Time flew by, and several days passed.
In recent days, the entire Ninja World was discussing two matters.
The first, naturally, was the matter of Uchiha Shin ascending the throne and proclaiming himself Emperor.
The second was that Rasa also wanted to ascend and proclaim himself Emperor.
The result, however, was a unanimous boycott by the entire Hidden Sand!
For a time, he became a laughingstock!
Obviously, the proceedings of that day's meeting were deliberately leaked by certain people within the Hidden Sand Village. Otherwise, how could such a confidential meeting have caused such an uproar?
After Rasa found out about this, he was so angry that he smashed an unknown number of treasures he had looted from the Daimyo's mansion.
Iwagakure.
"Hahaha... that guy Rasa really has no self-awareness at all! He actually wanted to copy others and proclaim himself Emperor!"
"First, he doesn't have enough war achievements; second, he doesn't have enough prestige! He can't even unify opinions within the Hidden Sand; on what grounds does he think he can do it?!"
Ohnoki laughed heartily.
Beside him, Kitsuchi watched Rasa make a fool of himself.
For a moment, his own thoughts of proclaiming himself Emperor faded.
After all, without enough strength, prestige, or war achievements, even if you sat in that seat, there would be plenty of people who wouldn't accept you!
Who knows, they might just kick you down one day!
It was still more comfortable to be a Jonin; no need to worry about gains and losses or consider so many things!
Kumogakure.
"Tch! Overestimating himself!"
Darui sneered.
"In the current Ninja World, the only ones with the capacity to proclaim themselves Emperor, besides Uchiha Shin, is that old fellow Ohnoki!"
"Back in Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen had Danzo and the two advisors checking and balancing him."
Ohnoki, however, had no one to check him; he had controlled Iwagakure for decades.
"If he wanted to proclaim himself Emperor, I'm afraid few in Iwagakure would dare to oppose it!"
Dodai said.
"Actually, if Lord Fourth were still here, and if he wanted to proclaim himself Emperor, we probably wouldn't have opposed it either!"
Darui muttered to himself.
"Alas!"
Everyone sighed.
Konoha.
"That guy Rasa really is quite a failure!"
Uchiha Shin smiled faintly.
After accompanying his imperial concubines and relaxing for a few days, today, Uchiha Shin was ready to throw himself into new work.
Weiyang Palace.
The great hall where the Emperor discussed matters with his ministers.
At this moment.
Uchiha Shin sat high upon the throne.
The Five Elders, ministers of various departments, and a group of Jonin were all present, seated on both sides.
The layout of the council hall was somewhat similar to the Han Dynasty style.
Therefore, those ministers were all kneeling, not standing.
"As of today, it has been half a year since we took complete control of the Fire Nation."
"In this half-year, we have restored the economy, people's livelihood, and public order, and likewise strengthened our own power!"
"Now, the Empire possesses fifty thousand ninjas and an army of two hundred and fifty thousand samurai! It can be described as having strong soldiers and sturdy horses."
"Therefore, I have decided to deploy troops externally once again!"
Hearing Uchiha Shin's words, a gleam of light flashed in everyone's eyes.
Going to war?
War is good!
If they didn't fight, how would they generate revenue?
During the administration of the Third Hokage, they were unwilling to fight because, apart from death, war brought no benefits.
Now, it was different.
Now, when they fought and won, there would always be a share of the looted spoils for them.
Moreover, their share was not small. The more benefits they obtained, the greater their power would become.
Additionally, the more territory they conquered, the better. With the Empire's current strength, wherever their military force was directed, it was hard to find an opponent.
With no great risk and the ability to consume these benefits, there was no reason for them not to do it!
"I wonder, how does Your Majesty intend to deploy the troops? Is it to attack a single country, or an all-out offensive?"
Shikaku did not object; after standing up, he directly asked about Uchiha Shin's deployment plan.
"An all-out offensive covers too wide a range and the battle lines would be too long. With the Empire's strength, I fear we would have the will but not the capacity!"
