Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 45 Uchiha, this is too hard for me!

Hearing that Lan Ren had finally understood, Huang Ren smiled slightly, feeling somewhat gratified: "That's right, no matter what method we use, our goal is always the same: to make the ninjas fight each other to the death, so that we can reap the benefits. The more chaotic the infighting among the ninjas, the more secure our position will be."

"Since you seem to be finally starting to understand, I'll test you on it."

Lan Ren listened to the question with delight: "Yes, Father."

"This time, Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure suddenly launched a coup, killing the Second Raikage and the Second Hokage. The Third Raikage arrived and killed Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Tell me your thoughts on this matter."

Lanren lowered his head and thought carefully for a moment, then honestly replied, "I'm sorry, Father, I don't understand."

Prince Huang Ren laughed and said, "Don't rush, think carefully about what I just mentioned and you'll understand."

Lanren isn't stupid; it's just that this is his first time encountering something like this, so it's normal for him to be slow to react.

Once the motive is known, it is easy to unravel the mystery and deduce its cause.

Lanren closed his eyes and began to ponder.

Konoha and Kumogakure formed an alliance.

The Golden Horn and Silver Horn launched a coup.

The Third Raikage arrived just in time to kill Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

If you connect the three things slightly, it's easy to spot something fishy.

Lan Ren opened his eyes and said loudly, "I understand. All of this is too coincidental. If we follow the theory that Father just mentioned, then someone deliberately arranged all of this. In particular, the coup of the Golden Horn and Silver Horn happened suddenly and in a very short time. How did the Third Raikage get the news and get there in such a short time?"

Prince Huang Ren smiled and said, "Hmph, it seems there are some clever people in the Land of Thunder too. What a brilliant move! This way, several high-level combatants can be eliminated at once."

"I heard that they are developing military equipment over there, probably to get rid of their dependence on ninjas."

"It's not just the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning that have this idea; I've heard that in the Land of Water, ninjas have to kill their close friends from the same class to graduate, thus reducing the number of ninjas."

"In the Land of Wind, the Sand Village's ninjas are weaker than those of other ninja villages, so they want to reduce their budget and the number of ninjas."

"As for Iwagakure Village, it is still unclear."

"It seems everyone has the same idea as me. If we want to secure our positions, we must first reduce the number of ninjas to a controllable level. Well, that's normal. We are all powerful nations that have stood for many years, and nobody is a fool."

"In that case, I'll have to step up my efforts and start by erasing the Uchiha clan from this world."

A sinister glint appeared in Prince Huang Ren's eyes as he made his move on the Uchiha.

This family is far too powerful; containing them isn't enough, they must be completely annihilated.

In this era, the Mangekyou Sharingan had not yet become a complete legend. Prince Huang Ren witnessed its power firsthand and felt a deep fear and even a strong desire for it.

He had considered incorporating them, perhaps through marriage, but later, based on the information he had gathered, the Uchiha clan seemed to be prone to emotional outbursts; in layman's terms, they were easily driven mad...

What's even more terrifying is that once this Uchiha goes mad, that madman often carries a super bomb in his hands...

In addition, the Uchiha clan has some personality issues. To put it nicely, they are arrogant; to put it bluntly, they are disdainful of others and only treat their own clan members differently, making them very difficult to control.

Therefore, he gave up in frustration and abandoned this power. Since he could not obtain it, he would try to destroy it in order to prevent it from becoming his enemy in the future.

Besides this reason, the current situation is also favorable, as the current Hokage is Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He had spies planted within Konoha Village, and every so often, internal news about the village would be continuously transmitted to him, so he knew exactly what the current situation in Konoha was.

The higher-ups in Konoha Village ostracized the Uchiha clan, and the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was still most wary of the Uchiha, the Second Hokage's disciple. His thinking was bound to be affected to some extent.

When a nation is strong, its people are weak. Therefore, the nation must weaken its people to counter the strong. When a nation is weak, it must counter the strong to become strong.

The strength of the Yuan Fei clan versus the Uchiha clan is immediately apparent.

Therefore, Prince Huangren wanted to support Yuan Fei's clan to eventually eliminate the Uchiha clan.

