But when he learned from Karura all the details of Qingshui's development of the Separation Release Kekkei Genkai and his sparring with the Third Kazekage on the training grounds, he suddenly realized that Qingshui's growth rate was much faster than he had imagined.
Qingshui, as he was now, was absolutely no weaker than him in terms of strength.
This was no longer a future competitor; this was a direct opponent capable of pulling up a chair to the table!
With his strength unable to make further breakthroughs, Rasa spent all his time mining, aside from his normal daily training.
He had to prove to the Third Kazekage that he could achieve more merits, create more wealth for the village, and be of higher value!
In the past, for such important matters, the Third Kazekage would only call upon Chiyo and Ebizo, the true core figures among the Sand Hidden elders, for discussion. But now, he had called both Rasa and Qingshui.
In Rasa's view, this was the Third Kazekage indicating that the future core of the village would definitely include the two of them, and the Fourth Kazekage would emerge from the victor between them.
The intelligence report from the capital quickly passed through Qingshui, Rasa, and Chiyo's hands.
Ebizo didn't read it because he was the one who had dispatched someone to submit the document to the Third Kazekage.
"Speak your minds. Although the village's finances are much richer than in the past, the military allocation from the Daimyo is still a crucial part of the village's financial income. While it's not to say we couldn't survive without this money, we absolutely cannot be without it, nor can it be reduced. You are all current or future core members of the village, and you should all understand how much can be done with such a large sum of money."
"And more important than money is the new Daimyo, and the attitude of those noble factions in the capital towards the village. For the future of the Land of Wind and the Sand Village, this current situation must change."
The Third Kazekage waited for them to finish reading the document before speaking in a deep voice.
Qingshui, Chiyo, and Ebizo did not rush to answer, instead sitting and pondering slowly.
Rasa, eager to prove himself, was somewhat impatient.
"Lord Third, it seems this newly appointed Daimyo is very wary of the village, believing that the village's current growth will spiral out of control, which is why he wants to use finances as a leash to control the village. I think it would be better to send someone disguised to assassinate him as a warning to this new Daimyo."
Chiyo and Ebizo exchanged a somewhat speechless glance.
Qingshui remained expressionless, still appearing to be deep in thought.
Rasa's answer...
It didn't surprise him; it was very much in line with his style.
This guy even used assassination, such a foolish method, to test Gaara, his youngest son and a Jinchuriki.
Even in the Konoha Crush Plan, the initial plan was to assassinate the Third Hokage during the Chunin Exams with Orochimaru, only to be betrayed by Orochimaru.
It was as if assassination was the most effective political tool.
But assassination is merely a quick and low-cost political tactic. It can indeed be very useful under specific circumstances and is an important way for the weaker to defeat the stronger.
However, assassination also often carries extremely high risks.
This risk refers not only to the success rate of the assassination but, more importantly, to the price that must be paid once the act of assassination is recognized.
In most cases, for an official power, assassination must possess absolute stealth and deniability.
Unless the two sides have already fallen out, or have decided to fall out, assassination should absolutely be avoided if possible.
Not to mention, the assassination Rasa spoke of did not involve taking the Daimyo's life.
"Unacceptable."
The Third Kazekage very decisively shook his head, rejecting his disciple.
"Even if there are conflicts of interest, the Daimyo is not our enemy. At the very least, we cannot have a direct conflict with the Daimyo. Using such a method as a warning would only escalate into conflict."
The Daimyo's status in the Ninja World is very special; their symbolic significance for a country is even greater than that of a Kage. They hold the most fundamental political powers of a country, such as population taxation.
The relationship between the Kage and the Daimyo is somewhat similar to that between a Shogun and an Emperor, and also somewhat like the relationship between a king and the military nobility within their country in parts of medieval Europe.
However, the power held by the Daimyo is stronger than that of an Emperor; they are not merely symbolic. And the Kage is not just a single military noble, but rather represents a political group composed of all the military nobles in the country. In fact, they might even surpass that, and can be considered a head of state alongside the Daimyo.
The former needs the latter's strong power to secure their position, while the latter needs the former's symbolic significance and financial allocations to maintain and strengthen their power.
As Rasa said, finances are the leash the Daimyo uses to rein in the ninja villages.
Even if a ninja village has a high degree of autonomy and the Daimyo has no power to command its ninjas, for a ninja village to support a strong military force, it must have financial support from the Daimyo. Without this most crucial financial income for the ninja village, even if its military strength is formidable, it will quickly decline.
This is also the most important card the Daimyo holds against the ninja villages.
However, the current Sand Village seems to show signs of breaking free from the leash.
Rasa fell silent.
He couldn't think of any other solutions.
As for killing the Daimyo and replacing him with a new one, he wouldn't dare to do such a thing.
Qingshui did want to replace the Daimyo with a new puppet, but such a scheme for the nation required subtle means, and the conditions were not yet ripe.
At the very least, a simple assassination of the Daimyo and direct instatement of a puppet would definitely not work.
Everyone would see through it, and other countries would definitely seize this opportunity to intervene in the internal affairs of the Land of Wind.
The highest form of warfare is to attack strategies, followed by alliances, and then by armies.
Direct military action is the worst option. The Daimyo of other countries would also absolutely not want to see ninjas threatening a Daimyo's life or challenging a Daimyo's authority. This would no longer be an internal affair of one country; it would represent the ninja class challenging the Daimyo's authority. At that point, they would surely demand their ninja villages dispatch troops.
And those ninja villages would be happy to see the increasingly powerful Sand Village brought down.
Although the current Sand Hidden, like Konoha, is a super ninja village of the highest caliber, it still couldn't withstand a joint attack from four ninja villages.
To change the current situation, they first needed to weaken the Daimyo's power, and then have an arrow hit the Daimyo.
Just like the arrow General Zheng, Zhu Dan, used to shatter the sacred aura of the Son of Heaven of Zhou.
Moreover, this arrow absolutely could not be shot by someone from the Sand Village, or at least it could not be perceived as being shot by the Sand Village.
As Qingshui quietly pondered the feasibility of various plans, Chiyo, Ebizo, and the Third Kazekage also expressed their respective opinions.
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