Changes in Konoha further accelerated the alliance of the Four Great Shinobi Villages against the Land of Whirlpools, and also quickened the dispatch of troops to wipe out the Land of Whirlpools.
The focus of this battle was on a quick victory and leaving immediately after acquiring the sealing arts of the Uzumaki clan, strictly avoiding any large-scale confrontation with Konoha.
Now was not the time yet; they had to wait until they possessed a Perfect Jinchuriki before they could confront Konoha head-on.
Among them, Kumogakure was the first to send people over, and the one leading the team was none other than the Raikage's aide, Dodai.
"Lord Dodai, you mentioned before that Kinkaku and Ginkaku used summoning to seal the Six Paths Ninja Tools and outsiders cannot unseal them, but the sealing arts of the Uzumaki clan are currently the strongest in the ninja world. Can they unseal them?"
Standing on the deck, Tamura Hiroshi voiced an idea.
Ever since experiencing the auxiliary effect of the Sword of the Thunder Guard on his training, he had been eyeing that Bashosen.
The Sword of the Thunder Guard could only transform into Lightning Release, but the Bashosen was far stronger, capable of bypassing its own chakra attribute to transform into all five natures of wind, fire, lightning, water, and earth.
Although he only possessed a single Lightning Release, that was merely his innate affinity; he could still train to develop other attributes through acquired hard work—at most it would just be a bit harder, his released ninjutsu would be slightly smaller in power, and the consumption would be greater.
If possible, he hoped to cultivate all chakra attributes, so the Bashosen, which possessed all five chakra nature transformations, was very important.
At this stage, their side lacked Impure World Reincarnation and could not resurrect Kinkaku and Ginkaku to summon the Six Paths Ninja Tools, but they could think of a way starting from that summoned seal.
Dodai remained silent, seriously considering the feasibility of this proposal.
"Did you bring the bodily tissues of Kinkaku and Ginkaku with you?"
After thinking for a long time, he asked this question, feeling quite tempted by the proposal.
The bodily tissues of Kinkaku and Ginkaku were their only medium at this stage. If the Uzumaki clan had the ability to unseal them, they should also need their bodily tissues as a medium, especially for summoning-type seals.
"I still have their hearts with me."
Tamura Hiroshi took out the hearts sealed inside two nutrient jars, pulled out a blank sealing scroll, and used his chakra to stimulate the sealing jutsu formula carved on it to seal them inside.
That home of his had virtually no security measures; whenever he had a good treasure, it was hard to feel at ease leaving it there, so he could only carry it with him.
Fortunately, several pieces of his armor had sealing object spells carved into them, allowing him to store certain items—for instance, the one thousand high-quality explosive tags he had spent a huge sum to purchase before coming here.
Originally he wanted to buy ten thousand, but unfortunately they had a purchase limit policy.
As for the reserved hearts, he prepared to hook up with Kakuzu when the opportunity arose. A wealthy parvenu with superpowers like himself loved people who were greedy for petty cash.
"We can give it a try!"
Dodai reached out to take the sealing object scroll and tucked it into his robe, deciding to take it along and give it a try.
Anyway, there was no loss if it failed, and once successful, those four pieces of the Six Paths Ninja Tools could be retrieved.
If they were used in this war, they would definitely inflict heavy damage on the other shinobi villages.
Especially since the Uzumaki clan naturally possessed massive chakra, using them would certainly feel even better.
Furthermore, getting the Uzumaki clan to make a move could also shift the aggro onto them, lessening the hostility of other shinobi villages toward their Kumogakure.
"Our Four-Nation Allied Shinobi Army commanders will have a meeting in the Land of Whirlpools. You should come along to broaden your horizons and see the big figures from the other shinobi villages; those should be your future opponents."
Suddenly remembering the agreement for that meeting, Dodai motioned for Tamura Hiroshi to come along as well.
Although this child was apprenticed to the Third, his chakra talent was too touching; his future achievements wouldn't be very high. He and the Third placed more value on the child's brain, and he intended to cultivate him as a successor—their Kumogakure was in even greater need of individuals skilled at using their brains.
