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

Chapter 232 The Great Construction of the Water Kingdom

"How would you react if you saw the village your grandfather built up into this state?"

Hozuki Shingetsu looked at Tsunade, whose eyes held a hint of sadness, and thought with great interest.

To be honest, revealing information about the relationship between Shimura Danzo and Kirigakure to Tsunade was just a casual act by Hozuki Shingetsu.

After all, Shimura Danzo has now successfully become Hokage, and all the contracts between them have ended, so this kind of information is of little use to Hozuki Shingetsu.

It's unlikely that one could bring down Shimura Danzo with just one piece of information.

They could easily escape this accusation by simply saying it was a conspiracy by Kirigakure, and that the photos and other items were faked by Kirigakure ninja using transformation techniques.

There's no way around it; after so many years of persistently exploiting Konoha, Hozuki Shingetsu's reputation in Konoha is now comparable to that of Shimura Danzo and Tohsaka Tokiomi of the Type-Moon ninja world.

What?

Is someone plotting against Konoha?

That must have been done by Hozuki Shingetsu, who was inherently evil!

Therefore, under these circumstances, it would be best if Tsunade returned the document to Konoha; if she did not return the document to Konoha, that would also be acceptable.

Because that would mean that Tsunade, Hashirama Senju's granddaughter, truly felt utterly heartbroken and hopeless about Konoha, having lost all hope in the village her grandfather had built.

In that case, even if Kirigakure doesn't have the chance to recruit Tsunade, they won't lose out.

After all, the granddaughter of the village's founder has been away from the village for many years and refuses to return. There's a lot to say about why.

Was it due to Tsunade's personal wishes, or was it because... even the granddaughter of the God of Shinobi couldn't stand the darkness in Konoha anymore?

Hozuki Shingetsu is really looking forward to this.

Objectively speaking, although Konoha has suffered significant losses in strength due to the Second Shinobi World War and Hozuki Shingetsu's continuous schemes, it can still be considered the strongest shinobi in the world in terms of overall strength.

There's no way around it; Konoha has the largest number of bloodline ninja clans in the ninja world, and consequently, the number of its mid-to-high-level ninjas is also the largest in the ninja world.

It is now the 40th year of Kirigakure, which is the 41st year of Konoha.

All told, Kirigakure has only been under Hozuki Shingetsu's control for eight years. If we calculate based on the number of graduating classes from the Ninja Academy, it's only eight more batches of new ninja forces than before.

Although Hozuki Shingetsu had secretly taken control of the Land of Water and ordered the establishment of ninja academies in various villages to select talented geniuses from among the commoners of the Land of Water and send them to Kirigakure, he even planned to establish ninja academies in the Eastern Continent as well.

However, the time was too short. The Ninja Academy had only just been established and had not yet fully integrated the vast population and territory of the Land of Water and the Eastern Continent.

Therefore, the main source of new ninjas for Kirigakure is still the graduates of the village's ninja academy each year.

Limited by the talent of commoner ninjas and the previous training model, only one-fifth of these eight batches of ninjas have now been promoted to Chunin.

If we only consider the strength of genin, then Kirigakure is undoubtedly the strongest in the ninja world right now.

In terms of individual strength, Hozuki Shingetsu is practically invincible in the ninja world right now.

However, without a single exceptionally powerful individual, the competition between ninja villages still hinges on overall strength. Currently, Konoha remains the primary enemy that Kirigakure must confront, both now and in the near to medium term.

Therefore, Hozuki Shingetsu would never let go of any opportunity that would preoccupy Konoha with its own problems.

Tsunade didn't notice the look in Hozuki Shingetsu's eyes. After obtaining Hozuki Shingetsu's consent, she stumbled out of the Mizukage's office as if she had lost her mind, causing the clerks downstairs in the Mizukage building to speculate.

If it weren't for the fact that Tsunade was only mentally confused rather than dressed in rags and unable to move, these seasoned clerks would have almost thought that Lady Hozuki had just had a taste of the West.

"The Second Shinobi World War ended nearly three years ago... and the current history of the shinobi world has deviated significantly from the original due to my involvement."

"However, considering the inertia of history and the speed at which countries recuperate, it is estimated that the Third Shinobi World War will begin in five to eight years."

Hozuki Shingetsu stood up and looked out the window at Tsunade, who was walking away in a daze. He was thinking about the developments in Kirigakure and didn't notice Yukinagi quietly leaving.

