Plans for the Land of Whirlpools

"Hanzō of the Salamander's abilities were actually better suited for the battlefield. His summoned Salamander was enormous and possessed potent venom, allowing him to fully unleash his strengths on a battlefield packed with people. Although Hidden Mist was unlikely to clash with Hidden Rain in the future, you still needed to understand this knowledge." Qing Si continued educating them.

The group nodded, indicating that they had accepted Qing Si's instruction.

Throughout the journey, Qing Si taught the newcomers all sorts of knowledge. After all, they were the subordinates he thought most highly of.

Before long, the group reached the coast of the Land of Fire, boarded a ship back to the Land of Water, and began their journey home.

It was worth explaining why Qing Si's group dared to cross the Land of Fire while the Hidden Cloud people did not. The reason was that the hatred between Hidden Mist and Konoha was not yet particularly deep. During the First Shinobi World War, Hidden Mist had attacked Konoha, but they had ultimately fought a major battle against Hidden Rock instead. Even the Second Kage of both sides had perished.

Hidden Cloud, on the other hand, had ambushed Konoha several times. Gold Horn and Silver Horn had even launched a rebellion while signing a peace and alliance agreement, resulting in the death of the Second Hokage. Although Hidden Cloud's Second Raikage had died as well, that grudge would certainly be pinned on Hidden Cloud. On top of that, their group included an Eight-Tails jinchuriki, so the Hidden Cloud party definitely did not dare take the route through the Land of Fire back to the Land of Lightning.

After entering his room, Qing Si's thoughts began to wander, and the contents of the letter the Third Mizukage had written to the Third Raikage surfaced in his mind.

"The Land of Whirlpools... the Uzumaki Clan. They could probably be considered distant relatives, huh?" Qing Si sighed softly. "So the target is sealing techniques. That makes sense. I remember Grandfather saying that Hidden Mist possessed two tailed beasts, though I didn't know which two. Yet I had never heard of anyone in the village becoming a jinchuriki. It might have been because my clearance was too low, but I truly had never sensed the aura of any tailed beast within the village."

What Qing Si did not know was that during the First Five Kage Summit, Hidden Mist had purchased two tailed beasts from Konoha: the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails.

At present, both had jinchuriki. But evidently, Hidden Mist's experiments with jinchuriki had not been successful. Their research into sealing techniques was simply abysmal. It could not even be called inferior to other shinobi villages—they had no foundation whatsoever. Jinchuriki with tailed beasts sealed inside them were completely unable to draw upon the tailed beasts' power in battle. Worse still, they often lost themselves in the hatred brought by the tailed beasts and went berserk.

Therefore, the Three-Tails jinchuriki and Six-Tails jinchuriki had been assigned to live separately outside the village, guarded year-round by a considerable number of ANBU. The ANBU's second and third divisions each had three squads permanently stationed at the jinchuriki's residences.

That was why Qing Si had never sensed a tailed beast's aura within Hidden Mist. Thus, it was no wonder the Third Mizukage had set his sights on the Uzumaki Clan. Not only were the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques unrivaled in the Shinobi World and exceptionally effective against tailed beasts, but their members were also the finest vessels for becoming tailed beast jinchuriki.

"It looks like I need to plan this carefully. It isn't mine yet, but that Ten-Tails will belong to me eventually!" Qing Si had not forgotten that his ultimate goal was to evolve into a genuine member of the Otsutsuki Clan.

For now, he was still keeping a low profile and building his strength. After all, the power of an Elite Jonin—or even Kage Level—was nowhere near enough. Wasn't the Third Raikage, arguably the strongest among Kage Level fighters and one who excelled in both offense and defense, still worn to death by Hidden Rock's human-wave tactics?

Only Super-Kage Level strength would give him confidence in accomplishing his goal. Moreover, according to Qing Si's plans, Hidden Mist would inevitably face other shinobi villages in the future. If he could bring some members of the Uzumaki Clan, those without deep ties to Konoha Village, into Hidden Mist, it would provide tremendous assistance for his later plans.

"Looks like I'll need to discuss this properly with Grandfather after we return. If Lord Mizukage wants nothing more than the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques, then there is plenty of room to maneuver in an attack on the Land of Whirlpools." Qing Si's thoughts churned as one plan after another flashed rapidly through his mind.

The Third Mizukage, Bing, had a simple idea. Once the Second Shinobi World War broke out, the current situation would surely lead to several sides joining forces against Konoha again.

At that point, Hidden Mist, far out at sea, could join forces with Hidden Cloud, which also coveted sealing techniques. Taking advantage of Konoha's inability to spare a large force of elites to rescue the Land of Whirlpools, they could attack the Land of Whirlpools together and divide the Uzumaki Clan's most important sealing techniques.

But in Qing Si's view, while this plan was highly feasible, it was far too crude.

Hidden Mist could remain in the shadows and play the opportunist, letting Hidden Cloud's brutes charge at the front while they followed behind to pick up the spoils.

Better yet, they could simply refrain from taking the initiative to destroy either the Uzumaki Clan or the Land of Whirlpools. Instead, they could find a way to make the Uzumaki Clan see Konoha's true face—that Konoha would not make a serious effort to rescue allies who had been close to them for generations—then bring both the people and their sealing techniques back to Hidden Mist in one package. Wouldn't that be even better?

There was no such thing as genuine friendship or true allies between shinobi villages. Everything was for their own interests. Qing Si had long seen that clearly.

However, Qing Si did not know that Konoha, with that First Shadow Kage there, would give him the perfect assist when the time came and do something even more ruthless than anything he had imagined.

Of course, this plan could not merely remain words. Moreover, Qing Si's current status in the village was not high enough for him to question the Mizukage's decision. He had to produce a concrete, feasible proposal before his grandfather, Yuan Shi, could step forward and persuade the Third Mizukage.

Time passed quickly aboard the ship. Over those days, Qing Si never left his room, constantly refining his plan. Even his meals were delivered to his room by his subordinates at mealtimes.