Land of Whirlpools: Conversation

They soon arrived at a secluded courtyard.

Since Yuansheng and Hideki were not allowed to listen in on the conversation, they went to rest in a side courtyard.

Enma also wanted to leave, but Kyōnosuke stopped him and made him stay.

Enma sat on the futon, thinking, "Maybe it's because of what Izuna asked me to do today? But I haven't told the lord yet!"

Kyōnosuke sat down in the main seat. He sat casually, but his back was naturally straight, and his expression showed a composure that did not need to be deliberately maintained.

"Well then, let's begin." He looked at Hashirama, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Hashirama, it's been a long time since we last met. How's my little sister doing?"

Hashirama sat down opposite him, resting his hands on his knees, his expression relaxing somewhat. "Not bad, just can't sit still, researching new Formations."

Kyōnosuke nodded, his smile deepening. "That's good. She's always been a restless person; the only thing that can get her to sit still and draw blueprints is Formations."

Hashirama smiled. "Yūki has been training diligently lately; perhaps I'll bring him to visit Uncle on my next visit."

"Of course, you're welcome anytime."

Hashirama smiled, then straightened his expression. "Let's get down to business. Your Majesty must have heard about what happened in the Land of Hot Water recently."

Kyōnosuke nodded, his smile fading slightly. "I was aware of the actions of the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning long ago. In fact, I've been thinking about a way out from the very beginning, but now it seems that giving in will only embolden them."

Hashirama: "Now that you've realized it, things should go more smoothly from here on out."

Kyōnosuke looked at him, his gaze open and honest. "Then I'll get straight to the point. I remember you have a plan to collect the Tailed Beasts, and I hope you can hand over one of Tailed Beast to us, no matter what it takes."

Izuna immediately looked at Hashirama.

In this situation, he, as a subject, could not speak. He believed that Hashirama could handle it, but he still couldn't help but have some worries.

After all, the way Hashirama was rather difficult to understand.

First, there was the act of kowtowing. Facing the Kage of various Shinobi Villages who were equals to him, and even far inferior in Strength, and who were full of hostility and scheming, he actually expressed his gratitude by kowtowing.

He also wanted to give away Tailed Beasts he had finally captured. If Tobirama hadn't stopped him, he probably would have given them away unconditionally and even taken on the task of sealing Jinchūriki Tailed Beast one fell swoop.

Although after spending time with him he realized that Hashirama wasn't as brainless as he seemed in the original story; he just found things troublesome.

If he does take any extreme measures, such as kneeling or using force, it means that he believes it is the fastest and most effective way.

Therefore, he particularly disliked those documents that were written in a roundabout way, even though he understood that if he wanted a peaceful resolution, he had to do things in a roundabout way.

The Land of Whirlpools' Ruler now wants the same thing as the other countries in the original story, and the other party is even related to the Senju Clan by marriage. This matter is incredibly easy to handle; as long as Hashirama agrees, it can be perfectly resolved.

"We can't do that!" Izuna stared at Hashirama. If they did that, the Land of Whirlpools would lose its national identity, and things would only get more and more difficult in the future!

However, what Izuna feared did not happen.

Hashirama sat there, his face calm, and said in a proper and peaceful tone, "If it is Tailed Beast, I'm afraid I will disappoint Your Majesty, because..."

We have cancelled the plan to capture the Tailed Beasts.

Kyōnosuke was taken aback.

Hashirama continued, "While we will still visit the Tailed Beasts, we will not seal them away as weapons. If you intend to rely on the power of the Tailed Beasts to Capital, you might as well take advantage of the current chaos and capture the Three-Tails that resides nearby yourself. I'm sure you have the Strength to do that."

Kyōnosuke frowned. "A visit? Hashirama, do you know what you're saying? That kind of being is impossible to communicate with. Have you forgotten what happened back then?"

"I know," Hashirama said, "We're just going to try."

Kyōnosuke frowned, not understanding Hashirama got such an absurd idea from, and it seemed that his brother-in-law completely agreed with it.

What made Hashirama, who had to travel a long way to the Hashirama of Land of Whirlpools for treatment after being severely injured by Tailed Beast, change his view of the Tailed Beasts?

Can I ask what made you change?

Hashirama smiled but didn't say anything.

But Kyōnosuke couldn't help but look at Izuna; his intuition told him that this matter was related to him.

"I understand. In that case, let's drop this matter."

