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

"I don't care, if this woman goes, I have to go too!"

Kushina Uzumaki wisely chose to take advantage of her young age and pretended to be unreasonable as she continued to act cute towards Shingetsu Hozuki.

Faced with this scene, everyone present kept their eyes down and pretended to be indifferent, but in reality, they had already pricked up their ears and were ready to watch the birth of this hellish scene.

In this situation, even if Hozuki Shingetsu could easily come up with a hundred ideas to disrupt the ninja world, he would still be overwhelmed by the situation.

Although he was a petty person, that's human nature: the more one lacks something, the more one hopes to make up for it from those around them.

The more petty a person is, the more they crave genuine emotions and the more they desire that everyone around them be a virtuous person.

Therefore, he prefers to use a conciliatory approach to resolve conflicts with those around him unless it is absolutely necessary. Moreover, he has a unique tool to prove his "intentions".

So, after a simple fist bump to prove that his feelings "hadn't changed"—and it's unclear whether being a womanizer counts as being true to oneself in another sense—Hozuki Shingetsu finally calmed down Uzumaki Kushina.

Hozuki Shingetsu put a lot of effort into selecting the personnel for this trip to the Tsuchigumo clan.

At this point, Yagura Karatachi had already become the Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, so it was obvious that he couldn't go out with him. After all, from any perspective, two Jinchūriki of the Tailed Beasts could not leave the village at the same time.

Since the main purpose of this trip was not to fight, Hozuki Shingetsu, after some deliberation, chose Yukinagi, Uzumaki Muneto, and Ao as his companions for this trip.

As her personal secretary, Yukinagi's main task is to be beautiful and lighten the monotony of the journey.

Uzumaki Muneto was used by Hozuki Shingetsu as a template to demonstrate to the Tsuchigumo clan how vibrant and fulfilling the lives of Konoha's former allies were in Kirigakure.

Moreover, Uzumaki Muneto is also a leading young figure in the Uzumaki clan of this generation. He almost became the candidate for the Six-Tails Jinchuriki during the Blood Mist Rebellion. Bringing him out was also intended to cultivate relationships with the core members of the village.

As for the reason for bringing green, it's even simpler: when you're out and about, you always need someone to do odd jobs, right?

This trip to the Tsuchigumo clan is not expected to be smooth sailing, so at crucial moments it will be his turn to play the good cop, while Hozuki Shingetsu will play the bad cop.

After calming Kushina Uzumaki and gathering everyone together, Shingetsu Hozuki and the three of them officially set off on their journey to find the Tsuchigumo clan.

As an ally of Konoha, the Tsuchigumo clan's secluded residence is located on the border of the Land of Fire, facing the Land of Whirlpools across the sea.

Therefore, this trip must be kept completely secret, otherwise, if it attracts the attention of Konoha, it's hard to say whether this matter will succeed.

The four of them set off from Kirigakure, traveled by water to the Land of Water, and landed at a secret base of the Uzumaki clan in the former Land of Whirlpools. They planned to use their transformation jutsu to take a shortcut directly to the secluded residence of the Tsuchigumo clan.

"That's... Uzushio Village?"

During a break, Qing glanced into the distance and suddenly noticed a city appearing on the edge of his vision.

In the Land of Whirlpools, there is probably no other place besides Whirlpool Village with a city of this size.

Hozuki Shingetsu stood up and looked in that direction. A city stood silently deep in the wilderness, exuding a putrid smell. Although it was far away, Hozuki Shingetsu could still sense that the city was deserted and the whole city was "dead".

“That’s right, that’s Wochao Village.”

The whirlpool sect leader looked at the dilapidated Whirlpool Village in the distance with a complicated expression.

"Are you being reminded of someone by seeing this object?"

Noticing the unnatural expression on Uzumaki Sōjin's face, Hozuki Shingetsu thought for a moment and knew what he was thinking. In order to deepen his relationship with the genius of the Uzumaki clan, he took the initiative to start a conversation.

"……Roughly the same."

