"But even if we do nothing, they won't have enough food. Won't they take advantage of Konoha's unpreparedness and plunder the Land of Fire?" Nawaki scratched his head, posing his question.
Kazuki didn't answer Nawaki directly. Instead, he looked at Minato. "Minato, what do you think? Think from a darker perspective."
Minato fell silent. He was clearly just an optimistic young man, so why would Kazuki ask him to answer something dark?
Could it be that Kazuki thought he had such potential?
However, his mind quickly spun. After a long moment, he looked at Kazuki with complex thoughts, asking somewhat uncertainly, "This might involve a disagreement between Hokage-sama and the Daimyo."
"You said before that the Daimyo sold grain to the Land of Wind. Although he also gave Konoha some supplies, it ultimately harmed Konoha's interests."
"Allowing Kirigakure to partially plunder the Land of Fire doesn't harm Konoha's interests, but the Land of Fire's interests."
"This can be seen as a disguised retaliation against the Daimyo's Mansion. After all, it's understandable to have some initial losses."
"Even if the Daimyo wants to blame Konoha, he won't find a reason, because the main force maintaining border security is usually the samurai from the Daimyo's Mansion."
Kazuki looked at Minato with approval upon hearing this. As expected of the man who would become the Fourth Hokage, even if he was a puppet in Hiruzen's hands, his ability was unquestionable.
Presumably, Minato was unwilling to be Hiruzen's puppet, and befriending the Uchiha clan was his way to break the deadlock.
The Uchiha were also willing to befriend Minato. If Minato hadn't died so early, he could have taken Itachi as his disciple, which would have solved the Uchiha clan's problems, and Minato would have had the Uchiha clan's support.
Unfortunately, Obito was too much of a schemer. During the Nine-Tails Incident, he tricked the Uchiha, and later, he even worked with Itachi to exterminate the Uchiha clan.
"Ah? Why would they do that? Aren't they all on the same side?" Nawaki was not wrong in saying this, after all, the Daimyo was his uncle.
Both the village and the Daimyo were his comrades.
Now, thinking that the struggle between the village and the Daimyo might lead to harm to civilians, how could Nawaki feel at ease?
"Cough, cough, regarding such matters, it's enough for us to speculate. There's no need to speak of it outside. Therefore, we mustn't excessively damage Kirigakure's facilities, otherwise, we'll push them to desperate measures." Kazuki lightly coughed, reminding them.
"Unfortunately, all the Kirigakure ninjas we've found recently don't know any information about the Uzumaki clan."
"If we can find some Uzumaki clansmen, grandma should be very happy, right?"
Nawaki clenched his fists, still bothered by Kirigakure's previous attack on the Uzumaki clan. As Mito's grandson, Nawaki could clearly feel that Mito had become melancholic ever since the Uzumaki clan incident.
"She certainly will be. I think Minato will be very happy too." Kazuki said meaningfully, glancing at Minato.
Minato's face flushed upon hearing this. He indeed had a particular fondness for red-haired girls.
Initially, Minato would occasionally sneak glances at Kushina, but after realizing that Kushina cared deeply for Kazuki and often clung to him, he chose to give up, treating her only as a friend.
Now that Kushina's heart was set on Kazuki, how could Minato choose to pursue her?
However, Kazuki was too outstanding. Kushina's life might not be easy in the future, just like Mikoto, who was inextricably linked with Kazuki.
Not just Mikoto, but Rinka was also unexpectedly friendly towards Kazuki.
Don't be fooled by Rinka's usual cold demeanor towards everyone. While not particularly distant, she wasn't especially close either. Only Kazuki could make her smile.
At least her attitude towards him and Nawaki was clearly different from her attitude towards Kazuki.
Could it be that being handsome grants special privileges? But his looks shouldn't be too far behind Kazuki's, right?
"Cough, cough, after all, they are Konoha's allies, and we have a responsibility to rescue them from their dire situation." Minato quickly stated his position, wondering if he would meet a girl from the Uzumaki clan.
"Hmm?"
Just as Kazuki was about to lead Minato and the others away, his expression suddenly became subtle.
"What's wrong?" Mikoto's face tightened as she quickly asked when she saw Kazuki act like this.
They were now deep within the Land of Water. If they were to be heavily encircled by Kirigakure, even with Kazuki, they would likely fall into danger.
"We've encountered some fairly strong individuals. If a battle breaks out later, I won't be able to look after you. Take care of yourselves." Kazuki instructed them.
"Seven strong Chakra signatures. Conservatively estimated, seven elite Jonin-level powerhouses."
"If nothing goes wrong, it's probably the current Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
"Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"
Everyone exchanged glances.
During this time, they had been gathering intelligence on Kirigakure, and they were no strangers to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who were Kirigakure's elite unit, holding a much higher status than the Anbu or similar groups.
Each elite Jonin is a pillar of the village. If they could eliminate all of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, it would severely cripple Kirigakure.
"These are the Mizukage's direct subordinates. What do you think would happen to Kirigakure if the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were to remain here?" Kazuki's face showed a playful smile.
Of course, he wasn't afraid that Kirigakure would split, because even if the opposing side collapsed, it had nothing to do with him.
Moreover, Madara wouldn't stand by and watch Kirigakure fall apart, he still needed Kirigakure's power. He would weaken Kirigakure's strength, but he wouldn't let it slip from his control.
"But are we their match?" Minato asked somewhat uncertainly.
Kazuki was very powerful, but even all of them combined might not be able to defeat a single elite Jonin.
If those guys were truly as legendary as they seemed, together, even a Hokage would be in danger.
That was a combination formed by powerful elite Jonin.
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40 Advanced Chapters on