Ambitions for the Uzumaki Clan

So, if he broke down his current priority further, the prerequisite for learning Sage Mode was to find a Tsuchigumo Clan member who could use Dofatsu-ten no Jutsu, then link with their heart while they cast it and comprehend the state in which they absorbed Natural Energy.

Ideally, he would only need to infiltrate the Tsuchigumo Clan's territory and throw Kirigakure's weight around a little to accomplish this goal. But in reality, that was impossible.

It was simple. When the Sage of Six Paths founded Ninshu, he had not forcibly converted people the way Buddhism did. The same applied to Hozuki Shingetsu's Golden Finger. One-way goodwill was one thing, but if he wanted to use Chakra as a medium to send sensations back, the other person's heart had to be completely unguarded toward him for his Golden Finger to work.

Under these circumstances, the Tsuchigumo Clan had to willingly allow him into their bodies for him to meet that condition. And since this ninjutsu was activated at the cost of one's life, Hozuki Shingetsu had no idea how many people it would take for him to successfully comprehend Natural Energy. Therefore, it would be best if the entire Tsuchigumo Clan pledged themselves to Kirigakure. Only then could he guarantee success.

However, the current leader of the Tsuchigumo Clan, En no Gyōja, had formed an alliance with Konoha. The agreement stipulated that the Tsuchigumo Clan would serve Konoha during wartime, while Konoha would guarantee their safety at all times.

This treaty actually suited the Tsuchigumo Clan quite well. After all, Dofatsu-ten no Jutsu was a life-risking technique much like the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. They could not possibly activate it whenever someone came knocking, could they? If they did, their enemies would wear the Tsuchigumo Clan down by every possible means. Unlike the Uzumaki Clan, they did not possess superb sealing techniques in addition to the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

Konoha, meanwhile, happened to need a strategic weapon like the Tsuchigumo Clan—humanoid nuclear bombs. Thus, the two sides hit it off immediately and formed an offensive and defensive alliance. This made it extremely difficult for Hozuki Shingetsu to poach them.

After all, compared to Konoha, what did Kirigakure have that could measure up? Why would they abandon Konoha and follow Kirigakure when they were doing perfectly well?

Therefore, if he wanted to lure away the Tsuchigumo Clan, he had to destroy their alliance with Konoha. At the same time, he had to make them deeply fear for their own safety. Only then would Hozuki Shingetsu have an opportunity to intervene.

But how could he accomplish that?

Hozuki Shingetsu turned his gaze to the map of the Shinobi World, settling on the small nation southwest of the Land of Water—the Land of Whirlpools.

Judging by the timeline of major events in the Shinobi World, Konoha's longtime ally, Uzushio Village, was about to be destroyed!

If he could use Konoha's inaction as it watched Uzushio Village perish to call Konoha's credibility into question before the Tsuchigumo Clan, that would be a viable approach.

At this point in time, Uzushio Village had not yet been destroyed.

The original story never detailed exactly who destroyed Uzushio Village, but Hozuki Shingetsu guessed that the Land of Earth, Land of Lightning, and Land of Water had joined forces to destroy it, with Kirigakure likely leading the assault.

It was simple. During the First Shinobi World War and the Second Shinobi World War, aside from Uzumaki Mito, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the other ninja villages had no Jinchuriki. It was only by the start of the Third Shinobi World War that each village's Jinchuriki emerged one after another. Kirigakure in particular produced Karatachi Yagura, the second perfect Jinchuriki after Uzumaki Mito. For Kirigakure, which had no Waterfall of Truth and had gone through the Bloody Mist Era, to produce a perfect Jinchuriki capable of understanding his Tailed Beast's heart was truly baffling.

Furthermore, Kirigakure had not participated in the Second Shinobi World War. It was difficult not to suspect that, during the attack on Uzushio Village, too many Uzumaki Clan elders had traded their lives for the enemy's, taking out numerous experts and leaving Kirigakure too weakened to join the Second Shinobi World War.

Moreover, now that he had traveled to this era and learned all sorts of information, Hozuki Shingetsu was even more convinced of this speculation. He could even infer that most of the experts taken down by the Uzumaki elders had come from the Hozuki Clan and the Yuki Clan. Even the Kaguya Clan had likely lost quite a few battle maniacs.