Uzumaki clansmen replied in a muffled voice, "The main thing is that we feel somewhat sorry for the villagers here because our clan left so suddenly. After all, they trusted us and chose to live here, but we left without a word..."

The total population of the Whirlpool Clan is only a little over a thousand, but the permanent population of Whirlpool Village has reached tens of thousands.

Of course, not everyone here is a relative of the Uzumaki clan. There are also many people who admire the reputation of the Uzumaki clan and believe in their strength, and who have chosen to settle in Uzumaki Village.

When the Lei Tu Alliance attacked Wochao Village, some people chose to leave, while others chose to stay.

However, when the Uzumaki clan chose to go to Kirigakure, Uzumaki Village was inevitably left vulnerable due to the lack of defenses.

In the war-torn ninja world, nothing is more terrifying than a wealthy city losing its defenses. Those who remained fled, each seeking their own way.

That's why Uzumaki Muneto felt so emotional when he saw the dilapidated state of Uzushio Village from afar.

"Don't worry, what's rightfully yours will always be yours."

Hozuki Shingetsu comforted him, "Believe me, it won't be long before you set foot in the Land of Whirlpools again."

After all, the Land of Whirlpools is in such a strategic location that it would be a waste not to take it over and use it as a forward base for attacking the Shinobi World.

Chapter 113 The Dilemma of the Earth Spider Clan

In Hozuki Shingetsu's vision, the period from the Second Shinobi World War to the Third Shinobi World War was a time for Kirigakure to lie low and lie dormant.

Once the Third Great War begins, we can gradually occupy some key locations on the Ninja World Continent and use them as forward bases.

At that time, the Land of Whirlpools, which is separated from the Land of Water by the sea, will undoubtedly be Hozuki Shingetsu's main target.

Uzumaki Muneto was naturally unaware of these things, so he simply took Hozuki Shingetsu's words of comfort as comforting words, smiled, and said nothing more.

After all, given Kirigakure's current strength, it's really wishful thinking to think they could occupy such a strategic location on the border of the Land of Fire.

Seeing this, Hozuki Shingetsu guessed what he was thinking. However, he didn't explain his meaning. After all, talking about future plans now would feel like making empty promises. When the facts were presented, the Uzumaki sect member would naturally understand that Hozuki Shingetsu always meant what he said.

And so, in this somber atmosphere, the group crossed the Land of Whirlpools and arrived at the Land of Tea, a small country where the Tsuchigumo clan lived in seclusion.

"It seems that the Second Shinobi World War had a very significant impact on the entire shinobi world!"

As Hozuki Shingetsu traveled, he discovered that the towns and trading posts in the Land of Tea were mostly deserted, with only a few merchants making purchases here and there.

He was accompanied by a large number of guards, a stark contrast to the bustling scene he had been in earlier.

This is only because the Land of Tea is located in the northeast of the Ninja World Continent, adjacent to the Land of Fire, and not near the main battlefield. If it were near the Land of Rain, merchants would probably have disappeared long ago.

"But this does make things easier for us."

Ao chuckled as he watched this scene, after all, Kirigakure was making a fortune because of this battlefield!

Normal merchants would naturally be unable to find sources of goods or sellers due to war and blocked roads, but for a ninja village, none of these problems exist.

Since the start of the Second Shinobi World War, Kirigakure has been frantically producing various supplies and then contacting the major participating forces to ask them if they need these strategic resources.

This undoubtedly delighted all the major powers—after all, in the midst of war, money sometimes cannot buy everything, and the Hidden Mist Village's proactive offer was a timely solution to their urgent needs.

Especially after Hanzo the Salamander's blitzkrieg in the Land of Iron, monopolizing all of the Land of Iron's weapon and equipment production, some key strategic materials became extremely difficult to buy even with money.

As for the price... time is money, my friend.

So it's not unreasonable to exchange a little money for that crucial time, right?

"It's a pity that industrialization hasn't started yet, and the village's production capacity still needs to be improved. Otherwise, we could have earned even more this time... What a pity, we missed this Ninja World War. There won't be many more opportunities to take advantage of such good deals in the future."

