People are devouring everything; I have a bucket list.

Upon receiving Xiao Yang's order, Qing hesitated. He looked at Xiao Yang, then at Master Yuan, and hesitated to speak.

At this moment, Master Yuan stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then asked:

"Fifth Hokage, given the current state of Kirigakure, it may not be able to sustain a war on the scale of the Fourth Shinobi World War."

"Would Konoha be suitable?"

Xiao Yang smiled and asked a question in return, then explained:

"If I remember correctly, both Iwagakure and Kumogakure are still at war with Konoha, right?"

Although the Third Shinobi World War ended with the arrival of the formidable "Ultimate Killer King" Minato Namikaze, Konoha was able to bring it to a close.

However, Minato Namikaze died suddenly on the night of the Nine-Tails less than a year after taking office.

Subsequently, less than three months later, Orochimaru's human experimentation incident occurred, leading to this cold-hearted man's direct defection.

Subsequently, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, temporarily assumed the position of Hokage, and the selection of the Fifth Hokage was suspended.

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The four great ninja villages had long understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's temperament. After he took power, Konoha, which had lost the Fourth Hokage and his wife and had lost the Sannin, became a hot commodity.

This led to a border conflict between Iwagakure, which had originally signed a ceasefire agreement, and Konoha, while Kumogakure, which had not signed a ceasefire agreement at all, intensified its offensive.

Meanwhile, Kirigakure reinforced its border troops, stationing them along the coastline of the Land of Fire, and occasionally sending troops to raid the border.

If it weren't for the talent gap caused by Minato Namikaze and other powerful figures like Might Guy, the Third Shinobi World War would have been reignited long ago.

Under these circumstances, Konoha really doesn't have the confidence to continue fighting on three fronts.

After all, in order to withstand the raids of Kirigakure, Konoha had already unsealed the Uchiha clan, sending this bloodline clan, which had never been sent to the battlefield since the First War, to the front lines to use the strength of the entire clan to resist Kirigakure.

In this situation, Xiao Yang's claims that the Fourth Mizukage was controlled and harmed by the Uchiha clan, and his order for the Hidden Mist Ninja forces to approach the border of the Land of Fire, clearly reveal his true intentions.

He's clearly trying to extort money from Konoha!

After sorting through the situation, Master Yuan suddenly realized that there seemed to be some lucrative opportunities to be made.

"Fifth Boss, what do you want to do?"

After losing the Mizukage and suppressing the Kaguya clan, Kirigakure suffered heavy losses and was not confident in launching a large-scale war.

But isn't Konoha the same?

Furthermore, although Kirigakure cannot wage war, it still has the audacity to use war as an excuse to take a cut from Konoha.

Moreover, the fact that Kirigakure launched war preparations after losing the Mizukage was, to some extent, a form of strategic deception.

This would make it impossible for people from other ninja villages to determine whether Kirigakure was staging the whole thing.

After all, the Third Shinobi World War was started by Sunagakure spreading the message that "the Third Kazekage has disappeared and the culprit is a Konoha ninja," in order to incite war against Konoha.

Given this past record, Xiao Yang's actions could indeed arouse suspicion in Konoha, thus achieving the effect of bluffing and forcing Konoha to back down.

Of course, the details depend on how Xiao Yang operates.

Most importantly, Master Yuan needs to determine just how far Xiao Yang intends to go.

"By threatening war, we will force Konoha to hand over the murderer of the Uchiha clan."

Xiao Yang then said with a playful expression:

"If you hand over the murderer who harmed the Fourth Mizukage, Kirigakure may consider a ceasefire."

Upon hearing this, Master Yuan frowned: "Fifth Hokage, the chances of Konoha handing over the body are slim. Even if they do, they'll probably only hand over the corpse, and the intelligence information will be completely destroyed."

"This condition is too easy for Konoha."

Upon hearing Master Yuan's words, Xiao Yang glanced at Master Yuan in surprise.

I must say, this old man's guess was quite accurate.

As Xiao Yang recalled, not long afterward, the Hidden Cloud Village had done something similar in Konoha.

Xiao Yang vaguely remembered that the delegation from Kumogakure came to Konoha to sign a ceasefire agreement, but secretly sent an envoy to steal the Hyuga clan's bloodline limit, but the mission failed and the envoy was killed.

The Hidden Cloud Village used this opportunity to force Konoha to hand over the murderer, ultimately forcing Konoha to hand over a surrogate from the Hyuga clan.

This process is indeed quite similar to what Master Yuan is describing now.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yang immediately realized that Yuan Shi was a smart person, unlike those fools in the Kaguya clan who only relied on their muscles.

Therefore, Xiao Yang took the initiative to explain:

"What we want is not for Konoha to hand over the killer, but to put pressure on Konoha."

"Then, have someone privately express the desire for compensation from the Uchiha clan, and then have Konoha negotiate compensation with the Uchiha clan."

"Don't forget, right now on the border of the Land of Fire, it's the Uchiha clan that's resisting us."

"If we let the Hokage clan and the Uchiha clan fight it out, our borders will be much more stable."

"Only in this way will we have room to solve our internal problems."

Upon hearing this, Mei Terumi frowned and said, "But, will Konoha believe it?"

"The Uchiha who killed the Fourth Hokage—if that person hadn't claimed to be Uchiha Madara and demonstrated the power to control the tailed beasts, I really couldn't imagine who in the Uchiha clan could have done that."

