At the Hokage Cabinet meeting, the reports from Hatake Sakumo and others had been delivered to every high-ranking official, and everyone was carefully reading the contents. The atmosphere at the beginning of the meeting was very silent.
After a while, Fumori masaki was the first to speak, asking, "Everyone, what are your thoughts?"
"This matter is undoubtedly a trap," Shimura Danzo said, putting down the report. "Although there's no evidence, I believe the lord was indeed framed, and the mastermind must be that guy, Tobi!"
The others nodded in agreement with Shimura Danzo. The details in the report were very thorough, allowing them to infer many things, and the possibility of the lord's innocence was very high.
"The opponent handled this matter flawlessly. Although we suspect this, we have no concrete evidence. The lord has truly been slandered," Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head gently.
After Asuna and the others returned to the capital, Tobi sent the evidence he had obtained to the Daimyo. The Daimyo was furious and declared that he would severely punish them, ordering the arrest of all the lord's family members and their execution to appease the public.
Upon receiving the news, Fumori masaki immediately stated that the truth was unclear and such methods should not be used. Even if the lord truly had connections with evil god believer (evil god believers), it might only be a private act. This could be seen from the fact that the lord's confidants knew nothing.
It was indeed true that the lord's confidants knew nothing about the evil god believer (evil god believers); this was what Mizuki and others had interrogated. The Daimyo could not deny it. Of course, if he insisted on doing so, it was not impossible. He was the monarch of the country, and it was perfectly reasonable for him to vent his anger on others—at least, in his own view, it was reasonable.
Such collective punishment from feudal times was no longer mainstream in Fumori masaki's previous life and had been abolished with societal progress. However, in the ninja world, it was still commonplace. The extermination of the entire Uchiha clan was based on this legal principle.
But Fumori masaki would not let the Daimyo do as he pleased. In his opinion, collective punishment was inherently unreasonable and had been proven so in his previous life. Moreover, there was a high probability that the lord was innocent. Whether the Daimyo believed it or not, he did. Now that the lord's life could not be saved, if he couldn't even protect the lord's family, he would feel very bad.
As for whether this would cause conflict with the Daimyo, Fumori masaki didn't care. If he didn't do this, would the Daimyo not have conflict with them? This matter might have been pushed by people represented by Tobi, but it also represented the Daimyo's will!
The other members of the Hokage Cabinet knew Fumori masaki's attitude towards the Daimyo. After years of discussion, they all agreed with this point. Another reason was that if Konoha Ninja Village did not stand up in this matter,
it might be detrimental to uniting other nobles in the future.
Fumori masaki had a premonition that, given the Daimyo's personality, he would not let go of nobles close to Konoha Ninja Village. Even if those nobles might distance themselves from Konoha Ninja Village because of this incident, the Daimyo would not give up.
Therefore, to unite those nobles, Konoha Ninja Village had to firmly express its stance at this time and protect the lord's family.
Konoha Ninja Village's strength was undoubtedly very powerful, capable of influencing the country's situation to a certain extent. Otherwise, the Daimyo would not have allowed Konoha Ninja Village's various initiatives to proceed smoothly in the past. Under Konoha Ninja Village's defense, the Daimyo reluctantly spared the lord's family, but still imposed severe punishment. At least their lives were saved.
To take care of the lord's family, Fumori masaki ordered some people to protect their safety, so that they would not die during the punishment process. Once Konoha Ninja Village's reform succeeded, it would be time for them to be vindicated.
Thus, due to this incident, the relationship between Konoha Ninja Village and the Daimyo's mansion became even more strained, but it also showed others Konoha Ninja Village's attitude. Fumori masaki believed it was still worth it.
Of course, Konoha Ninja Village was still at a disadvantage because the lord had been branded with the crime of "colluding with evil god believer (evil god believers)," which affected Konoha Ninja Village to some extent. However, the Daimyo couldn't take overly severe measures against Konoha Ninja Village; he wasn't planning to fall out so early.
"No matter what the Daimyo says, we must insist that the lord is innocent. Danzo, you need to work hard over there to make them believe that the Daimyo will not let them go, so that our positions are consistent." Fumori masaki looked at Shimura Danzo and said, "They" in his mouth referred to the nobles whose positions were close to Konoha Ninja Village.
