Uchiha's personal opinion

Even the nobles and courtiers of the Land of Water don't possess half the elegance of Uchiha Tokumitsu's dining etiquette!

"Is this the foundation of the number one powerful ninja clan in the ninja world...?"

Pipa Juzo involuntarily straightened his back.

"Would you like some?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu smiled and raised the glass bottle.

"Well... one of the three prohibitions for ninjas is abstaining from alcohol..."

Pipa Juzo's expression was somewhat unnatural.

"It's nothing, it's nothing... it's just fermented grape juice."

Uchiha Tokumitsu enthusiastically stood up and filled a glass for Biwa Juzo, saying, "This is the finest grape juice from the mountain peaks and valleys of the Land of Rivers. There are only two hundred bottles produced each year!"

"A drink that even famous people might not be able to get!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu casually placed the sake bottle on Biwa Juzo's desk.

"Grape juice..."

Smelling the refreshing fragrance, Hibiki Juzo couldn't control his hands.

After taking a couple of sips, under Uchiha Tokumitsu's gentle persuasion, Biwa Juzo completely lowered his guard and explained the current situation and predicament facing Kirigakure.

Although the Third Mizukage suppressed the internal instability with an iron fist and promoted peace talks, many ninjas within Kirigakure still harbored resentment, believing it to be a humiliating act that ceded the village's sovereignty.

However, faced with the aggressive and hostile Cloud Village, the Mist Village still needs to unite under the Third Mizukage to defeat the enemy.

The Cloud Village, which crossed the sea to attack, had as many as two thousand ninja soldiers, while even the Mist Village, which had suffered repeated defeats, still had nearly ten thousand registered ninjas. In addition, they were familiar with sea routes and waterways, so it was not difficult for them to resist the Cloud Village's invasion.

However, the Cloud Village continues to send more ninja troops, suggesting that it is not simply a matter of harassment.

While Kirigakure was fighting the attacking Kumogakure at sea, the Kirigakure ninja army was also troubled by shortages of supplies and insufficient military equipment.

This is precisely why Kirigakure has been unable to launch a large-scale offensive to drive Kumogakure out completely in one fell swoop.

Faced with this situation, the Third Mizukage issued a call to "learn from the strengths of the Tokugawa Shogunate to subdue the Hidden Cloud Village," advocating learning from the Tokugawa Shogunate, which had been fighting to the death not long before, to reorganize and train a new type of ninja army, repair military equipment, and procure scarce military supplies.

The Third Mizukage's appeal also alleviated the dissatisfaction of the Hidden Mist ninja towards him to some extent.

Some Kirigakure ninjas began to believe that the Third Mizukage was enduring humiliation and hardship in order to strive to rebuild Kirigakure's reputation.

It was under this trend of thought that the Third Mizukage officially signed an order to dispatch Juzo Biwa south to the shogunate to discuss the procurement of military equipment.

Uchiha Tokumitsu raised his goblet to greet Biwa Juzo, trying to hide the strange look on his face.

What kind of nonsense is this?

The Westernization Movement Hidden in the Fog?

A reform movement in the land of water?

Or is it civilization and enlightenment?

Uchiha Tokumitsu's stomach was practically cramping from laughing so hard.

"Since Lord Mizukage is so talented and ambitious, as the general who commands the southern islands, I should naturally help him with this great undertaking..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu pondered for a moment, "How about this, I'll sponsor Kirigakure to build a shipyard at cost price, so that Kirigakure can easily maintain its ironclad warships in the future..."

"Wouldn't that be putting General Deguang at a loss? We can't accept that..."

"It's alright, it's alright~"

Uchiha Tokumitsu waved his hands repeatedly, indicating it was a trivial matter. "Now that the Shogunate and Kirigakure are both from the Land of Water, it's only right that they support each other... and it's also included in the procurement costs~"

"I see... Then thank you very much, General Deguang..."

Pipa Juzo had a big smile on his face.

These are all his achievements!

"I hit it off with Mr. Pipa at first sight, so naturally I'll support your work!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu's eyes crinkled into crescent shapes with laughter.

"Let's drink! Let's drink!"

Pipa Juzo laughed heartily, no longer dwelling on the issue of fermented grape juice.

"Bring the wine! Bring the wine!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu repeatedly called out to his attendant ninjas.

As for the matter of providing assistance in building the shipyard, Uchiha Tokumitsu also had ill intentions.

Although the shipyard may lead to a certain degree of technology leakage, it can also provide a real-world understanding of the technology level of the Fog Shadow.

Furthermore, the Shogunate adopts a military development strategy of "equipping one generation, developing another, and pre-researching another," so there is no need to worry about being overtaken by Kirigakure in the short term. The large-scale military output can also suppress Kirigakure's independent research and development needs, and the income from the arms trade can be invested in the construction of new military equipment, achieving a virtuous cycle.

