Mizukage's Pokémon Ninja Scroll

Chapter 424 Have you ever thought about replacing the Daimyo?

When asked about the development of Amegakure, Konan's expression stiffened slightly.

However, considering Tachibana Kanagawa's identity and his previous assistance to the Akatsuki organization, he sighed and began to recount his story with a hint of annoyance.

At the very beginning of the story, Konan commented on the current state of Amegakure.

"It's not good, neither internally nor externally."

This wasn't too surprising to Jianchuan Ju.

The main reason is that Nagato has maintained contact with Yahiko. Although Tachibana Kenkawa has not actively sought to find out, he probably knows some things.

So at this moment, he continued to wait quietly for Xiao Nan to explain the details.

"During the time when the Salamander of Amegakure was in power, he was actually relatively powerful in the Land of Rain. Because he needed to rely on Hanzo's name to maintain a semblance of peace, in reality, even the Daimyo's status in the Land of Rain was not as high as that of him, the leader of the ninja village."

"However, now that Yahiko has taken over as leader, there are still many opposing forces within Amegakure, and the daimyo has repeatedly proposed to cut Amegakure's funding."

"As for the outside world, after news of Hanzo's death gradually spread, the three kingdoms of Fire, Earth, and Wind all sent people to verify the situation. The Fire and Wind kingdoms were alright, at least they openly acknowledged Yahiko's identity as the leader. However, Iwagakure has been inciting the opposition forces within the village to re-elect a leader, and has launched several small-scale coups. Although Yahiko and his men suppressed them all, they still caused quite a stir."

As she spoke, Konan's tone was very calm, as if she were an observer, recounting the recent events that had occurred in Amegakure.

However, Tachibana Kanagawa could tell that Konan was only putting on a brave face.

The clash between ideals and reality has left the Akatsuki organization, which once strived tirelessly for the peace of Amegakure, physically and mentally exhausted by this situation of internal and external troubles.

Ultimately, Yahiko's current strength and reputation are insufficient to support the kind of aura that Hanzo of the Salamander once possessed, which could be described as a "demigod".

This is also why Tachibana Kanagawa suggested that Yahiko continue to govern Amegakure under the identity of Hanzo the Salamander.

However, people must always take responsibility for their past decisions.

However, Xiao Nan forced a smile and continued speaking.

"This joint Chunin Exam is actually a good opportunity for Amegakure. Yahiko also hopes to show Amegakure's potential in this exam, give the Daimyo more confidence, and make the next generation of the village more cohesive."

Upon hearing this, Jianchuan Ju shook her head inwardly.

The distrust that the Daimyo of the Land of Rain has towards Yahiko, or rather towards the current Amegakure, stems more from external pressure and the gap in internal strength.

In this situation, what's needed most is an improvement in immediate combat capabilities.

The so-called potential and future are things that small countries and daimyo, who are already struggling to survive, can't really consider at all.

Even if these Amegakure genin can dominate the exams and defeat all the other ninja villages, so what?

If the Great Ninja Village sends out a few more Jonin, it can easily deal with Amegakure, and the Daimyo of the Land of Rain will not lose any of the resources he is supposed to give up.

However, when Tachibana saw Minami's expression, she understood.

Perhaps Yahiko and Konan were aware of these things, but given the current situation of internal and external troubles, they didn't have any better options.

Putting Yahiko aside for now, Konan definitely has the potential to become a Kage-level fighter.

But growth takes time, and it's still unknown how long Amegakure can hold out in the current situation.

"Should we send Nagato back to help Akatsuki weather this period?"

The idea had barely popped into Tachibana Kenkawa's mind when he immediately rejected it.

It's not that Tachibana Kanagawa is stingy or unwilling to part with Nagato's fighting strength.

Given Yahiko's and his group's personalities, and considering that Tachibana had previously saved Nagato's life, the Akatsuki organization would undoubtedly be Tachibana's most loyal allies.

Helping Amegakure stabilize its regime would also be a good thing for Tachibana Kenkawa.

But what supports Nagato's Kage-level strength now is mainly his Rinnegan.

Aside from the abilities granted by his eyes, Nagato's strength wasn't actually much greater than Yahiko's or Konan's.

If we take personality factors into account, they might be even weaker in actual combat.

However, if Nagato frequently uses the Rinnegan's abilities in Amegakure...

Even with Tachibana Kanagawa's "transformation" as a disguise, it probably won't be long before Black Zetsu and his group target them.

At that point, the Akatsuki organization will likely follow the same old path as in the original story, and forget about bringing peace to Amegakure.

Thinking of this, Tachibana looked intently at Konan in front of her and told her the plan she had prepared long ago.

And this is the real purpose behind Tachibana Kanagawa's summons to talk to Konan.

"Has your Akatsuki organization ever considered replacing the Daimyo of the Land of Rain?!"

"What?!"

Konan was stunned by Tachibana Kenkawa's sudden suggestion.

Staring in astonishment at the smiling Tachibana Kanagawa, he remained speechless for a long time.

Firstly, Konan had no idea that the two of them, who were originally discussing the recent developments in Amegakure, had suddenly drifted into talking about replacing the daimyo.

Is it because the daimyo wants to cut funding for Amegakure?

More importantly, what Tachibana Kenkawa said was still too shocking for the native residents of the ninja world.

In the established worldview of ninjas, ninjas are simply a profession—mercenaries, bodyguards, and thugs—whose purpose from the beginning has been to serve nobles and daimyo.

Even in a large-scale war like the Ninja World War, where life and death were fought, the struggle was nothing more than for the mission quotas between different countries.

Occasionally, there might be instances of territory being occupied, but these are merely tasks assigned by the Daimyo, the biggest client or investor of the ninja village.

Ultimately, these occupied territories will be handed over to the state for administration.

The ninjas would eventually return to their villages and live off missions and the military funds provided by the daimyo.

Perhaps some of the more powerful ninja villages will have the upper hand in their dealings with the daimyo and gain more say.

That's just like hiring mercenaries and charging them higher fees, or a case of a big business bullying its customers.

Essentially, ninjas were still acting as intermediaries, providing services to daimyo and nobles.

However, now, Tachibana Kenkawa tells him...

Do you want to replace the daimyo?

Hiring mercenaries to overthrow a regime? Then who will govern the country?

Facing Xiaonan's clear yet confused eyes, Jianchuan Ju smiled and repeated the question from before.

"What do you think? Have you considered having the Akatsuki organization lead the Land of Rain?"

(End of this chapter)