Leaving the weak Yuan Fei clan behind would make them easier to control than the Uchiha clan, thus strengthening the nation.

It's impossible for other ninja clans not to have designs on a powerful clan like the Uchiha, which is clearly a level above the others.

Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't want to kill the Uchiha clan, the clan members behind him would want to kill the Uchiha clan and seize greater benefits, thus pushing Hiruzen Sarutobi to make a decision.

Prince Huangren shares the same interests as the Yuan Fei clan, so he spares no effort to win over Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Uchiha clan is already being ostracized, and Prince Huangren foresaw that the Uchiha clan would continue to face ostracism in the future.

The Uchiha clan is a proud group of people, and they will definitely not be able to tolerate this kind of exclusion, which will surely lead to a strong conflict among the Konoha leadership.

Of course, it would be a pipe dream for the Yuan Fei clan to wipe out the Uchiha clan with the strength of a single branch of the clan, like throwing an egg against a rock. However, the Yuan Fei clan produced a Hokage, and the village represented by the Hokage could potentially wipe out the Uchiha clan with the strength of the entire village.

Previous plans all aimed to weaken the people, while the next step is to find ways to align with national strength. By shifting the balance of power, the nation can remain invincible.

Thinking of this, Prince Huang Ren looked at his most intelligent son with an aggressive gaze, only to find him engrossed in thought, which made him somewhat curious.

Lanren noticed the gaze directed at him and looked up: "Uh, Father."

Prince Huang Ren asked with a smile, "What were you thinking about just now?"

"I wasn't thinking about anything." Lan Ren shook his head. "It's just that I heard my father say that the only thing we can control with ninja techniques is money, right?"

Prince Huangren sighed, somewhat sadly: "Yes, without money, it will be difficult for us to control the ninjas."

This is the fundamental reason why he was wary of ninjas; in the face of absolute power, wealth and power seem utterly insignificant.

Therefore, he then sought a way to allow his clan to obtain the power of Konoha in order to maintain the clan's perpetual prosperity.

"What if a ninja doesn't fight according to our script and chooses to go into business instead? Or even leads other ninjas into business and earns more money than they would as ninjas? Wouldn't we lose our effective control over these ninjas then?"

Prince Huangren laughed and said, "Have you forgotten? If you want to do business or open a company within the territory, you need the daimyo's approval, and you have to pay taxes such as value-added tax, income tax, and land use tax every month. After paying all these taxes, how much is left?"

"What if this ninja doesn't hand it over?"

"Not handing it over?" Prince Huang Ren sneered. "Then I'll send someone to arrest him and throw him in jail to serve as free labor."

What a joke! Exploiting the income of the common people is the way the Land of Fire maintains its hegemony, and it has zero tolerance and will never allow anyone to violate this rule.

"But what if they're involved in smuggling? The transaction isn't happening within our territory, so it doesn't seem to be under our jurisdiction. And what if these ninjas violently resist arrest? We don't think we can beat them."

"..."

Prince Huang Ren fell silent, indicating that he would allow himself to think about it.

Generally speaking, ninjas do not pursue other professions.

They possess a proud sense of self-esteem and an inexplicable sense of honor towards the ninja profession.

But who knows, if they get a taste of success, then it might turn out differently.

After all, no one would turn down money. Why risk your life if you can make money while lying down? Are you out of your mind?

After a long silence, Prince Huang Ren took a deep breath, his face filled with worry: "If there really is such a ninja, then this world will be greatly changed because of him. I don't know exactly what will happen, but one thing I am sure of is that our noble family will face annihilation."

Lan Ren gasped, feeling quite startled.

"But you don't need to worry too much. Under normal circumstances, ninjas don't have such a broad vision. Even if they do, I will spare no effort to hire the most ruthless and powerful assassins to hunt them down before they have fully developed their power."

At this point, a murderous glint flashed in Prince Huang Ren's eyes, but the expression quickly vanished, and he returned to his usual harmless demeanor with thick eyebrows and large eyes: "Lan Ren, I have an important task for you that no one else can handle. It concerns the future prosperity of our noble family."

(End of this chapter)