You don't occupy the ideological battlefield, the enemy will

Indeed, that the Daimyo's Envoy could speak such words was entirely due to Hozuki Shingetsu having spent the money.

Even the fact that this Court Official acted as the envoy to come to Kirigakure and participate in this Jonin Meeting could be said to be the result of Hozuki Shingetsu single-handedly arranging everything.

Of course, the price was one-third of an Asuma.

If one were to count from the initial contact with this Court Official, inquiring about internal news regarding the Daimyo, and cultivating his favorability toward the Hozuki Clan, the total expenditure would eventually reach the cost of a full Asuma.

However, compared to what Hozuki Shingetsu could gain, all of this was worth it.

He had gone through so much trouble, taking the long way around—killing enemies to build military merit, using the Ninja Academy principal position as a cover—all for two ultimate goals: one was this position as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the other was this seemingly inconspicuous right to propaganda.

Since arriving in this world and determining his goal, Hozuki Shingetsu had been constantly thinking about how to achieve it. Other things like immortality and beauties could be pushed aside for now, but the unification of the world required laying the groundwork in advance.

Even someone as strong as Senju Hashirama had to rely on the bond he shared with Uchiha Madara from childhood to finally shake hands and make peace at the last moment, stabilizing the world.

Limited by his age, the strength of Kirigakure, and other objective realities, Hozuki Shingetsu could only resort to some crooked paths to wear down his opponents' strength while secretly improving his own.

Currently, Hozuki Shingetsu already had a comprehensive set of countermeasures for the Third Mizukage. If he waited another five or six years, he would be fully confident in pulling him down through sheer strength; the difficulty lay in the Uchiha Madara and Zetsu standing behind him.

According to the intelligence in Hozuki Shingetsu's possession, Uchiha Madara should have already made contact with Ren by this time. It was unclear whether it was through genjutsu or other lures of interest that induced Ren to cooperate with him. Therefore, maintaining this state of "fighting without breaking" with Ren was the best course of action until he had complete certainty.

After all, if he truly provoked that great god Uchiha Madara, even if he were currently a half-crippled man relying on the God Tree to sustain his life, no one in the current Kirigakure could withstand him. Not to mention Uchiha Madara, even that God Tree creation capable of Wood Release, "Vortex White Zetsu," would likely be difficult to deal with.

Thus, Hozuki Shingetsu could only cast his gaze outward. On one hand, he used various means to wear down Konoha's strength to prepare for the future; on the other, he seized credit during this process to expand his own influence.

Although his status allowed him to walk sideways in Kirigakure, status could make people bow their heads, but it could not make them truly convinced.

Looking at the current landscape of the ninja world, it could indeed be described as "one superpower and many strong nations."

First is Konoha, located in the center of the continent, backed by the Land of Fire—the most prosperous and populous nation on the continent. What is even more valuable is that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the successive Hokage have maintained a good personal relationship, and the support for Konoha has been unsparing.

Although the giant tree showed signs of withering following the successive deaths of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, it still had the Uchiha and Hyuga clans leading at the top, the Ino-Shika-Cho, Inuzuka, and Aburame secret clans supporting in the middle, the Sannin and other new generations emerging at the bottom, and experts like Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, and Hatake Sakumo on the sides. Coupled with the deep foundation left by Senju Tobirama, the current Konoha, despite internal conflicts, remained the top ninja village in the world.

To put it bluntly, the current Konoha could easily take on three villages at once.

Looking at the other ninja villages, they completely lacked the ability to check and balance Konoha.

Since the rebellion of Kinkaku and Ginkaku led to the deaths of their own Raikage and Senju Tobirama, Kumogakure had been silently licking its wounds. In recent years, it had only just recovered its vitality; it had the ambition to compete for the title of the world's number one, but lacked the corresponding strength.

As for Iwagakure, although the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, had only been in office for a dozen years, it had fallen into a state where the new generation could not replace the old. This was because after Ōnoki took power, he strictly implemented a centralized system, suppressed individual heroism, and pushed for collectivism. While this led to a surge in the number of Iwagakure ninjas, it also left newcomers with almost no room to stand out.

Sunagakure, however, under the leadership of the Second Kazekage, Shamon, showed a brief trend of revitalization. Shamon not only learned from Konoha's system in all aspects but also created the Sand Secret Technique and the Puppet Technique, two general secret techniques for Sunagakure, making him the founding father of Sunagakure's resurgence.

As for the final village, Kirigakure, it was even worse. With conflicts between internal clans, between clans and the Daimyo, and externally between the Daimyo and the village, coupled with its current isolationist policy, it was undoubtedly the weakest of the five great ninja villages in terms of strength.

Therefore, under the current circumstances, if Hozuki Shingetsu wanted to truly disrupt the pattern of the ninja world and win time for his own development, it was best to start with Konoha.

As the undisputed big brother of the ninja world, whatever happened to Konoha would stir the hearts of other villages. Once the situation became chaotic, opportunities would naturally arise.

As for how to make the enemy fall into chaos... that was Hozuki Shingetsu's final requirement.

The so-called front of public opinion and propaganda: if you do not occupy it, the enemy will.

In the current stage of mutual restraint where military force could not be easily used, public opinion and propaganda were undoubtedly the best means.

Especially when public opinion and propaganda were combined with diplomacy.

Public opinion is something invisible and intangible, yet it can sow discord and kill without a trace.

Not to mention his past life, in the near future, after the Second Shinobi World War ended, Hatake Sakumo would commit suicide due to rumors in the village. While this was partly due to the collapse of his faith, the lethality of public opinion was evident.

As for the specific operation, for Hozuki Shingetsu, who had seen enough of the Lighthouse Country's tactics through newspapers and the internet in his past life, it was all too familiar.

For example, stigmatizing leaders, interfering in internal affairs, distorting history, and so on.

Coincidentally, Konoha's various objective conditions perfectly met the prerequisites for these operations, such as Konoha's strength or the Uchiha issue.

At the same time, public opinion and propaganda could not only be used to attack enemies but also to promote oneself.

The "Timely Rain" of Kirigakure was the result of Hozuki Shingetsu's first attempt.

When the time came, he would hire writers to specifically write novels, biographies, and news reports that embellished the beauty of the Land of Water. In this era where countries did not attach importance to public opinion, wouldn't it be a total slaughter?

Extended to the national level, it could not only make people subconsciously feel disgusted when Konoha was mentioned but also make them yearn for the Land of Water, Kirigakure, and the Hozuki Clan.

Hmm, he looked forward to the day when someone from the Land of Fire would shout, "The air in the Land of Water is sweet."