"Haha, Shingetsu, I knew you had a trick up your sleeve!"
After Ao learned about the current state of the Shinobi World, especially the moves being made by the great shinobi villages, he could hardly contain his excitement. He hurried straight to the Hozuki Clan's compound to share the good news with his friend.
"This is only the beginning, Ao." Hozuki Shingetsu tried to reassure his friend.
The current situation was going splendidly for the Continental Balance Policy—so much so that it had turned out even better than Hozuki Shingetsu had expected.
Before putting the plan into action, he had thought it might go smoothly. But he hadn't expected the various schemes of the old foxes in the shinobi villages to turn things into the mess they were now.
At this rate, Hozuki Shingetsu wouldn't have been surprised if the Second Shinobi World War broke out tomorrow.
Hmm. I've turned a Shinobi World that had been peaceful for over a decade into this mess. Could I, Hozuki Shingetsu, have a gift for being a "poison strategist"?
Back in the day, Jia Xu had helped usher in the Three Kingdoms era with his schemes. Now I, Hozuki Shingetsu, have stirred up the great powers of the Shinobi World with just a few little tricks. Can't I give myself the title of "Shinobi World's Poison Strategist," too?
"By the way, did you find those people I asked you to look for?"
Hozuki Shingetsu suddenly remembered something and asked Ao how things were going.
"I found them, but we ran into some trouble when they tried to enter the village."
Ao explained what had happened, looking troubled.
On the very first day Hozuki Shingetsu took office as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he had assigned Ao a task: invite well-known film professionals from across the Shinobi World to Kirigakure.
When it came to shaping public opinion, how could they do without all kinds of media?
What's more, Hozuki Shingetsu had prepared a series of plans to make sure Ren wouldn't stab him in the back and to ease the Daimyo's hostility. Film was the linchpin of those plans.
As luck would have it, films had emerged during the more than ten years of peace in the Shinobi World. But because theaters required enormous investments, this new form of entertainment was still limited to a few large cities.
As an emerging form of entertainment, the film industry needed to expand its market. So when the invitees learned that the young clan leader of the Hozuki Clan wanted to meet them, they dropped everything and hurried to Kirigakure.
But before they could even get through the village gates, the Police Force arrested them all on the grounds that outsiders were strictly forbidden from entering during this period.
Ever since the Third Mizukage's isolationist policy had been implemented, the Police Force had taken over the village's defense. Ordinarily, anyone who didn't know about the order or had come to Kirigakure by mistake would simply be turned away.
But, as it happened, the group tried to prove they hadn't entered without permission by invoking Hozuki Shingetsu's name. And the Police Force was under the Kaguya Clan's control. The Kaguya Clan had been at odds with the Hozuki Clan ever since the Third Mizukage took power, so they promptly arrested the whole group.
"I've gone to the Kaguya Clan several times to explain that you invited them, Shingetsu, but they turned me away, saying they needed an order from the Mizukage." Ao lowered his head in embarrassment.
"It's not your fault. They're targeting me."
Hozuki Shingetsu understood what was going on immediately.
It was simple: now that Hozuki Shingetsu had gotten off to such a smooth start after taking office, someone couldn't sit still.
As an ally of the Second Mizukage during his rise to power, and the Third Mizukage's greatest supporter, the Kaguya Clan had become the first to sound the charge against Hozuki Shingetsu.
Fortunately, resolving this was simple. Hozuki Shingetsu just had to go to the Police Force himself.
The point of all this was to humiliate Hozuki Shingetsu, and the Kaguya Clan had a straightforward way of doing that.
Have a fight.
Pretty much like the Uchiha Clan.
That's right. The Kaguya Clan were such battle maniacs that if you beat them in a fight, then any talk of talent or reputation became a joke to them.
Simple and crude, but effective.
As for Hozuki Shingetsu, he had been looking for someone to test his skills against and see how powerful the ninjutsu he had recently developed was.
He had wanted to test it against the Konoha squad, but unfortunately, his opponents had been too weak.
Against Hozuki Shingetsu, who had mastered all kinds of the Hozuki Clan's Secret Water Release Techniques, even the Hyuga Branch Family, supposedly the natural enemy of the Hydrification Technique, had been utterly helpless. They hadn't even forced him to use his trump card before they were finished.
Besides, it was true that schemes alone weren't enough to earn people's respect.
Thanks to years of effort and his recent rise to prominence, Hozuki Shingetsu had made a name for himself in Kirigakure, the Land of Water, and even across the Shinobi World. But as the saying went, barbarians feared power, not virtue. Unless they had seen how hard you could hit, they wouldn't truly respect you.
In a way, the Kaguya Clan had picked a fight at exactly the right moment.
So, deciding there was no time like the present, Hozuki Shingetsu immediately brought Ao with him to the Police Force Headquarters in the heart of Kirigakure.
Although the Kaguya Clan controlled Kirigakure's Police Department, some shinobi from other clans served there as well. After all, the Kaguya Clan's influence was nowhere near as great as the Uchiha Clan's, and its relations with the village were far from openly hostile.
Moreover, although every member of the Kaguya Clan was a battle maniac, they didn't have the Uchiha Clan's haughty arrogance. If you could beat one of them, you could earn their respect. So the villagers' opinion of the Kaguya Clan was far less complicated than the villagers of Konoha's opinion of the Uchiha.
Of course, by "respect," this meant they wouldn't call you trash to your face. Don't expect them to come fawning over you.
"Minister Hozuki, what a surprise! Forgive us for not welcoming you sooner!"
Kaguya Hirotoshi, a veteran Jonin of the Kaguya Clan and a squad leader in the Police Force, came to greet Hozuki Shingetsu. His smile didn't reach his eyes.
Kaguya Hirotoshi was exactly twenty years old. He had been a Jonin for six years, placing him in the final year of the rapid growth period from age twelve to twenty. His strength was enough to earn him the title of a veteran Jonin.
He was only eight years older than Hozuki Shingetsu, which was close enough to make them part of the same generation.
Their ages and abilities made it clear that the Kaguya Clan had sent Kaguya Hirotoshi to greet him with a purpose.
And Hirotoshi was naturally very unhappy that his clan had sent him to deal with someone so much younger.
So what if Hozuki Shingetsu was a genius? Hadn't Hirotoshi been a gifted young man once, too?
He had become a Jonin at fourteen. Though he wasn't as dazzling as Hozuki Shingetsu, that was still enough to make him a genius.
So Kaguya Hirotoshi had already decided to thoroughly bring the obnoxious kid before him to heel.
"I assume you've come to the Police Force on official business, Minister? Do you have an order from the Mizukage?"
Kaguya Hirotoshi laid extra emphasis on the words "order from the Mizukage," clearly trying to provoke Hozuki Shingetsu.
I hope the kid has some guts and doesn't chicken out at the last second, Kaguya Hirotoshi thought.
If Hozuki Shingetsu really backed down, there wouldn't be much Hirotoshi could do.
After all, there was a world of difference between a fight both sides agreed to and one person launching an unprovoked attack on someone else—especially a Jonin.
Since the Hozuki Clan and Kaguya Clan hadn't completely fallen out, it was best to avoid that kind of incident.
But Hozuki Shingetsu had no interest in trading words with Kaguya Hirotoshi. He simply and bluntly gave him what he wanted.
"Enough with the pretense. I'll ask you one thing: if I beat you, will you release those people?"
Kaguya Hirotoshi narrowed his eyes and gave him a clear answer.
"Of course."
Before you continue