After saying that, his tone was more relaxed than before. "I haven't formally thanked you for this matter yet."

"If it weren't for the four of you causing trouble in the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Hot Water might very well have become a springboard, making the attacks by the Lands of Lightning and Water much smoother."

"As allies, providing assistance is necessary."

Kyōnosuke looked at him and chuckled, "You make it sound so easy. Alliances are one thing, but not many can go this far."

After he finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Izuna, his gaze carrying a mixture of scrutiny and undisguised admiration. "Especially this one. I've heard about what happened at the dock that night. That gust of wind blew everyone off the dock without directly harming anyone. That's not something an ordinary Ninja could do."

Izuna bowed slightly and smiled politely, "Your Majesty is too kind. It was merely due to the favorable terrain and wind direction."

"Your Majesty," Hashirama interrupted before Kyōnosuke could speak, his tone indifferent, "Don't change the subject."

Kyōnosuke shrugged. "Okay, okay."

He then stopped laughing and continued with the serious topic, "You've probably seen the current situation in the Land of Whirlpools. Those nobles are trying to destroy the peace brought by the Ninjas."

He paused, "Although there are still some Shinobi Clans scattered Four Nations, peace is spreading in all directions, and everyone wants to live a good life. The Ninjas have enough power to live a peaceful life, but because they are too powerful, the nobles are now afraid that the Ninjas will challenge their rule."

"So they're trying to use incentives and hype to drag the Ninjas into fighting again. Our Land of Whirlpools is just an appetizer; their real target is the Land of Fire, where you are. They just don't dare to attack you right now because they can't defeat you."

Ban gave a cold laugh and remained silent.

Hashirama gritted his teeth, a long-forgotten weariness slowly welling up from the depths of his chest—the same feeling he had experienced after Madara broke off their relationship when he was young.

At that time, he was unable to leave behind the image of Ban and their dreams because of his father's authority and his own weakness.

Now that he is so powerful that he is unparalleled in the world, he still feels utterly powerless in the face of human malice.

He now truly wants to do as Madara said, let the war happen, and then use force to suppress all those who disobey.

But what kind of peace is that? Must peace be a product of war?

Kyōnosuke looked at him and sighed, then continued, "I won't say that if you don't help us, the Land of Fire will fall into the same situation as the Land of Whirlpools. After all, your country has enough resources to train Ninjas, so the Land of Fire can rest easy. Even if it encounters a powerful enemy, it will definitely be able to survive. I can be sure of that."

"But I know you," Kyōnosuke looked at Hashirama, his tone filled with relief and admiration, "You've wanted peace since you were little, and not just for your people, so even though what I'm about to say might seem like I'm biased towards our country, you have to listen to me."

"If the Land of Whirlpools is attacked, the door to war will be opened, and subsequent conflicts will be inevitable and follow one after another. Even if others dare not Land of Fire, they will still fight each other for resources, because resources are never enough."

"Hashirama, you probably don't want to see this happen."

Hashirama was silent for a moment before speaking, "Yes, I don't want to watch things happen. But they haven't made any moves openly yet. If we strike first, we'll be led by the nose."

"That's where the problem lies..." Kyōnosuke sighed, tapping his fingers lightly twice on his knee.

"We have accurate intelligence," Hashirama said. "They will make their move during the upcoming Summer Festival, assassinating high-ranking officials from various countries—and doing so openly and legitimately."

Kyōnosuke's hand stopped. "How could that be?"

"The people they hired came from all over the country, and almost all of them were nobodys," Hashirama. "I suspect the reason they did this was to portray this as a spontaneous rebellion by the Ninjas, to condemn Ninja ambition for power. This way, they could pressure the various Shinobi Villages into swearing not to rebel, and use that to blackmail them into doing things they didn't want to do."

Kyōnosuke frowned, his fingers tracing the rim of the teacup, and after a moment of thought, he spoke.

"No, I don't think so. They're not that stupid. The Ninjas would only rebel if they actually did that."

He looked up. "Are you assassins?"

"One of them is a member of the clan of the concubine of the Daimyo of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning," Madara continued, his voice cold, "... the Chinoike Clan."

Kyōnosuke's brow furrowed even deeper. "Where are the others?"

"There's another one, I reckon it's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist's somewhat famous in the Land of Water," Madara said. "I haven't found out about the rest."