Keeping him by his side like this would allow him to learn more.
"A meeting?"
Tamura Hiroshi was surprised. Could there really be a meeting?
"There was only a rough agreement before, but Konoha's display this time is too intense, which might cause some variables."
Dodai grinned and chuckled slightly; Konoha's changes stemmed from the intelligence they had provided to Shimura Danzō.
The core of a ninja's warfare was intelligence warfare. The effect produced by a single piece of intelligence far exceeded the combat prowess performance of a powerhouse, and the harvest would be much greater.
Of course, that did not mean powerhouses were unimportant; necessary combat strength still had to exist, and only thus could one safeguard one's own gains.
Both hands must grasp firmly, and both hands must be strong.
"Konoha is basically the public enemy of the entire ninja world now!"
Tamura Hiroshi also smiled. This was something he was very willing to see. If Konoha could be wiped out during the Second World War, it would be even better; the subsequent original plot would directly vanish, and he would be able to reap a massive amount of the Power of Destiny.
He needed more Power of Destiny to spur the power of his Golden Finger—not just to bless his comprehension and aid his cultivation, but also to assist the Kaguya Phantom in devouring chakra to grow stronger, reaching the level where it could autonomously devour and refine those branded phantoms as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, the Power of Destiny originated from one's own alterations to the original plot, or even its collapse. The greater the change, the better.
However, Konoha was truly formidable. Even though it would be continuously messed up and tossed around by the F4 in the future, by the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, it was still Konoha's solo show, with the other four shinobi villages merely serving as foil; by the final stage, the others didn't even have the qualification to be in the frame.
Even the deceased summoned through Impure World Reincarnation were Konoha's fiercest.
The foundation was simply far too thick!
Dodai gazed at the ocean before him and sighed, "The First Hokage wanted to forge a situation of one superpower and many strong nations to balance the ninja world, much like how the interior of a shinobi village must be led by a Kage. However, the conflicts between shinobi villages are far greater than the conflicts among major ninja clans within a single village; it was destined to not succeed.
Even adding the power of Tailed Beasts as a balance framework for deterrence won't work, and it might even produce the opposite effect.
One can only say that neither the First Hokage nor the Second Hokage were talents for playing politics; they were far too wishful."
He was a specialized intelligence talent, focused not only on external scheming but even more on internal development. He belonged to the domestic affairs and logistics management type, and could see through many problems.
"The Second Hokage still did a lot, though."
Tamura Hiroshi felt that the Second Hokage still had some ink in his belly, and not all his talents were dumped into the development of forbidden jutsu.
"That's because you haven't been to the Daimyo's administration. Whether it is the Ninja School or the ANBU system, they are actually modeled after the architecture of the Daimyo's administration.
There are specialized schools in the Daimyo's administration to cultivate talent, and the Daimyo also has specialized personnel under his command to do things that cannot see the light of day. The so-called Guardian Ninjas are merely forces on the surface.
From start to finish, the Daimyo has never trusted us ninjas; how could they possibly hand over power and authority completely for our shinobi villages to control?"
Dodai sneered coldly, not feeling that the Second Hokage's achievements in this regard were anything remarkable. At the end of the day, he was merely a ninja, not a politician, and his talent and abilities did not lie in this area.
"It's modeled after them!"
Tamura Hiroshi was stunned, then immediately enlightened; if that was the case, many things could be explained.
Moreover, the Daimyo's administration system had a long heritage, predating even the descent of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. It was a system that had been passed down in this world for thousands of years and had long since been perfected.
The shinobi village system had only appeared for a few decades; how could it possibly surpass a system thousands of years old in terms of perfection? Taking inspiration and modeling after them was the only sensible choice.
Besides, it was only logical for the Daimyo's administration side to possess its own forces capable of deterring the shinobi villages; otherwise, they would have long since been hollowed out by the shinobi villages, or even had a scenario of taking the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords.
That great man of his previous life had once said that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, and political power must be built upon military force to remain stable.
Sure enough, the essence of a real world cannot be fully displayed solely through a set of manga.
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