Aoba's voice rose slowly, clearly reaching the ears of Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki, drawing their attention to a peak.
"Drain Konohagakure's future?!"
Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki were shocked, exchanging glances that mirrored the astonishment in each other's eyes.
They couldn't imagine what this entailed.
It was beyond their comprehension.
After all, they were both ninjas from Kirigakure, and from a young age, they had perceived Konohagakure as a top-tier entity. The decline they were witnessing in Konohagakure was extremely rare.
Moreover.
Even a declining Konohagakure was still much stronger than Kirigakure.
The idea of draining the future of Konohagakure seemed incredible.
"Rentaro!"
"You must know something, right?"
"What exactly is going on?"
"Explain it clearly!"
Biwa Juzo asked urgently, deeply concerned about what Aoba had said, his face filled with eager anticipation.
After all, this was not a trivial matter.
This was about the future of Konohagakure!
Now, he felt that Satsuma Rentaro knew something that nobody else was aware of, apart from the upper echelons of Konohagakure.
Faintly.
He sensed a stirring undercurrent.
It was this that revealed the importance of the matter to him.
For a moment.
Biwa Juzo stared into Aoba's eyes, his expression intensely severe and tense.
Of course.
Suikazan Fuguki, standing beside Biwa Juzo, wore a similar expression, harboring similar expectations.
"Our target is Namikaze Minato, and he is the future of Konohagakure..."
Aoba slightly squinted his eyes, causing the cold light in his eyes to be somewhat subdued, yet it was still evident that his icy gaze hid a deep and cold interior.
This emotion instantly drew Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki into the narrative.
At this moment, they seemed to see Satsuma Rentaro's resentment towards Konohagakure.
It was an unmasked display of true feelings.
Of course.
This was Aoba's acting.
However.
Aoba wasn't entirely pretending; for example, his words were fabricated now, but they were concocted to align with what Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki wanted to hear.
The reason was quite simple.
As long as Aoba was speaking from the perspective of Kirigakure, whatever he said could almost be taken as truth. Thus, there were no gaps to be picked and no issues to be found.
"As long as we successfully kill Namikaze Minato, the surface benefit for our Kirigakure is earning a favor from the Third Hokage, but the real benefit is that we can watch Konohagakure gradually decline."
"This process is straightforward to explain..."
"The overall strength of Konohagakure is not very strong, but they have performed too brilliantly in the Third Great Ninja Word War."
"As long as we help Konohagakure remove Namikaze Minato, the Third Hokage will help us against Kumogakure. By then, apart from our Kirigakure, all other villages will be enemies of Konohagakure."
"This way, Konohagakure will be like the old Kumogakure, standing in front of us openly. Any village with designs on our Kirigakure will first have to contend with Konohagakure, even if that village is Kumogakure. That means we can slowly build our strength by using the Konohagakure's influence."
"Although after this is over, we will still be behind the other villages visibly, Konohagakure is not Kumogakure. They are far from our Kirigakure and can't control us, so they can't restrict us like Kumogakure did."
"In this way..."
"Our Kirigakure will have escaped the current situation, bringing everything under a new framework."
"Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Konohagakure will form an adversarial position, existing in a delicate relationship, while our Kirigakure can take this opportunity to develop very well."
"And the most important thing..."
"Without Namikaze Minato, Konohagakure can truly be said to have no future!"
"In a few years..."
"When the Fourth Great Ninja World War arrives..."
"The ninja world will undergo drastic changes, and that will be when our Kirigakure officially stands at the peak of the ninja world!"
Aoba said one thing after another, painting a picture for Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki.
This was a giant pie!
The current broken situation directly points towards the future ninja world framework.
"Whew..."
Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki couldn't help but exhale in astonishment, both getting fired up by Aoba's passionate words, an idea neither dared to conceive but a dream nonetheless in their hearts.
Kirigakure is becoming the dominant power in the ninja world!
If someone else had said this, not only would other villages in the ninja world disbelieve it, but even people from Kirigakure wouldn't believe it.
But now.
When these words came from Satsuma Rentaro...
Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki felt like Kirigakure was about to stand tall and proud.
"This..."
Biwa Juzo's smile faded in his excitement, and he quickly became serious again.
"I have another question."
Biwa Juzo looked up at Aoba. He was the senior in the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and somewhat responsible for the battlefield here. In truth, he wasn't naturally talented, but now that it had come to this, even if he wasn't capable, he had to learn.
Now, Biwa Juzo understood the importance of considering risks in any situation, not just the benefits but also the potential issues.
"Rentaro."
"You've made it sound so promising!"
"I believe you've thought this through!"
"But..."
"I have to ask before we proceed."
"If we lose and fail to complete the mission, what risks will we face?"
Biwa Juzo asked solemnly, having some ideas in his mind but not being sure, wanting to hear Aoba's opinion to confirm his thoughts.
"Risks, huh!"
Aoba's lips curled slightly; of course, there were risks because this operation was bound to fail.
Let's not say that this wasn't a plan set by Danzo, but rather one he concocted himself, merely to add fuel to the fire for Minato's succession as Hokage.
As for what would happen to Kirigakure afterward.
Aoba didn't care.
That would depend on Minato's intentions.
If nothing unexpected happened, it was very likely that things would wind down, and the Konohagakure would need to recuperate.
Of course.
If they took advantage of the situation...
After this historic Third Great Ninja World War, no Kirigakure would exist in the ninja world.
Of course.
Aoba never really cared about Kirigakure.
As long as he stood with Konohagakure, any other village was just an enemy.
Since they were enemies.
Why be merciful?
Aoba wasn't a child anymore, not averse to seeing bloodshed, but he preferred to have others change under his control rather than through brute force, as that seemed more interesting.
The matter of risks, indeed, he hadn't thought about.
But now that Biwa Juzo had asked, he couldn't just not answer.
Aoba's attitude was still very proper.
This kind of question needed to be thoughtfully answered; otherwise, it would be difficult to handle if something unexpected happened.
Now he was here, still needing the ninjas of Kirigakure to go.
"Juzo-sama, there are risks, but high risk also means high return. The fundamental issue here is whether Juzo-sama dares to take down Namikaze Minato," Aoba said nonchalantly.
"Clarify that for me." Biwa Juzo didn't quite grasp Aoba's meaning.
"The risk of this operation is like choosing sides, depending on whose side we stand on!"
Aoba nodded and slowly began to explain.
"If we stand with Namikaze Minato and support him to become the Fourth Hokage, then everything will proceed naturally, and we can simply wait for Konohagakure to rise again bit by bit."
"But if we stand with the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzo, then we can view Namikaze Minato as a usurper. By killing him, we would be helping the Third Hokage reclaim his power."
"Of course, this has benefits, but if the risk is that we stand on the side of the Third Hokage and ultimately fail."
"We would have preemptively assassinated Namikaze Minato, the prospective Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure, which would cast a shadow over our future relations with the Konohagakure, possibly even leading to war, but that is far in the future."
"After all, aside from our Kirigakure, other villages also sent assassins against Namikaze Minato, underestimating his strength and failing to achieve any effect, not even causing a splash."
"So..."
"For our Kirigakure..."
"We either don't do this at all!"
"Or we go all out!"
"My suggestion is for all of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to go together, cooperate, and complete this task!"
Aoba had gone around a big circle just to say the risks without making Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki feel like backing down, continuously emphasizing the benefits during the process.
"You mean... even if we fail, Konohagakure won't immediately attack us?" Biwa Juzo's concern was precisely this: Kirigakure had just broken off relations with Kumogakure and couldn't afford more formidable enemies.
"That's right."
Aoba nodded, saying, "Konohagakure doesn't have the resources to pursue this matter now. Everyone outside is an enemy, and our failure means there has been a change in government in Konohagakure, so the new Hokage's first task would be to stabilize the situation."
"I understand!"
Biwa Juzo's eyes lit up after hearing Aoba's words, no longer having any reservations, and he looked toward Suikazan Fuguki.
"I think it's feasible!"