Hozuki Shingetsu: Why Not Surrender with Courtesy and Still Retain Your Clan's Status?

Uzumaki Takumi naturally had no idea what was happening in Konoha. He was currently organizing the Uzumaki clansmen to head for the battlefield while anxiously awaiting Konoha's support.

According to intelligence from the front lines, the invading allied forces mainly consisted of troops from Iwagakure and Kumogakure. Their leaders were Lie, commander of the Explosion Corps, and Blue B, the Third Raikage's sworn younger brother. With the elite forces they commanded, even though Uzushio Village had spent years building up its defenses, it was still steadily driven back under the enemy's fierce assault.

In less than two days, the battle line had already been pushed to the border of the Land of Whirlpools. Yet there was still no word from Konoha. Even if the army needed time to travel, they could at least have sent a message ahead by Ninja Hawk! Konoha's current silence gave the battle-hardened Uzumaki Takumi a bad feeling.

Given the circumstances, he could only notify the clansmen once more to prepare themselves while selecting the hope of the Uzumaki Clan. He hoped Konoha would consider the friendship between their two clans over the years and preserve the final embers of the Uzumaki Clan.

"Clan Head, an envoy from Kirigakure requests an audience."

Just as Uzumaki Takumi was overwhelmed with work, a guard informed him that Kirigakure's envoy wished to see him. Only then did he realize that, because of the war, he had completely forgotten about the people from Kirigakure.

Having long since lost any desire to humor them, he had originally intended to drive them away outright. But upon hearing that Hozuki Shingetsu insisted on meeting him, he still decided to see the man and find out what grand argument he had to offer.

He had not expected the very first sentence to make him lose his composure.

"We have come specifically to save the lives of the more than one thousand members of the Uzumaki Clan." Ignoring the shocked looks from Karatachi Yagura and Yukinagi beside him, Hozuki Shingetsu calmly continued playing the role of a "persuader," imitating the style he had seen while reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms in his previous life.

"Is Your Excellency the Daimyo troubled by the current predicament? I have three strategies—high, middle, and low—that can easily defeat the enemy. Would Your Excellency care to hear them?"

"Oh? Let's hear it." Uzumaki Takumi was so angry that he laughed. He wanted to hear what this brat had to say. If he kept spouting nonsense, then Takumi would not be blamed for turning hostile. Uzushio Village was already in this state anyway; when one had too many debts, one stopped worrying about them. He did not care if he added Kirigakure to the list.

"The lowest strategy is to hold the enemy beyond the national borders and wait for Konoha's reinforcements to arrive. With attacks from within and without, the crisis will naturally be resolved. However, this treats the symptoms but not the root cause. So long as Uzushio Village exists, similar incidents will inevitably happen again sooner or later."

Uzumaki Takumi nodded inwardly. That was indeed the truth. The moment he learned who the enemy was, he had understood why they had come. Like Kirigakure, they were after the sealing techniques for Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.

The only difference was that Kirigakure wanted to negotiate through peaceful trade, while the Lightning-Earth Allied Forces did not even want to pay a hundred dollars. They wanted it for free.

But judging from Konoha's response, even that seemed unlikely.

Sensing Uzumaki Takumi's state of mind, Hozuki Shingetsu smiled inwardly before continuing, "The highest strategy is simple. Hand over all of the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques, sever the alliance with Konoha, and declare that the Land of Whirlpools will henceforth become a permanently neutral nation like the Land of Iron. Then naturally, no similar incidents will occur again."

Uzumaki Takumi frowned. There was logic to those words, but as a millennium-old ninja clan that had lived through the Warring States Period, he understood that there was no such thing as a permanently neutral nation in this world.

The Land of Iron was the gathering place of samurai, something separate from the mainstream of the Shinobi World. That was why it could retain its status as a neutral nation. Besides, whether one was neutral or not was not something one could decide just by saying so; it also depended on what others thought.

If they handed over all their sealing techniques and severed their alliance with Konoha, then if someone refused to honor the agreement later, would Uzushio Village not be cutting off its own escape route?

Uzumaki Takumi looked at Hozuki Shingetsu and said, "The lower strategy is too slow, while the higher strategy is too drastic. Is there a middle strategy?"

"Of course there is." Hozuki Shingetsu chuckled. He had finally steered the conversation around to this point. It seemed Romance of the Three Kingdoms really was useful! No wonder people in his previous life had praised it so highly and treated it like a military manual.

"The middle strategy is naturally to choose a worthy master and follow them. That way, the Uzumaki Clan can preserve itself without having to worry about foreign enemies coveting it. Both difficulties will be resolved at once. Would that not be wonderful?"

