Strategic Adjustments

Yichen's smile faded, and he said seriously, "From the First Shinobi War I went to Konoha to instigate the Uchiha Clan, until this recent great battle..."

"For a long time during that period, we had constant conflicts, both large and small, with other ninja villages."

"These wars are all because the last great war wasn't fought thoroughly enough. That's why I've collectively called the wars during this period the Fifth Ninja World War."

"After the Fifth Ninja World War, the entire situation in the Ninja World has undergone a complete change."

"The biggest change for us is that we are now recognized by all parties as the Ruler of the Ninja World."

"For the entire Ninja World: the Sixth Great Ninja Village is about to be born."

"Let me share my thoughts on how to proceed from here and how to adjust our foreign policy."

"First of all, the previous stalemate between the two major camps is unlikely to continue."

"Of course, we won't actively break our alliance with Mist ninja and Akatsuki Organization, but we can't guarantee that Mist ninja won't maintain our relationship with them."

"I'm not worried about the Akatsuki Organization. I'll be attending the celebration where Yahiko of Akatsuki Organization becomes a Kage, and I'll strengthen the ties between us."

"But the Mist ninja are different. If it were just Kisame Hoshigaki, that would be one thing, but I can't see through what the Mist Village Leader is thinking."

"Therefore, from now on, our approach towards the Mist ninja will be primarily one of winning them over, and we will try our best to maintain the alliance between us, even if it is only a nominal one."

"Furthermore, we must treat Konoha, Sunagakure, Cloud ninja differently."

"The Cloud ninja, being the furthest from us, adopts a laissez-faire policy. Cloud ninja strength poses a threat to the Mist ninja, which actually benefits our alliance with them."

"But we need to take measures to suppress Konoha and Sunagakure. However, the policies for suppressing the two should not be the same."

"We should support the Uchiha openly, towards Konoha. We are now the Ruler of the Ninja World, the rule-makers. We can directly use the Uchiha to interfere in Konoha's internal affairs."

"The goal is to preserve the Uchiha as much as possible, and to keep Konoha bleeding. At the very least, we must prevent Konoha from having the energy to fight external enemies."

"Furthermore, support Danzo and Danzo power. Once the Uchiha problem is resolved by the Konoha High-ranking officials, let Danzo replace the Uchiha and become the new headache for the Hokage."

"At crucial moments, he could even help Danzo seize power. Danzo is extreme in his actions; he would do many things that Tsunade wouldn't dare to do for the sake of the bigger picture."

"His decisiveness can help us eliminate many people we can't touch. Especially when he sees the Hokage position right in front of him, his determination is stronger than we imagined."

"To deal with the Sunagakure, we must suppress them, suppress them in every way. We must go to the limit, except for the direct use of force."

"The Sunagakure is too close to us; we absolutely cannot allow Sunagakure to have the opportunity to grow stronger."

"Economic sanctions, stealing missions—even missions within the Sunagakure —if possible, we should get involved."

"Have the daimyo contact the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and request a reduction in funding for the Sunagakure."

"In short, do everything you can to weaken the Sunagakure."

"Furthermore, we should cultivate a friendly relationship with Orochimaru on the other side of the Ninja World and perhaps conduct some appropriate transactions."

"Didn't Orochimaru establish a ninja village? Now that his village is powerful, it will inevitably encroach on the interests of Konoha and Mist ninja. This can only benefit us, not harm us."

"I've finished speaking. What do you all think?"

After analyzing the situation in his mind, Ōnoki said, "Maintain close contact with the Akatsuki Organization, maintain relations with the Mist ninja, and preserve the title of the strongest force in the Ninja World."

"Openly supporting the Uchiha and Danzo, interfering in Konoha's internal affairs, using the name of the hegemon to benefit themselves, and weakening their rivals."

"Suppressing the Sunagakure, allowing the Cloud Orochimaru to Cloud ninja, and befriending Orochimaru are all strategies of befriending distant enemies while attacking nearby ones."

"These are all good ideas. However, the Akatsuki Organization is also very close to us. Will supporting the Akatsuki Organization too much cause problems?"

Yichen said, "We can't suppress the Akatsuki Organization. One very important reason why we were able to become the Ruler of the Ninja World is that the Akatsuki Organization had no ambition."

"If Akatsuki Organization had the same ambitions as Hanzo did back then, with Nagato's strength, Akatsuki Organization could have gotten much more. Even if they didn't compete with us for supremacy, they could at least make our reign as supremacy unstable."

"The problem with Akatsuki Organization is that other forces in the Ninja World are unaware of its true strength and believe it to be an ordinary ninja village."

"Actually, the Akatsuki Organization is just a pipe dream of three kids. As long as we keep their dream from being shattered, we'll be fine."

"If we make them feel from time to time that they are making progress in the direction they want, they won't go against us."

Ōnoki nodded and said nothing more.

Ming said, "You've gone too far by directly interfering in Konoha's internal affairs. Won't it provoke condemnation from other countries?"

Yichen laughed and said, "Senior Mei, you haven't figured it out yet. We are the boss now, and Konoha is afraid of us. As long as we don't go too far and don't cross their bottom line, they won't retaliate."

"What we need now is not a facade, but tangible benefits."

