The Demon King, reborn in Japan as a monk

That's why he carefully chose to invade the Land of Fire during the Chunin Exams in Konoha!

Having read the original work, he knew that the Chunin Exams took place when the Third Hokage died and Konoha fell into chaos. At that time, Konoha was not only powerless, but also instigated internal power struggles. Even if the Daimyo intervened, he could only barely get Konoha moving, but it was unlikely that Konoha would be able to unleash its full power.

Not to mention, Ishihara Sho also has the Mist Ninja behind him. With these modern modifications, it's unlikely that he can fight Konoha to a standstill, but it's also unlikely that he will be easily defeated by Konoha as in the original story.

Moreover, ninjas are generally not allowed to intervene in wars between mortals; otherwise, a ninja war would be the inevitable outcome, with no other result possible.

"Daimyo, a call from the front, inquiring about further battle plans." The female ninja who had accompanied Mei Terumi to the marriage and was responsible for using summoning jutsu ran over to ask.

"We've already given them the city branch maps within the Land of Fire. Now that we've taken the strongholds, we should immediately send out troops to try and catch up with the people in the Land of Fire and Konoha before they react, and take control of more cities. Also, tell them that they can decide their own future battle plans. Unless they're completely clueless or in a difficult situation, they don't need to send me messages about everything," Ishihara Akira replied somewhat irritably.

"Yes."

Chapter 100 Pointing Out the Country

"I heard from Shizune that a large number of Water Country troops left the Land of Whirlpools and headed towards the Land of Fire. Is that true?" Not long after she had dismissed the female ninja who was just a tool, Tsunade, still dressed in a green jacket, a gray short-sleeved kimono, and black tight-fitting stretch pants, walked into the main hall and asked Ishihara Sho, who was resting there.

“Yes, that’s right.” Ishihara Akira nodded.

"What do you want to do?" Tsunade asked, frowning.

After all, only soldiers, not ninjas, were going, so a ninja war was unlikely to break out. But a national war was not a good thing either, so she couldn't ask any more questions about it.

"We will reclaim the Land of Fire, which originally belonged to our Senju clan." Ishihara Akira skillfully shifted the blame, directly identifying himself as a member of the Senju clan, while avoiding Tsunade's displeasure, and answered accordingly.

"When did the Land of Fire become part of the Senju clan?" Tsunade asked in surprise.

Although she has the identity of a princess and enjoys high prestige among the nobles, it is entirely due to her grandfather's influence and the influence of her medical ninjutsu later on. In terms of true origin, she has no blood of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire at all!

Not to mention Ishihara Sho, who inherited the position of Daimyo of the Land of Water, the Senju clan has absolutely no connection to him. I really don't know where he came up with such a shameless reason to deal with me.

"If it weren't for Konoha, do you think the Land of Fire could have survived from the Warring States period to the present?" Ishihara Akira asked with a smile.

"How should I know?" Tsunade replied irritably.

“Then you can take a look at those small countries around us…” Ishihara Sho suggested.

"But I've never seen a small country be destroyed just because it didn't have a ninja village."

At least the Bird Country is doing just fine now.

The Land of Hot Water is also like that.

Although there was a village called Yugakure (Hot Spring Village) in his territory before, it was destroyed by the evil god cult later. So as long as the daimyo manages the country well, there is really no country that is destroyed because of a ninja village or the Ninja World War.

Of course, special cases like Amegakure are another matter.

That was because Hanzo was the leader of a ninja village while also fulfilling the duties of a daimyo. In reality, he was in the same situation as the Land of Whirlpools and Whirlpool Village. That's why the Land of Whirlpools fell into decline after Whirlpool Village was destroyed, and the Land of Rain became a chaotic place after Hanzo died.

Therefore, as long as the positions of Daimyo and village leader can be separated, the situation where the death of a village leader leads to the destruction of the entire nation will not occur.

Like the present-day Kusagakure.

Ishihara Sho remained silent, his lips twitching but unable to utter a rebuttal.

