's history..."
"Back then, Konoha possessed both the God of Shinobi and the Shinobi World's Shura. What glorious prestige that was! It looked as though they would conquer the entire shinobi world in the very next moment..."
"But what happened afterward? Both pillars supporting the heavens collapsed one after another, leaving behind only a mediocre man like Senju Tobirama, who could not even properly handle peace negotiations with Kumogakure, ultimately dying during the First Shinobi World War."
Madara subtly mixed a bit of personal bias into his words...
Kisame nodded thoughtfully, his gaze unconsciously carrying a trace of admiration.
So this is what our village's higher-ups are like...
Truly cultured and strategically brilliant!
Even Nakamaro looked at Madara with some surprise.
At first glance, those words were extremely deceptive.
'If this were the old me, I probably would've believed it too...'
'Thank goodness Tenzō-ojiisan thoroughly explained the operating logic behind Konoha—the greatest village of all...' Nakamaro could not help feeling a faint sense of superiority.
Hyūga Tenzō had carefully broken everything down and explained it to him piece by piece.
The underlying ruling logic of every hidden village in the shinobi world was highly homogenized.
Shinobi were tools. Villages relied on oppressive systems and wartime plunder to sustain themselves. Sacrificing individuals and exploiting the lower ranks was treated as an unquestionable law of survival.
Otherwise, they simply would not have been able to survive the brutal environment of constant warfare.
Madara's argument fit perfectly with the survival logic the shinobi world had followed for nearly a thousand years.
It was like a factory owner who survived by constantly squeezing his workers dry suddenly hearing that the factory next door had abolished last-place elimination, introduced injury compensation guarantees, and raised base salaries.
His first reaction would never be, "What vision! What industrial upgrading!"
It would be, "At this rate, they'll go bankrupt sooner or later."
Everyone produced the same kind of "tools." There was no reason you were still getting beaten up a few years ago, only to suddenly start pulling off miracles now!
That was the instinctive reaction of most shinobi...
But Nakamaro was different.
Thanks to Tenzō's intensive tutoring, Nakamaro understood that Konoha truly had achieved "industrial upgrading," and had done so by pursuing a high-end "small but elite" path.
While producing high-value goods, they also avoided consuming too much manpower that would weaken their military strength, and at the same time formed an extremely tight partnership with the nobility—putting them far ahead of the other hidden villages.
'This guy has to be one of Kirigakure's higher-ups...'
'His manipulation methods are honestly incredible. But even this was already within Tenzō-ojiisan's expectations. He predicted long ago that Kirigakure would think this way...'
Nakamaro sincerely felt that the saying "The Hyūga are the Kaguya Clan's brains" was absolutely correct!
Tenzō had worried that Nakamaro might relapse into old habits after returning to Kirigakure's environment.
So in advance, he had reverse-engineered how people like Genji would reinterpret Konoha's advantages if they learned about them, carefully accounting for every possible angle...
As Konoha's committee member specifically responsible for "Kirigakure affairs," Tenzō truly had done his work flawlessly...
Of course, Tenzō himself probably never imagined that the first "enemy" his precautions would be used against would not be Kirigakure at all, but the famed Shura of the Shinobi World himself!
Snow echoed Nakamaro's words, inwardly just as disdainful.
As someone who had long since planned to defect alongside Nakamaro, Snow had already heard Tenzō's warnings from him.
And even setting all those principles aside...
The Third Mizukage's persecution of the Ice Release clan alone was enough to fill Snow with boundless hatred...
His family members were either dead or imprisoned. As the person directly involved, would he not know whether they had been wronged?!
"May I ask who you are?"
Kisame asked respectfully, "I'd like to learn more from you in the future. You're truly incredible..."
Clearly, because Kisame's obsession with Kirigakure ran too deep, Madara had already completely fooled him.
Terumī Mei's gaze sharpened.
She too cared deeply about the true identity of the Kirigakure higher-up Madara was pretending to be...
Judging from his chakra presence, he was most likely a Kirigakure shinobi, but that was hardly a guarantee...
Madara let out a cold laugh.
"Genji" appeared from the distance and slowly walked over, sweeping his gaze across Kisame and the others.
Kisame and the others immediately dropped to one knee and greeted him.
"Genji-sama!"
"Mmm..." Naturally, this was not the real Genji at all, but a fake body created by White Zetsu Hi-kun in disguise.
He subtly released a trace of chakra to verify his identity.
That was also one of White Zetsu's terrifying strengths.
Not only could they merge into the earth itself, but they could also flawlessly imitate the chakra of shinobi they had come into contact with, making them nearly as difficult to distinguish as Wood Clones.
'Confirmed. This really is Genji-sama...' Kisame finally relaxed completely. His last trace of doubt vanished.
"You must keep today's conversation buried in your minds."
"You are all excellent seedlings of Kirigakure, but you are still young. It is only natural that Konoha's bizarre current state might confuse you. That is why I came to remind you, lest you stray down the wrong path..."
In order to perform today's act properly, Hi-kun had enthusiastically rehearsed for a very long time...
He let out a sigh and tapped his cane lightly against the ground.
"But this itself already violates the rules. A Kirigakure shinobi should devote absolute loyalty to Kirigakure. Any wavering is a violation of the shinobi code."
"So not only for your own sake, but also to avoid causing trouble for me, you must pretend today's conversation never happened. Focus wholeheartedly on serving Kirigakure and do not waste the painstaking effort I have invested in you..."
Hi-kun perfectly portrayed the image of a respected elder reluctantly bending the rules out of appreciation for talented juniors, while also capturing Genji's instinct for self-preservation...
Even Madara felt somewhat surprised inwardly.
'This Hi-kun...'
'After being strengthened by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, plus all the reading he's done and all the time spent by my side, he's actually become fairly useful.'
'He's not that much worse than Black Zetsu or Tobi anymore!'
Kisame and Mei no longer had any doubts. Gratitude filled their voices.
"Thank you very much, Genji-sama! We will never forget this kindness for as long as we live..."
Meanwhile, Nakamaro and Snow sneered inwardly.
'So it really was that old bastard scheming behind the scenes. No wonder the manipulation sounded so convincing!'
"Enough. Wait here for someone to pick you up. I still have important matters to attend to..." Hi-kun waved his hand, then departed alongside the ANBU White Zetsu controlled by Madara.
After they left...
Kisame turned back toward Konoha's direction and sighed emotionally.
"So such a wonderful village was merely a false final flash before death? That really is somewhat regrettable..."
"But in the end, it was never my village. Being able to enjoy a peaceful life for an entire year was already more than enough..."
Kisame could not help imagining what kind of future Kirigakure's far-sighted leadership would ultimately create for the village.
Clearly—
The moment Kisame eventually witnessed Kirigakure's increasingly severe internal contradictions, Madara's entire narrative would collapse on its own.
Because the reality was simply too bloody and brutal for mere words to conceal.
Reality itself could speak.
But that was not important.
All Madara needed was for Kisame and the others to carry false intelligence back to Kirigakure and rapidly spread it among the higher-ups, igniting overwhelming greed toward Konoha...
Once the fire started burning, it would no longer be controllable.
As for Kisame himself, he was merely a nameless little nobody with some talent.
Whatever thoughts or changes he might go through...
The Shura of the Shinobi World simply did not care.
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