Promoting the Konoha threat theory, and talking about the Hidden Mist Belt!

After a brief chat with Mrs. Aoi, who was selling seafood, Hozuki Shingetsu continued greeting people around him while carrying some seafood.

"Miss Ozawa, those thugs who harassed you last time haven't come back, have they?"

"Mrs. Ohashi, is your husband's injury any better?"

In short, the most prominent feature is that he is approachable.

"Is this the legendary young head of the Hozuki clan, the genius of Kirigakure? He really is as helpful and down-to-earth as the rumors say!"

"Truly worthy of being called the 'timely rain' of Kirigakure!"

A merchant from the Land of Lightning watched Hozuki Shingetsu's retreating figure, observing the harmonious scene between ninjas and civilians, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

In other countries, even in Konoha, a village known for its open-mindedness, ninjas, while not as prone to exploiting civilians as those in other countries, don't mingle with them either. In their eyes, ninjas are ninjas, and civilians are civilians. The gap between them isn't as large as the difference between nobles and commoners, but they are essentially two different social classes.

You should be grateful if they don't bully you; do you really expect the ninja gentlemen to help you?

Unless you add money.

As for offering to pay money to help you?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

"You're obviously from out of town, aren't you? Everyone here knows the name of young master Hozuki. If you run into trouble in Kirigakure, you can't go wrong by going to him!"

Hearing the merchant's words, a busybody, with a look of disdain for a country bumpkin, couldn't help but say something that was half boastful and half proud.

"That belongs to someone else, what does it have to do with you? You're so proud of it, I'd think you were a member of the Hozuki clan too."

Despite inwardly cursing the passerby, his businessman's nature still compelled him to gather more information in hopes of future collaborations.

"So, according to you, this young Hozuki clan leader can solve any problem in Kirigakure? Does he never make a mistake?"

The busybody was speechless for a moment, but quickly realized what was going on.

"Most of them can be resolved. If they can't be resolved, then there must be someone sabotaging us in the dark!"

"Oh? What do you say?"

The merchant was about to ask more questions, but after noticing the passerby's gaze, paused tone, and interlaced fingers, he cursed inwardly and quickly handed over a note with a smile.

Seeing this, the passerby smiled with satisfaction and continued, "Think about it! What kind of people could we possibly offend, or what kind of trouble could we possibly encounter on a daily basis? At most, we might lack funds or have trouble selling our goods directly, or at most, we might be harassed and extorted by some low-level ninjas. These things are big deals for us, but for the young head of the Hozuki clan, can't he handle such trivial matters?"

"So, those things that couldn't be resolved must have been because the person in charge of carrying them out didn't do them after Young Master Hozuki casually gave the instructions, or some special circumstances arose that prevented them from being accomplished!"

"Special case?"

Seeing the passerby hesitate, the merchant quickly stuffed a few more banknotes into the passerby's arms.

The passerby, who had been secretly feeling the thickness of the banknotes, then led the merchant to a secluded spot to continue their previous conversation.

"Ahem! I heard it! Note that I only heard it; the following information was told to me by a friend, and I don't know if it's true or not!"

Before the speech began, the passerby emphasized one point.

The businessman had a knowing look on his face.

Ah yes, yes, I understand, I understand.

This friend can be anyone, but it definitely won't be you.

"I heard that a considerable number of the Third Mizukage's subordinates are jealous of Hozuki's talent, so they deliberately cause him trouble in some ways."

"Lord Mizukage?"

The merchant was puzzled; how did this get involved with the Water Shadow?

"It's not the Mizukage, it's one of the Mizukage's subordinates!"

The passerby emphasized this point, then waved to the businessman who still wanted to ask more questions, signaling him to leave quickly.

"That's all I know. I don't know the rest. Don't say anything else after we get out!"

Watching the businessman's departing figure, he seemed to remember something and emphasized it again.

"Remember, this has nothing to do with Lord Mizukage! If you need anything, go to Hozuki-cho and find Young Master Hozuki!"

After the merchant had completely left, the passerby looked around to make sure no one was there before spitting into his hand and carefully counting the few large bills in his hand.

"Hehe, after paying the money, the Hozuki clan can still get another sum from these outsiders. They're really living a comfortable life!"

"I don't know what those Hozuki gentlemen are thinking. They can get money just by repeating those words to people on the street. Could it be that the Hozuki clan and the Mizukage really have a conflict? ... But whatever, who would turn down money? The Hozuki clan? The Mizukage? What do I care? As long as I get paid! It's just that the KPI is a bit of a hassle..."

He stuffed the banknotes into the sole of his shoe, then returned to the street and, finding another opening, began his performance...

Chapter 3 The Conflict

"New Moon, although I don't support the Mizukage's 'Elite Mist Village' plan either, there's absolutely no need to express your opposition in this way, is there?"

After leaving that civilian area, Qing finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been on her mind.

In Qing's view, it is only natural to oppose for the sake of opposing as an enemy, but there is absolutely no need to work on these civilians. If you are going to try to win them over, you should try to win over the ninjas who were born into civilian families.

Since the Second Mizukage learned from the Second Hokage and established the Ninja Academy, the Ninja Academy of Kirigakure has provided Kirigakure with a large number of cannon fodder ninjas.

It is precisely because of the emergence of a large number of cannon fodder ninjas that the sacrifices of the major bloodline families have gradually decreased in recent years. This has indirectly led to the fact that the bloodline families of the five major ninja villages have begun to support the construction of ninja academies, which can be considered a win-win situation for ninja villages, ninja clans, and commoners to some extent.

However, even cannon fodder ninjas are still ninjas, and there is a vast difference in strength between them and ordinary civilians. This difference objectively determines that these civilians have no decisive influence on the overall situation.

