Armchair Politics * Netsuke

After seeing Ōnoki off, Hinata turned around.

Izuna found himself standing deep within the narrow alleyway.

He leaned against the wall, twirling the Iron Hook in his hand. The Iron Hoop rested quietly at his feet, its edges still dusted with the fine grime stirred up from the stone pavement.

His gaze passed over the Hinata and landed on the short figure walking towards the Post Station, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Hinata straightened up, bowed to him, and then asked the question he had been holding back all the way, "Lord Izuna, why are you so concerned about this person? Although he is quite Strength, he is ultimately from another country and it is unlikely that he can be won over."

Izuna withdrew his gaze and twirled the Iron Hook between his fingers. "How old do you think he is this year?"

Hinata thought for a moment. "About thirteen or fourteen years old."

"Thirteen or fourteen years old to serve as a guard for Envoy? Don't you think that's too young?"

Hinata was taken aback. "But he has the Strength..."

He paused, his brow furrowing slightly. "No, that's not right. There might be more suitable guards in Iwagakure than him. In any case, choosing a child as a guard for international negotiations is indeed a bit too frivolous. Could there be some other reason?"

"Because coming to Konoha is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Izuna said. "If the future heirs can learn something from this, they'll have struck gold."

Hinata's eyes widened slightly. He abruptly turned his head to look in the direction Ōnoki had left, then turned back, lowering his voice and asking with some excitement, "Could it be—"

"Hmm." Izuna rested the Iron Hook on his shoulder. "If I'm not mistaken, he should be a Kage Level reserve from Iwagakure. He'll probably inherit the position of Tsuchikage in the future."

Hinata blinked.

Future Tsuchikage...?

Two seconds later, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"I understand!" he said. "So you wanted to influence him and then take control of Iwagakure!"

Upon hearing this, three question marks appeared above Izuna's head. "... What?"

"That was brilliant Lord Izuna! You planned it from the very beginning—no, from the very first moment you saw him!"

Hinata's speech became faster and faster, "Let's bring him to our side first, let him see the good things about Konoha, let him make friends with the people of Konoha, and let him like Konoha from the bottom of his heart."

"It's common knowledge that the Land of Earth is barren! Our Konoha is so rich, he'll definitely miss it when he goes back."

"In this way, when he returns to Iwagakure, he will become a mole planted in the upper echelons of the Land of Earth!"

"When we extend an olive branch, he'll become one of our allies!"

No, I just--

"Then, once he inherits the position of Tsuchikage, you will essentially have a puppet leader in the Land of Earth who is completely obedient to you!"

Hinata was completely absorbed in his reasoning. "The entire Iwagakure will fall into your hands without you even realizing it! You'll take over a country's military center without firing a single shot! This isn't diplomacy, this is clearly—"

"Hinata."

"--It's a groundbreaking strategic plan! It's a silent conquest! It's leveraging the greatest benefits at the lowest cost! Lord Izuna, you're truly amazing--!"

Izuna couldn't hold back any longer and slapped Hinata's head.

Hinata a loud cry and gave up.

Izuna withdrew his hand, his expression indescribable. "What would I need to control Iwagakure?"

Hinata covered the back of his head and blinked. "Huh?"

"I just want you to befriend Ōnoki and avoid becoming his enemies, so you don't get blown up by his cannon later." Izuna slung the Iron Hook over his shoulder. "Controlling Iwagakure? What use is that territory 800 miles away to me?"

"Ah." Hinata's mouth gaped open, the grand plan in his mind shattering into pieces. "It's... it's just making friends?"

"Otherwise what?" Izuna couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You have so many complicated thoughts in your head, throw them all away! Talking politics at such a young age, the world is going to the dogs."

Does the word "witness" or "witness" have any special meaning?

"Lord Izuna, what is the testimony...?"

Izuna suddenly remembered that this word only appeared in modern times with keyboards, and the child didn't understand it, so he kindly explained it to him, "It refers to the political behavior of talking eloquently about things that one doesn't understand, while being out of touch with the current situation."

Hinata puzzled. "But Lord Izuna, what I'm saying should be feasible, right? Even if it can't be controlled, splitting the Land of Earth's upper echelons should be possible..."

"So why would I want to divide them?"

"When they wanted to attack..."

Why did they attack us?

"The Land of Earth is resource-poor..."

"Then my Asura of the Ninja World's fighting prowess is also quite remarkable."

Man, is Man Miao used here?!

Izuna looked at him with disdain. "Besides, who said that the only way to deal with scarce resources is to fight and plunder?"

Trade, cooperation, mineral development, research and development of high-quality, high-precision products, etc., can all contribute to national development.

