They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 161 The Method to Destroy Konoha's Industrial System: Buying is worse than Building!

With the exception of Shimura Danzo, a collaborator, Kirigakure does not recognize any of the goods sold by Kirigakure.

When Shimura Danzo heard this, he recalled all the things Hozuki Shingetsu had said before, and a line instantly formed in his mind.

"Nurturing an enemy to enhance one's own importance" refers to using the doctrines of the Miroku sect, combined with the special circumstances of Konoha at the time, to allow the activities of Miroku sect members to undermine Konoha's stability. This caused panic within Konoha and made merchants outside Konoha hesitant.

Under this premise, Danzo Shimura used drastic measures to sacrifice some of the Miroku sect followers in order to appease the spirits of the people.

On the other hand, taking advantage of the merchants' indecisiveness due to the chaotic situation in Konoha, they obtained a large quantity of goods at half price from Kirigakure, winning the favor and support of the masses by relying on quantity and quality.

This plan, which aims to win the hearts and minds of the people of Konoha both spiritually and physically, clearly appealed to Danzo Shimura.

Hozuki Shingetsu looked at Shimura Danzo, who was clearly interested, and chuckled inwardly.

In his previous life, Shimura Danzo had a well-known title for this identity—comprador!

However, unlike the compradors of foreign firms in the Qing Dynasty, the comprador agreement between Kirigakure and Shimura Danzo was proposed by Kirigakure itself. Kirigakure even took the initiative to lower prices, promising that all the goods provided would be priced at half the market price. Therefore, Shimura Danzo did not feel that there was anything wrong with it.

Others cannot use this as an excuse to attack Shimura Danzo for colluding with Kirigakure and betraying the village's interests—after all, the price reduction of Kirigakure's goods was a real and tangible fact.

I've never heard of any family colluding with outsiders in this way.

For Hozuki Shingetsu, making Shimura Danzo a comprador was not only about supporting Shimura Danzo's rise to power, but also about opening up the market for Kirigakure's products.

Since the completion of the industrial revolution in Kirigakure, the village's industrial production capacity has been greatly improved.

In particular, Kirigakure held the first World's Number One Series tournament under Hozuki Shingetsu's planning. (Of course, the official name should be the Keita Cup tournament.)

Lured by the generous prize money and the empty honors, master-level figures from all walks of life across the ninja world flocked to Kirigakure to compete for the title of the world's number one.

The successful hosting of the World's Number One Series of tournaments greatly enhanced Kirigakure's reputation in the ninja world.

Of course, according to general principles, such a glorious event must have hidden an equal amount of darkness, and this event is no exception.

These master-level figures who excelled in the competition, under the combined pressure and persuasion of Kirigakure, "voluntarily" stayed in Kirigakure to contribute to the village's development.

However, the official excuse is certainly not like that. The official excuse is to exchange ideas with masters in various industries, hoping to learn from their experiences.

Therefore, with its strong industrial production capacity and the experience of master-level figures in various industries, Kirigakure's industrial production costs have been reduced by more than a little bit!

Especially for supplies like cloth and basic iron materials, even though Hozuki Shingetsu provides them to Konoha at half the market price, he still manages to make ten times the profit!

And that's the allure of the Industrial Revolution!

However, precisely because of this, given Kirigakure's powerful production capacity, a huge market is needed to absorb and utilize it.

Despite Hozuki Shingetsu signing a non-interference agreement with representatives of the other ninja villages at the meeting to establish the International Ninja Organization.

However, those who understand treaties know that if Kirigakure were to use dumping tactics to squeeze out the village's market share, all sorts of underhanded tricks would likely follow.

Therefore, Hozuki Shingetsu must plan ahead and make various arrangements in advance.

One possible strategy is to design Black Zetsu to find the Grell Stone to activate the aerial fortress, which would then be used to colonize the eastern continent and open up a vast market.

The same tactic is used to deceive Danzo Shimura and get Kirigakure to seize Konoha's market.

Besides, this clause actually hides Hozuki Shingetsu's deepest purpose, which is to destroy Konoha's industrial system!

Although Hozuki Shingetsu wasn't a professional in the economic field in his previous life, he had seen pigs run even if he hadn't eaten pork, so he was familiar with some basic price war tactics to suppress dissent.

Due to historical reasons, pricing power in many industries was firmly in the hands of foreign companies.

To maintain their first-mover advantage, these industry leaders have spared no effort in suppressing Chinese companies.

When faced with companies that want to innovate independently and catch up with them, the best approach is undoubtedly to wage a price war and use cost advantages to crush these companies directly.

After all, companies need to invest in their own research and development. Faced with price wars from large corporations, these companies often face a break in their cash flow, ultimately forced to go bankrupt or be acquired.

This "buying is worse than making" approach can guarantee a company's first-mover advantage for an industry, but what about for a country?

A classic example is China's chip development, but even more classic is India's military orders from Russia.

Yes, that's the aircraft carrier.

When the cost of manufacturing something in a country's various industries far exceeds the cost of buying it from others, that country's industrial system will undoubtedly face annihilation.

When a country's core equipment depends entirely on imports, its fate is self-evident.

Normally, a powerful nation would not allow foreign goods to be dumped into its domestic market so brazenly.

However, coincidentally, due to Shimura Danzo's obsession with the Hokage position, such official pressure was undoubtedly nonexistent.

Once Konoha has become accustomed to the high-quality, low-priced goods from Kirigakure, and its own industrial system has been completely destroyed, we can probably already draw conclusions about the outcome of the Third Shinobi World War.

There's no way around it; these ninja natives have never seen anything as sophisticated as economic warfare.

Even this diplomatic and information warfare was only learned by Hozuki Shingetsu through repeated "demonstrations" and personal experience. Expecting these ninjas who rely on force to understand economic warfare is asking too much of them.

Although Hozuki Shingetsu's two consecutive moves were primarily intended to help Shimura Danzo become Hokage, his numerous schemes still included his own agenda, ultimately achieving a win-win-win situation for Kirigakure.

This classic planning, which involves thinking three steps ahead for every step he takes, is the fundamental reason why Hozuki Shingetsu is known as the "Ninja Fox Demon"!

In Hozuki Shingetsu's eyes, Shimura Danzo, a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals and was skilled in "underhanded tactics" but lacking in "strategic planning," was not worthy of being compared to him at all!

There's no such thing as a free lunch!

Hozuki Shingetsu looked at Shimura Danzo, still smiling.

(End of this chapter)