This is a win-win situation!

Under the influence of the wine, Uchiha Tokumitsu's face also turned rosy.

Chapter 210 The Wind of Konoha

Konoha was clamoring for reform, and Hatake Sakumo's Reform Association was growing increasingly powerful. The Uchiha clan, which had become too powerful to control, was difficult to restrain, and the tightly knit ninja clans were no longer obedient...

The warlike Cloud Village, attempting to "uphold the orthodoxy of the Land of Water," launched an invasion of the Hidden Mist Village regardless of whether the daimyo of the Land of Water was willing or not...

Even more absurdly, Kirigakure, one of the five great ninja villages, actually clamored for reform, and the Third Mizukage shamelessly shouted the ridiculous slogan of "learning the Shogunate's superior techniques to subdue Kumogakure"...

As he carefully perused the intelligence documents, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, felt a little dizzy, so he put the documents down and massaged his temples.

"Knock knock!"

There was a knock on the Hokage's office door.

"Come in!"

Hearing that familiar knocking rhythm, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, smiled.

"teacher……"

Orochimaru, with his thin face and pale skin, pushed open the door and entered.

"how's it going?"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, beckoned Orochimaru to sit down, then casually took out his pipe, lit it, and began to enjoy a puff.

"The experiment has achieved its intended objectives."

Orochimaru spoke succinctly and handed over a thick document.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, reached out and took the document, opened it, and began to carefully peruse it.

At this moment, his smile widened even more.

This is also why he dotes on this disciple, who is seen as cold-blooded and ruthless by others, the most; Orochimaru has never disappointed him.

"Now that the preliminary testing experiments have been completed, let's restart the Wood Release plan..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wore an indescribable, enigmatic smile as he looked at Orochimaru.

"The location for the laboratory has been chosen."

Orochimaru replied, "The equipment just needs more time."

"why?"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was somewhat puzzled: "Didn't we already allocate funds to you a while ago?"

"The Uchiha clan has been making large-scale purchases..."

Orochimaru replied slowly.

"Uchiha... the Land of Whirlpools..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sighed.

Uchiha Tokumitsu's shogunate is at its zenith, and now it has defeated Kirigakure, one of the five great ninja villages, and forced the Land of Water to cede its southern islands, forcibly seizing nearly one-fifth of the Land of Water's island territory. Such power makes the martial arts factions of Konoha admire it immensely.

Since Danzo's departure, the Hokage lineage has lost its impression and constraints on the martial arts faction, and this ninja faction that advocates the "Konoha supremacy" ideology is rapidly moving closer to Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Orochimaru remained silent.

In his eyes, nothing else held any interest other than exploring the mysteries of ninjutsu.

Even though he once aspired to the Hokage position, Orochimaru now has absolutely no interest in political maneuvering. Sometimes he even feels that he was incredibly ignorant in the past, wasting his precious time on those useless and underhanded tricks.

Orochimaru even felt that his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was indeed getting old. He had actually been entangled with a junior like Uchiha Tokumitsu and had even lost the battle. It was as if he had unjustly tarnished the reputation of a generation of "heroic ninja".

"By the way, you should also find a chance to get rid of those Uchiha brats in your private lab."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was unaware of his disciple Orochimaru's inner thoughts. He simply casually reminded him, "Once the experimental equipment is in place, the Wood Release experiment will be about to begin. Don't leave any loopholes that could lead to leaks..."

"I see."

Orochimaru nodded calmly, but inwardly he was in turmoil.

The place where the Uchiha boy was interning was actually his secret laboratory, which was taken over from the deceased Danzo!

The problem is, he never told his teacher about it, and the Uchiha boy, who was interning in the lab, rarely went out and was usually very careful to keep it secret, so...

"The teacher is spying on me!"

This thought echoed in Orochimaru's mind.

"what happened?"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked up with a smile at his expressionless apprentice.

"...If I dismiss the Uchiha research assistants, my laboratory will be short of funds and manpower."

Orochimaru said in a serious and methodical manner.

He knew his teacher's personality; he was the kind of person who was easily influenced and prone to paranoia, a chronic case of indecisiveness. So Orochimaru simply didn't try to explain and directly pointed out the problem.

"It's alright, I'll take care of the funding. You can recruit people yourself, or I'll send people to you if necessary. It doesn't matter..."

As expected, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was very satisfied with Orochimaru's "confession".

In his eyes, Orochimaru's "confession" also symbolized that his good disciple had no ulterior motives, and was only temporarily tempted by Uchiha Tokumitsu's money.