Promoting the Konoha threat theory, and talking about the Hidden Mist Belt!

Finally, at the end of this book, a helpful statistic is provided: nearly 40% of the Jonin are from Konoha, nearly 60% are from the four major ninja villages, and the remainder is divided among the smaller ninja villages.

The other rankings, such as the Earth Ranking and the Human Ranking, are similar, except that the Earth Ranking includes the 100 strongest Chunin in the ninja world, while the Human Ranking includes the 100 strongest Genin in the ninja world.

In any case, thanks to Hozuki Shingetsu's design, regardless of the ranking, the number of Konoha ninjas is always cleverly higher than the total number of any two countries, but less than the total number of three countries.

In short, Konoha, across its three generations of ninja, achieved a complete crushing victory over the other ninja villages.

This undisguised malice towards Konoha was immediately noticed by Konoha.

"His heart is worthy of death!"

Looking at the three simple booklets, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not pleased that the booklets had the most Konoha ninjas. Instead, he sensed a deep malice from Kirigakure from this simple ranking.

"This is a case of flattery to kill!" Shimura Danzo immediately saw through Hozuki Shingetsu's meaning.

"It is foreseeable that since this list was released, ninjas from other villages, as well as some wandering ninjas, will spare no effort to challenge us Konoha ninjas. The various missions that follow will likely be much more complicated."

As the saying goes, "In literature, there is no first place; in martial arts, there is no second place." Apart from powerful figures like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha who genuinely intimidate other ninjas, ninjas generally do not admit that anyone is stronger than themselves, let alone a ninja from another village.

Top-tier ninjas, such as the Kage of each village, can maintain their composure and disregard this ranking. However, the lower-ranking ninjas are not so calm, especially those wandering ninjas who have not attended school for long, have been learning ninjutsu since childhood, and yearn for fame. They will absolutely not give up this great opportunity.

It's foreseeable that when Konoha ninjas go out in the future, they will inevitably face provocations from other ninjas.

No, it's not just Konoha ninjas; all the ninjas on the list will face this situation. Whether for fame or fortune, the release of this list will undoubtedly cause further turmoil in the ninja world.

“This Hozuki Shingetsu is truly the source of chaos in the ninja world today!” Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment and said to Danzo Shimura beside him.

"Could we also release a list to punish Kirigakure? We don't need to completely eliminate the impact of this list, but at least we should minimize the negative effects."

With the ninja world in turmoil and Mito Uzumaki's life hanging in the balance, Hiruzen Sarutobi only wanted to weather this storm peacefully and didn't want any further complications.

"It's not very meaningful. It's clear that Kirigakure has put a lot of effort into pushing this behind the scenes, and people seem to believe Kirigakure more in this kind of news."

Indeed, thanks to Hozuki Shingetsu's continuous efforts to make his presence felt in the public sphere, Kirigakure can now be said to have essentially mastered the high ground of public opinion.

Whether it's the methods or the content of their propaganda, Kirigakure is much more interesting. So why would they support Konoha's stuff?

"However... for us, I think it's more likely an opportunity than a risk."

In fact, after this list was released, nobles and wealthy merchants tended to choose ninjas from the list when issuing missions and selecting ninjas. Without knowing the ninjas' actual strength, the list released by Kirigakure undoubtedly provided them with guidance.

In this situation, the Konoha ninjas with the most names on the list are undoubtedly the biggest winners.

Hozuki Shingetsu was certainly aware of this, but compared to this benefit, he valued the influence behind the list more—the power to control public opinion in the ninja world by simply increasing the number of ninjas on the list.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded; he was well aware of this. However, more than such benefits, he hoped that the ninja world could remain peaceful for the time being, and that the ninja world would only descend into chaos after the next generation of Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had grown up.

"Don't you understand the principle that the bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish, Hiruzen?" Shimura Danzo looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a disappointed expression. Why don't you dare to take a gamble?

"Fight? What are we fighting with?" Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and looked at Danzo Shimura.

"I am the Hokage of Konoha, not you!"

"The survival and development of Konoha's 600,000 inhabitants rests entirely on my shoulders! Danzo, not you!"

"I'm not steady, I don't seek stability. Am I really going to gamble the lives of 600,000 people on a single possibility?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's words were like knives, deeply imprinted on Danzo Shimura's heart. How could this be any different from pointing a finger at him and saying that he was not qualified to discuss the direction of Konoha's development?

