When Aoba first came to this world, the very first thing he thought about was simply how to increase his strength, and then survive the future ninja world war.
After that, have a wife and kids, a warm bed, and live his own happy life.
It was only later, after awakening the system and then coincidentally meeting Tenten, that rich woman and considering the money-burning conditions of his system, that he started to feel that maybe he could be a little greedier.
Like finding a few more wives or something.
Sure, women would only slow down his sword drawing speed, but a small rich woman like Tenten could give him the best sword in the entire village.
Then he met Ino, Sakura, Hinata, and later, through a series of coincidences, was taken in as Tsunade's disciple, and his ambitions seemed to grow even bigger.
He wanted them all. [T/N: Catch em all!]
But at that time, that was really as far as it went. He truly hadn't thought about replacing the daimyo or unifying the ninja world.
It wasn't until later, with the appearance of Mei Terumi and Konan. Mei Terumi was a Kirigakure ninja, and Konan longed for peace in the ninja world. Only then did he first develop the idea of unifying the ninja world and bringing so-called peace to it.
That was also his promise to Konan.
Even though he was a bit of a scumbag, when it came to promises he'd made, he would absolutely fulfill them.
And making a move on the daimyo was part of that plan.
So after hearing Tsunade's question, Aoba's expression also turned serious.
"Sensei, no one stands in the heavens from the very beginning. A weak daimyo relying on a hereditary title to sit above everyone for too long, it's already time that—"
"Alright! Alright! I'm not interrogating you."
Seeing that Aoba was about to launch into another long speech, Tsunade impatiently interrupted him, "I'm just asking whether you're planning to make a move on the daimyo or not."
"..."
Originally planning to put on a good act, only to be cut off so suddenly, Aoba now wore a bitter expression, as if something were stuck in his throat, a sentence held in that he didn't know whether he should say or not.
"Heh!"
Seeing his expression, Tsunade couldn't help but let out a light chuckle.
Unable to swallow his anger, Aoba simply leaned in and bit her lips directly.
Tsunade was a bit surprised by the sudden attack, but she didn't resist.
At this moment, Aoba felt like he was chewing on a piece of jelly, fragrant and soft.
Only when he felt he'd gotten enough revenge did he pull away.
"Sensei, would you oppose me making a move on the daimyo?"
Not giving Tsunade a chance to scold him for the sudden attack, Aoba directly countered with a question, "As far as I know, the current daimyo of the Land of Fire is related to you by blood, right?"
Tsunade being called a princess wasn't just because of her looks and her status as the First Hokage's granddaughter, but because she truly did have blood ties to the Fire Country's daimyo.
"That bit of blood relation, no matter how close, could it be closer than our relationship?"
After freezing for a moment, Tsunade quickly snapped back to her senses, rolled her eyes at him, then said helplessly.
"But the current daimyo is still, after all, my uncle…"
"Sensei, don't worry about that. I was planning to use genjutsu to control him in the first place. After transferring the daimyo's authority to the Hokage position, I'd find a place for him to retire peacefully."
Aoba had naturally already considered Tsunade's concern and directly laid out his plan.
"At least I didn't dote on you for nothing."
Seeing that Aoba had clearly thought this through, Tsunade couldn't help feeling a bit moved.
"Still, managing a country and managing a ninja village are completely different in terms of difficulty. You need to be clear about that."
Back then, Senju Hashirama established the system of one country, one village precisely because he knew that ninjas who only knew how to carry out killing missions would find it very difficult to govern a country well.
Just look at Sarutobi Hiruzen's governance ability. He could even turn a single Konoha village into a total mess.
But when it came to Aoba, Tsunade was willing to believe in him.
After all, she had seen the changes in Konoha over the past few years with her own eyes. Although the decisions were made by her, most of the ideas had been proposed by Aoba.
That was also why she handed over the Hokage position to him so early.
Because Aoba had that ability.
"I understand, Sensei," Aoba nodded seriously.
"That's good. I'll also participate in this operation against the Land of Grass."
After saying that, Tsunade said nothing more. Before Aoba could bury his head into her collar, she quickly pushed him away, tidied her clothes, and left the bedroom directly.
There were still so many people outside watching.
If they found out, where would she put her face?
Aoba, still standing there, could only shrug helplessly. Did he really look like someone that impatient?
He followed her out. Tonight's dinner was still warm and lively as ever.
———
Compared to the warmth and bustle in Aoba's home, the atmosphere inside the Raikage Building was still cold and severe.
The Fourth Raikage sat at the newly replaced desk with a dark expression. Nearby, cleaners quietly swept up the debris left behind when the desk had just been smashed.
Aside from faint breathing sounds, all that remained was the "shasha" sound of cleaning.
In such a quiet environment, even those tiny sounds felt somewhat noisy.
So much so that a bit of cold sweat appeared on the cleaners' foreheads.
After finishing the cleanup quickly and efficiently, they promptly left the scene.
"There's no news from the Land of Snow. What about Kusagakure? Has Kusagakure sent back any news either?", Once the cleaning was done, the Fourth Raikage, who had kept a grim face the whole time, finally spoke.
According to the original plan, regardless of whether today's operation succeeded or failed, the ANBU responsible for carrying it out would transmit the news back at the agreed time through a secret technique. This was also to confirm—
Cee shook his head with a bitter expression, "The ninjas from Kusagakure haven't sent back any news either. From the looks of it, this operation has probably run into trouble."
"..."
The room fell silent again.
The Fourth Raikage clenched his fists once more. Seeing that the newly replaced desk was about to suffer again, the raised fist slowly lowered instead.
He let out a long sigh and sat back in his chair somewhat dejectedly, "Call back everyone who's still out on missions. And have Bee come back from Turtle Island too. War… isn't far off."
"Yes."
———
However, just as Kumogakure was also racking its brains to prepare for war, the news that suddenly spread through the ninja world the very next day caught them completely off guard.
[Breaking! The Land of Grass sent ninjas under the pretense of cooperation to assassinate the Queen of the Land of Snow!]
[The Queen of the Land of Snow is critically injured after the assassination attempt. The Land of Snow is enraged!]
[The Land of Snow officially declares war on the Land of Grass!]
One had to know that Kazahana Koyuki, aside from being the Queen of the Land of Snow, also had the identity of a famous actress.
She naturally knew exactly how to publicize something like this so that everyone would know.
So without the slightest intention of negotiation, and without giving the Land of Grass any chance to speak, she directly chose to declare war.
And she informed the major newspapers of all the great nations in the ninja world of this news.
When newspapers received this kind of information, they naturally changed their headlines overnight and published it immediately.
And this was precisely what Kumogakure hadn't expected the most.
Such a good opportunity, yet instead of choosing to make a move on them, they went after the Land of Grass. Could it be that their plan hadn't been exposed yet?
This news also stirred up no small waves throughout the ninja world.
Even though it was only between two small countries, once a localized war began, the surrounding great nations were very likely to be dragged into it.
The peace that had lasted for over ten years would be completely shattered.
Under these circumstances, although Konoha's old and new commercial districts were still prosperous, there was clearly a bit more tension in the air compared to before.
Many villagers were discussing the matter, after all, the Land of Grass was right next to Konoha.
And inside the Hokage Building, regarding this incident, a jonin meeting was convened once again.
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