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

"You'll be my secretary tomorrow!"

Clearly, Hozuki Shingetsu deduced Akiba Masanobu's demands from his series of actions and immediately made a promise.

"Yes!"

Akiba Masanobu was overjoyed and excitedly agreed.

That's the secretary to Hozuki Shingetsu, the future rising star of Kirigakure! With such a position in hand, the Akiba family could achieve upward mobility with just a little effort!

Perhaps it was the broken window effect of Akiba Masanobu, or perhaps it was the effect of Hozuki Shingetsu's daughter, Makoto, that led to Terumi Ansai taking the lead, and one by one everyone gathered around Ren, ready to write their names on this pledge of allegiance.

"Although I know you have your own ideas, I still have to remind you... If this continues, the authority of the Mizukage will be basically trampled on."

Hozuki Cangetsu staggered over to his son's side and gave him a reminder.

Hozuki Shingetsu was naturally aware of this.

Back in the Five Dynasties period, those military men shouted, "The emperor shall be whoever has the strongest army and the most powerful horses," completely shattering the emperor's authority.

In his later years, Zhao Kuangyin went to great lengths to enhance the authority of the emperor.

But what does it have to do with him that the authority of the title "Shadow" has been undermined?

Ying is merely the head of a village; how could he possibly restrain a future ruler of a nation?

Furthermore, the ninja world is all about strength, and it is in this kind of world that one can talk about "fist is power, clenching a fist is holding power, and throwing a punch is wielding power".

Then Hozuki Shingetsu coldly watched as Ren went from cursing to wailing, then from wailing to barely breathing, until finally she breathed her last.

Thus, the nameless and faceless Third Mizukage of the original work came to his final end.

After a brief period of concealment, Hozuki Shingetsu left and arrived at Kaguya's position nearby.

After Hozuki Shingetsu appeared with Ren, Kaguya Yoshio knew that the situation was hopeless.

However, he was surrounded by Hozuki clan ninjas from all sides, and was in a desperate situation. Therefore, for the sake of the clan's survival, Kaguya Yoshio could only helplessly wait for Hozuki Shingetsu's decision.

He had already made up his mind that if Hozuki Shingetsu went too far, he would risk the annihilation of the Kaguya clan in the ninja world to show them the power of the Shikotsumyaku!

To his surprise, Hozuki Shingetsu appeared before them without saying a word. Instead, he pulled out a cup from behind his back, pricked his finger with a kunai in front of Kaguya Yoshio, and dripped a drop of blood into it.

"..."

Kaguya Yoshio seemed to realize what Hozuki Shingetsu was planning, and his whole body tensed up instantly, staring at the bottle in his hand with an indescribable look.

But that wasn't all. After dripping his own blood, Hozuki Shingetsu seemed to think it wasn't enough, so he asked Uzumaki Yoshio, Yukinagi, Terumi Ansai, and the other bloodstained ninjas for a drop of blood, mixed it together, and presented it to Kaguya Yoshio.

"If that secret technique works, I swear I will do everything in my power to help you eliminate the effects of the Bloodstain Disease. But if it doesn't, the Kaguya clan must unconditionally obey the village's orders and pay for the sins of today!"

Hozuki Shingetsu didn't keep anyone in suspense and directly revealed his thoughts.

"If you agree, then take this bottle; otherwise, let the Kaguya clan be completely wiped out from this ninja world! The choice is yours!"

Seeing Kaguya Yoshio's trembling hand reaching for the bottle, Hozuki Shingetsu smiled with satisfaction.

From this moment forward, Kirigakure will officially enter the Hozuki Era!

On the night of January 3rd, Kirigakure 33, the Third Mizukage, Ren, in order to eliminate dissidents, disregarded the overall situation and secretly released the Six-Tails, controlling the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, Yagura Karatachi, causing countless casualties in Kirigakure.

Fortunately, Hozuki Shingetsu had a keen eye and could see for thousands of miles. He led the ninja to restore order and brought peace back to Kirigakure.

On that day, Hozuki Shingetsu voluntarily became the Six-Tails Jinchuriki in order to protect the village.

The third generation of Mizukage Ren died from her injuries.

Historically known as the Blood Mist Rebellion.

Chapter 91 Ninja Academy Principal

The deceased are gone, but the living must continue to live.

A week has passed since the internal strife that affected the entire village, and the villagers of Kirigakure are gradually recovering from their grief and working hard to make a living in the future.

Immediately after the civil war ended, Hozuki Shingetsu's first order was not to clean up the mess or tally the losses, but to send ninjas to spread the word about Ren's actions.

If the villagers had only learned the truth from word of mouth, Hozuki Shingetsu's actions were an attempt to officially conclude the case.

All the blame lies with the Third Mizukage, and all the glory belongs to Hozuki Shingetsu.

For Hozuki Shingetsu, it was crucial to quickly instill this awareness in the minds of all the villagers. In a situation like this, where loved ones had perished and property had been severely damaged, at a critical juncture when people's hearts were most grieving and vulnerable, such ideological indoctrination would be far more effective.

Anger alone can cloud a person's perception; people are most likely to conform and be easily swayed when they are emotionally agitated.

Moreover, from another perspective, throwing the lotus away at this time is also an outlet for people's grief.

If someone with ulterior motives stirs things up at this time, it's easy for the target of hatred to expand from a single person to the entire village, which would be troublesome.

Through Hozuki Shingetsu's series of actions, the villagers' hatred was completely anchored on Ren. As the villagers' hatred for Ren grew deeper and their love for Hozuki Shingetsu grew stronger, news suddenly came that Ren had died from her injuries. So what would these villagers do at this time?