Danzo Shimura was speechless. He once again felt the deep estrangement between himself and his old teammate, and at the same time, his ambition quietly sprouted again in his heart.

"If I were the Hokage..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at his old teammate with disappointment and turned away.

"Go down, Danzo. Think of a way to restrain Hozuki Shingetsu. We can't let him continue to act so recklessly."

The setting sun streamed through the windows, perfectly dividing the office into two spaces, one bright and one dark. Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing in the afterglow of the sunset, contrasted sharply with Danzo Shimura, who stood in the shadows.

As the sun sets and its afterglow fades, darkness quietly takes over the room.

Standing in the darkness, Shimura Danzo gazed at Hiruzen Sarutobi under the setting sun and made a decision.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Chapter 59 The Intense Internal Strife Within the Hidden Mist Village

Since the release of the three rankings of Heaven, Earth, and Man in the ninja world, just as Danzo Shimura said, the ninja world immediately fell into turmoil.

If the previous power struggles were merely infighting among the top echelons of various factions, an unseen battle, then the release of these three rankings is a celebration for the lower and middle-ranking ninjas.

The ninjas' fierce fighting was rampant, and even ordinary people sensed that something was wrong, vaguely anticipating the approaching shadow of war.

As the saying goes, "Having mastered both literary and martial arts, one can sell them to the emperor."

When an opportunity to quickly gain fame and be appreciated by important figures is laid out so blatantly before them, and all they need to do is defeat any of the ninjas on the leaderboard to easily reap the rich rewards, how could these ninjas, who haven't read many books, resist such temptation?

And the one most affected by this is undoubtedly Konoha.

Positively correlated with the rapid increase in mission requests to Konoha is the significant rise in the number of attacks Konoha ninjas have recently suffered. Caught off guard, they not only received little in return for their missions but also lost a considerable amount, which greatly angered Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Under these circumstances, through the planning of Shimura Danzo, Konoha launched a special public opinion campaign against Kirigakure, which was to make the conflict between Ren and Hozuki Shingetsu public.

Following the methods often used by Hozuki Shingetsu, they used theatrical and cinematic techniques, along with storytellers, to vividly reenact how Hozuki Gengetsu used "despicable" means to seize Ren's position as Mizukage, and how Ren endured humiliation and hardship, biding his time until Hozuki Gengetsu's demise in battle, ultimately leading to his triumphant return.

This kind of plot, similar to a prince's revenge, is undoubtedly very popular with the general public. In addition, Konoha is determined to give Hozuki Shingetsu something to do and make things difficult for Kirigakure, so it is sparing no effort to promote it.

As for the other villages like Iwagakure and Kumogakure, which have grudges against Kirigakure, it goes without saying that the Five-Tails and Moody were destroyed because of Kirigakure. In addition, Kirigakure's strength has indeed increased to a certain extent after accommodating the Uzumaki clan. Kumogakure and Iwagakure naturally want to find some work for Kirigakure.

As for Sunagakure... it would be a sin to not do something like kicking someone when they're down, right?

Thus, under this tacit understanding among the major forces in the ninja world, all sorts of things related to the Third Mizukage were intentionally or unintentionally dug up by those with ulterior motives. This included the fact that he was the First Mizukage's bodyguard but not the Second Mizukage, as well as some of the "operations" behind Hozuki Gengetsu's back, all of which were vividly described in the ninja world.

What made the ninja world's onlookers even happier was that, during one of his outings, the current Mizukage, Ren, watched a movie in front of a large crowd and remarked, "Very interesting."

This is very interesting.

As the Mizukage, he neither ordered a ban nor denied the film, which was biased in its stance. Instead, he left a comment saying "very interesting." This made many forces, including the four great ninja villages, wonder if the infighting in Kirigakure had reached a fever pitch.

At this time, Kirigakure, which should have been making every effort to dispel the negative public opinion, was unusually slow to act and ignored the negative reports, which further solidified the suspicions of the other major ninja villages.

“If that’s the case, then we don’t need to be wary of Kirigakure.” Shamon looked at the intelligence report in his hand and said to Chiyo and Ebizo beside him.

"The fact that such sensitive negative public opinion is not being cleared up proves that the internal struggle in Kirigakure has indeed reached a very intense level."

