World Landscape

After the mission concluded, the former daimyo and employer, Yuan Jiuxiong, was not stingy with the rewards; after all, this mission had directly toppled the Sugiyama Clan, the family of the general of the Land of Fire.

The Yuan Clan certainly could not replace them directly; in all likelihood, they would choose one from the remaining three noble families. But by the time those three families decided the victor, the Yuan Clan would likely have already fully seized control of the military. Even if they took over the position of general, it would be nothing more than a puppet role.

The first reward was a supplementary bonus of approximately 200,000 ryo for each member of Team Shinku, on top of the 5 million ryo mission fee. This was nearly equivalent to the total mission income Touma and the other genin had earned over the past three years!

That was not all; the second reward was a residence for each of them near the Senbon Torii in the capital of the Land of Fire. Naturally, Shinku-sensei received a small courtyard, while Touma and the others were given small apartments.

Even though Shibi and Zhao did not participate in the final operation at the Sugiyama estate, they had successfully intercepted several rescue squads formed by members of the Yomi Sect while guarding the dungeon, indirectly unearthing the intelligence network the Sugiyama Clan had buried within the country.

One must understand that this was no small contribution. Through this intelligence line, Yuan Jiuxiong was able to quickly dig out all the hidden assets the Sugiyama Clan had planted and successfully seize the position of general with the greatest possible speed.

Seeing the maneuvers of his cheap brother, the new daimyo, Yuan Benxiong, could no longer bring himself to harbor thoughts of opposing him.

He had originally thought his brother was a dissolute and incompetent ruler who cared only for personal indulgence. Now, it seemed his own political cultivation was still a far cry from his brother's.

After all, he had only discovered the anomalies in the Ministry of Finance in the last few months, whereas his brother had already set his sights on the man posing as Watanabe Kenfu—Onizuka Kenichi—long before his abdication, and had formulated a plan centered around him to completely dismantle the Sugiyama Clan.

If his cheap brother truly wanted to move against him, Yuan Benxiong reckoned he wouldn't even be able to perceive it. Consequently, he simply ignored his brother's actions in taking over the Sugiyama Clan and the general's position, pretending he had seen nothing at all.

In truth, it was not that Yuan Jiuxiong hadn't dug pits for his younger brother, but since they shared a father, he could not bring himself to kill him. At most, he would force him into exile overseas just like Onizuka Kenichi, ensuring he would have no worries about food or clothing for the rest of his life.

Beyond these material rewards, Yuan Jiuxiong also gave Shinku Yuhi a promise: no matter what difficulties he or his descendants might encounter, as long as they could be resolved, they could bring that "Heavenly Fire Token" held by Touma to find him or his clansmen.

This promise was not to be taken lightly. In the context of the nation, unless a Kage of a ninja village possessed strength sufficient to challenge an entire country, their influence was not something a daimyo could easily contend with.

As for those whose strength could reach the level of challenging an entire country, currently, there were only the "God of Shinobi" Senju Hashirama and the "Ghost of the Uchiha" Uchiha Madara; no one else truly possessed that level of power.

Even the "Demigod" Salamander Hanzo, who was currently being touted everywhere in the Land of Rain, did not possess strength comparable to Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara. According to the publicly accepted evaluations in the ninja world, his strength was roughly at the level between the Third Kazekage, Jusa Tetsuo, and the Third Mizukage, Kaibe Keisen.

Jusa Tetsuo and Kaibe Keisen belonged to the bottom two in the current ranking of the Third Generation Five Kage, and were also the two at a disadvantage regarding strategic and tactical capabilities.

Yes, despite the Third Raikage Yotsuki Ai looking like a barbarian, this old fellow could trade blows with that old fox Ōnoki on a strategic and tactical level. Several times when the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth nearly went to war due to friction, these two managed to settle things through various means.

One must realize that if a Kage of a ninja village can control the movements of the majority of the village's combat power, they can basically have the final say within the village. Things that even Sarutobi Hiruzen could not achieve were as easy as turning over one's hand for Ōnoki and Yotsuki Ai.

Konoha had its own unique village circumstances; there were too many Kekkei Genkai and secret technique clans, but these clans were already in a relatively stable balance. One could not forcibly intervene to disrupt this balance, and Sarutobi Hiruzen could not truly control ocular technique clans like the Hyuga or Uchiha.

Not to mention, they still had the surviving Senju Clan above them. In terms of prestige within the village, Sarutobi Hiruzen dared not compare himself to Lady Mito or Lady Toka!

The situations in Sunagakure and Kirigakure were quite different.

Sunagakure had almost no Kekkei Genkai or secret technique clans; the limited ones were basically developed by the Second Kazekage, Shamon. For instance, Jusa Tetsuo's Magnet Release was taught to him hand-in-hand by Shamon, which was why Sunagakure was relatively the easiest ninja village to manage.

However, Shamon taught Jusa Tetsuo Magnet Release but did not pass on his political ideology and management skills, leading to his accidental death. After Tetsuo hastily took office, he was completely unable to contend with the old fogies among the village's high-ranking officials, leaving his position as Kazekage in name only.

Jusa Tetsuo even proposed several times to end the friction with the Land of Fire and restore trade relations, only to be voted down by the high-ranking officials, forcing him to seek aid from the Land of Wind's daimyo court.

This incident also became a famous joke in the ninja world: a Kage of a ninja village being so squeezed by his own high-ranking officials that he had to seek help from the daimyo's court. If this were Ōnoki or Yotsuki Ai, they would rather not be Kage than suffer such indignity!

As for the situation in Kirigakure, it was the exact opposite of Sunagakure.

The number of Kekkei Genkai and secret technique clans in Kirigakure was higher than in Konoha. Although they might be lacking in quality, there was no such thing as balance within the village, and civilian ninjas had almost no room for survival.

This was also the reason why, after Kaibe Keisen took office, he began to launch the "Bloody Mist Village" policy regardless of the consequences. This policy was not initiated when he was controlled by Uchiha Madara; it had already begun before he was controlled.

Kaibe Keisen's goal was to rapidly weaken the power of the Kirigakure ninja clans and create enough living space for civilian ninjas. Unfortunately, there were simply too many ninja clans in Kirigakure; the "Bloody Mist Village" policy had been in effect for so long, yet the number of ninja clan members had not decreased, but rather showed signs of increasing.

The ninja clans in the countries near the Land of Water, such as the Land of Sea, the Land of Lan, the Land of Islands, the Land of Islets, and the Land of Hills, all developed a keen interest when they saw such a primitive policy in Kirigakure, because this policy meant that as long as one could fight, one could gain a foothold in Kirigakure.

For example, the Kaguya Clan, which had been living in seclusion in the Land of Islands, noticed this policy and moved their entire clan outside of Kirigakure, intending to use their Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai to fight for a future in Kirigakure!

With the implementation of the "Bloody Mist Village" policy, Kaibe Keisen's control over Kirigakure became lower and lower. Apart from the Anbu who still took his orders, other village decisions began to bypass him and were decided by the discussions of the various clan heads.

These ninja clans even stopped routing the village's funding through his hands as Mizukage, going directly to the daimyo's court to coordinate, and controlled the distribution of missions for ordinary ninjas in Kirigakure.

If Kaibe Keisen hadn't come from a noble family, he might not even have been able to afford the Anbu's financial consumption. However, a Kirigakure in such a state of division could not continue to remain stable. Even people from other countries could see that sooner or later, the Mizukage faction would erupt into a large-scale battle with the Kirigakure ninja clan faction, and the outcome remained to be seen!