Mei Terumi has fought against the Uchiha clan before.

Those Uchiha Jonin with three tomoe were strong, but their abilities weren't as bizarre as Madara Uchiha's.

According to Master Yuan, that was clearly the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.

The most recent owners of that power were the Uchiha brothers during the Warring States period.

The current Uchiha clan may not actually possess this ability.

In response, Xiao Yang simply explained:

"That's not important. What's important is that this person really existed and left a trace in Mist Village."

"We don't need to prove who this Uchiha is. As long as we prove that this person is an Uchiha, and stir up conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha, that's enough."

"What do you think Konoha would think of an Uchiha who can control the Mizukage?"

Upon hearing this, Qing, who was in charge of intelligence, immediately changed his expression:

"Night of the Nine-Tailed Fox?!"

Mei Terumi finally realized what was happening: "Fifth Hokage, you mean you want Konoha to suspect that the Nine-Tails' Night attack was orchestrated by the Uchiha clan?"

Xiao Yang then said with a malicious look, "Whether he is or not, as long as Konoha has suspicions, that's enough."

"Besides, we can easily provide Konoha with some information~"

"This information could very well point to a powerful member of the Uchiha clan."

"For example, Fugaku Uchiha, or Shisui Uchiha. Anyway, it's not impossible that members of the Uchiha clan secretly awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan."

Master Yuan had already understood Xiao Yang's meaning, and immediately chuckled:

"Fifth Generation, you're truly cunning!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yang, understanding the unspoken question, asked, "Master Yuan, will you accept this ghostwriting job?"

"I'll accept it! Of course I'll accept it! It's been ages since I wrote a letter to give that Konoha monkey a piece of my mind."

The master looked quite excited, as if he could already imagine the twisted expression on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face when he received the letter.

Meanwhile, after arranging the border diplomacy issues, Xiao Yang turned to Terumi Mei and said:

"Alright, let's leave the matter of Konoha for now. Let's focus on the internal problems of Kirigakure."

"How many ninja does Kirigakure have now? What is their weapons inventory? What is their food self-sufficiency rate? What are their main sources of income? What are their pillar industries?"

Mei Terumi was completely stumped by Xiao Yang's barrage of questions.

Her mouth, hidden beneath the mask, gaped slightly, and she froze, unable to utter a single word.

No, why is the Fifth Generation asking so many questions right off the bat, and why are they so "professional"?

"What? Can't answer?"

Xiao Yang glanced at Terumi Mei with surprise. Although he wasn't a professional political worker, he had at least lived in modern society and knew a little about the relevant concepts.

But in this situation, it seems like Mei Terumi understands even less than he does.

Aren't you the fifth generation candidate being trained by Master Yuan?

At this moment, Master Yuan coughed, but explained awkwardly:

"The fifth generation's educational curriculum, as it was taught, had not yet penetrated to the level of how the village was functioning."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yang turned around and asked Master Yuan:

"So what did you teach her before?"

Upon hearing this, Master Yuan paused for a moment and then said:

"The most important task for this child was to reach the level of the Five Kage, or at least be able to contend with the Fourth Kage."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yang asked with a strange expression, "Is it difficult to contend with Yagura?"

Terumi Mei's heart felt so cold!

She really wanted to say that becoming a Kage-level powerhouse was an extremely difficult thing.

But in front of "Kaguya Moon," who had defeated Yagura Karatachi at the age of 13, Mei Terumi simply couldn't bring herself to say such a thing.

So, how can there be such a beast as Xiao Yang in this world?!

At this moment, after realizing the problem with Terumi Mei, Xiao Yang said with some difficulty:

"Given her condition, it seems a bit difficult for me to recommend her as the Mizukage's assistant."

"If that doesn't work, how about we try the head of the ANBU? He should be able to do that, right?"

"This is a bit too fast," Master Yuan said, looking troubled. "This child hasn't been in the Dark Division for very long..."

Xiao Yang paused for a moment, then turned to look at Mei Terumi, who seemed to know nothing about anything:

"What positions are left?"

"We can't just treat such a grown person like a pretty vase, can we?"

"While I don't mind her being the Mizukage's wife, it's such a waste of her talent to not let her do anything but be a sword."

Mei Terumi really didn't know what to say at that moment.

Good news, Xiao Yang felt that making her the Water Shadow's wife was a waste of her talents.

The bad news is that, apart from the position of Lady Mizukage, there are actually very few things I can do.

This made Terumi Mei feel very frustrated.

At this moment, Master Yuan tentatively said to Xiao Yang:

"How about we try the Shadow Guard? Let this kid learn some political skills first?"

"The Shadow Guard..." Xiao Yang's expression turned subtle as he thought of the Shadow Guard's duty to protect the Water Shadow.

Although Xiao Yang was reluctant to admit it, the word "secretary" was all he could think about right now.

Why should Mei Terumi be his 'shadow guard (secretary)'?

I'm afraid that if we're not careful, we might end up protecting each other in bed.

Faced with this situation, Xiao Yang could only feign 'difficulty' while actually being somewhat 'excited' as he said:

"That's all we can do for now!"

Mei Terumi's face beneath the mask was expressionless.

At this moment, the thoughts in her mind can be summed up in one sentence.

Fortune changes every thirty years, so never underestimate a young girl's potential!