"Understood," Shimura Danzo nodded. "Should we also see if there's any evidence we can throw out to accuse that guy Tobi of being connected to evil god believer (evil god believers)?"
"That would certainly be good. If the Daimyo insists on protecting him, then he is favoring a treacherous minister," Fumori masaki smiled and said.
"Okay, I'll take care of it," Shimura Danzo replied. Although Tobi made some timely remedies, Shimura Danzo was no simple character. In the original work, he was able to continuously serve as the leader of Konoha's hidden "Root." How could he be an ordinary person? He certainly had some evidence that Tobi had not considered, but this evidence was fragmented and could not be used to convict him; at most, it would make him somewhat suspicious.
However, that was enough. Unless it was irrefutable evidence, the Daimyo would probably ignore it. Fumori masaki never intended for the Daimyo's mansion to deal with Tobi; instead, he wanted to make others in the country realize the Daimyo's tyranny.
Fumori masaki was never afraid of a direct war with the Daimyo. How could the Daimyo possibly defeat Konoha Ninja Village? There was a huge gap in military strength between the two sides. Although the Daimyo had chakra samurai, which of Konoha Ninja Village's new technologies and new ideas wasn't superior to the Daimyo's army?
Fumori masaki was only worried about one thing: whether Konoha Ninja Village could quickly stabilize the situation after a civil war broke out. For a country as vast as the Land of Fire, Konoha Ninja Village alone could not manage it well; it had to rely on the power of others. This was also why he wanted to win over other nobles.
Fumori masaki didn't expect to rely on any noble reasons to make these nobles firmly stand by his side. However, in the past, these nobles were willing to cooperate with Konoha Ninja Village, which proved one thing: Konoha Ninja Village could provide them with what they needed.
And Fumori masaki understood exactly what they needed—power, money, and status. These were all due to the emergence of the new Shinobi Sect ideology and commercial policies. These nobles had gradually deviated from their feudal lord aspect and began to transform into a new class, and this class was undoubtedly in opposition to the feudal class.
As long as they could be made to understand that the feudal class, represented by the Daimyo, would affect their interests and even threaten their survival, then even with whatever fantasies they had, they might choose to stand with Konoha Ninja Village—of course, to give them such confidence, the more important point was Konoha Ninja Village's powerful strength.
Due to the need to stabilize the situation after the civil war, Fumori masaki could make promises to them, giving them benefits in terms of money and status. The Land of Fire still needed a transitional period.
However, Fumori masaki did not intend to raise a class that might, in the future, affect national interests for their own selfish reasons. Once the overall situation was settled, Konoha Ninja Village would gradually weaken the power of these nobles. Their unique armed forces must be dismantled and integrated into the national army in the future. Local lords could no longer possess private armed forces to establish their own territories… Fumori masaki knew that the truly impactful battles would not be on the front lines, but within the capital, among the small group of people represented by Tobi.
"According to the intelligence provided by Yamanaka Takuma, do you think the mastermind is Tobi after all?" Uchiha Kagami mused.
"There's a certain possibility, but why would someone with such power be so easily suppressed by Asuna?" Koharu Utatane asked.
This was a puzzling point. If Tobi's chakra truly had a quantity similar to a Tailed Beast, why did he lose so decisively?
"Perhaps it's just something special, or perhaps it's limited by the body," Fumori masaki said. "You also know that if a jinchuriki's body cannot withstand the Tailed Beast's chakra, then it's impossible to unleash overly powerful strength. Of course, a Tailed Beast can choose to directly devour the jinchuriki's body and fully revive, but Tobi might not have such an ability."
"I see, that's one explanation," Homura Mitokado nodded.
"Moreover, I've somewhat figured out Tobi's true identity," Fumori masaki looked at everyone. "I suspect this guy might be the 'Evil God' that the evil god believer (evil god believers) attempted to summon in the Land of Demons back then."
"Evil God?" Everyone was a little surprised.
