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

That being said, while we say we want to help, how to help, when to help, and under what banner to help are all things that need to be carefully considered.

To be honest, when I saw the first part of the letter and the public opinion in the ninja world regarding Konoha, I was very happy.

After all, according to the theory of relativity in the ninja world, the enemy's misfortune is my good fortune, the enemy's weakening strength is my great increase, and the enemy's evil is my justice. The reasons behind this increase and decrease are countless.

However, before he could figure out how to take advantage of this opportunity to strike a blow against his old rival, he suddenly saw the second half of Hozuki Shingetsu's letter about the alliance.

Actually, he initially refused, but... the title "Thunder Emperor" was just too appealing!

Moreover, Ai suddenly realized that this was also a great opportunity to take advantage of the Konoha threat theory, intimidate smaller countries, seize their living space, and unify the various small countries.

With Konoha posing such a great threat, it's only reasonable for you to seek protection from my Hidden Cloud Village to prevent you from being attacked by Konoha.

Even my Hidden Cloud Village didn't ask you for money; we went to great lengths to help you at our own expense. What kind of spirit is this? This is truly a glorious spirit of humanitarianism!

As for the letter's mention of unifying the four kingdoms... if Ai still retains even a shred of rationality, he wouldn't do that.

Are you kidding me? Do you really think countries are made of clay?

Even the Hidden Mist Village, considered the shame of the Five Great Ninja Villages, would require the Hidden Cloud Village to suffer significant damage to subdue it, let alone the other ninja villages. Therefore, regarding Hozuki Shingetsu's letter concerning the identity of the leader of the Four Kingdoms Alliance and the title of "Thunder Emperor," he was merely tempted.

So... Ai no longer wants the position of leader of the Four Nations Alliance, but he still finds the position of leader of the Northeast Continental Nations Alliance very appealing.

"Pass down the order: three things!"

Upon realizing this, Ai quickly stood up and gestured to the earthen platform beside him to draft the order.

"The first thing is to find some people to fabricate some more rumors to exaggerate the Konoha threat theory. And it's not just the Konoha threat theory, but also the Iwagakure threat theory, the Sunagakure threat theory, the Kirigakure threat theory. Except for our Kumogakure, which is a peace-loving, secluded ninja village where we keep our weapons at bay and let our horses graze in the mountains, get all the other ninja villages, including Takigakure and Amegakure, into it! It's best to make it sound like the Shinobi World War is about to break out!"

Tutai silently categorized Ai's chaotic words on the document, subdividing them according to their content.

"Secondly, given the current perilous state of the ninja world, it's perfectly reasonable for our Hidden Cloud Village to protect some smaller ninja villages out of goodwill, isn't it? Immediately gather intelligence on all the smaller ninja villages and secluded ninja clans surrounding the Land of Lightning! Then, according to their importance, seize the time to coerce and entice them to join the 'Pan-Continental Self-Defense Alliance' led by our Hidden Cloud Village!"

Ai shamelessly named his alliance the "Pan-Continental Self-Defense Alliance" and was quite pleased with himself for coming up with such a brilliant name.

As the secretary of the Third Raikage, Tsuchida naturally had a thorough understanding of all the surrounding small ninja villages and secluded ninja clans, and immediately ranked the ninja villages according to their strength.

I had just written Takigakure in the first place when I felt something was wrong, so I crossed it out and wrote a different name.

Wochao Village.

With Uzushio Village still standing, it can be said that Uzushio Village is in a league of its own below the Five Great Ninja Villages. Even Takigakure Village, which possesses the Seven-Tails, is no match for it.

Putting aside Konoha's assistance, the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques, passed down for thousands of years, are enough to cause headaches.

Moreover, the elders of the Uzumaki clan all possess the powerful, suicidal sealing ninjutsu "Reaper Death Seal," meaning these immortal old men could easily exchange one life for another with anyone, achieving "equality among all beings."

Well, in a sense, it is quite similar to "Mafuba".

"We'll leave Uzushio Village for now. We'll take care of it after we've united the other smaller ninja villages."

After seeing the rankings on Tsuchikage, the Third Raikage A hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to wait.

"The same goes for Takigakure. Tailed beasts are too sensitive. If our Kumogakure really controlled three tailed beasts, it's hard to say whether it would be a blessing or a curse for us right now."

Ai was unusually clear-headed about this, seeing it very clearly.

The earthen platform beside him also breathed a slight sigh of relief. It seemed that his Raikage had not been blinded by the possible temptation and still had basic judgment.

"There's one last thing: spread the word that we know about this, and utterly condemn Konoha as a rotten apple in the ninja world!"

