"The Daimyo of the Land of Fire wasn't this foolish in the past. Is it because of that person named Tobi?" asked Huangtu.
Naturally, Tobi couldn't escape the notice of other ninja villages. It was said that he was a favored minister by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, often offering advice. The strategy of using 'Guardian Ninja' as hostages was said to be his idea.
"The fact that he could propose the Guardian Ninja method shows that he isn't a foolish or arrogant person. However, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's current actions cannot be said to be without his influence," Onoki mused.
"Then what exactly is he doing? He used to do quite well, so why is he now causing the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to make such foolish decisions?" Huangtu found Tobi's actions incomprehensible.
"Hmph. There's only one possibility: this Tobi isn't as loyal as he appears. This guy probably has his own agenda," Onoki said.
"His own agenda?"
"Yes, he helped the Daimyo of the Land of Fire for his own sake, and his current actions are also for his own sake. That's the only way to explain two completely different approaches. Of course, it's also possible that the guy's brain suddenly broke, causing him to become a completely different person," Onoki chuckled.
Huangtu also chuckled at his father's last remark. He didn't think Tobi would be acting this way for such a reason. From the intelligence gathered, Tobi was a cautious man whose thoughts were hard to fathom, maintaining a sense of mystery around the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. To this day, the Hidden Stone Village had not uncovered his origins.
"Father, what exactly is Tobi's background?"
"Who cares what his background is! It won't affect us anyway. What we need to worry about is the Hidden Leaf Village," Onoki waved his hand, revealing a somewhat cunning smile. "If he could help us, that would truly be wonderful."
Although Huangtu was relatively honest, he understood his father very well and knew that his father intended to use this opportunity to see if he could profit from it and improve the current situation of the Hidden Stone Village.
During the Second Shinobi World War, the Hidden Stone Village became one of the defeated nations due to a wrong choice. Although they did not suffer overly huge losses due to their own strength, they still paid large indemnities to other countries, and the nation's strength once declined.
After the Hidden Leaf Village represented the Land of Fire and formed an alliance with the southern nations, facing the united Southern Alliance, the Hidden Stone Village had no choice but to cooperate with the Hidden Cloud Village. However, facing the powerful Hidden Cloud Village, Onoki was unwilling to be subservient but still had to maintain a certain cooperative relationship.
Given the decline in the Hidden Stone Village's strength during the war, the Hidden Stone Village was also a relatively passive party in the cooperative relationship.
This was by no means what Onoki wanted to see. He also understood that the Hidden Cloud Village certainly hoped to go further, like the Southern Alliance where the Hidden Leaf Village was the dominant party, rather than the current situation where the Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud mutually constrained each other.
Onoki himself did not want to see such a situation, and he naturally hoped that the Hidden Stone Village would be the dominant party. However, the Hidden Stone Village's strength was currently inferior, and the peaceful environment also prevented the Hidden Stone Village from profiting from chaos.
If the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's foolish actions led to a civil war in the Land of Fire, then the Hidden Stone Village would have an opportunity to intervene. Perhaps due to the civil war, the Hidden Stone Village could gain a lot of benefits, strengthen its own power, and maintain a balance with the Hidden Cloud Village.
What Onoki was even more willing to see was a crisis in the Southern Alliance, led by the Land of Fire, due to the civil war, leading to its dissolution. If that happened, the Hidden Stone Village's situation would become even better.
It was precisely because of the existence of the Southern Alliance that the Hidden Stone Village had to cooperate with the Hidden Cloud Village. However, if the Southern Alliance collapsed and disintegrated, then the Hidden Stone Village would have more options for partners and would not have to stay with the Hidden Cloud Village. Frankly, facing the Hidden Cloud Village, Onoki always felt it was like playing with fire, and one careless mistake could lead to a crisis for their side.