Chiyo nodded and analyzed the intelligence report in her hand: "It seems that the conflict between the Mizukage's faction and the Hozuki faction in Kirigakure has escalated to the point where they're no longer willing to put on a show. In this situation, regardless of who wins or loses, Kirigakure will undoubtedly face turmoil."

Even though the Uchiha and Konoha had such a bad relationship before, they were still polite to each other on the surface. But now Kirigakure is not even willing to put on an act anymore, which is enough to prove how deep the rift is between them.

However, once internal strife breaks out, even with the addition of the Uzumaki clan, Kirigakure after the infighting will be no threat. But Kirigakure is far from the mainland, located overseas, so other forces have little opportunity to intervene.

"So, we should focus our attention on the other ninja villages, especially Konoha," Ebizo concluded.

"According to reliable intelligence, Konoha has brought back a few children from the Uzumaki clan, which is enough to prove that Mito Uzumaki is indeed in imminent danger. As soon as she dies, the Second Shinobi World War will probably start immediately."

Shamen nodded, agreeing with the assessment.

The reason why the ninja world is able to maintain a slight balance and why many ninja villages have not attacked Konoha is not only because Hozuki Shingetsu is constantly stirring up trouble, but also because of Uzumaki Mito's existence.

Although there is only one, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, her appearance on any battlefield almost means defeat for the opposing side, which is unacceptable to all countries.

Despite a one-in-three chance, just to be on the safe side, countries decided to wait it out before starting a war, since it wouldn't take more than a few years anyway.

"It's a pity, though. Objectively speaking, Hozuki Shingetsu is quite a talented kid, and I really admire him. Unfortunately, with internal strife looming in Kirigakure, it's hard to say whether he'll even survive."

After everyone finished discussing the arrangements and deployments for each country, Shamen looked at the intelligence in his hand and sighed again.

“Even the mighty Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha are now nothing but dust. What use are geniuses?” Chiyo had a different view. “Therefore, only puppets are eternal!”

"Chiyo, I remember telling you before not to research human puppets!"

Upon hearing this, Shamon seemed to realize something, his face suddenly darkening as he stared intently at Chiyo.

“…I haven’t researched human puppets.” Chiyo looked at Shamon casually, but quickly lowered her head. Seeing this, Shamon sighed deeply.

"I regret teaching you puppetry... I will destroy all related materials, and from now on you are never allowed to touch human puppets again, do you hear me! Human puppets are not a realm for humans to set foot in!"

"Remember, Chiyo, never research human puppets, and never mention human puppets to anyone. That is a technology that will bring misfortune to people!"

"……I see."

Chapter 60 Black Zetsu's Assistance

Similar to the judgment made by Sunagakure, Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure also reached similar conclusions.

Even in Konoha, to celebrate the success of this public opinion campaign, Hiruzen Sarutobi held a special celebration banquet for Danzo Shimura, to celebrate that the brat Shingetsu Hozuki was finally going to be in big trouble.

Incidentally, this led to a reconciliation between Shimura Danzo and Shimura Danzo.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already blatantly humiliated Danzo Shimura last time, practically pointing his finger at him and accusing him of disregarding the big picture, implying that the Hokage didn't know how to think strategically.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi regretted it afterward, he wouldn't apologize, neither out of respect for his position as Hokage nor from a purely ethical standpoint. However, this wasn't a long-term solution, as Danzo, as the "Darkest Ninja" who controlled the underworld of Konoha, was indeed an indispensable and important assistant to him.

Therefore, in Hiruzen Sarutobi's view, he had already made a huge concession by holding a victory celebration for Danzo on the occasion of the Hidden Mist Village incident. Danzo should be able to feel his sincerity, right?

As expected, Shimura Danzo was extremely flattered by this, abandoning his previous cold war stance and becoming very accommodating to Hiruzen Sarutobi's every request.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi overlooked the ambition hidden beneath Danzo Shimura's compliant exterior. The resolute look in his lowered head foreshadowed the changing relationship between these once-cooperative old partners.

-

"New Moon, what exactly is the meaning of Lian's remarks? Doesn't his statement completely tear away the fig leaf between us?"

At first, Hozuki Shingetsu was confused by Ren's comments about that movie, but after thinking about it carefully, he understood Ren's actions.