Ai changed the subject, speaking with a hint of schadenfreude. As an old rival who had encountered such a situation, it was both morally and logically his duty to let Konoha know that he knew about it and had mocked them!

After a moment's thought, Tu Tai wielded his pen with lightning speed, writing the following words on the document:

"Regarding recent comments in the ninja world concerning Konoha's expansionist military and intentions, Kumogakure takes this matter very seriously. We, Kumogakure, have always been at the forefront of upholding fairness and justice in the ninja world. For many years, we have tirelessly mediated conflicts between nations, and our contributions to the overall environment of the ninja world are evident to all. Here, we solemnly warn Konoha to cherish the hard-won peace we enjoy today and refrain from playing with fire. Otherwise, Kumogakure will forever retain the right to stand on the side of justice. To show our sincerity, Kumogakure solemnly promises here that we will never deploy our Bloodstained Ninjas in unjust wars… At the same time, we call on all nations to set aside their prejudices, embrace the future, and contribute to building a shared future for the ninja world."

When the Third Raikage saw these lines, his eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but pat Tsuchida on the shoulder and praise, "Ah, yes, yes, that's exactly what I meant! As expected, Tsuchida, you understand me best!"

The earthen platform, slammed onto the table by Raikage, was speechless. He could only inwardly grumble, "Damn it, you and your son are no different—both are illiterate! This village will fall apart sooner or later without me!"

Chapter 13: The entire ninja world is in complete chaos.

Hidden Rock Village stands amidst mountains and wilderness, with all the buildings predominantly earthen yellow. In this village where collectivism prevails, even the houses where everyone lives are largely identical in appearance.

Among them, the most magnificent is undoubtedly the core of the village, the Earth Shadow Building.

Inside this building, which is ten times taller than an ordinary villager's house, the contemporary Tsuchikage Onoki is giving his eldest son, Koto, a frustrating reminder that he is not living up to his potential.

"Tell me, what did you glean from this letter!"

Faced with his father's questioning, Huang Tu thought for a moment, then smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said, "Hmm, this Hozuki Shingetsu... has pretty good handwriting?"

"You unfilial son! I sent you to see how well he writes!"

Onoki almost fainted from breathlessness.

"Oh, Father, please don't be angry. I'll do whatever you say."

Seeing this, Huang Tu quickly stepped forward and gently patted his father's back, still wearing a simple, honest smile.

"Cough cough... Sigh, forget it, maybe I should have given up a long time ago, and I shouldn't have called you over. Honestly, why did I even think of letting you try? With your brain, you probably couldn't figure out the mystery even if you racked your brains. Forget it, you can just stay out of here!"

After catching his breath, Onoki looked at his honest son and reluctantly gave up some of his obsessions.

However, when he looked down at the letter in his hand, he still felt the same emotions as the Third Hokage and the Third Raikage.

"These young people are truly formidable!"

As the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure and the only master of the "Bloodline Elimination" Dust Release technique in the ninja world, Onoki is known as the "Two Scales".

However, over the years, this Tsuchikage has discovered that his scales seem to be losing their balance over Iwagakure.

There's no other reason than that there's no one to carry on the legacy!

Although Onoki is not yet forty years old and is still in the prime of his life as a ninja, there are hardly any other decent people in the entire Hidden Stone Village besides him.

Leaving aside his generation, the few remaining geniuses all died while learning the "Bloodline Elimination" Dust Release from the Second Tsuchikage, leaving only a few average-looking old guys to keep things going for him.

According to the ninja world's ten-year generational cycle, now is the time for the younger generation of Iwagakure to emerge.

Unfortunately, apart from a handful of others, there was little to see. And these few, including his son Huang Tu, didn't learn his Dust Release talent. At best, this group would only reach the level of elite Jonin, and they were simply incapable of leading Iwagakure forward in this unpredictable ninja world.

Aside from the few remaining elders from the Warring States period, his vast Iwagakure village seemed to lack any real depth or historical foundation!

At times like these, he felt incredibly envious of the other ninja villages.

Leaving aside Konoha, there are the older generation like Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, and Koharu Utatane, as well as the heads of bloodline clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga, and the older generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. The younger generation consists of the heirs of various bloodline clans, whose innate bloodline limits ensure they can grow to extremely high levels. In addition, there are young talents like Sakumo Hatake, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, who are beginning to show their potential, and judging from their talent, they are at least at the elite Jonin level.

Meanwhile, in Kumogakure, the older generation of the AB duo are in their prime, and the Yotsuki clan, which has unified Kumogakure, also has abundant resources to cultivate its own geniuses. It is said that the Yotsuki child is also extremely talented in training Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and has already been designated as the next Raikage, just waiting for him to come of age to take over.

