It was already one in the afternoon, and everyone, who hadn't eaten yet, finally put down their documents.
Tomoki was very pleased to see the wary gazes directed at him.
There were more smart people than he imagined, so this matter was already settled.
If everyone couldn't grasp the deeper meaning, then after the Land of Earth acted, they would all go their separate ways.
With only a few stragglers and a small number of members remaining, it would truly be just playing house, amusing themselves behind closed doors.
"Alright, I believe everyone has finished reading and has a preliminary understanding," Tomoki said after looking around.
"Gentlemen, there's no need to declare your approval or opposition. Those who wish to apply to join will be considered to approve; the rest will be considered to oppose or abstain!"
After speaking, Tomoki raised his right hand and said, "As the proposer of the plan, Konoha first approves, and now officially joins the Shinobi Alliance!"
Having stated his position, Tomoki lowered his arm and directed his gaze to the others present.
"Hidden Mist applies to join!"
"Sunagakure applies to join!"
"Kumogakure applies to join!"
"...."
There was no surprise; even those who hadn't fully grasped the implications chose to join.
After all, with profit as the primary concern, it was best to join first and secure the benefits.
What surprised Tomoki a little was that Darui hadn't understood his intention.
However, looking at Darui's slightly narrowed, dead-fish eyes and his relaxed demeanor, Tomoki guessed that Darui was simply too lazy to think.
After everyone present had applied to join, "Clap! Clap! Clap!" Tomoki led the applause from his seat.
With a beginning, others naturally followed, and a burst of enthusiastic applause echoed in the conference room.
After the applause subsided, Tomoki, with a smile on his face, spoke words that were not entirely sincere.
"Gentlemen, welcome to the Shinobi Alliance family. From now on, the peace of the Ninja World and the future of the Ninja will require your collective efforts!"
The future of the Ninja was now guaranteed.
But for the peace of the Ninja World, Tomoki could only scoff.
As a Ninja, standing from the perspective of a Ninja, Tomoki naturally felt uncomfortable with the restrictions imposed by the Daimyo and nobles.
Don't think that the Land of Fire was truly calm; with the continuous income brought by Konoha's various industries, officials in the Land of Fire had long discovered that Konoha had escaped their control.
The cessation of raw material supplies and the cancellation of orders had already occurred once before Tomoki became Hokage.
Of course, everything returned to normal after the Uchiha Ninja were dispatched in batches.
A guy like Yagura indeed needed someone with a Mangekyo Sharingan like Obito to control him.
However, the nobles of the Land of Fire did not require that level of power.
Moreover, when Tomoki sent them out, he didn't need them to control the nobles with high-pressure tactics; he simply needed them to ensure everything proceeded as usual.
Trade, after all, was a win-win situation.
It was precisely because of this that those clan members had not been exposed to this day.
From the perspective of Konoha or the Ninja, the Daimyo and nobles indeed seemed like villains.
Just a little bit of profit leaked from their fingers made the Hidden Villages obedient, turning them from jackals into guard dogs.
However, Ninja, after all, possessed supernatural powers; merely being impoverished thugs, they had already caused unrest in the Ninja World.
When Ninja had a bright future, transforming from disabled entities with no money, no food, no resources, only power, into complete entities with money, food, resources, and power, what would happen?
One could already see the first signs from the Land of Rain.
Yes, the Land of Rain, not the Hidden Rain Village.
Tomoki estimated that when that time came, they wouldn't stop until they had turned everything upside down.
That time wouldn't be very soon, but it wouldn't be too far either, just a few decades, two or three generations.
However, for Tomoki, this time was already sufficient.
Just as Tomoki greatly admired Senju Hashirama, one particular trait of his was very much worth learning.
It was better for predecessors not to interfere with the affairs of their successors.
Each generation had its own tasks to do; it was best to do one's own job, and someone else would worry about future matters.
People like Madara were purely meddling in others' business; if you did everything, what would others do?
It was not only tiresome but also very annoying.
Tomoki slightly turned his head, reining in his wandering thoughts, and said with a smile, "Next, let's discuss how the organization will operate. Besides not violating the established principles, everyone is free to speak!"
Hmm, free to speak, a beautiful-sounding trap.
Just like at the beginning of the meeting, some things, unless people tried them, they wouldn't know how difficult they were.
Tomoki, who already had a basic idea and framework, did not directly present what he had prepared.
That would make Konoha seem dictatorial, drawing hatred for himself, and would also cause everyone to scrutinize every detail with a magnifying glass, picking holes in everything.
Having been a leader for a few years, Tomoki had also matured a lot.
He was no longer the hothead who, during the war council, had directly proposed that they must strike first against Hidden Mist.
Many things that were right were not necessarily appropriate.
Tomoki was now much more composed and much more smooth, already subtly possessing the shrewdness of Sarutobi.
Everyone spoke very enthusiastically, especially the leaders of the smaller Hidden Villages, as this kind of occasion was a good opportunity to showcase themselves.
All sorts of proposals were, without question, rejected one by one.
There was always someone dissatisfied, always someone opposed, and once again, a stalemate ensued.
Among them, Seiri of Kusagakure, that fellow, once again proposed an amusing plan.
Electing a Grand Leader with a term limit, with members rotating in turns, a typical 'the emperor takes turns, waiting for it to be my family' approach.
It was much stronger than the initial proposal, at least making all the small Hidden Village leaders' eyes light up.
However, it was ultimately rejected mercilessly by the four Kage, including Tomoki.
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