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

Chapter 57 The Three Rankings of the Ninja World

Danzo Shimura felt extremely humiliated that Shinju Hozuki was so young yet so famous as to be on par with him, but he was helpless to do anything about it.

After news of the defeat of the combined forces of Lightning and Earth in the Land of Whirlpools spread, everyone talked about the details with great interest, and Modibi's three loud laughs caused the Hidden Cloud Village to lose face completely. However, some information revealed during the battle was even more noteworthy, including the mirage possessed by Hozuki Shingetsu.

From the moment Hozuki Shingetsu used the mirage to disrupt the Allied Forces' perception, he knew that this trump card he had kept hidden for so long could no longer be concealed, so he openly revealed it.

Upon receiving this news, Danzo finally understood why Ryoma Aburame and his group had disappeared without a trace after entering the Land of Whirlpools.

Although Danzo had specifically dispatched three Root squads to carry out the mission in order to ensure everything went smoothly, he underestimated the strength of Yukinagi and Yagura Karatachi, and was unaware that Hozuki Shingetsu possessed the crucial information about the mirage. As a result, Aburame Ryoma and his companions were like drops of water falling into the ocean, unable to make a ripple at all.

There's no other reason than that mirages are terrifying; they can be called "cannon fodder crushers." Before you reach a certain level of strength, you can say that as many as you go, they will die.

However, Danzo Shimura felt extremely resentful about this, as he felt that nothing he had done during this period had gone smoothly.

From the recent assassination attempt on Hozuki Shingetsu to the Uchiha incident, he felt like he was constantly having bad luck, as if a shadow was always looming over him.

So… “You just want to keep Kirigakure out of the picture, don’t you? I’m not going to let you have your way.”

As a fellow expert in scheming, Shimura Danzo sensed something amiss from Hozuki Shingetsu's various moves. After pondering in secret for a long time, he finally figured out Hozuki Shingetsu's strategic intentions.

By making a high profile in the public sphere, they misled others into thinking that Kirigakure only wanted to stir up trouble and had no ambition whatsoever.

Do you think Danzo Shimura would do as you wish?

"Organize a team to write a play based on the current war in the Land of Whirlpools. In conjunction with other channels, highlight the Hidden Mist Village's secret plot to incite turmoil in the ninja world so that they can take advantage of the chaos and increase their strength," Danzo instructed a Root ninja beside him.

It's hard to say how effective this drama will be; it depends on how the leaders of each ninja village view it. However, it will definitely increase the hatred of Iwagakure and Kumogakure towards Kirigakure, serving to disgust Hozuki Shingetsu.

"To be honest, given that we can't directly send troops, that brat Hozuki Shingetsu's propaganda tactics have been quite effective." Danzo chuckled, looking forward to seeing how Hozuki Shingetsu would react to this drama, and waiting to see how he would deal with his tricks.

This tactic of using one's own weapon against oneself is indeed quite satisfying.

-

With Danzo's strong support, the play was quickly produced and performed in major cities, achieving considerable success.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, unusually, praised Danzo.

With Konoha's instigation, at least the other three major ninja villages have come to view Kirigakure as a venomous snake that deliberately disrupts the ninja world and tries to take advantage of the chaos.

Well, as long as the relationship between Kirigakure and the Daimyo does not improve, it will never be able to shake off the label of being poor and weak due to scarce military funds.

However, such remarks more or less hindered some of Hozuki Shingetsu's plans, causing him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

"Danzo? I was thinking that it wasn't good to keep targeting Konoha, but since he's already come to me, I might as well take care of Konoha while I'm at it. It's just a side effect."

When he learned that it was Danzo Shimura who was behind it, he immediately thought of the assassination attempt in the Land of Whirlpools. Although it could be considered that he was setting a trap, it still didn't stop him from pinning the matter on Danzo.

Fueled by both old and new grudges, Hozuki Shingetsu immediately implemented a new round of Konoha-specific strategies.

Yagura, standing nearby, glanced at it, then shook his head and left. He wasn't particularly interested in this war without gunfire. Yukinagi, on the other hand, seemed quite interested, or rather, interested in gossip.

"How do you plan to retaliate against him?"

"Danzo, even though he's learned how to use public opinion to attack the enemy's weaknesses, he's still too green!" Hozuki Shingetsu glanced at Yukinagi, feeling extremely relieved that she had finally returned to normal, and didn't hold back his words.

"To understand public opinion, the key is not how sharp its criticism is, but how to resonate with the broadest possible audience. In other words, you need to subtly integrate your intentions into topics that interest a wider range of people."

"For example?" Yukinagi looked at Hozuki Shingetsu with great interest, particularly interested in how he would retaliate.

Hozuki Shingetsu smiled slightly and wrote a few large characters on the desk.

Yukina moved closer to him and read it aloud, word by word.

"The Ninja World's Heaven Ranking, Earth Ranking, and Human Ranking?"

-

"Breaking news! Breaking news! The first-ever ranking of ninja strength in mainland China has been released!"

Don't miss it!

"A thousand-year-old ninja sect, tens of thousands of ninjas—who will ultimately reign supreme? The answer lies in the Heavenly, Earthly, and Human Rankings of the ninja world!"

"Ranked by Kirigakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, with the Mizukage guaranteeing its credibility with his life!"

"Anything produced by Wuyin is guaranteed to be of high quality!"

Early that morning, major cities and important transportation hubs throughout the ninja world were instantly drawn to these shouts. Nobles, wealthy merchants, and ordinary workers alike were all captivated by the calls.

"Judging from these shouts, it seems to be some kind of ninja strength ranking?"

A passerby stood still, watching the vendors shouting in the distance, a look of interest on his face.

They naturally knew about the profession of ninja, and they also knew that there were five great ninja villages in the world, and they vaguely knew that Konoha was the most powerful village in the world at that time.

But it's really hard to say who the strongest ninja in the world is.

The Kage of the five great ninja villages each have their own supporters, and none of them can convince the others. Besides the five Kage, Hanzo of the Salamander, the "demigod," also has many supporters who believe that he single-handedly brought the Land of Rain to its current status and deserves to be called the number one ninja in the world.

Besides, there is no clear standard for judging the strength gap between Jonin, the combat power of Chunin, or which village's Genin is the real genius.

In the past, people could only speculate based on the bounties in the underground black market. However, this method of speculation lacks impartiality and cannot cover most ninjas. Therefore, how to judge the strength of a ninja and which village has more geniuses has always been a debatable issue.

However, judging from the promotional slogan of this ranking, it seems to be a ranking of the strength of the current ninjas in the ninja world?

"Give me one!"

Finally, driven by his curiosity, the passerby took out his money and bought a serving.

He took it and saw that the ninja world ranking was a three-volume set, corresponding to the Heaven, Earth, and Human rankings. Before he could even delve into the differences between the three rankings, his eyes were drawn to the beautiful woman with a purple diamond-shaped mark on her forehead at the very top, followed by the large title.

"Number one on the Heavenly Ranking: Mito Uzumaki!"

(End of this chapter)