Nothing unexpected had happened. The negotiations with the Daimyo had failed completely.
In the end, the Daimyo had even declared that he would cut off the Sand Village's financial support entirely and would not provide a single coin going forward. He had also left no room for compromise, stating directly that if the Daimyo was going to have no say in the Sand Village's affairs, then he would willingly accept that outcome.
Enraged beyond composure, the Daimyo had threatened Chiyo that he wanted the Sand Village to nominate a different Kazekage, and that he would send letters to other countries stating that he did not recognize the current one.
Even if it meant embarrassing himself publicly, he was not going to allow this Kazekage to walk away from the conversation on his own terms.
This was also precisely why previous Kazekage had always made efforts to maintain favorable relations with the Daimyo. The influence of a Daimyo within the ninja world and within their own nation was not something that could be dismissed.
For the ordinary people of the Land of Wind, what they were most familiar with and most deferential toward were the policies and authority that flowed downward from the Daimyo's name.
"Naturally, you may do whatever you wish."
Yuji simply smiled and turned to leave.
Only Chiyo remained behind, her expression grim.
Outside the residence, beneath the cover of his hood, a cold glint of murderous intent flickered in Yuji's eyes.
He would not allow the Daimyo to exercise power and authority over him. He intended to make the other party understand clearly that the Sand Village, from top to bottom, was no longer the pliant tool it had been in the past.
Of course, the Daimyo had not yet grasped this reality and showed no sign of reconsidering. So Yuji would not mind applying a few quiet measures to help the situation along.
"Yuji."
Chiyo caught up with him quickly, having left the residence behind him.
"From this point forward, the pharmaceutical factory's profits will not send a single coin to the Daimyo's Mansion," Yuji said with complete indifference.
"Lady Chiyo. Since you chose me to become the Kazekage, you have chosen to follow my management and judgment on village matters. This is a matter of respecting the position you placed me in."
He said it looking at her directly and seriously, appearing to already know exactly what she had been about to say.
Chiyo, who had opened her mouth to speak, went silent.
After a moment, he glanced around, took advantage of the darkness, and moved further away.
"Room."
Several hours later, he returned.
Outside, a dozen or so guards were maintaining their positions through the night, responsible for the safety of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind throughout his stay in the village.
Yuji had already transformed his appearance. Using the Ope Ope no Mi's abilities, he silently deployed his spatial domain and appeared directly inside the Daimyo's sleeping quarters through spatial teleportation without triggering a single guard.
In his hand he held a syringe containing an unknown liquid.
He looked at the sleeping figure on the bed. His expression remained completely neutral.
His arm moved in a swift precise motion and he injected the liquid into the Daimyo's body. Then he vanished instantly.
The entire operation was clean and left no trace. No one had noticed anything.
He had been planning something along these lines for the Daimyo of the Land of Wind for some time. As a Daimyo of a nation, directly killing him was not an option. It would need to appear as though the death had nothing to do with the Sand Village. But the Daimyo's personal security was not negligible, and a direct assassination carried real risks of error and exposure.
Even doing it himself would not be straightforward. Furthermore, if anyone discovered that the Daimyo's death was connected to him as the Kazekage, the consequences during this wartime period would be genuinely problematic.
A nation's Daimyo dying under suspicious circumstances linked to a ninja village would stir up internal instability and damage the village's standing at precisely the worst possible moment.
Genjutsu control was easily detected by experienced personnel. Surgical brain modification required close access and time. Neither was appropriate here.
But he was not only a ninja healer. He was a doctor, with medical knowledge and skill that went far beyond what this world had developed. Even without deploying any ninjutsu whatsoever, he had countless methods available to cause the Daimyo of the Land of Wind to die in a way that appeared entirely natural.
The simplest approach was what he was doing now. Allowing the Daimyo to die of illness.
However, after the Daimyo's death, someone would inevitably succeed him. What kind of personality the next Daimyo would have, and whether that person would cooperate with his intentions, remained unknown.
Therefore, what was actually more useful was ensuring that this particular Daimyo developed a serious illness that no one else in the ninja world could treat. An illness that only Yuji himself could cure.
In this way, the Daimyo's life would effectively be in Yuji's hands.
Whether the Daimyo lived or died was entirely Yuji's decision to make from this point forward. He would complete his arrangement regarding the Daimyo of the Land of Wind in a way that left absolutely no trace connecting it to him.
