"In the Land of Water, countless conflicts and wars are caused by various customs, and the smiling Third Mizukage usually chooses the most violent means to solve problems."
It was terrifying.
Minato Namikaze couldn't imagine how someone who appeared kind and smiled at others could be so cruel. No—vicious. His teacher had been right.
It was too cruel.
Shinki said slowly:
"Among the current leaders of the Five Great Ninja Villages, the least worthy is the Mizukage. The Third Kazekage of Sand Village are stronger than him. At least others won't easily draw a blade against their own unless a crime has been committed.
"Even the old man, Onoki, despite being stubborn and hot-tempered, has decent tolerance. The Third Raikage of Cloud Village are also commendable. While they may seem irritable and tough on the surface, their toughness and irritability are directed outward. When it comes to their own, the Raikage is truly impeccable."
Let's not talk about far-off matters. Let's look at how each village treats its Jinchūriki to understand the character of their leaders.
In Sand Village, Jinchūriki are tightly imprisoned, never seeing the light of day. The Third Kazekage wasn't as extreme as his younger brother Rasa, but he still didn't treat Jinchūriki with any leniency.
Mist Village is similar to Sand Village. Life for their Jinchūriki is not easy.
In contrast, the Jinchūriki of Rock Village fare better, even giving rise to individuals like Roshi, who openly opposes Onoki. Fortunately, Onoki's attitude toward his own is tolerable. If Roshi were under the Third Kazekage, Third Mizukage, or even the Third Hokage, his situation would likely be far worse.
Cloud Village, on the other hand, is the most tolerant of Jinchūriki. The Raikage will even stand up for them—something unheard of in other villages.
As for the smaller village of Takigakure, they prefer to keep their Jinchūriki hidden away for life. Otherwise, the future Seven-Tails Jinchūriki would not have defected.
"Then… what about the Hokage?" Minato hesitated for a moment, turning to his teacher to ask the question weighing on his mind.
"Who is the Hokage?" Shinki chuckled. "Minato, let me remind you—never trust the words of the Hokage. No matter what promises or guarantees they give you, they will smile, assure you, and then stab you in the back."
Minato Namikaze: "…"
Why did this behavior feel worse than the Third Mizukage's? Even if it wasn't as bloody, it was too frightening.
Once the filter he had on the Third Hokage disappeared, the young blonde realized he could no longer view him the same way.
"Don't dwell on these things," Shinki said. "Just focus on what you need to do. I'll be here to support you. Rest well, Minato. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the southern seas near the Land of Whirlpools."
The conversation between the Third Hokage and the Third Mizukage ended quickly. Their exchange was nothing more than pleasantries and meaningless dialogue.
After reaching their residence, the Third Hokage went straight to the second floor. Standing beside Shinki on the balcony, he spoke with a serious expression.
"Shinki, after my discussion with the Mizukage, I've realized this Five Kage Summit is aimed at you."
Shinki: "???"
What the hell?
A Five Kage Summit to target me?
What kind of power and influence does Hyuga Shinki have to warrant this level of attention?
Wait. The Five Kage Summit was initiated by Sand Village. Why would Sand Village call for it just to target me?
The Third Kazekage couldn't possibly be worried I'd air-drop puppets into his village and detonate them, could he?
All the doubts that had lingered along the way finally made sense. Shinki sat up straight, stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Hahaha! This is truly amusing. I never thought Hyuga Shinki would be regarded so highly by the Five Great Ninja Villages. This must be a first since the establishment of ninja villages."
Now, this is deterrence!
Without sufficient threat, Sand Village wouldn't have bothered to initiate such a summit. And other villages wouldn't join Sand's efforts unless they, too, felt deeply threatened.
In the end, they're all afraid of me. They're terrified that Konoha might deploy another puppet air-drop attack, especially Sand Village. They fear that if it happens again, the war would end hastily with them raising the white flag.
Other villages share the same concern. While there's no war between Konoha and Rock, Cloud, or Mist Village currently, who can predict the future? If friction or even a full-scale war arises, and Konoha deploys self-destructing puppets, how could they fight?
The very thought of their villages being blown to pieces and suffering heavy losses renders any resistance futile.
Shinki's nickname, "God Killer," already struck fear in the hearts of the ninja world. Killing Hanzo was remarkable, but that alone wouldn't change the course of a war. It was the puppet air-drops that instilled a fear far greater than any individual's strength.
After understanding the reason behind the summit, Shinki couldn't stop laughing until his stomach hurt.
Unfortunately, the Third Hokage wasn't laughing. He had been planning to prevent Shinki from launching another surprise attack—this time against Sand Village.
But before Shinki could even act, Sand Village had already called a Five Kage Summit to unite the other villages against him. To be precise, they aimed to restrict Shinki's use of puppet air-drops or even prevent him from deploying puppets on the battlefield altogether.
This was terrible news for Konoha.
"If several villages unite against us, we'll be under immense pressure. Shinki, what do you think?" the Third Hokage asked, clearly worried.
"What do I think?" Shinki snapped. "Sit back and watch."
He stopped laughing, his tone sharp. "If they pressure you, will you yield?"
"Absolutely not."
Shinki wasn't about to stop using air-drops or puppets just because others didn't like it. The choice to refrain from using them was his alone—not something to be forced upon him.
As for the pressure?
That wasn't his problem. There as the Third Hokage before him who could handle it. Let him bear the burden of leadership.
After all, why should they enjoy the benefits brought by his puppets but shy away from the consequences? There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Shinki had no intention of caring how the Five Kage discussed his methods. If they wanted to restrict his puppets and impose rules against him, they'd find no cooperation from him.
>>>>>
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