With no one left to hate, the hatred naturally vanished, leaving only respect for Hozuki Shingetsu, who had saved them!

Subsequent events fully proved Hozuki Shingetsu's idea.

After this task was completed, the next step was to organize manpower to collect casualty information, clean up the battlefield, collect the bodies, and organize post-war reconstruction work.

Next, he gave a detailed report on the details of the rebellion to the daimyo who was extremely loyal to Kirigakure.

After all, it wasn't easy to raise Sui Keita's favorability to the maximum, so Hozuki Shingetsu certainly wouldn't make a mistake at this time. He would definitely make his adoptive father feel the loyalty from afar.

The report vividly described how ruthless Lian was, how powerful the enemy was, how dangerous their own situation was, and how the situation was collapsing.

Then, under these circumstances, Ren uttered wild words, saying, "The title of daimyo takes turns, and tomorrow it will be my turn," which greatly angered the loyal retainer Hozuki Shingetsu.

Out of boundless loyalty and respect for the Daimyo, Hozuki Shingetsu unleashed his power and defeated Renunun.

Of course, besides maintaining the relationship with the daimyo and expressing my loyalty to him, the main purpose of writing these things is... to get money!

After the chaos of the Blood Mist, Kirigakure suffered countless casualties and property damage. The funds needed for post-disaster reconstruction, such as comforting the people, cleaning up the ruins, and rebuilding houses, were also considerable. Naturally, it was necessary for Mizuki Keita, the financial backer of Kirigakure, to contribute!

After all, the people of Kirigakure are all very loyal subjects. It is not the behavior of a wise ruler to let loyal subjects feel disheartened!

Finally, it was time to settle scores with those rebellious ninjas.

First and foremost is the Kaguya clan.

Since the day Hozuki Shingetsu and Kaguya Yoshio made their promise, the Kaguya clan has secluded themselves, spending their days and nights studying the stone tablet to find a solution to their bloodstain disease.

But it was obviously a waste of time, since that thing was made by Black Zetsu to incite internal strife in Kirigakure, so how could it possibly have any effect?

Kaguya's clan naturally refused to believe this outcome, but the reality was there, and after a period of impotent rage, they had no choice but to accept the situation.

In the end, to atone for his sins of aiding and abetting evil and instigating internal strife, Kaguya Yoshio, as the head of the Kaguya clan, accepted Hozuki Shingetsu's order to reduce the power of the Kaguya clan and committed seppuku in front of everyone to atone for his sins.

Then there are the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

Apart from Tachibana Haruhiko, who had always been loyal to Hozuki and was the master of the twin swords Hiramekarei, the other six basically took on all the high-risk missions for the next five years—and that was only because they were loyal to the Mizukage and had not yet caused too much bloodshed.

With these two major issues resolved, there's not much else to say. Just proceed with the punishments and rewards as appropriate.

For those defeated ninjas, unless the killings were too numerous, Hozuki Shingetsu did his best to preserve their lives.

After all, even a discarded aluminum can can be sold for money, let alone a ninja?

If all else fails, wouldn't it be better to let them farm than to kill them indiscriminately?

It is worth mentioning that, perhaps hoping that Yuan Shi would cooperate with him as an elder to stabilize the situation after the war, Lian did not kill Yuan Shi, but simply imprisoned him in a secret room.

He was rescued after the war.

Master Yuan didn't comment on Lian's death; after all, having done such a thing, her death was a good thing.

He readily expressed his support for Hozuki Shingetsu becoming the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, defeating Ren, and making the Hozuki clan the biggest winner in this internal strife.

However, when Hozuki Shingetsu came to him hoping to appease people with his prestige, he had some special ideas about the timing of the appointment of the Fourth Mizukage.

"The elders will hold power in the village until I come of age, and then I will become the Fourth Mizukage?"

Looking at Hozuki Shingetsu, who remained calm and listened quietly to his words, Genshi nodded and explained his reasons for doing so.

After achieving telepathic communication with the Six-Tails and perfectly mastering its chakra, Hozuki Shingetsu's strength has completely stabilized at the Kage level.

In addition to his record of defeating Ren and his numerous contributions to the village, Hozuki Shingetsu's becoming the Fourth Mizukage is a popular and well-deserved choice, without any problems.

But there's one thing: his age.

At thirteen years old, he seems far too young from any perspective.

For ninjas, younger is always better. But for a leader of a faction, it's a different story.

As the saying goes, "A young man with no experience is unreliable," especially for a violent organization. What will others think if the leader is a thirteen-year-old child? What will the businessmen who come to entrust them with tasks think?

What will others think of the entire Hidden Mist Village?

Even if we explain that Hozuki Shingetsu is the strongest in Kirigakure, it will only make others think that Kirigakure is not strong enough, so that a child can become the number one ninja village.

Especially when Kirigakure has suffered heavy losses and urgently needs material support from all sides, if someone were to label it as such, the development of Kirigakure would be greatly hindered.

Master Yuan explained many things in a scattered way, but in short, he hoped that Hozuki Shingetsu would become the Mizukage after he came of age, so that others would not look down on Kirigakure.

Prior to this, all power in the village was nominally held by the council of elders. The elders could be appointed by Hozuki Shingetsu, and he could also propose that Hozuki Zangetsu be appointed as the Mizukage. In reality, the power of Kirigakure was still in the hands of the Hozuki clan.

This was not just his suggestion, but also the suggestion of those small and medium-sized ninja clans, since their interests had long been closely related to Kirigakure.

Besides, the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure is only thirteen years old... It does sound a bit strange if word gets out.

Hozuki Shingetsu didn't care about this; he believed that after this battle, no ninja clan in the village would dare to cause trouble.