The Daimyo of the Land of Fire naturally hadn't been kicked in the head by a donkey, so he was deeply wary of Konoha. But now, Konoha could survive without relying on the Land of Fire, while the Land of Fire could not do without Konoha. Therefore, despite his vigilance, the Land of Fire had not fallen out with Konoha.
Yet inevitably, the Daimyo began secretly gathering ninja forces of his own. He even directly selected promising talents from some of the Land of Fire's ninja schools, taking them in and training them.
This was undoubtedly poaching from Konoha Village. But in theory, all citizens of the Land of Fire were the Daimyo's subjects, so Konoha Village had no way to openly object.
Moreover, each time, the Daimyo paid a certain sum of money as compensation for the selected ninja to study at the Ninja Academy for free. He handled the formalities impeccably, leaving Konoha with no choice but to swallow its bitterness in silence.
After all, the Daimyo selected exceptionally talented ninja, yet the fees he paid were only slightly higher than the cost of training ordinary ninja. Konoha Village was unquestionably the one losing out.
As the leader of the Land of Fire, the Daimyo also found it effortless to win over ninja who came from those ninja schools. Thus, the Land of Fire's Daimyo now had a sizable ninja force under his command.
It could be said that, when it came to political maneuvering, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was far more capable than the Hokage.
Of course, while his political methods were impressive, the strength under the Daimyo's command was not much to speak of. After all, the ninja he could recruit all came from ninja schools outside Konoha Village. They had neither clan