Speed is of the Essence in War

"Impressive!"

Even Shiraishi Yoshijo had to give Naruto a thumbs-up at this moment.

Overthrowing the Daimyo's rule so easily from below truly proved the old saying: he who wins the people's hearts wins the world.

Shiraishi Yoshijo had also seen Shixiu's greatest problem: his foundation was unstable.

Originally, patricide was not such a big problem, but Shixiu's issue was that he had no solid supporters after killing his father. Take his father, Zhixiong, for example. Zhixiong had also risen to power by killing his father, yet his position as Daimyo had been incomparably secure. Why was that?

First, Zhixiong had Konoha's support. Second, Zhixiong had spotted the rift between Shiraishi Yoshijo and his father.

Zhixiong knew very well that after killing his father and taking the throne, Shiraishi Yoshijo would be his greatest obstacle. So, on one hand, he granted Shiraishi Yoshijo enormous benefits; on the other, he secretly cultivated his own forces, creating a three-way balance in the Land of Fire's political landscape.

Konoha and Shiraishi Yoshijo were mortal enemies, so Zhixiong could mediate between them and profit from it. It was an incredibly clever and steady approach, making his position as Daimyo as solid as a mountain.

By contrast, Shixiu had received no support from any faction when he killed his father. He might even have acted on a whim. Doing so meant taking enormous risks, such as retaliation from his brothers, so he killed all of them as well, leaving the Land of Fire with no choice but to make him Daimyo.

That carried risks as well. His brothers' supporters would surely be both shocked and afraid of him. If he rashly took the throne without a legitimate justification, he would inevitably have to face their backlash.

So Shixiu came up with another rotten idea: use war