"A worthy master?" Uzumaki Takumi's first thought upon hearing this was Konoha, but he quickly realized something was wrong. Hozuki Shingetsu could not have spent so much effort merely to persuade him to lead his clansmen into joining Konoha. So the worthy master he meant must be...

"Kirigakure?"

"Precisely!"

Hearing Hozuki Shingetsu's shameless answer, Uzumaki Takumi laughed in anger. Have him lead the Uzumaki Clan into Kirigakure? What a joke!

"If Your Excellency came here only to say this, then you may leave now." Uzumaki Takumi no longer wished to keep tangling with Hozuki Shingetsu. He only wanted to quickly send some of the children in the clan out of the Land of Whirlpools.

"Your Excellency the Daimyo, setting aside the prejudices between our two sides, is Kirigakure not an excellent place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack?"

Hozuki Shingetsu naturally could not let his efforts fail at this crucial moment, so he hurriedly laid out Kirigakure's advantages.

"It is."

Uzumaki Takumi thought about it. That was not wrong. The Land of Water was essentially an island nation. Anyone wishing to attack Kirigakure first had to cross the sea—but how could they fight Kirigakure on the ocean?

Its shipbuilding technology was far ahead of others, it had a vast number of Water Release ninja, and although fewer in number, its various bloodline ninja were exceptionally elite. It could be said that although Kirigakure had shortcomings in offense, it was more than capable in defense.

"In today's Shinobi World, the era belongs to ninja villages formed from alliances of multiple ninja clans. Does Your Excellency the Daimyo agree with this view?"

"...Yes."

"When the Uzumaki Clan did not join Konoha back then, was it not partly because you had grown weary of war and wished to withdraw from the world to rest and recover?"

"Yes."

"Objectively speaking, is Kirigakure not a good place to rest, recover, and prosper?"

"Yes."

"Suppose the Uzumaki Clan joins Kirigakure. In terms of strength, would Kirigakure be able to withstand the pressure of all nations and protect the Uzumaki Clan?"

"...It could."

"Konoha does not actually intend to send reinforcements to Uzushio Village, does it?"

"Yes... no!"

Uzumaki Takumi answered yes on instinct, then immediately changed his words when he realized something was wrong. But it was clearly already too late. Seeing the smile on Hozuki Shingetsu's face, Uzumaki Takumi could not help but sigh.

"Kirigakure and Uzushio Village have no old grudges between them. Emotionally speaking, there is no obstacle at all. Perhaps Your Excellency the Daimyo has heard some rumors about our village, saying we are internally divided. Those are merely rumors. At most, they are conflicts on the same level as those between the Uchiha and Konoha."

"Most importantly, Kirigakure eagerly awaits the Uzumaki Clan! Lord Mizukage specifically instructed us that once the Uzumaki Clan joins Kirigakure, all Jonin will retain their status and become members of Kirigakure's Jonin Squad!"

Hozuki Shingetsu used Ren's name to paint a grand promise.

One had to understand that Jonin status was not merely a classification of strength; it was also a reflection of political standing. In theory, the Jonin Meeting could even decide whether to remove the Mizukage. Such a large number of Jonin Squad members would inevitably cause turmoil in Kirigakure's political situation. From Uzumaki Takumi's perspective, Kirigakure's offer was indeed overflowing with sincerity.

Seeing that Uzumaki Takumi was moved, Hozuki Shingetsu immediately struck while the iron was hot.

"Since the Warring States Period, the realm has been beset by strife. The nation has faced danger as precarious as a stack of eggs, and the people have suffered urgency as though hanging upside down. Our First Mizukage rose with the tide, united the clans, and won the admiration of all directions. This was not gained through power and influence, but was truly the will of heaven! The Second Mizukage possessed divine wisdom and sacred martial prowess. He inherited the great order, answered heaven and united with the people, followed the ways of Yao and the Six Paths, sat in Kirigakure to set the greater situation aright, and stabilized people's hearts from one corner of the world. Was this not the will of heaven and man? Now the fortunes of heaven have changed, the Shinobi World is in turmoil, and war among the nations is imminent! All wise men submit and bide their time, waiting for the moment ordained by heaven. Why must the Uzumaki Clan act against heavenly reason and human sentiment? Have you not heard the ancient saying: Those who oppose the tide perish, those who follow it survive, those who ride it rise, and those who shape it become great?

"Your Excellency the Daimyo, why not surrender with courtesy and still retain your clan's status?"