"The Eastern Continent is only just beginning to be developed, and Kirigakure is still in the accumulation phase and has not yet reached its peak. Even if it does reach its peak, if Kirigakure cannot fight against four opponents at once, then the plan to unify the continent is doomed to failure."

"Therefore, the main objective of the Third Shinobi World War will ultimately be Konoha. The goal is to unite the various countries to occupy Konoha, or at the very least, to divide it."

"Hmm... if that's the case, then we need to make the most of the news about Konoha's Rinnegan. This could be a great opportunity to disrupt the Fire, Earth, and Lightning alliance and forge a four-nation alliance..."

boom!

Just as Hozuki Shingetsu was deep in thought, he suddenly heard the office door open.

He turned his head and saw that it was Tsunade who had just left.

"Strange... When did she come back? I clearly saw her leave just now..."

He had been looking at the street the whole time, but Tsunade had slipped out of his sight and gone to the Mizukage's office, which made Hozuki Shingetsu very curious.

Even so, Hozuki Shingetsu suppressed his curiosity and asked Tsunade the purpose of her return with a gentlemanly air.

Tsunade remained silent, simply standing there panting heavily.

Under the influence of the Universal Milk Force, Hozuki Shingetsu's gaze inevitably fell there.

Tsunade ignored Hozuki Shingetsu's gaze and continued walking towards him silently, her steps unsteady.

From his swaying gait, Hozuki Shingetsu finally discerned the truth.

"You are... Yukinagi?"

Upon hearing that her identity had been exposed, Yukinagi's face immediately showed a look of disappointment, and she straightened her back with the help of her hands.

"Damn it, I thought I was quite proficient in this transformation technique, how did you find out?"

Hozuki Shingetsu looked at her once flat but now prominent area with pity. Several pounds of fat had suddenly appeared in that area, and even a Jonin would need a few minutes to get used to it. Yukinagi's walking posture was obviously different from Tsunade's, and he noticed this from the same point.

However, this flaw could not be told to Yukinagi after all, so Hozuki Shingetsu immediately took the initiative and asked her why she was impersonating Tsunade.

"I noticed you kept glancing in that direction, intentionally or unintentionally..."

Yukinagi pouted, mimicking Tsunade.

To be honest, this unusual appearance really brought a unique kind of excitement to Hozuki Shingetsu.

Then Hozuki Shingetsu's eyes lit up, and he immediately had a new idea.

"Is that so... I have portraits of several other people here. Today, I'll test your mastery of transformation techniques."

Yukinagi was pulled closer by Hozuki Shingetsu and watched as he took out a large stack of portraits from his office drawer.

"Who is this?"

Looking at the large group of beautiful girls with different styles and appearances on the table, Yukinagi's face showed a rare look of curiosity.

"This is Eriri Sawamura, this is Yukino Yukinoshita, this is Nao Tomori... and this one, this is Kaguya Otsutsuki."

Hozuki Shingetsu introduces each of his two-dimensional wives from his previous life to Yukinagi.

Then, seeing that Yukinagi still wanted to ask something else, she said to her urgently, "There's no time to explain... Transform now!"

So, under Hozuki Shingetsu's insistence, the clerks downstairs once again skillfully put on their earmuffs.

-

Just as Danzo Shimura of Konoha was smugly ascending to the position of Hokage, Yagura Karatachi of the Eastern Continent was constantly conquering the local inhabitants, Tsunade of Kirigakure was heartbroken, and Hozuki Shingetsu's spear was unleashed like a dragon, the great construction within the Land of Water was in full swing.

Since becoming the daimyo of the Land of Water after killing his father and brother and slaughtering all the royal males, Mizuto Fu has completely changed his arrogant and domineering, pleasure-seeking ways.

Since the day he ascended the throne, after proposing the solution of "building ninja schools in villages" to address the Land of Water's dwindling food resources and increasing banditry, Mizuto-fu issued a series of decrees.

These decrees include large-scale domestic road construction, proposing to increase the mileage of high-quality roads in the country tenfold within the next five years, and to complete the railway construction from the capital of the Land of Water to Kirigakure Village;

Water conservancy construction: the number of water conservancy facilities will triple within the next five years;

Urbanization will double in the next five years;

Tax reforms consolidated all taxes and corvée labor levied on ordinary people into a single category known as the "Single Whip Law." Inheritance tax and wealth tax were levied on specific groups with substantial assets.

