Uchiha's personal opinion

"What do you mean!"

The high-ranking members of Sunagakure, including Yekura, were immediately dumbfounded.

"From then on, Sunagakure no longer had a sealing team!"

Rasa raised his voice and said, "In the name of the Fourth Kazekage, the Sealing Team is hereby disbanded, effective immediately! All research and technical support for sealing techniques will now be handled by the Sunagakure Ninja Research Institute!"

"Not permitted!"

Yecang immediately jumped up.

"...What is the Ninja Research Institute?"

Another high-ranking member of Sunagakure muttered something to himself.

"It seems we were completely unaware of this organizational restructuring..."

Aside from Yekura, whose direct interests were harmed, who jumped up in opposition, the other high-ranking members of Sunagakure began to secretly communicate about matters they cared about.

At the very least, the Fourth Kazekage's words indirectly revealed that he was no longer prepared to engage in political negotiations and compromises with the village's existing high-ranking officials...

The high-ranking officials of Sunagakure were deeply worried.

They were high-ranking members of the original Elder Council who were wiped out by the Third Kazekage and Ebizo. However, they were much weaker than the previous elders in terms of both strength and foundation. If the current Fourth Kazekage was unwilling to pay attention to them, their faction would only become more and more marginalized in the future.

Most importantly, after the village was transformed into a country, Sunagakure did not fully govern the Land of Wind with the power of the ninja village. Instead, a division emerged between the government and the ninja village in actual governance. Although the Kazekage and the rulers of the Land of Wind were two separate entities, the government relied more on those relatively weak political ninjas to govern the country, while the Sunagakure headquarters became the object of the Kazekage's vigilance.

But in the eyes of the ninjas at the Sand Village headquarters, the so-called political ninjas under the government were nothing but trash who were eliminated because of their lack of strength. They were only lucky enough to steal a place in the government, which everyone else looked down on, because they were clever enough. Their opinions were not worth caring about, and even killing them would not have much of an impact.

But for Rasa, apart from the supporters of the Sunagakure headquarters, the foundation of his rule now lies with the political ninjas scattered throughout the Land of Wind, so he must find ways to maintain the existence of these supporters.

If this continues, an invisible rift will inevitably form between Sunagakure and the ruling government, thus tearing apart the connection between Sunagakure and the Land of Wind once again.

Moreover, in the eyes of the Sunagakure leadership, the so-called Ninjutsu Research Institute sounded like an institution directly under the government!

This is not a good sign!

"The Inspectorate firmly opposes His Excellency Fengying's erroneous decision!"

As expected by the Sunagakure leadership, Yekura was the one who reacted most strongly.

"Rasa! You're hollowing out the ninja village!"

"How dare you!"

The Shadow Guard members immediately jumped up.

Although Luo Sha's face was gloomy, he didn't lash out on the spot. However, his gaze was unusually sinister as he stared intently at the arrogant and domineering Ye Cang.

The reason he suddenly released such a bombshell news is because he simply couldn't stand the bizarre dual-headed political situation between Sunagakure and the Land of Wind anymore!

Even today, many Sand Village ninjas still treat the Land of Wind as their cash cow, focusing only on exploitation without considering how to govern effectively. Even the village's departments have become tools for power struggles. How could Rasa, who was determined to improve himself, tolerate this?

In Rasa's view, the shogunate's system was the best system.

The village of ninja should be a training base for providing talent to the ruling government, rather than blindly and confidently interfering in local affairs.

Furthermore, the current government of the Land of Wind is heavily reliant on tax revenue from the United Company, a consequence of the exorbitant taxes levied by the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure during the period of enfeoffment and garrisoning.

"...Fourth Hokage, are you really going to disband the Sealing Team?"

Yekura took a deep breath and responded without backing down.

"If you remain obstinate, then you can expect the order to disband the Inspectorate!"

Rasa's tone was filled with a chilling intent: "In the name of the ruling power of the Land of Wind, the village's sealing team must be disbanded! And immediately!"

You'll regret this!

Ye Cang left after saying that.

"I am the Kazekage!"

Even though the meeting ended badly, Luo Sha still had no intention of compromising, and at the same time, he set the tone for the meeting.

"Furthermore, the Shogunate's aid is what we urgently need!"

Afterwards, the high-ranking members of Sunagakure exchanged glances and, quite astutely under the watchful eyes of the Shadow Guard, unanimously reached a "collective resolution" to exchange tailed beast chakra for aid.

……

"The Land of Wind, or rather, the Sand Village, is the weakest link in the fragile order of the ninja world today!"

At the expanded meeting of the Imperial Military Affairs Council of the Land of Earth, Onoki pointed out the key to the current struggle in the ninja world: "The puppet Rasa supported by the shogunate is destined to be unpopular. We can use this as a starting point to strike at the shogunate while conveying the strength of our own camp!"

Upon hearing this, the Iwagakure members immediately perked up.

"But we are separated from the Land of Wind by the Shogunate's ninja army..."

Although they were all eager to try, the Jonin from Iwagakure also pointed out the existing problems.

Since all the small buffer states between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind have been annexed by the Shogunate, Iwagakure is no longer able to maintain a long-term, feasible, hidden passage for transporting personnel and supplies.

Moreover, the plan to overthrow Sunagakure will inevitably be arduous and dangerous, requiring a long-term strategy.

