At this moment, in a secret room within Kirigakure, Mizukage was quietly perusing ancient texts and scrolls—all precious information collected by Kirigakure since its founding.
Although it was said that Kirigakure had been spared the ravages of war, it was still a ninja village after all. Its mission was to protect the safety of the country, so it couldn't possibly ignore developments in the outside world.
Therefore, over the years, it had collected quite a lot of intelligence about the ninja world, including information on the great nations, surrounding small countries, and even ninja clans. However, this information was insignificant compared to that of the great nations, as the power of the Land of Water was, after all, extremely limited.
Although this information wasn't considered top secret, its scope was quite broad, encompassing almost all mainstream ninja villages or clans in this ninja world. It even contained some relevant information about the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan,
though it was quite one-sided, consisting mostly of their clan history and development. At most, it only mentioned the Uchiha Clan's Bloodline Limit Sharingan and the Senju Clan's Wood Style.
And what Mizukage was currently looking for was information related to the Uzumaki Clan. The Uzumaki Clan, distant relatives of the Senju Clan, had their clan settlement in Uzushiogakure in the Land of Whirlpools.
Uzushiogakure was destroyed during the Second Great Shinobi War. Most of the clan members were displaced from their homes, and a small number moved to Konoha. They possessed long lifespans, immense chakra reserves, and were skilled in sealing jutsu. This was all the information available on the Uzumaki Clan.
"As expected, they are distant relatives of the Senju Clan. Even their physiques are so similar, except one is good at combat and the other is good at sealing jutsu," Mizukage secretly mused, looking at the documents in his hand.
Ever since he used his Eye Power to decipher the stone tablet passed down through generations beneath the Uchiha Clan's lands, Mizukage had begun to take an interest in the Uzumaki Clan. After all, half of the Uzumaki Clan's blood flowed within his own body; it was hard not to be interested.
"As descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, along with the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan, what kind of secrets does the Uzumaki Clan truly hold? It makes one quite curious. It seems I must make a trip there. Perhaps I might gain something." Mizukage slowly put down the scroll in his hand and said with a smile.
In a spacious meeting room in Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, high-ranking officials of Iwagakure sat around a long stone table. They were chattering and discussing something, seemingly deliberating over some matter.
At the very front of the stone table sat an extremely short old man with a large red nose, round eyes, and white hair tied up. His hands were clasped over his chest, and his eyes were closed, lost in thought.
This man was indeed the current leader of Iwagakure, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, the two-tailed scale great tree. He was also the oldest and most qualified village leader among the Five Great Nations, besides the already deceased Second Tsuchikage.
"Lord Tsuchikage, I approve of taking action against the Land of Water. After all, Konoha is currently heavily wounded, and the Third Hokage is dead. And although the Sand Village didn't suffer great losses, their Fourth Kazekage died at Orochimaru's hands.
This is also an immeasurably heavy blow for the Sand Village. So, even if our ninja army borrows a path through the Land of Rain, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Fire, they wouldn't say anything, as they are all preoccupied now," an elder with high prestige in Iwagakure began to speak.
"I disagree with this proposal. After all, we haven't fully understood the details of this Land of Water yet. Moreover, for this country to be able to swallow up the surrounding small countries,
it indicates that its national strength is certainly not weak. Furthermore, we would be traveling a long distance, so even if we were to conquer it, we would probably pay no small price. Wouldn't that benefit those fellows from Kumogakure?" another elder immediately countered.
"I don't think so. If we can obtain 'aid' from the Land of Water, then paying some price isn't much. You should know that this country is very rich," an elder beside him said with a cold smile.
A group of people continued to argue like this, but each insisted on their own viewpoint, and no one could convince anyone else. The meeting remained deadlocked.
"Hehe." Just at this moment, the Third Tsuchikage chuckled aloud. His old, deep voice immediately attracted the attention of the other elders. The Third Tsuchikage could be said to be the oldest ninja in Iwagakure and the person with the highest prestige. His words naturally commanded respect and emphasis.
"...You don't need to argue. If it weren't for this, I would also be afraid that Kumogakure would sit back and reap the benefits, hehe," the Third Tsuchikage said with a smile, then threw a document onto the table. The cover of the document had the words 'Top Secret' written on it.
"I've already read this document. You all can take it and read it yourselves," Ōnoki said. An elder beside him, covered in sweat, picked up the document bag, slowly opened it, and then began to read it carefully.
"This, this is a request for alliance sent by Kumogakure!!! This..." The elder gasped in disbelief after reading the document. "What?! Kumogakure would ask for an alliance with us!!!" The other elders, too, were greatly astonished, crying out in disbelief.
"Hmm, not bad. The content of this alliance request expresses Kumogakure's proposal to temporarily ally with us, Iwagakure, and jointly advance into the Land of Water," the elder wiped the sweat from his forehead, speaking with a hint of disbelief.
"Those barbarians with only muscles in their brains would also ally with others!!? What a joke, isn't this some kind of conspiracy to calculate against us?" Other elders chimed in, clearly not trusting Kumogakure.
"Nothing is impossible. The most fundamental relationship between nations is interest. Wars also arise from this. Without interest, who would want to risk enormous dangers to participate in war? This is the essence of this world; all act for profit," Ōnoki said calmly.
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