Establish schools for ordinary people and higher education institutions specializing in specific disciplines to encourage ordinary people to receive education;

A few positions are open to ordinary citizens and are filled through examinations, etc.

These decrees are collectively referred to as the First Five-Year Plan of the Water Kingdom, or simply "First Five".

It is not difficult to see from the above decrees that this "Li Shimin" of the Water Kingdom wanted to improve the lives of his people and raise their living standards.

Compared to his previous image, it's quite a departure from his previous playboy persona, and in a sense, he resembles a wise and benevolent ruler.

Therefore, in the Land of Water, the former second prince, who had killed his father and brother, saw his reputation instantly reversed, surpassing his father's, and was greatly loved by the people.

However, according to the law of conservation, this was loved by the people, but naturally it was hated by another group of people.

The other group of people were naturally the nobles and wealthy merchants of the original Water Kingdom!

Not to mention the inheritance tax and the rich tax that directly threaten them, the mere fact that commoners are allowed to receive education and enter officialdom is enough to make them feel uncomfortable and generate resentment towards Shuidufu.

After all, there has never been any reason to tax nobles.

And do those peasants even deserve to be literate or read books?

Do they even deserve to serve as officials in the same palace as us?

However, no matter how much dissatisfaction these people have, they can only keep it to themselves.

After all, Shui Du Fu had only been in power for a short time, and the blood of those royals he had killed had not yet been washed away. Naturally, no one dared to provoke him at this time.

Moreover, the above items were not unbearable; although they made them unhappy, they were not unacceptable.

In this situation, all the nobles regarded it as the new king's first act of establishing his throne and thought that they should just endure it and it would pass.

This is precisely why Hozuki Shingetsu didn't kill Mizuto Fumi as originally planned, but instead used the Blood Dragon Eye to control him.

After all, where else can you find such a good scapegoat?

With Shui Dufu leading the way, and Hozuki Shingetsu secretly governing the country according to his will, suppressing the nobles, and then kicking out Shui Dufu at their request when the nobles can no longer tolerate it, and being forced to support the princess as the female daimyo, wouldn't that be a perfect victory?

After all, Lord Hozuki is kind-hearted and can't bear to see death and injury, so let's leave this task of purging the nobles to someone else!

-

Somewhere in the Land of Water, in front of a dense forest, the First Construction Company of Kirigakure is carrying out road construction work.

A ninja from the mist stood before a dense forest, his hands forming a hand seal as he took a deep breath:

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

In an instant, a burst of intense flames spewed from his mouth, and under his control, it burned straight towards the trees in the predetermined direction of the road.

Whoosh!

boom!

The dense trees were no match for the raging flames and collapsed one after another under the fire-style ninjutsu.

Seeing that the trees were almost completely burned, another Mist Ninja stepped forward.

"Water Release: Water Chaos Waves!"

In an instant, a highly compressed stream of water shot out from the sky above the mist ninja, and soon extinguished the wildfire under his precise control.

At this moment, another Mist Ninja stepped forward, forming hand seals and striking the earth.

"Earth Release: Hardening Technique!"

boom!

Under the control of the Mist Ninja, the land in front of him seemed to have been crushed by an invisible force, and a rectangular flat land, six meters wide and fifty meters long, instantly appeared on the uneven ground.

After the Mist Ninja finished leveling the land, someone else took out a sealing scroll from his pocket and spread a large amount of sand and gravel and other building materials sealed in the scroll onto the land.

"Earth Release: Clay Descends from Heaven!"

The previous ninja reappeared, and as he formed hand seals, a different space with a diameter of about five meters appeared about ten meters above the road.

Crack!

From this strange space, which glows with a deep blue light, clay keeps falling.

Under the control of the Mist Ninja, the clay was fully bonded together with building materials such as sand and gravel, instantly transforming these originally loose building materials into incredibly strong materials under the influence of the clay from another dimension.

And so, a high-quality public toilet, six meters wide and one hundred meters long, was built.

The four people repeatedly performed this process: burning the forest, extinguishing the fire, leveling the land, placing building materials, summoning clay...

Before their chakra was exhausted, these four genin managed to build a 600-meter-long high-quality road in a dense forest in less than half an hour.

Compared to using manpower, its efficiency is several times faster.

(End of this chapter)