"Qing, I remember you were a student at the Ninja Academy at the beginning, right?"

Hozuki Shingetsu maintained her smile, continuing to exchange pleasantries with the villagers and whispering to Ao.

"Yes, if I hadn't met you, Shingetsu, how could I have achieved my current Chunin strength? I might still be like those ordinary ninjas, constantly going on missions to make a living!"

Recalling the scene when he first met Hozuki Shingetsu at the Ninja Academy, Ao couldn't help but feel that it was indeed the most crucial choice he had made in his twelve years of life.

Hozuki Shingetsu nodded, then changed the subject and explained why he did it.

"Perhaps these civilians are far inferior to ninjas in strength, but sometimes, killing doesn't necessarily require a knife! Moreover, given that we are currently locked in a struggle with the Mizukage without a complete breakdown, any support we can gain is worthwhile."

"Of course, the most important thing is that all I have to give is a smile for a short twenty minutes on my way home, as well as some insignificant money and help, so why not do it?"

After all, why wouldn't Hozuki Shingetsu be happy to have such a persona that is so easy to gain with just a little bit of concern and a smile?

Moreover, this is somewhat related to his future plans.

Selectively resolving troubles among ordinary people, hiring eloquent individuals to repeatedly proclaim Hozuki Shingetsu's benevolence, subtly implying that the Mizukage is unkind and lax in managing his subordinates, and cleverly shifting the Mizukage faction's stance to the opposite side of the general public—all these were part of the same plan.

A plan to change the dynasty.

After receiving Hozuki Shingetsu's answer, Ao still couldn't resolve some of his doubts. However, considering that Hozuki Shingetsu was always a person of his own mind, and that the Hozuki clan was large and wealthy and wouldn't care about such a small expense, he stopped mentioning the matter.

And so the two of them returned to the Hozuki clan's territory in silence.

That evening, to celebrate Hozuki Shingetsu's promotion to Jonin and his glorious achievements in the Land of the Moon, even the head of the Yuki clan, an ally of the Hozuki clan, came to participate in the banquet.

The entire Hozuki Town was brightly lit, and the clan members were filled with pride, eagerly feeling honored that the Hozuki clan had produced such an outstanding successor.

After the banquet, the current head of the Hozuki clan, Hozuki Zangetsu, held a secret meeting with his son in his study.

Hozuki Zangetsu was around forty years old, the peak of his ninja career. During the First Shinobi World War, he followed the previous Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, in invading the Land of Earth. Ultimately, after the Second Mizukage engaged the Second Tsuchikage, he successfully led the remaining Kirigakure ninja back to the Land of Water.

Unfortunately, upon returning to Kirigakure, news arrived that the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage had perished together. At the time, he was still young and no match for Ren, the First Mizukage's bodyguard. Coupled with the betrayal of the Kaguya clan, the position of Third Mizukage ultimately fell into Ren's hands.

Well, objectively speaking, the position of Water Shadow can be considered a return to its rightful owner in a certain sense.

If it weren't for Hozuki Gengetsu taking advantage of the death of the First Mizukage, Byakuren, to launch a coup d'état with Kaguya, the Yuki clan, and others, it would be hard to say who would have become the Second Mizukage.

After all, the bodyguards of the first Five Kage during the first Five Kage Summit were basically the successors designated by the first Kage, and apart from Ren, the others all became the second Kage of their respective villages.

This is precisely the source of the conflict between the contemporary Mizukage Ren and the Hozuki clan, after all, will the instigator have no descendants?

However, one's perspective is determined by one's position. As the young patriarch of the Hozuki clan, Hozuki Shingetsu naturally had to resolutely label Ren as evil.

"So, that guy Lian didn't even see you? It seems he already knows our purpose."

Hozuki Zangetsu took a sip of his tea and spoke with certainty.

"However, is the position of principal of the Ninja Academy really that important? So much so that you would go to such great lengths to secure this position? Moreover, even so, you should know that the chances of success are almost zero."

Hozuki Cangetsu looked at his son with some doubt. Although he knew his son had his own ideas, he still couldn't fully agree with his views.

According to the rules of Kirigakure, most newly promoted Jonin do not actually have official positions. Apart from completing missions and training, they do not have much else to do on a daily basis. Only a small number of Jonin who have sufficient strength and seniority are granted specific responsibilities.

Hozuki Zangetsu couldn't understand why his son, who had just been promoted to Jonin, wanted to seek a position and even try to increase his chances through battle achievements.

However, as a father and the head of the Hozuki clan, the largest clan in Kirigakure, he has the ability to cover up whatever his son does.

"According to Ren, he will probably announce your appointment at the Jonin meeting in three days. Once it is announced, no matter what position he assigns you to, you will be unable to move for a while. And he probably has this in mind, which is why he announced this Jonin meeting to make this a done deal."

"It's not too late for you to change your mind. With your achievements this time, you can definitely get a good position in the intelligence department."

As members of the Hozuki clan, who possess the secret technique of water transformation, they are naturally adept at intelligence gathering. And for this reason, the intelligence department of Kirigakure has always been controlled by the Hozuki clan.

Of course, after Ren came to power, he would definitely develop his own intelligence forces. However, the head of intelligence for Kirigakure was still a member of the Hozuki clan, who was nominally in charge of the entire village's intelligence capabilities.

This is the source of Hozuki Zangetsu's confidence in saying this.

"Besides, you are at the peak of your strength and skill right now. Doing these trivial tasks at this time is not a good thing for improving your abilities!"

Looking at his father's disappointed eyes, Hozuki Shingetsu felt helpless.

After all, their perspectives are different, and their thoughts on things are truly different. And limited by their different ideas and goals, they couldn't fully align their plans with their father's, so they could only focus on developing their own strength.

This is also what troubles the time traveler Hozuki Shingetsu the most.