Talks in Konohagakure
Vegapunk saw Mei Terumi's confidence, and although he was somewhat skeptical, he didn't say anything.
In a regular battle between ninjas, the current Sea Ninja Village can indeed crush the other Three Great Shinobi Villages. Even the Sunagakure, which started developing later, has a regular combat strength that can at least surpass the two major ninja villages.
However, in addition to regular battles, there are also many battles between top-tier ninjas. Although the Kirigakure has gained many top-tier ninjas with the help of Vegapunk, those ninjas who are enhanced by animal abilities are ultimately limited in their abilities and are not actually that difficult to deal with in a real fight.
At that time, Vegapunk's technology had not yet been truly developed, his understanding of Chakra was still relatively vague, and he had not developed powerful weapons like Pakura's Light Release. Therefore, he mostly followed a simple and unpretentious path of physical enhancement. If a real battle broke out, Vegapunk did not have much faith in the Sea Ninja Village.
Putting everything else aside, if Konoha really went mad and used the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, the entire power of the Sea Ninja Village would definitely not be able to withstand it.
However, Konoha would probably not do such a thing unless they were forced into a corner. In regular battles, the strength of the Sea Ninja Village would definitely crush the Three Great Shinobi Villages. If they were to join forces with the Sunagakure, they might actually have a chance to completely divide up the three countries and ninja villages.
If Vegapunk were also willing to get involved, it wouldn't be a hope or a possibility, but a certainty.
"However, sir, if the three ninja villages intend to unite, wouldn't your trip to Konohagakure be even more dangerous?"
Mei Terumi spoke with some concern, but before Vegapunk could reply, Hancock impatiently interrupted:
"Maid, be mindful of your status! This is something my darling can decide for herself! And with my protection, my darling will not encounter any danger."
"All you have to do is serve your darling and me well!"
Mei Terumi rolled her eyes inwardly, but her face remained cautious, not daring to show the slightest dissatisfaction. Originally Mei Terumi was actually a very proud person, but she only became well-behaved after being severely beaten by Hancock a few times.
Or rather, aside from Nico Robin, Hancock has always suppressed both Pakura and Mei Terumi. Otherwise, Mei Terumi, who is now the successor to the Mizukage, wouldn't be so obedient.
After all, even the actual Kazekage was suppressed and behaved obediently, let alone her, the successor to the Mizukage.
"Hiruzen, I've received intelligence that Vegapunk is coming to visit Konohagakure. This is a great opportunity!"
The speaker was an old man with bandages wrapped around his face, exuding a gloomy aura. Upon hearing his words, the Third Hokage, who was processing documents at his desk, looked up, appearing to have a headache.
"Danzo, what are you up to now?"
"That Dr. Vegapunk is the heir to the Daimyo of the Sea Country, and holds an extremely high position in both the Wind Country and the Water Country! Do you still intend to harm him?"
This is no ordinary matter. If things go wrong, not only the current Sunagakure and Sea Ninja Village, but also the entire Wind Country and Sea Country Alliance, and even other countries, including the nobles Daimyo of the Fire Country, will not let this go!
After all, both the Daimyo and the nobles were wary of the ninjas' power. Once they crossed the line, they would face a joint counterattack from all the Daimyo and nobles.
There is ultimately a boundary between ninjas who possess Supernatural Power and ordinary people. Perhaps, as times change, ninjas will eventually be able to break free from the Daimyo and nobles and become the true rulers of the world.
But before that, the first ninja village that dared to take the plunge would have been crushed into nothingness by the backlash of the times if it didn't have peerless powerhouses like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha to back it up, even if it was the strongest Konohagakure!
"But Hiruzen, you should understand this too! Even if we do nothing, given the current development momentum of Sand Ninja Village and Sea Ninja Village, their strength will truly surpass ours in a while! And it will surpass Konohagakure in both economy and power!"
"And the root of all the problems lies with Vegapunk! His inventions, which were ahead of their time, have had a tremendous impact on the ninja village and the country!"
"This month, the Daimyo reduced the funds allocated to our Konohagakure again. Even though the proportion of the funds allocated to our village in tax revenue and military spending has increased, the actual funds we receive are constantly decreasing... Tax revenue across the entire Fire Country has begun to decline significantly!"
"However, the income of the Sea Country Wind Country is constantly increasing, and they are even willing to invest a lot of money in developing the ninja villages. I don't think this is a sign of peace!"
The ninja villages are military organizations unique to each country in this era. Although the strength of the ninjas has distorted this military organization, even giving it a semi-merchant, semi-state nature that seems unbelievable, it must be said that the ultimate military strength of a country still depends on the ninja villages of each country.
When a country invests a large portion of its tax revenue into the military, its intentions become self-evident.
"So I have now reached a certain consensus with the Earth Country and the Lightning Country, and the Iwagakure and the Kumogakure have agreed to stand with us."
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and said:
"The alliance of three major powers and three great ninja villages should effectively curb the ambitions of the Sea Ninja and Sand shinobi..."
"What a joke?! The Kumogakure and the Iwagakure are inherently untrustworthy!"
Danzo so excited that he almost spat on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face:
"If those two ninja villages knew what true cooperation meant, Konoha would have been razed to the ground long ago!"
That's true. In every Ninja World War, Konohagakure's main opponents were Iwagakure and Kumogakure. Sunagakure was always the first to start a war and the quickest to sue for peace. Kirigakure was just a sidekick.
Furthermore, the course of each battle was roughly the same. At the beginning, the Iwagakure and the Kumogakure attacked Konoha at the same time. When Konoha gradually couldn't hold on in the middle of the battle, the two sides betrayed each other to seize the spoils and sabotage each other, and then Konoha pushed them all down in one wave.
After several such incidents, people finally saw the true colors of these two ninja villages. Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't stupid, so he could naturally see how unreliable his two allies were.
"That's still better than you attacking Vegapunk directly!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke without hesitation:
"Perhaps doing this will suppress the development momentum of Sand Ninja Village and Sea Ninja Village, but it will undoubtedly concentrate all the pressure on Konoha! At that time, Konoha will inevitably face enemies from all sides, and those two allies will truly turn their backs on us!"