Only in this way could forces like the severely weakened Hozuki Clan have been unable to resist the Third Mizukage's Blood Mist Policy, until Karatachi Yagura took office and completely purged the Kekkei Genkai Clans. In the end, only a few low-profile kekkei genkai ninja clans, such as the Terumi Clan, survived.

Thus, breaking down the goal of learning Sage Mode once again turned it into the question of how to use the destruction of Uzushio Village as an opportunity to persuade the Tsuchigumo Clan.

Judging by the timeline, Uzushio Village's destruction should not be far off. But Hozuki Shingetsu would never allow Kirigakure to take the lead again. Moreover, he had different plans for the Uzumaki Clan's fate.

If the Uzumaki Clan could join Kirigakure, it would be an excellent plan—not only for winning over the Tsuchigumo Clan and opposing Uchiha Madara, but also for building strength after taking control of Kirigakure in the future.

As for how he could make that happen... wasn't this precisely why Hozuki Shingetsu had refused a marriage alliance with the Kaguya Clan?

As the young clan leader of the Hozuki Clan and the future leader of Kirigakure's foremost ninja clan, Hozuki Shingetsu's wife was a highly valuable position for a marriage alliance.

Using that position as the bride price to form a marriage alliance with Uzushio Village should be enough, shouldn't it? Even so, Hozuki Shingetsu still felt it was insufficient.

After all, Senju Hashirama had married Uzumaki Mito back then, yet the Uzumaki Clan had not merged into Konoha. Therefore, Uzushio Village had to feel that disaster was imminent and that Konoha could not be trusted before such an opportunity could arise.

After pondering for a long time and roughly sorting out his thoughts, he had Ao make preparations to add another spark to the situation in the Shinobi World.

"Shingetsu, what are we doing this time?"

Ao eagerly rushed before Hozuki Shingetsu after receiving the news.

Ever since following Hozuki Shingetsu through several operations in the Foreign Affairs Department, he had fallen deeply in love with the feeling of stirring up the Shinobi World, turning clouds into rain with a flip of his hand, and manipulating its situation without ever showing his face. The sensation left the young Ao a little unable to contain himself.

"It's simple. This spark is called the Tailed Beasts." Hozuki Shingetsu instructed Ao, "This campaign will be different from the previous ones. This time, we will target key regions. In other words, it would be best if the rest of the world knew nothing and only these few regions received the news."

"Promote it only in key regions?" Ao looked somewhat bewildered, unable to understand the point of doing so.

"That's right. Target Kumogakure and Iwagakure specifically. As for the focus of the campaign, exaggerate Uzumaki Mito's combat strength as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Repeatedly mention her role in the First Shinobi World War and her identity as a member of the Uzumaki Clan. Then spread word that, in light of the coming chaos in the Shinobi World, Uzushio Village intends to merge with Konoha."

Hozuki Shingetsu smiled faintly. As Konoha's stabilizing pillar and a key reason Konoha ended the First Shinobi World War, Kumogakure and Iwagakure naturally knew Uzumaki Mito's strength.

All he had to do was provoke them a little at this time. That hotheaded Third Raikage and that old fox Ōnoki would surely want to capture Uzushio Village before the Second Shinobi World War, obtain the Jinchuriki sealing techniques, and lop off one of Konoha's arms in the process.

When the time came, he could appear in Uzushio Village as Kirigakure's savior and take it into his grasp in exchange for a marriage alliance.

"Oh, and give this document to my father. Have him activate a spy on the Kaguya side and secretly leak this plan to Kaguya Yoshio."

Hozuki Shingetsu then handed another document to Ao.

"Broken Window Plan?"

Ao looked at the title, completely confused.

"To prevent that old Kaguya Yoshio from digging a pit for me, I'll find a pit myself, tell him about it, and then jump into it myself."

If Hozuki Shingetsu proposed going to Uzushio Village himself, Ren and Kaguya Yoshio might not know what he intended to do, but they would undoubtedly stop him. Since that was the case, he would switch things around. If Kaguya Yoshio and Ren insisted that Hozuki Shingetsu go, would that not be perfect?

"Travel to Uzushio Village, win over the Uzumaki Clan, subdue the Tsuchigumo Clan, unlock Sage Mode, defeat Ren and Vortex White Zetsu, become Mizukage..."

Hozuki Shingetsu muttered the string of keywords written on the paper. Though there would surely be many twists and turns along the way, he had to complete this interlocking plan!