"Hire multiple ninja villages?" Obito sneered, mocking him. "Lord Daimyo, do you truly not understand, or are you deliberately pretending not to?"
"What do you mean?"
The Daimyo's expression darkened. As a man of high standing, he could not tolerate being questioned again and again.
"It means you'll alert the enemy!" Obito stepped forward and fixed the Daimyo with a hard stare. The invisible pressure made the other man instinctively retreat half a step. "Sunagakure only surrendered completely to Konoha not long ago. Setting aside the strength of the other ninja villages, hiring them all at once would be far too conspicuous. There's no way the news could be completely contained."
"Once word gets out, the Fifth Hokage will notice immediately. Do you think he'll pretend not to know and let you, the Daimyo, mobilize outside forces to deal with Dawn Shipping..."
"Or will he use that as an excuse to intervene, perhaps even turn around and question why you bypassed Konoha for an operation like this? How will you explain yourself then? By saying you don't trust him, the Fifth Hokage?"
The Daimyo opened his mouth, wanting to argue, only to realize that every word Obito had said made sense.
He had only been thinking of keeping Konoha from getting involved, overlooking the chain reaction that might result from hiring ninja from other villages on such a large scale.
If it truly provoked the Fifth Hokage's wariness and displeasure...
The consequences would be unimaginable.
Watching the changing expressions on the Daimyo's face, Obito knew his words had worked. His tone softened, though it remained subtly guiding. "At this point, do you still harbor unrealistic fantasies about the Fifth Hokage?"
"He refused to meet with you, secretly expanded his military forces, and preached the unification of the ninja world... Can't