The following morning, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind left the Sand Village early and headed back to his residence. His haste made it clear he was preparing to act on his threats and examine his options.
Compared to Chiyo and Ebizo, who had heard the rumors of what had been said and were quietly worried, Yuji remained completely calm and did not take the matter seriously at all.
That morning, he went with Chiyo and the others to a secured room within the village. It was guarded by Anbu members. Upon entering, they found the room containing Kimu and his five Uchiha companions, along with the Hyuga member.
After several days of observation and combining this with the information gathered during the six-person group's confrontation with the Hidden Cloud Village forces, the senior officials had reached a determination.
These six individuals from Konoha were assessed as stable and not an immediate danger. The senior officials were also genuinely amazed by the remarkable effectiveness of the surgical procedure that had been applied to them.
"Are you planning to integrate their bloodlines into our village going forward?" Chiyo asked, looking at Yuji.
"Of course," Yuji nodded. "I was originally somewhat concerned that the villagers might have resistance to this. But now, seeing the level of trust and genuine affection everyone has shown me, as long as this is my decision, the people should not object too strongly."
He laughed and allowed himself a moment of quiet pride in saying it.
Chiyo sighed.
It was true. Yuji's foundation among the ordinary villagers was extraordinarily solid. It also demonstrated a certain principle, that being genuinely loved meant having far less to fear. If this had been proposed under the Third Kazekage's administration, it might have caused considerable internal disruption.
The senior officials would certainly not have objected, since the benefit to the village was obvious. But ordinary villagers were a different matter.
"The village's combat strength is too limited. Especially during this Great Ninja War, fighting on multiple fronts makes this weakness even more apparent."
The others nodded in agreement.
Precisely. The village's foundational strength, compared to the other four great ninja villages, had always been the weakest.
Although the Sand Village now had Puppet Masters and medical soldiers as distinctive capabilities, clan-based abilities and bloodline limits were almost entirely absent from the village's structure. It was not only lower-level combat power that suffered from this.
Even among the current senior leadership, almost every position was held by individuals from common clans without secret techniques or bloodline abilities.
Common clan fighters were not inherently inferior, and they absolutely could produce genuine talent. But having more bloodline limit users, regardless of clan size, gave the village additional combat options that could not otherwise be replicated.
Bloodline clan members could also fill talent gaps at both the grassroots and leadership levels faster than common clan members could. The more talented individuals available, the less pressure fell on the Kazekage to personally compensate for every gap.
"You are the Kazekage. Since you have made your decision, there is nothing more for us to say," Chiyo said. "My only concern is that bringing two bloodline limit clans into the village may provoke Konoha, including the Uchiha clan itself. The Hyuga and other clans harbor intense animosity toward each other."
She continued.
"A battle report has just arrived from the front lines. The Hidden Stone Village has been withdrawing a portion of its forces from our shared border and has assigned Rasa to lead the troops there.
The pressure from that direction is manageable. But with the Third Raikage's death, the Hidden Cloud Village will certainly seek revenge against the Sand Village at some point. The Hidden Mist Village is also beginning to stir.
While things may appear stable in the short term, if we remain in this situation for an extended period, and the Hidden Cloud Village launches a large-scale offensive against us at the same time as the Leaf Village mounts a counterattack, our current military strength would struggle to hold."
Chiyo's meaning was clear. Given the current state of the ninja world, the Sand Village ideally needed to maintain a relatively stable and mutually restraining relationship with the Leaf Village.
The presence of Uchiha and Hyuga clan members within the Sand Village would undoubtedly shatter that fragile equilibrium. It could even push the Leaf Village into seeking decisive action against the Sand Village at a time when the village could least afford another front.
"Do not worry. It will not develop into that kind of situation," Yuji said.
"It will turn into something different entirely."
The more he smiled, the more pleased with himself he appeared.
"Very well," Chiyo said after a moment, though a trace of uncertainty remained in her expression.
She was slightly surprised by his confidence.
"People are also fundamentally self-interested," Yuji said, his eyes flickering with quiet calculation as he spoke the words softly. "We should never underestimate human nature. Self-interest, whether for us or for them, will always come first."
The others did not entirely follow what he meant by this.
But it was clear that as Kazekage, he already had a specific plan in mind.
...
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