It must be said that the Naruto world is a bizarre world that doesn't conform to the state of social and scientific development. Only in the world created by artists in Japan, a country that still maintains a semi-colonial and semi-feudal system, could such a distorted state exist.

"Speechless now, aren't you?" Tsunade sneered. "From now on, just say what you want to say directly. Don't beat around the bush. I'm not stupid."

"Alright, I simply want to invade the Land of Fire, turn it into the territory of the Land of Water, and improve the living conditions of the people of the Land of Water," Ishihara Akira sighed and frankly admitted.

"You didn't send any Mist Ninjas with you, did you?" Tsunade asked worriedly.

"It's been sent."

"They've sent them?!" Tsunade exclaimed in surprise.

Ishihara Kaname nodded.

"Do you know that your actions are a direct provocation against Konoha? It could trigger a ninja world war!" Tsunade said with a hint of worry and even more anxiety on her face.

"I know."

"Then why..."

“I’ll find a way to resolve this,” Ishihara Akira said calmly.

"What method?" Tsunade asked questioningly.

"You'll find out then," Ishihara Sho replied.

You can't exactly tell her that at worst you'll go to the Land of Lightning, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind to meet with the daimyo of those three countries in person, or even use your abilities to control them and use the daimyo's name to restrain the affiliated ninja villages from getting involved in the conflict between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire, can you?

Even if I tell her, it won't work unless Tsunade believes me.

Tsunade glared at him resentfully, and seeing that Ishihara Sho had no intention of explaining, she snorted coldly and walked out.

Instead of staying here and getting angry with Ishihara Sho, why not go see Karin, teach her some ninjutsu, or go out and find a place to vent your anger?

Anyway, she now has the backing of two countries, so she's really not short of money.

……

Then in the afternoon, Mei Terumi walked in with a strange expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Ishihara Akira asked curiously.

"News just came back that the Sand Village suddenly broke the peace agreement with Konoha during the Chunin Exams, launched a surprise attack on Konoha, and deployed Jinchuriki. The Third Hokage was trapped on the roof of the venue by the Kazekage and his men. The scene is in chaos, and spies are closely monitoring the situation," Terumi Mei explained to Ishihara Sho.

"You knew from the beginning that this would happen?" Mei Terumi asked curiously, seeing that Ishihara Akira's expression was relatively calm and showed no surprise.

Otherwise, even though the troops and weapons were almost ready beforehand, they had to wait until the third round of the Chunin Exams to launch the attack!

Furthermore, all those previous infiltration and investigation missions demonstrate that Ishihara Sho knew about the unforeseen events that would occur during the Chunin Exams in Konoha long before they even started. Otherwise, he would never have been so certain and scheduled all his plans for that time.

“That’s right, I knew all this from the beginning,” Ishihara Akira nodded in affirmation.

"Then why didn't you tell me? That way I could have arranged for people to lie in ambush near Konoha, and then, after the Sand Ninja made their move, we could have joined forces with them to take down Konoha," Mei Terumi said, dissatisfied.

I'm so angry that I've missed such a great opportunity to fleece Konoha. It makes my chest hurt.

Even if the current plan could actually bring more benefits to the Land of Fire—

Land, population, resources, money, and so on...

But that would require withstanding the subsequent counterattacks from Konoha and the Land of Fire; otherwise, even the most impressive results now might end up being nothing.

"Because the Sand Ninja's operation this time cannot shake the foundation of Konoha at all. Not to mention causing a large number of casualties among Konoha's personnel, even they themselves will likely be dealt with by Konoha in the end. Is it a case of rashly letting the Mist Ninja get involved to prepare to send food to Konoha?" Ishihara Sho asked confidently.

"The Sand Village will fail?" Mei Terumi frowned.

She does believe that.

After all, Konoha is capable of taking on four opponents at once. It would be strange if they couldn't win against Sand Village, a disgrace among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. The key is the price they would pay to achieve victory. If, as Ishihara Sho said, they can't bleed Konoha dry, then there's really no need for Kirigakure to get involved.