"Mount Myoboku can use reverse spirit communication techniques to manage its personnel..."

Fukasaku the Sage said, "Although this will be extremely costly, it is all worth it for the sake of the future order of the ninja world!"

"This……"

For most Iwagakure ninjas, sending ninjas using the Reverse Summoning Jutsu is still a rather novel thing.

After all, Iwagakure has never had a ninja beast with enough chakra to perform a reverse summoning.

"This is feasible..."

Huang Tu, whose expression was somewhat somber, echoed this, and then fell silent.

His secret power grab organization was ordered to disband by his astute father, Onoki, which was a significant blow to him.

Of course, the key point is that without Ashura's support, the Huangtu and Southern garrison ninja forces, lacking high-end combat power, had no chance to resist. As a result, they could only submit to their fate, and the Jonin had no choice but to hand over their military power and return to their villages to become idle Jonin.

"What about the supplies?"

Another Iwagakure Jonin asked, "Whether it's operating behind enemy lines or sowing discord and bribing Iwagakure's opposition, both require a large amount of supplies to support them..."

"We can provide the Heavenly Delivery Technique as support!"

Ai, the representative of Yunyin who was attending the meeting, spoke up.

In fact, this "expanded military affairs meeting" had already reached an agreement among the high-level officials of the two major powers and the two major ninja villages. Now it was just a routine notification and pre-war mobilization.

"In that case, the personnel sent out to carry out special missions should be of the highest quality, not the highest."

A high-ranking member of Iwagakure who already knew the inside story chimed in, "So how does Kumogakure plan to intervene in this special operation?"

"We will send fifteen operational Jonin and a barrier team."

Ai said without hesitation.

The Iwagakure ninjas didn't say anything more.

After all, for the Cloud Village, which has not yet fully recovered, sending out fifteen Jonin is already a huge financial loss.

"The village plans to select twenty-one Jonin squads, totaling eighty-four people, to participate in this operation."

Onoki was very satisfied with the progress of the military affairs meeting, so he made the final decision: "The specific personnel will be drawn from the former ninja troops stationed in the south who have been withdrawn!"

Huang Tu's face turned deathly pale!

This is sending his few remaining supporters to their doom!

"Let Akatsuchi take charge of the overall command of this operation!"

Onoki continued, "After all, this operation plan prioritizes winning hearts and minds. Akatsuchi is mature and prudent, and I trust him to do things!"

With things already said to this extent, it was naturally inconvenient for the Iwagakure leadership to offer any further opinions.

"In that case, please vote!"

Da Ming also spoke at the opportune moment.

Huang Tu didn't say much, but simply bowed his head and mourned for his subordinates.

He also understood that such a special operation would inevitably involve facing countless bloody battles and open and covert attacks. Although it seemed that drawing personnel from the former Southern Ninja Army to carry out the mission was a sign of trust in them, in reality, the first batch of ninjas drawn there were just cannon fodder in the vanguard. Their role was simply to verify whether this operation was truly feasible.

If it were truly such a lucrative position, how could it possibly fall to those Jonin who had turned against the Tsuchikage because of their support?

Moreover, the person in charge of the operation was Chi Tu, who was described as "mature and prudent" but was actually inflexible. This showed that his father, who was deep-thinking and only had the village in his eyes, had planned and arranged the entire course of the operation from the very beginning.

Even if the plan ultimately succeeds, his subordinates will most likely never have the chance to enjoy the glory of victory...

Huang Tu slowly closed his eyes, and amidst the grating flattery of Onoki by the Iwagakure high-ranking officials, he slowly raised his hand in agreement to the plan.

Even if Huang Tu is still the Tsuchikage's assistant and the leader of the Jonin squad, so what? Without enough Jonin and powerful high-level combat power to support him, he can't stir up even the slightest trouble.

Thus, the military affairs meeting naturally and unanimously approved this special operation jointly planned by the two villages and three parties.

"The code name for this subversive operation is—"

Onoki said slowly:

"Red Sand!"

Chapter 435 True Art

"I'm leaving these to you, Shi Huo-kun..."

The Fourth Kazekage, Lord Rasa, the ruler of the Land of Wind, looking utterly exhausted, slumped in a genuine leather executive chair imported from the United Company and spoke without any affectation.

"Thank you for your trust, Lord Fengying. I will certainly live up to your expectations and ensure the mission is completed!"

Uchiha Shihu said seriously.

At the same time, he glanced discreetly at the executive chair that Rasa was sitting in, which was the same luxurious limited edition chair as the Shogun.

In Uchiha Ishihide's view, including the series of sweeping reforms that Rasa has recently been forcefully implemented within Sunagakure, all of which have a very strong Shogunate flavor.

Furthermore, some of the measures were even supported by the theoretical basis of "Tokukō's Sayings (Top Secret Edition of the Shogunate)".

Therefore, Luo Sha's ambition and aspirations are self-evident.

However, this is not a problem that Uchiha Shikiho, a mere insignificant Jonin, needs to study or discuss. The intelligence department and the internal affairs department, those public instruments of Konoha that hold the fruits of their lord's deep thinking, will analyze Rasa from countless perspectives.

"You should know that there are many stubborn and inflexible people in Sunagakure who oppose relations between the two countries."