True, the Daimyo's Envoy could say such things because Hozuki Shingetsu had paid for them.
Even the fact that this Court Official had come to Kirigakure as an envoy to take part in the Jonin Meeting could be said to be entirely Hozuki Shingetsu's doing.
Of course, the price had been one-third of an Asuma.
And if he counted everything from his first approach to the Court Official, when he'd started gathering inside information about the Daimyo and cultivating the man's goodwill toward the Hozuki Clan, the expenses had added up to nearly an entire Asuma.
Still, compared with what Hozuki Shingetsu stood to gain, it was all worth it.
He'd gone to great lengths, killing people to earn military merit and using his position as Ninja Academy principal as a cover. His ultimate goals were twofold: the Minister of Foreign Affairs post, and the seemingly insignificant right to shape public opinion.
Ever since Hozuki Shingetsu had arrived in this world and settled on his goal, he'd been thinking about how to achieve it. Immortality and beautiful women could wait for now, but unifying the world required laying the groundwork early.
Even someone as powerful as Senju Hashirama had relied on his childhood bond with Uchiha Madara to make peace with him at the last moment and bring stability to the world.
Given his age and the objective realities of Kirigakure's strength, Hozuki Shingetsu could only work in less straightforward ways to weaken his opponents while secretly increasing his own power.
As things stood, he already had a comprehensive plan for dealing with the Third Mizukage. If he waited another five or six years, he was confident he could pull the man down through sheer strength. The difficult part was the Uchiha Madara and Zetsu standing behind him.
Based on the intelligence Hozuki Shingetsu had gathered, Uchiha Madara should already have made contact with Ren by now. He just didn't know whether it was genjutsu or the promise of some other benefit that had induced Ren to work with him. So until he was completely certain of success, the best course was to maintain this tense but unbroken standoff with Ren.
After all, if he truly brought out Uchiha Madara, that formidable figure, then even though he was being kept alive by the God Tree and was only half-functional, no one in Kirigakure could stand against him at present. And they needn't even mention Uchiha Madara: even the God Tree's creation, the Wood Release-wielding "Vortex White Zetsu," would be difficult to handle.
So Hozuki Shingetsu had no choice but to turn his attention outward. On one hand, he would use every means at his disposal to weaken Konoha and prepare for the future; on the other, he would earn merit and expand his influence along the way.
His status might let him throw his weight around in Kirigakure, but it could make people bow their heads without earning their respect.
Looking at the current balance of power across the Shinobi Continent, it could indeed be described as "one superpower and several great powers."
First was Konoha, situated at the heart of the continent and backed by the Land of Fire, the continent's wealthiest and most populous nation. More importantly, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had maintained good personal relationships with successive Hokage and spared no expense in supporting Konoha.
Though the successive deaths of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama had left this towering tree showing signs of decay, it still had the Uchiha and Hyuga, two great shinobi clans, leading the way; the Ino-Shika-Cho, Inuzuka, Aburame, and other Secret Technique clans supporting it; and the Sannin and other rising talents coming up from the next generation. It also had such powerful shinobi as Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, and Hatake Sakumo at its side, not to mention the rich legacy Senju Tobirama had left Konoha. Though Konoha still had internal conflicts, it remained one of the Shinobi World's top villages.
It was no exaggeration to say that Konoha could take on three villages at once.
The other shinobi villages, by contrast, had no way to keep Konoha in check.
Ever since Kinkaku and Ginkaku's rebellion had led to the deaths of their own Raikage and Senju Tobirama, Kumogakure had quietly been nursing its wounds. It had only just recovered in recent years. It still had ambitions of becoming the strongest village in the Shinobi World, but not the strength to match them.
As for Iwagakure, although the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, had been in office for only a little over a decade, the village had fallen into a generational gap. After taking power, Ōnoki had rigorously centralized authority, harshly suppressed individual heroism, and promoted collectivism. This had caused Iwagakure's shinobi ranks to swell, but it had also left almost no room for newcomers to distinguish themselves.
Sunagakure, on the other hand, showed signs of a brief revival under the leadership of the Second Kazekage, Shamon. He'd modeled the village's systems on Konoha's in every way and created the Sand Secret Technique and Puppet Technique, two widely practiced arts in Sunagakure. He could be called the founding father of the village's revival.
And Kirigakure needed no explanation. There were conflicts among its clans, between the clans and the Daimyo, and between the Daimyo and the shinobi village. Add its current isolationist policies, and in terms of strength, it was unquestionably the weakest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
So under the current circumstances, if Hozuki Shingetsu truly wanted to throw the Shinobi World's balance of power into chaos and buy himself time to develop, he would do best to start with Konoha.
As the undisputed big brother of the Shinobi World, whatever happened to Konoha would affect the thinking of every other village. Once the situation grew chaotic, opportunities would naturally arise.
And how to throw the enemy into disarray...that was the last thing Hozuki Shingetsu needed to work out.
When it came to the arena of public opinion, if you didn't claim it, the enemy would.
At a time when the powers were keeping one another in check and force couldn't be used, propaganda was undoubtedly the best tool.
Especially when propaganda was combined with diplomacy.
Public opinion was invisible and intangible, yet it could sow discord and kill without leaving a trace.
There was no need to look back at his previous life. In the not-too-distant future, after the Second Shinobi World War ended, Hatake Sakumo would take his own life because of rumors in the village. The collapse of his faith was certainly part of the reason, but the destructive power of public opinion was plain to see.
As for the specifics, Hozuki Shingetsu had seen the Lighthouse Country's methods often enough in newspapers and online in his previous life. They were almost second nature to him.
For example, smearing leaders, meddling in domestic affairs, and distorting history.
As it happened, Konoha's objective circumstances were a perfect fit for such tactics, including its strength and the Uchiha problem.
At the same time, propaganda could be used not only to attack the enemy, but also to promote yourself.
Kirigakure's "Timely Rain" was the result of Hozuki Shingetsu's first small-scale experiment.
When the time came, he could hire a few writers to produce novels, biographies, news stories, and the like, all extolling the Land of Water's virtues. In an era when no country took public opinion seriously, wouldn't that be a devastating advantage?
On a national scale, it could make people instinctively loathe Konoha whenever they heard its name, while inspiring them to yearn for the Land of Water, Kirigakure, and the Hozuki Clan.
Yes, he looked forward to the day when someone from the Land of Fire would proclaim, "Even the air in the Land of Water is sweet."
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