Especially now, the Hidden Stone Village was short on talent. Although there were many powerful ninjas, there were almost none who could shoulder great responsibilities. If it weren't for Onoki, who had extensive experience in conflict, the Hidden Stone Village's post-war situation would have been even more difficult, and they would have lost even more benefits in their cooperation with the Hidden Cloud Village.
"Will it be that smooth?" Huangtu asked hesitantly.
"It's very possible. Look at what the Hidden Leaf Village is doing. Faced with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's actions, the Hidden Leaf Village's newspaper descriptions are very detailed, and the rhetoric all leans towards the Hidden Leaf Village. This is already setting the stage for public opinion," Onoki shook the newspaper in his hand.
"Is this an attempt to condemn the Daimyo of the Land of Fire?" Huangtu glanced at it and said.
"More than that, they are also preparing for their future struggles. They have always been like this, always wanting to occupy the moral high ground in public opinion," Onoki snorted softly, saying, "I have a premonition that the Hidden Leaf Village has already prepared for a direct confrontation with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. They are playing hard to get."
"They dare to do that?" Huangtu was immediately startled. Even the strongest ninja village would be at a great disadvantage in a direct confrontation with a country's ruler. Even if they won, they might pay a huge price and be unable to resist external attacks.
"Why wouldn't they dare? With the weapons the Hidden Leaf Village brought out in the last war, the Daimyo's samurai army simply cannot resist," Onoki said.
Huangtu recalled the explosive bombs he saw during the war. The continuous roar of explosions was still deeply etched in his memory. Even Hidden Stone ninjas would be terrified by them. Samurai armies were more adept at forming formations to fight, relying on intricate coordination and human wave tactics to compensate for individual combat deficiencies. However, against explosive bombs, such advantages would be greatly diminished.
Onoki recognized the value of this chakra technology and was now ordering the artisans within the Hidden Stone Village to research and learn it, but it would take a considerable amount of time to catch up with the Hidden Leaf Village. As for the Hidden Cloud Village, due to their cooperation with the Hidden Leaf Village during the war, they acquired many explosive bombs for research. They now had their own unique technology driven by Lightning Release, and it was rumored that they had made significant progress in the field of intelligence transmission, with efficiency surpassing traditional ninja hawk delivery.
"Even so, is the Hidden Leaf Village really that bold? To dare to act like this?" Huangtu admitted that the Hidden Leaf Village's military strength far surpassed that of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, but military strength alone was not enough. There were other indelible differences between a ninja village and a country's monarch, such as social influence, economy, administrative experience, and so on.
"If you've read the books written by Fumori masaki, you can see that his ideology has long contained dissatisfaction with the Daimyo. Although this matter was initiated by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, it may not be against his wishes," Onoki folded the newspaper and set it aside, jumping from his chair to the floor and pacing the room with his hands behind his back.
"That's truly incredible. Father, do you also have such thoughts?" Huangtu still felt disbelief and looked at his father, asking.
"Of course I don't. I'm not that naive. Dissatisfaction with noble rulers isn't uncommon in this world; there's nothing new about it. There have been rebels in the past, and there have been examples of victory, but what was the outcome for those people? They were either ganged up on and destroyed by others, or they collapsed due to internal mismanagement. Those who survived merely accepted their fate and returned to the old ways," Onoki pouted. He didn't think Fumori masaki's actions would have any good outcome.
"I see." Huangtu nodded thoughtfully, but somehow, he felt that Fumori masaki wouldn't lose so easily. This person had created many incredible miracles in the past that seemed impossible to ordinary people, but he couldn't imagine how Fumori masaki would resolve the situation.
"In any case, let's wait for the outcome. The Land of Fire will surely undergo major changes in the future. The Hidden Cloud Village should have noticed it too. Get in touch with them properly. We can't do this alone; we need to drag them into it as well. I believe they wouldn't want to just watch from the sidelines," Onoki turned and instructed.
"Yes." Huangtu nodded, indicating that he would take care of it tomorrow.
"Hmm... Speaking of which, dinner's ready. I'm a bit hungry now."