As night fell, undercurrents stirred in Hidden Sand Village.
Rinjin's clone crouched on the towering rooftop of the Kazekage building and sighed helplessly.
Too weak!
That Danzō guy was still too weak!
What should have been a simple matter was made complicated by this guy.
But this couldn't be entirely blamed on him. In the end, this guy was still limited by the perspective of his era.
As a true mastermind behind the scenes, the more frequently one acted, the more one would expose their weaknesses. There was a reason why this guy was always suppressed by Sarutobi Hiruzen in the original story—too many moves led him naturally into the spotlight.
Thinking of this, the clone sighed leisurely and murmured:
"Forget it, I'll notify the main body. I can't be bothered to worry about this kind of thing anymore."
As the words fell, accompanied by a soft "poof," white smoke dispersed into the air.
On the other side of Hidden Sand Village, Rinjin, who was leisurely sitting on the toilet reading a newspaper, was slightly stunned and immediately pouted in dissatisfaction.
Based on the information sent back by his clone, Danzō's exposure was now inevitable. Rasa wasn't a fool, Toda wasn't a fool, the Hidden Sand higher-ups weren't fools, and the Eighteen Seats weren't fools either.
Currently, Rasa had already begun to suspect Danzō's identity. Add to that Toda, who was eager to avenge Kaza, and it wouldn't be long before they made their move against Danzō.
So the question was: what specific methods would they use to attack?
First: Use Eighteen Seats meetings to continuously create trouble for Danzō, making him gradually reveal flaws and step by step devour the Eighteen Seats positions. The advantage was no side effects; the disadvantage was lack of concealment and easy detection.
Second: Cooperate with those old fossils in the higher-ups to jointly sideline the Eighteen Seats and drive out the middle and lower levels. The advantage was less effort required; the disadvantage was power being divided up.
Third: Use thunderous methods to investigate the Eighteen Seats' details while publicly exposing that Kaza was fake. The advantage was catching them off guard, fast and ruthless; the disadvantage was possible failure.
Of course, if Rasa were smart enough, there was a fourth method: do nothing and slowly spread this news to the Eighteen Seats.
The Eighteen Seats and Kaza were actually a community of interests, but once Kaza couldn't punctually feed them cake anymore, the Eighteen Seats would become the fiercest hungry wolves.
After all, people were greedy, and the Eighteen Seats rules bound benefits and power to positions, not to people.
Once Kaza could no longer create value, the Eighteen Seats would inevitably overthrow Kaza without hesitation for their own interests.
Thinking of this, Rinjin chuckled.
"Toda, who has followed me for years, has a good chance of thinking of this, but he probably wouldn't choose to do it this way. As for Rasa, Rinjin wasn't sure."
However, Toda's loyalty was somewhat surprising to him.
Could it be that I have Orochimaru's talent for fooling kids???
If that were the case, then the exposure of the Kaza identity wouldn't be much of a problem!
Although Rinjin was most likely the Third Kazekage's son, he didn't have time to waste in Hidden Sand Village all day.
Being able to cultivate Toda, this diligent and studious kid, as a proxy would be a good idea.
As for Danzō, Rinjin had given up hope. That guy might only be suitable for taking the blame.
Thinking of this, Rinjin couldn't help but despise the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama.
The Second Uncle's ability as Hokage was decent, but his talent for teaching students was really worth complaining about.
...
Three days passed.
In the Hidden Sand building where undercurrents stirred, Rasa and his trusted subordinates like Maki were plotting something.
"Sir, are we really going to move against the Eighteen Seats?"
"Yes." Rasa nodded.
He couldn't forget how Kaza had united with those damn Eighteen Seats to bully him, nor could he accept these merchants' disrespect toward him.
"That kid called Toda shows great sincerity. With his help, I now know all the details about the Eighteen Seats."
Hearing this, Maki continued asking:
"Fourth-sama, how do you plan to proceed?"
Rasa didn't answer Maki's question but instead turned to look at Maki, throwing the same question back at him.
"If it were you, what would you do?"
Hearing this, Maki pondered for a moment before voicing his thoughts.
"I think we should still proceed gradually, infiltrating bit by bit. Take the forces behind the Eighteen Seats under our control one by one, then finally completely sideline the Eighteen Seats and complete our takeover of the Municipal Department."
Hearing this, Rasa said nothing.
It was clear he wasn't pleased with this idea. He had endured for a long time. As a village's shadow, he didn't want to make a money-printing machine, even though Kazekage and money-printing machine were basically equivalent.
"Go get Toda."
Hearing this, the ANBU nearby immediately nodded.
Soon, Toda, dressed in a decent robe, appeared in the Kazekage's office with a humble expression.
After bowing, Toda spoke:
"Lord Kazekage, you summoned me?"
Hearing this, Rasa nodded expressionlessly:
"There's something I'd like to get your opinion on."
Here it comes!
Toda was delighted. These past two days, he had been helping Rasa collect intelligence on the Eighteen Seats, so he already had a general idea of Rasa's thoughts.
Rasa was going to move against the Municipal Department!
This was exactly his chance for revenge.
On the other side, Rasa then explained his plan to move against the Eighteen Seats.
Hearing this, Toda, who was already well-prepared, pretended to ponder for a moment before speaking in an uncertain tone:
"Lord Kazekage, I don't know if my thoughts are correct, so please just consider them as reference. There are two methods to completely control the Municipal Department."
Actually three, he added mentally.
"The first method is slower—gradually move against the people behind the Eighteen Seats, especially Kubo's faction. Kubo's faction controls several key grain factories in the village, and I don't need to explain the importance of grain. The advantage of this method is that it's very stable—as long as we act, we can definitely reclaim some authority. But the disadvantage is that it's easy for word to leak out. The Eighteen Seats are secondary; the key issue is the village's higher-ups..."
At this point, Toda immediately stopped.
If he were in front of Lord Kaza, he would dare to curse those old fossils in the higher-ups, but in front of Rasa, he'd better not.
Seeing that Toda's method was no different from Maki's, just more detailed, a flash of disappointment crossed Rasa's eyes.
"What about the other method?"
Hearing this, Toda immediately looked around, then quietly stepped closer and said:
"Lord Kazekage, cut through the mess with a swift blade. Prepare personnel to secretly monitor the various factories controlled by the Eighteen Seats and make preparations for forcible control. At the same time, you can find an excuse to hold a gathering, inviting all the higher-ups and prestigious people in the village, along with public officials including the Eighteen Seats and Lord Kaza. Then take this opportunity to expose the fake Kaza's identity in one stroke—use any excuse like spy or infiltrator. Afterward, have the hidden ninjas control the various factories and sideline the Eighteen Seats. This way, you can catch the fake Kaza off guard while effectively preventing other conspirators from interfering. Thus, you can legitimately take down the Municipal Department and reclaim the authority and the biggest piece of cake in the village that belongs to you."
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