Continental Balance Policy

Whose subordinate is this, and why is he so bold?

The many Jonin present looked up, and upon seeing it was the young clan head of the Hozuki Clan, they relaxed.

The messy history between the Hozuki Clan and the Mizukage was common knowledge to every Jonin present, so they settled in to watch the show, curious to see what kind of grand theory this newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs would spout.

However, to their complete surprise, the first thing this Kirigakure genius said seemed to be leaning in the wrong direction.

"First and foremost, I fully support all of the Mizukage's decisions. I stand here representing the Foreign Affairs Department to firmly uphold all of the Mizukage's opinions! Whoever opposes the Mizukage opposes the Foreign Affairs Department!"

After all, policies like isolationism only really constrained ordinary people. For a major clan like the Hozuki, if they wanted to secretly maintain contact with the outside world, who could possibly catch them? Such policies only affected those ninja clans without the power or influence to bypass them; look at the Kaguya Clan—even those brainless fools didn't take this stuff seriously.

And the fixed quota for Jonin was even more laughable. Does not having the title of Jonin mean you aren't a Jonin? As for the political influence that the rank of Jonin represented, as the number one clan in Kirigakure, were they really lacking a few Jonin titles?

Therefore, Hozuki Shingetsu had absolutely no need to contradict Ren at this moment.

However, Hozuki Shingetsu's display of loyalty left Ren feeling deeply suspicious. Could it be that the Hozuki Clan actually wanted to reconcile with him?

But clearly, Hozuki Shingetsu had not stood up just to butter him up.

"We must not only support the Mizukage's resolutions but also innovate upon them. We must anticipate the Mizukage's urgent needs, consider the Mizukage's concerns, stand from the Mizukage's perspective to analyze the impact on our village from the big picture, and promptly identify and fill any gaps to thoroughly carry out the Mizukage's will."

At first, Ren had a smile on his face, but the more he listened, the more wrong it felt. What was this about "standing from the Mizukage's perspective," "considering the big picture," and "filling gaps"?

"From the Mizukage's policies, I have distilled a core point. That is: the enemy lies across the sea!"

"Objectively speaking, our Kirigakure is limited by being an island nation with scarce resources and a small population, leaving us slightly inferior to Konoha in terms of raw strength."

Hmm, Hozuki Shingetsu was being quite restrained; this wasn't just "slightly inferior"—at this moment, a single living Uzumaki Mito could suppress the entire Kirigakure by herself.

"Therefore, to defend against the enemy, we must protect our own secrets and further improve our strength under these limited resources."

Ren looked at Hozuki Shingetsu with some confusion, unsure of what he was trying to express.

"So, to address the Mizukage's urgent needs, our Foreign Affairs Department has formulated a policy. I call it... the Continental Balance Policy." Hozuki Shingetsu finally revealed his true intent, explaining the policy in detail.

Simply put, it meant uniting the weak to resist the strong, preventing the emergence of an absolute hegemon on the continent.

But the key was that an absolute hegemon already existed on the continent!

"Therefore, to counter Konoha, we need to constantly incite dissatisfaction among other nations toward Konoha, thereby prompting them to launch a war against Konoha."

This made everyone present realize that Hozuki Shingetsu's words had been long premeditated. After all, it hadn't even been an hour since his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs was announced, and he had already rolled out this entire plan—how could it not be premeditated?

Ren realized this as well, but since Hozuki Shingetsu had started by using his own banner to set the tone, failing to object earlier meant the best opportunity to do so had passed. Unless he wanted to completely burn bridges, he would have to watch him continue to perform under his name, but tearing things apart over such a matter didn't seem worth it.

Thus, the deeply annoyed Third Mizukage asked impatiently, "So, what specific plans do you have to incite other nations to wage war against Konoha?"

Here it comes! Success or failure hinges on this moment!

Hozuki Shingetsu knew the meat of the matter had arrived, so he quickly responded, "To incite a war against Konoha, it is certainly impossible in the short term, but I can guarantee that within the next five years, at least two nations will declare war on Konoha."

After all, it was already Konoha Year 33. According to the original timeline where the Second Shinobi World War broke out around Konoha Year 37, that was only four years away. As long as he fanned the flames a little, war would inevitably break out.

"Five years? That is too long. I need to see results in five months. If you cannot do it, then you can step down as Minister of Foreign Affairs. I have no need for a minister who only speaks empty words."

Although Ren couldn't understand what Hozuki Shingetsu was trying to do, he instinctively knew he couldn't let him continue this performance, so he directly changed the tempo and set a hard deadline.

"Five months? That is too short. However, if the Mizukage allows me to be in charge of all propaganda affairs for Kirigakure, I might have the courage to achieve this goal."

Hozuki Shingetsu wore a troubled expression, and after pondering for a long while, he gave this answer.

"Propaganda affairs?"

Ren paused, not understanding why Hozuki Shingetsu was so insistent on taking on this task. But out of a desire to make his enemy uncomfortable, he intended to refuse the request.

"Appointing someone of your age as Minister of Foreign Affairs was done with the intention of nurturing you, hoping you would interact more with your seniors and accumulate experience. Yet you speak wildly, and now you keep making demands of the village..."

"I actually think there's nothing wrong with giving young people more opportunities. Besides, it's just propaganda! It's only five months anyway, and the results will be clear in five months. Why shouldn't the Mizukage go with the flow? After all, this little one's reputation has even reached the ears of the Daimyo; giving him a chance is a fine gesture, isn't it?"

To everyone's surprise, the Daimyo's Envoy, who had been sitting quietly and acting as if he were invisible, spoke up—and he was speaking in favor of Hozuki Shingetsu.

Ren frowned. If anyone else had interrupted him, he would have sent them to meet the Sage of Six Paths with a shuriken. But he had to respect the Daimyo's position, and he needed the Daimyo's financial support. Offending the Envoy over such a trivial matter would be a net loss.

"Then five months it is. I hope you will honor your promise and make Konoha fall into chaos."

After saying this, Ren walked out of the conference room with a cold face. He could never have imagined why the Daimyo's Envoy would speak up for Hozuki Shingetsu.

As for those present, perhaps only Hozuki Zangetsu and Hozuki Shingetsu knew why.

"Four sentences for ten million ryo—that's truly expensive! That's enough to buy a third of an Asuma!"

Hozuki Shingetsu felt a pang of heartache, but once he realized that all the goals of this plan had been achieved, he felt the money was well spent.