Chapter 101 Reactions from All Parties

"Itachi, Kisame, where are you now?" In a strange space that resembled an underground area, a man with purple-rimmed eyes asked Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, who were standing on two finger-like stone pillars.

As for the others, none of them showed up. It's unclear whether there were other arrangements or they weren't even notified.

"Within the Land of Fire, they are moving towards Konoha." Itachi Uchiha, a black-haired youth with prominent nasolabial folds on his face, answered, looking directly at the purple-rimmed eyes of the person positioned slightly above them.

"That's perfect. You can go directly to Konoha and bring back the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki," the round-eyed youth instructed.

"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? Is the plan about to begin?" Kisame Hoshigaki asked in surprise.

No.

"Then why attack the Jinchuriki? Aren't you afraid your plan will be exposed?" Kisame pressed.

"Just now, the Land of Water officially launched an invasion of the Land of Fire, initiating a national war. They have already captured nearly two-thirds of the eastern part of the Land of Fire and its cities. In at most half a day, they will be able to enter the capital of the Land of Fire. At that time, the Land of Fire may be destroyed, Konoha may collapse, and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki may be lost from our surveillance. Therefore, just in case, I need you to bring him back in advance to seal and guard him until the plan officially begins."

"The Land of Water is attacking the Land of Fire, starting a national war?!" Itachi Uchiha frowned.

Kisame Hoshigaki also showed a look of surprise.

Has the Land of Water changed so much? Even the daimyo is so brave that he dares to send troops directly to attack the Land of Fire. Isn't he afraid that if he fails, the Land of Water will be plunged into an abyss of no return?

"I understand, we'll head over right away," Itachi Uchiha replied without much hesitation.

Then, the influence of Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki abruptly disappeared into thin air, leaving the space to the young man with round eyes and the pitcher plant man with half of his body hidden in the stone pillar.

"Absolutely, intensify intelligence gathering on the Land of Water. I need to know why the Land of Water attacked the Land of Fire," the circle-eyed youth ordered the pitcher plant man.

"Ok."

Then the green plant part of the pitcher plant man's head closed towards the center, enveloping his head and taking his entire body into the stone pillar.

The young man with circumcision remained silent and turned away from where he had been standing...

……

"Daimyo, something terrible has happened! Daimyo, something terrible has happened!" At the same time, at the Daimyo's lodging in Konoha Village, a palace servant rushed into the post station in a panic and shouted loudly to the Daimyo who was resting inside.

"Who's making such a racket?" The daimyo frowned and asked the guards around him with some displeasure.

"It is Lord Kato Masaga," the waiter replied.

"Bring him in."

"Yes."

Then the door opened, and a thin man in a solemn kimono ran into the room, sweating profusely. Without saying a word, he knelt down in front of the daimyo of the Land of Fire with a "plop".

"What's going on?" Da Ming suddenly opened the antique fan in his hand, using the fan to cover the part of his face below his eyes, and asked the kneeling man on the ground in a cold voice.

"Darumaru, something terrible has happened! Without any prior notice or diplomatic notification, the Land of Water has suddenly launched an attack, invading my Land of Fire from the Land of Whirlpools. They have captured several cities in the eastern part of my Land of Fire at an alarming speed. By the time I received the news, more than two-thirds of the eastern region had fallen, and the capital is in grave danger. I urge Your Majesty to make a decision as soon as possible!" The old man named Kato Masaga reported to the daimyo with a distressed expression.

"What did you say?!" The old man's expression changed drastically. He stood up abruptly, staring down at the little old man in front of him, and asked in a shocked voice.

“The Land of Water…” Kato Masaga gave a wry smile and repeated what he had said earlier.

"How dare he from the Land of Water!" The daimyo of the Land of Fire said, his face pale, his eyes still filled with disbelief.

"It's probably because they're waging a national war this time, rather than a ninja war," Kato Masaga replied.

"Whether it's a national war or a ninja war, all I know is that a large part of my territory has been taken over by the Land of Water, and I absolutely cannot accept this! What are those ministers and generals doing?!" the daimyo demanded angrily.

"The Left Minister has already ordered Hiramon to organize troops to resist, but..."