"The Chinoike Clan..." Kyōnosuke pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, "I remember that their clan seems to have recently experienced some changes, related to the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning. If that's the case, they probably just want to use this to expel the Chinoike Clan from the power circle and eliminate Ninja members from the nobility to prevent Ninjas from rising to power."

Kyōnosuke stroked his chin. "As for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, they are notoriously unruly. The Land of Water probably wants to use this 'mistake' to control them."

"Regardless," Hashirama, "If they succeed, that would be bad news. So we absolutely cannot let those people get away with it at the Summer Festival."

"Yes, that's what I think too." Kyōnosuke nodded.

"Regarding this matter," Hashirama, "Izuna believes that setting up Barrier is the safest approach."

Kyōnosuke paused, turning to look at Izuna: "Oh? Barrier? So they want us to help? But the question is, will the Land of Hot Water allow us to do this on their territory?"

Izuna opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but Enma beat him to it.

"Then don't do this in the name of the nation."

Kyōnosuke turned to look at him. "Enma?"

Enma sat upright, meeting Kyōnosuke's gaze, and spoke calmly and deliberately, "Your Majesty, you are aware that we previously reached cooperation agreements with various Merchants stationed here through the Merchants' Association in the Land of Hot Water."

"They're people I sent." Kyōnosuke raised his chin. "What are you trying to say?"

"Some of the works we've recently completed have already proven useful," Enma said. "Some merchants have even personally visited us to thank us for setting up the Barrier that stopped thieves. In the Land of Hot Water, when it comes to security, we're now unparalleled."

Kyōnosuke seemed to be deep in thought, "Continue."

"In that case, it's quite normal for foreigners to hire us to set up Barrier Ninjutsu so they want to watch the Summer Festival more safely, right?"

Kyōnosuke's eyes lit up.

Izuna blinked as well.

So that's another trick.

Instead of considering the opinions of the Land of Hot Water, they sought the support of nobles from other countries.

But right now they all want to deal with the Land of Whirlpools, right? How could they...?

Etc.

Those on the assassination list will definitely agree.

The fact that they're on the list means that in their own country, they're Daimyo their daimyo wants to get rid of as soon as possible; otherwise, they wouldn't have been sent here knowing there was danger.

Izuna pondered, thinking that those who weren't on the list might also suffer undeserved misfortune.

After all, assassination only requires ensuring the person dies; how they die is irrelevant.

Poisoning is the most common method. If those assassins had no scruples, they could simply poison the well and indiscriminately kill everyone who drank from it.

To take it to an extreme, bury Explosive Tags underground and detonate them all at once once everyone you need to kill arrives. The blast radius and the sheer spectacle would be off the charts.

Although Izuna thought these people probably weren't that brutal, the possibility of accidental injury was still quite high.

In other words, winning over nobles from other countries is a very viable approach.

Izuna quickly went through this logic in his mind several times, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

Kyōnosuke looked at Enma, his tone filled with undisguised admiration. "So that's one of your tricks. As expected of Enma, your mind is really quick."

Enma, however, did not accept the praise. He lowered his eyes slightly and softened his voice. "If it weren't for Lord Izuna's guidance, I wouldn't have been able to build such a reputation, nor would I have thought of cooperating with nobles from other countries."

Izuna looked up at Enma with a blank expression.

When did I ever give you that advice?

Kyōnosuke's expression changed slightly.

Uchiha Izuna, it's him again.

Kyōnosuke recalled the information he had received. To be honest, when he was reading the information, he didn't think that Uchiha Izuna was that important.

Because in the description, his behavior always seems erratic, going about things in a haphazard way, as if he's walking on the edge. Although his name always appears in important matters, judging from what he's done, he can at most be considered a strategist.

Although his fighting prowess is so formidable that he can rival even Hashirama, in his daily life he always stays with the children, occasionally sneaks out of the Hokage Building, and sometimes does things like peering over walls or playing with cats on the street.

Even when the group that Quhai returned to the Land of Whirlpools and told him that Izuna was not easy to deal with, he didn't think much of it.

He's a smooth talker and a bit more Strength, but that's about it.

In actual interaction, this proved to be true; he is indeed a quick-witted and articulate child.

But he's just a child, a child who does whatever he wants.

Even Hideki was more shrewd than him, knew how to read people's expressions, and understood the gap between them, so he dared not speak casually.

Yet this very child was protected by Hashirama and Enma.

Why?