"War is the most basic way to acquire resources. I think if we could avoid war, no one would start one."

Hinata slowly lowered his hand from the back of his head.

He stood in the shadows of the narrow alley, his expression somewhat dazed.

He could understand every single word Izuna said, but when they were put together, he couldn't quite grasp it.

Warring States Period, if you didn't kill someone, someone would kill you.

Once on the battlefield, killing one enemy is enough, killing two is an even bigger win.

They can only receive missions when there is war, and only by receiving missions can they survive.

Nobles need resources, and the need for resources leads to competition, which in turn leads to war.

The Ninja can profit from this.

The cost of making profits is self-evident.

But for profit and to survive, they had to pass through the gates of hell time and time again.

Fewer Human Race mean greater prosperity, and prosperity means more orders.

Therefore, when facing an enemy Ninja, all Ninjas would unanimously choose to kill their opponent.

Their lives were stolen from the knives of others; their land, water, iron ore, and food were all obtained by stepping over the corpses of others.

This was their life, the life of Ninjas, a routine as commonplace as eating and drinking.

But Izuna said that if war could be avoided, then no one would want to fight.

Hinata stood there, his lips moved but no sound came out; he felt he should say something in response.

For example, Ninjas profited from war, and looting was the fastest way to acquire resources.

But he couldn't say a word.

Because he so desperately wanted Izuna to be right.

If there were another way, if we didn't have to watch our comrades being carried back, or have to find acquaintances' belongings on corpses while cleaning up the battlefield, how wonderful that would be.

Just then, Izuna grabbed his head.

Knead, knead--

Hinata bristled. "Hey!"

He took two steps back and started combing his hair, saying, "You're using too much force!"

I have long hair! It's a hassle to style it!

"You should spend more time with Ren," Izuna said with a worried expression, his tone earnest. "At least a romantic mind is better than a political mind."

Hinata stopped pulling his hair. "."

Damn it! It was Lord Izuna who sent them to contact Ōnoki first!

Observing their movements and orchestrating chance encounters—it all seems to have ulterior motives!

How come he ended up being labeled as "politically active at such a young age"?

And can you please stop doing this?! All the respect I've worked so hard to build up is shattered into pieces again, you know that?!

Just as he was gritting his teeth, Takuma turned into the alley.

He glanced at Hinata's indignant expression, paused for a moment, then turned to Izuna, "Did the plan succeed?"

"Well, I'd say it was a success," Izuna said. "Hinata a good job."

Takuma glanced at Hinata again. "What's wrong with you? Aren't you happy that the plan succeeded?"

"It's nothing!" Hinata stormed off.

"That's weird..." Takuma didn't understand, but he decided not to investigate further.

He turned to Izuna, "Speaking of which, what about the children who were captured?"

Izuna's lips slowly curled into a smile, "Needless to say? Special training, of course."

Takuma's face instantly fell. "You really did it!"

"Hmph, what do you think?" Izuna reached out and grabbed him by the back of his collar. "Alright, come with me. Even though you're the last one I caught, don't even think about slacking off."

Takuma was being dragged forward by the back of his neck, his arms flailing futilely. "With your senses, who could escape your pursuit?! Ahh! I don't want special training!"

Ōnoki returned to the inn.

He pushed open the courtyard gate, walked through the corridor, and returned to his room.

The rolls of luggage that hadn't been packed that morning were still spread out on the tatami mat.

He squatted down in front of the luggage roll, untied the rope, and pulled out his change of clothes from inside.

Upon unfolding it, the Netsuke gone.

I reached into the hidden compartment and felt around. There was nothing there.

He unrolled his luggage and shook out each piece of clothing one by one.

No.

The Netsuke gone.

He squatted on the ground, keeping his luggage roll spread out, thought for a moment, and then tied it up again.

Oh well. I found it anyway.

He left the Post Station and found a deserted open space to begin his training.

At the same time, Izuna was pulling Takuma.

Takuma went from struggling at the beginning to resignedly hanging down, his arms dangling, his toes occasionally brushing the ground.

As Izuna was calculating the list and order of the special training, something suddenly tapped him lightly on the head.

He stopped, rubbed the spot where he had been hit, and looked down.

A Black Peach Wood Crow lay on the stone path at my feet.

Black feathers, deep red eyes.

It was the Netsuke that Ōnoki had lost.

Izuna bent down and picked it up.

"What is this?" Takuma tilted his head to look. "It's quite pretty."

Izuna did not answer.

Takuma looked up at his expression, then paused, startled. "Lord Izuna?"

Izuna remained silent for a moment, then put him down.

"The special training is canceled. You can go back now."