Hokage: Unable to persuade Madara, I chose to build my own ninja village.

Chapter 484 Konoha has brought their returning delegation, so naturally they will stick with Akatsuki to the very end!

Seeing the instant freeze in everyone's expressions, the businessman unconsciously straightened his back.

He picked up the bowl of liquor he hadn't finished on the table, moistened his dry throat, and the fawning, groveling manner he had displayed when facing a life-threatening situation vanished instantly. He reverted to his original posture, one of knowing what was going on above and looking down on the ignorant townspeople.

This time, the words that came out of his mouth were definitely not drunken ramblings meant to bluff at the dinner table.

As a merchant who travels between the heartland and the border of the Land of Fire year-round, his way of survival is to observe people's expressions and gather intelligence in order to buy low and sell high. Therefore, his information channels are far more advanced than those of these peasants who have never even left their town.

Several days earlier, Tobirama Senju had already made a political stand, closely following the footsteps of the Fire Country's daimyo and nobles, and publicly condemned Akatsuki's transgression against the nobles under the pretext of maintaining order.

For hundreds of years, the rule of "no punishment for high-ranking officials" has been upheld in the Land of Fire and throughout the entire ninja world.

There is only one person in the Land of Fire who can convict them, and that is the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Therefore, no matter how rotten or despicable these nobles of the Land of Fire are, even if they have committed unforgivable crimes and trampled on the laws of the Land of Fire, it is not up to a group of paid ninjas to uphold justice.

How can a bunch of tools turn around and judge their master?

Now, your Akatsuki village, under the guise of "rectifying public order," is doing these things. Uchiha Makoto...

What are they trying to do?

This is no longer about maintaining order; it's about rebelling!

Because of this "outrageous" behavior, harshly worded official letters of rebuke from the Land of Fire had long since piled up on Uchiha Makoto's desk.

Of course, these documents were thrown away by Uchiha Makoto without even being unsealed.

In any case, this time he was just looking for a barely plausible reason to launch a massive purge to eliminate dissidents and seize power. Once the scale expands, it's to be expected that he'll be accused of "treason"—and he really does intend to rebel.

However, the fact that the high-ranking officials of Konoha and the Land of Fire expressed such a clear and consistent stance this time still gives rise to endless speculation.

It's not that many people truly believe that Konoha and the Daimyo's Mansion will completely break ties with the powerful Akatsuki over this matter, ultimately leading to a bloody conflict.

Are the people in power that stupid?

If the two sides were to go to war in full force, resulting in mutual destruction, it would not benefit either side.

But one thing they were certain of was that the series of grand actions that Akatsuki was currently undertaking would absolutely not be implemented in practice.

For example, this businessman didn't believe at all that Akatsuki's operation this time could be carried out to the end.

In his mind, accustomed to the power and money transactions of the Land of Fire, he was more inclined to a darker hypothesis: the Hokage of Konoha...

The light and shadow of Akatsuki Village, and the high and mighty Daimyo of the Land of Fire—these three important figures were simply putting on an act!

Akatsuki was responsible for being the bad guys and killing people, while the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and Konoha were responsible for pretending to be virtuous and issuing a few perfunctory condemnation letters as a formality.

Once the Land of Fire has been thoroughly ravaged, these parties will sit down at the negotiating table to divide the spoils and make necessary compromises.

In the end, the big shots ate their fill, while the ordinary people who had been fooling around with the Akatsuki became the sacrifices to quell the situation.

He hadn't been able to control himself and had blurted out this conspiracy theory, almost causing the hot-headed townspeople in the hall to attack him. A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle, so he naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to repeat such remarks a second time, but he was determined to regain the face he had just lost.

Using a behemoth like Konoha to instill fear in these ignorant peasants and regain their dignity should be a simple matter.

Then, the merchant put down the rough porcelain wine bowl in his hand and coldly looked around.

Sure enough, the lobby fell silent as soon as the name "Konoha" was heard.

"What's wrong?"

Why are you all silent?

The businessman grinned and chuckled, breaking the silence.

This time, no one responded.

Seeing this group of intimidated peasants, the businessman had a lot to say.

It's time to regain my dignity.

So he tapped the table with his knuckles, the rhythmic tapping drawing everyone's attention to what he was about to say.

"Everyone, I'm not trying to scare you."

"Konoha is truly on the side of the Fire Country Daimyo, ready to support the nobles who have been suppressed in various regions. Yes! Akatsuki is indeed very strong now, but use your brains and think about it carefully. No matter how powerful Akatsuki is, can they really win against the Fire Country Daimyo and Konoha joining forces?"

A hint of fear crept into everyone's eyes.

There are only two major ninja villages in the Land of Fire: Konoha and Akatsuki, both of which are household names in the country.

Therefore, they had naturally heard of Konoha.

Moreover, in the simple understanding of these ordinary people, since Konoha and Akatsuki are known as the two major ninja villages of the Land of Fire, their strength is naturally about the same. If the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and Konoha were to join forces to deal with Akatsuki, the outcome would certainly not be as good as they imagined.

Seeing the evasive and fearful looks in everyone's eyes, the merchant became more and more excited, his voice rising a few decibels: "And I also heard from an acquaintance in the trade that not only are the bigwigs in the capital of the Land of Fire furious, but nobles from all over the Land of Fire have already pooled their money and entrusted Konoha with the task of clearing out and protecting them! Konoha's official ninjas are ready to come and resolve this 'trouble' at any time!"

"You bunch of people, following Akatsuki's pathetic nonsense, do you really think you've turned the tables? To put it bluntly, if the Konoha ninjas really attack and the Akatsuki ninjas can't win, they can simply slip away and retreat back to Akatsuki!"

"They're allies who've signed a treaty! When the time comes, the Light Shadow and the Hokage can meet privately, have a cup of tea, give each other face, and find a way to save face. This little grudge between the big shots will be easily turned over."

"And what about you?!"

"Those ninja masters have a way out, where do you think you can run? You can't escape your fate! Be careful, you might be jumping around now, but you'll get stabbed later!"

"Wait until the Konoha ninjas return with their noble lords to fight their way back, then let's see what you'll do!"