Sunagakure also has genius puppeteers like Monzaemon and Chiyo. Not to mention that the Sand Secret Technique invented by that guy Shamon has found a successor. He can even innovate and create the "Magnetic Release" ninjutsu.

Even the Hidden Mist Village, a secluded island village plagued by internal strife, produced a figure like Hozuki Shingetsu.

All of this made it impossible for Onoki not to be deeply moved.

After slightly calming his wandering thoughts, Onoki turned his attention back to the letter, pondering what kind of opportunity this matter might bring to Iwagakure.

"Emperor Tu... Ha, you underestimate me far too much!"

In the letter, Hozuki Shingetsu mentioned the establishment of the Four Kingdoms Alliance as before, but unlike Kumogakure, the position of alliance leader naturally fell to the mature and prudent Ono. Naturally, the title of this alliance leader had to be changed to "Earth Emperor".

Of course, this also has a touch of Hozuki Shingetsu's quirky humor to it.

When he wrote about "Emperor of the Land," he inexplicably thought of "Land," and Onoki's physique is not exactly different from that of "Land," but rather exactly the same.

However, the wicked humor behind this was something he couldn't share with outsiders. Of course, Onoki was unaware that Hozuki Shingetsu was secretly mocking him.

Having lived through the Warring States period and faced Madara Uchiha directly, he naturally saw the danger behind Hozuki Shingetsu's suggestion. So, after a moment's thought, he made the same decision as the Third Raikage: to continue fueling the flames by spreading rumors that various countries were expanding their military and planning to start wars, while simultaneously using the guise of humanitarian aid to lead surrounding small countries to establish the "Shinobi World Peace Alliance," and declaring himself its leader.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to establish an alliance for the latter matter.

He planned to wait until the Raikage, that brainless muscle-bound barbarian, made the first move before he acted. He was certain that the idiot would be unable to contain his ambition and would strike first. With the precedent of Kumogakure taking action, the alliance with Iwagakure would surely proceed much more smoothly.

The same applies to Sunagakure.

Although he had no ambition for the title of "Wind Emperor," the excuse was already on his lips. Even Shamon, who was thinking of peacefully farming and developing his skills, began to integrate the surrounding small countries under the instigation of Chiyo, Monzaemon, and others.

The various small ninja villages in the ninja world who were watching the show probably never dreamed that this was clearly a propaganda about the threat posed by Konoha, but in the end these major powers not only did not stop Konoha, but instead came to annex them.

They had secretly added fuel to the fire when the rumors were circulating, thinking it was better to watch the drama unfold, but they never expected that the fire would eventually burn them.

In a sense, this can be considered a case of "when the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer as a result."

Soon, fueled by the four kingdoms of water, mines, wind, and soil, and by some ambitious individuals, rumors began to spread everywhere.

Today, it's said that Kumogakure is using the excuse of a genin going missing in Konoha to launch a massive invasion with 100,000 troops; tomorrow, it's said that Onoki, the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, has fused seven chakra natures to reach the unprecedented level of "Kekkei Genkai," capable of instantly killing the other four Kage with a single breath, making him a veritable immortal in the ninja world; the day after tomorrow, it's rumored that Kirigakure's reason for closing itself off is the discovery of a new fruit that grants ordinary people abilities comparable to those of bloodline ninjas, and now Kirigakure's 100,000 bloodline ninjas are sharpening their swords, waiting for the right moment to march west.

In short, the prevailing sentiment is one of chaos, disorder, and alarmist rhetoric. So much so that various villages are considering establishing a new "Strategic Deception Department" specifically to deal with these rumors.

Otherwise, this is really unbearable. Given the current situation, there are possibilities in the ninja world including, but not limited to, the resurrection of the Sage of Six Paths, the reincarnation of the Goddess of the Rabbit, and the appearance of aliens.

If things continue like this, the ninja world will probably be destroyed very soon.

The smaller nations of the ninja world, however, did not have this problem, because they discovered that amidst the frenzied public opinion in the ninja world, war had actually arrived.

While they were still speculating, with a "let's watch the show" attitude, wondering which of the five elements—fire, thunder, earth, feng, and water—would be the unlucky ones to be ganged up on by the other countries, they suddenly realized something was amiss.

In particular, the Frost Ninja Village, gazing at the envoy from the Cloud Ninja Village right at their doorstep, fell into deep thought.

Good news, fighting has broken out!

Bad news, coming my way.

After the Hidden Cloud Village successfully fired the first shot, other ninja villages also began their own steps to establish regional alliances.