Uchiha Shin said.
"It is better to defeat them one by one!"
"Then, which side does Your Majesty intend to attack first?!"
Shikaku asked again.
"Kumogakure!"
Uchiha Shin said in a deep voice.
Back then, Kumogakure had attacked the Fire Nation, burning, killing, and looting within its borders.
He would not forget that.
Now that he finally had his hands free, he naturally wanted to deal with Kumogakure first!
Hearing this, Shikaku and the others were not surprised.
"Your Majesty, when do we march? How many troops are needed?"
Shikaku asked further.
"Three days from now. I will personally lead twenty thousand ninja troops and eighty thousand samurai on an Imperial Personal Campaign!"
Uchiha Shin stated.
It was only normal for Uchiha Shin to lead the campaign personally.
If he didn't lead it personally, no one would feel at ease about this war!
Therefore, there was no question of stopping him from leading the campaign.
"Shall we declare war on Kumogakure?"
Shikaku asked again.
"Wait until the grand army moves out, then declare war!"
"Yes!"
After the meeting was dismissed, the entire Empire began to move rapidly.
Such a large movement could not be hidden from the three great Hidden Villages.
They finished their meeting at noon.
By the afternoon, intelligence had already been placed on the desks of the three great Hidden Villages.
Sunagakure.
Meeting Room.
"Konoha is making big moves again! We don't know their objective yet! But we cannot relax our vigilance."
"Therefore, moving forward, the Wind Nation needs to enter a Level 1 combat readiness state!"
Rasa's gaze swept over everyone.
"Understood!"
The crowd responded in unison.
As long as it wasn't a matter of principle, they would give Rasa face.
Besides, this was a major event concerning everyone's life and death. They dared not act recklessly.
Iwagakure.
"The storm is coming!"
A look of worry flashed in Ohnoki's eyes.
Kumogakure.
"Everyone, Konoha is making big moves again."
Darui's gaze swept over everyone present.
His expression was solemn to the extreme.
"Uchiha Shin seeks revenge for the smallest grievance. Last time, they didn't wipe us out not because he was benevolent, but because they couldn't spare the manpower at the time. Now, they are moving troops again."
"I have a vague premonition! This time, Konoha is very likely coming for us, Kumogakure!"
Hearing Darui's words, the faces of the Kumogakure crowd instantly became grave.
What Darui said wasn't alarmist talk.
It was extremely likely!
"Then what should we do next?"
"What do you mean what should we do? If soldiers come, we block them; if water comes, we cover it with earth! As long as the Konoha ninjas dare to come, we will make sure they never return!"
The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, shouted.
His brother was killed, and his companion was captured.
He had long accumulated a belly full of anger.
He wanted to use this opportunity to avenge his brother and take back his companion.
In fact, as early as half a year ago, after Kumogakure breached the Capital, raided the Daimyo's mansion and the noble houses, and obtained a large amount of wealth, they had sent envoys to Konoha.
They hoped to use twenty billion ryo to ransom Yugito.
However, they were flatly rejected by Konoha.
After all, at that time, Konoha didn't lack those twenty billion.
And Uchiha Shin would not easily let Yugito leave.
So, to this day, Yugito had never left Konoha. She had even become a low-ranking concubine in Uchiha Shin's harem.
"That's right. Konoha is strong, yes, but we Kumogakure are not afraid of them. As long as they dare to attack us, we'll just fight them head-on!"
The people of Kumogakure were all rough men.
Faced with this situation, basically not a single one chose to retreat.
One by one, they clamored to go to war with Konoha.
Seeing this, Darui had nothing more to say.
He directly issued the order!
"Listen up!"
Swish.
Everyone stood up!
They looked at Darui with solemn expressions.
"The whole country enters a Level 1 combat readiness state!"
"As soon as it is confirmed that Konoha's target is our Kumogakure, hit them directly!"
"Yes!"
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