"Becoming a hegemon isn't about being a nice guy; it's about seeking more benefits."

"Our facade of kindness and peace-loving can be put on a show for small and medium-sized countries."

"But when it comes to Konoha and Sunagakure, we must be aggressive. These are our competitors, and we must bleed them dry to strengthen ourselves."

"We can speak grandly to outsiders, but those of us in this meeting room must be keenly aware that we are not benevolent; everything we do is solely for the benefit of the village."

Ming took a deep breath and said, "Yichen, you're right, I understand, I support your policy."

Then the others exchanged glances and said, "We agree too."

Yichen smiled and said, "Very good, then from now on we will act according to this policy and strive to make the village stronger and bigger."

"Yes." Everyone, including Ōnoki, responded in unison.

After the meeting, Yichen first went to the hospital to see Matsutani Shinya and inquired about his recovery from Nakata Hajime.

Matsutani Shinya was quite comfortable in the hospital room. He and Little Flower each lay on a large hospital bed, and the expressions of the man and the cat were exactly the same, both looking lazy and half-dead.

Seeing this, Yichen thought for a moment and said to Little Flower, "Little Flower, I heard you saved Shinya's life."

Matsutani Shinya greeted Yichen, but Yichen ignored him.

"Meow." Little Flower meowed in response, and when it saw Yichen come in, it opened its eyes slightly.

Yichen didn't understand, but that didn't matter.

Yichen continued, "Thanks to you this time, it's really not easy for you to save Shinya with your strength. Fortunately, Might Guy isn't particularly strong."

"But Shinya and stronger. He's already at the Quasi-Kage level now, and the enemies he'll encounter in the future will all be Kage-level experts."

"If the same situation happens again, Little Flower, will you be able to save Shinya?"

Little Flower was clearly stunned, and her eyes, which were almost invisible due to her obesity, widened slightly.

Yichen, as if he hadn't seen it, said, "Forget it, I can't count on you anyway. From now on, when Shinya goes on missions, you don't need to come along. Otherwise, Shinya will have to take care of you."

"Meow," Little Flower meowed again.

However, Yichen clearly sensed that the emotion in this voice was completely different from the one just now.

That sound contained a hint of grievance and confusion.

Having achieved his goal, Yichen glanced at Matsutani Shinya, then turned and left without saying a word.

Yichen went next door and chatted briefly with Han and Kokuō.

Yichen told Han that he had already approved the appointment of him as the Honorary Advisor of the Village at High-Level Meeting.

Then Yichen left the hospital.

Matsutani Shinya stared mournfully in the direction Yichen had left for a long while.

After Yichen left, Little Flower thought for a long time, then meowed at Matsutani Shinya.

Matsutani Shinya sighed and nodded.

Then Little Flower left the ward to find its mother, Dango. From today onwards, it will also work hard to cultivate.

After leaving the hospital, Yichen went to Kitsuchi's house, and sure enough, the Uzumaki Riori he was looking for was there.

Because Uzumaki Riori had become Quasi-Jonin, her strength was rapidly improving, so Purple Lightning did not go on missions and instead stayed in the village to rest.

These days, Uzumaki Riori is having a blast playing around in the village Tenten.

When Yichen arrived at Kitsuchi's house, she was telling Sokai, Bai, Kurotsuchi, Neji, and a little girl with red hair who looked about the same age as Neji about her fighting experiences.

Five children sat in a row, watching Uzumaki Riori in the middle of the yard.

On the other side stood Deidara, who appeared to be impatient.

Yichen knew that Deidara was already Elite Jonin and was currently researching how to develop Explosion Release.

Yichen ignored Deidara; he was somewhat surprised to see this red-haired little girl here.

This person is from the same clan as Uzumaki Riori, and she was included in Yichen's list of people to watch because of her name: Uzumaki Karin.

Yichen would naturally not let a wild genius like Uzumaki Karin slip by. In previous years, Yichen had even asked the Anbu to keep an eye out for Uzumaki clan members had drifted into the Ninja World.

However, they did not find Uzumaki Karin and her mother.

Yichen even went to the Kusagakure to investigate, but he did not find Uzumaki Karin and her daughter.

However, later on, she occasionally heard that a baby girl named Karin had appeared in the Uzumaki Clan of Iwagakure.

Yichen was both surprised and speechless; it turned out that Karin's mother was in Iwagakure.

However, Yichen only observed Karin in secret and did not disturb her.

The Uzumaki Clan has been completely integrated into Iwagakure and no longer needs Yichen's deliberate brainwashing.

In this life Karin's parents are both alive, and she is a lively and active little girl.

Karin, Neji, and Kurotsuchi are all first-year students at the Ninja Academy and are in the same class.

Karin and Kurotsuchi have a good relationship, and Karin is also a member of Uzumaki Riori's clan, so when Uzumaki Riori came to visit Neji, Karin also came along.

Karin actually came to see Neji, this handsome guy, but of course, her excuse was to visit her best friend Kurotsuchi.

Over there, as Uzumaki Riori was talking, she created a group of Shadow Clone then split into two camps to simulate a battle.

Fortunately, she knew this was at Kitsuchi's home, so she didn't give everyone a live demonstration of the Great Fireball volleyball.