Hozuki Shingetsu thought of wanting more after getting what he wanted.

The talent sought out for steam technology from the Eastern Continent has returned, and the relevant personnel are working diligently to prepare items according to Hozuki Shingetsu's requirements. It is believed that Kirigakure will be able to successfully usher in the industrial age in a short period of time.

However, due to the lack of military strength to match its industrial production capacity, and the inability to secure a market share that could be guaranteed by military strength, the progress of industrialization has been repeatedly delayed by Hozuki Shingetsu.

However, when the Second Shinobi World War ended and all the villages suffered heavy losses and returned to their villages to silently lick their wounds, that was when Kirigakure truly began the era of large-scale industrialization in the shinobi world.

"The Earth Spider Clan's seclusion is truly thorough... I've searched for ages in the Land of Tea but still can't find its exact location."

Yukinagi wasn't concerned with the village's economic production, and after failing to find the Tsuchigumo clan's village for a long time, she couldn't help but complain.

Just then, a rustling sound suddenly came from the side of the road, and a man and a woman suddenly leaped out of the woods and collided head-on with Hozuki Shingetsu and the others.

The two men were young, and their physiques clearly showed that they had undergone ninja training. They were carrying two or three packages on their backs, indicating that they were out shopping.

The two people in front of them were clearly surprised that people would still walk this path during wartime, but they were immediately drawn to the outfits of Hozuki Shingetsu and the others.

At this time, Hozuki Shingetsu and the others were still in a disguised state using the Transformation Technique, and at Yukinagi's request, they disguised themselves as small traveling merchants.

"Merchants? What goods do you carry with you?"

Upon seeing Hozuki Shingetsu and his companions, the man and woman's eyes lit up, and they immediately stepped forward to buy some items.

However, Hozuki Shingetsu and his companions' identities as itinerant merchants were merely a pretext, and the goods in the cart were mainly used to deceive others. Therefore, they were dismissed on the grounds that the goods had been sold out.

"The tattoos on those two people's arms look somewhat familiar..."

Hozuki Shingetsu glanced at the "fuck" tattoo on the arms of the two departing figures, a thought struck him, and after exchanging a glance with the others, he followed closely behind them.

Among the people present, even the weakest, Ao, now possesses the strength of an elite Chunin. Although the two in front of him have also undergone ninja training, their strength is clearly insufficient, and they have not even noticed the four people closely following behind them.

"Sigh... Life in the village has become increasingly difficult since the war started. I wonder why the leader insists on keeping his promise to Konoha. Wouldn't it have been better to just fight as a mercenary for his employer like before..."

"Don't say anymore, the leader had no choice. Although that forbidden technique was extremely powerful, it was precisely because of this that we were constantly on the move and being targeted for revenge every day... Although life is a bit harder now, at least it's much more stable."

"But……"

The conversation ahead carried faintly on the wind to Hozuki Shingetsu and the others, confirming Hozuki Shingetsu's suspicions once again: the two people in front of him were indeed members of the Tsuchigumo clan.

"Judging from this conversation, the Earth Spider clan's situation doesn't seem to be as good as we imagined..."

Hozuki Shingetsu pondered the information revealed in their conversation, constantly considering his next course of action.

After traveling for an hour, the group finally arrived at the secluded dwelling of the Earth Spider clan, a small village located deep in a valley.

Upon seeing the village, the two visibly breathed a sigh of relief, skillfully navigating the numerous traps outside the village and returning inside.

It was midday, and the village was not very populated. Only a few elderly people and young children were scattered around the village, greeting the two of them warmly.

"My lord, we're back."

Carrying these items, the two arrived at an unremarkable-looking house in the village and reported back to the leader of the Tsuchigumo clan, Etsu no Kakeru.

However, the Traveler ignored the two and turned warily towards the door, shouting, "Now that you've followed me here and found me, why don't you show yourself?"

Upon hearing this, Hozuki Shingetsu and the others immediately realized that their whereabouts had been discovered.