"Although it's called an Evil God, it might be a special existence in the Pure Land world, similar to the Shinigami in the Uzumaki clan legends. Perhaps it's the Yomotsu Hirasaka monster mentioned in the legends of the Land of Demons," Fumori masaki said.
"If that's really the case, then it explains why it would carry the aura of the Pure Land," Uchiha Kagami said with a sudden realization, then looked at Fumori masaki and said, "So, you didn't completely resolve it back then?"
"Perhaps that's the case, I was a bit careless," Fumori masaki sighed softly. "This time, it must be completely resolved."
The old matters from the past, the crowd didn't dwell on them. There was no need for them to blame Fumori masaki for this. At that time, Fumori masaki was still relatively young and could make mistakes, not to mention that such an unknown existence might have some unique aspects.
The group then discussed the secret techniques used by the evil god believer (evil god believers). Fumori masaki knew all the conditions for the Curse of Death Control, but couldn't state them directly. However, he pointed out one thing: Asuna saw the evil god believer (evil god believer) standing in a magic circle outlined with blood. This action should be a necessary condition for activating the secret technique, and such a lethal curse often required other sacrifices, possibly even the blood of others.
In the ancient curses of the ninja world, there was a type of curse that could be used for confinement with blood, and also for curse binding through kinship. Everyone present was an experienced ninja and believed that requiring the blood of others as one of the conditions for such a secret technique was relatively reasonable.
The evil god believer (evil god believers) were therefore not a particularly big problem. What was more concerning was this guy Black Zetsu. Of course, only Fumori masaki knew its name; everyone else could only describe it as a dark, slippery fellow.
Currently, the information on Black Zetsu is: it can use techniques that appear similar to Wood Release, possesses a stealth technique that even Sage Mode cannot detect, has a Water Release secret technique similar to the Hozuki clan, possibly possesses a certain degree of immortality, and Yamanaka Takuma's mental secret techniques are ineffective against it.
"What exactly is this thing?" The others couldn't identify which lineage in the ninja world Black Zetsu came from. Even with unknown Evil Mystic Art (evil god secret techniques), there were still some less effective curses circulating, so it wasn't entirely without traceable origins.
"It might be from a very distant past, with not much recorded in the current ninja world," Fumori masaki said, looking at Uchiha Kagami.
Uchiha Kagami paused slightly. Years of unspoken understanding made him immediately realize what Fumori masaki was implying. They had discussed in the past that the mastermind targeting transmigrators had been active a thousand years ago and might still exist. Fumori masaki was implying that Black Zetsu was connected to that mastermind.
Fumori masaki was very happy because Black Zetsu had finally come out to fight personally. This was a very good opportunity. He had previously considered how to find and eliminate Black Zetsu. Initially, he planned to scheme, step by step, to draw out Black Zetsu and ambush it when it thought its plan was complete.
However, Fumori masaki later realized that such a plan had too many variables and was too secretive, carrying high risks. Rather than that, it would be better to let Black Zetsu come out openly, without any schemes or tricks, and eliminate it in a direct battle.
This seemed impossible, as Black Zetsu was notoriously accustomed to lurking, but that didn't mean Black Zetsu would never show itself. In the original work, Black Zetsu was active as an intelligence gatherer for the Akatsuki, and in the Fourth Great Ninja War, it even went to carry out the mission of attacking the Daimyo and others.
In other words, when the situation required its appearance, Black Zetsu would naturally appear, but only as a subordinate, so that people would not know its importance.
But Fumori masaki knew! If Fumori masaki had transmigrated to the time point of the original work, dealing with Black Zetsu would truly not be a big problem. He wouldn't need to spend time scheming against Black Zetsu; he would just need to find the Totsuka Blade, and then during the Fourth Great Ninja War, when Black Zetsu went to attack the Daimyo and others, he would just stab it once. At this time, Black Zetsu would believe no one knew its identity, and it could appear relying on its immortality. This simple act would make Black Zetsu's plan fail.
And now, due to the shortage of forces on Tobi's side, Black Zetsu would definitely have a time to appear. It was indeed as Fumori masaki expected. And since Black Zetsu had appeared, dealing with it was no longer a problem; they just needed Uchiha Kagami to encounter it.