"So, what's the story with the Hyuga Clan? As far as I know, your relationship with Hyuga Ayane shouldn't be enough for her to risk death by defecting from the village with you."
Tsunade was puzzled.
Never mind the Uchiha Clan, but why would the deeply trusted Hyuga Clan also defect from Konoha?
This constantly baffled Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sensei, do you know the intense longing for freedom a person experiences when they've had it once and then it's stripped away, and just how deep the hatred of the branch family towards the main family is?"
Hakushi retorted.
"Is that why she left Konoha with you?"
"Of course, that's not the reason. Although it might seem unbelievable to you, shortly after Ayane received the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, she was already mine. It was then that she learned of my wish to leave Konoha."
Poof!
Tsunade, who was drinking tea, sprayed it out.
Shizune also widened her eyes, looking at Hakushi in disbelief.
Tsunade coughed violently, trembling and pointing at Hakushi, unable to speak for a moment.
Soon after the Caged Bird Cursed Seal was placed, planning to leave Konoha?
How old were Hakushi and Hyuga Ayane then?
Six years old?
A six-year-old planning to defect from Konoha?
Tsunade felt like she wanted to scold Hakushi, but seeing his calm and composed demeanor, not looking like he was lying, she regained her composure.
But she couldn't calm down.
Because she couldn't understand why Hakushi, at merely six years old, would have the thought of defecting from Konoha.
If Hakushi had been a spy cultivated by another ninja village from a young age, one might say it was understandable.
But that's not the issue.
Hakushi's rise in the Land of Demons also proved this. He wasn't a spy sent by any village to Konoha; he was a native Konoha Ninja.
"Why did you have such thoughts? Konoha should have treated you well. Or is it because Danzo tried to assassinate you in the past... Wait, that isn't right either, Danzo attempted to assassinate you after you graduated from Ninja School and joined Sakumo's squad."
Tsunade looked at Hakushi as if he were some kind of prodigy.
She thought she knew a lot about Hakushi, but now she realized she knew very little about this student.
Hakushi didn't respond but instead asked: "Tsunade-sensei, how do you think the current Land of Demons compares to the Land of Fire?"
Tsunade initially thought Hakushi was bragging with such a question.
Because the rise of the Land of Demons, in just over a decade, brought their military strength close to the Five Great Nations. Even the Land of Wind had to make concessions to the Land of Demons.
It's something that Tsunade wouldn't have dared to imagine in the past.
Even Hanzou of the Salamander, who once bestowed the title of Sannin upon her, didn't manage to bring transformation to the Land of Rain. Instead, the power of Hanzou made the great nations more apprehensive, denying peace to the Land of Rain.
And Hanzou had no means to resist.
The Five Great Nations couldn't defeat Hanzou, but they could target the Land of Rain to restrain Hanzou's movements.
This is another form of power.
A power that even Hanzou couldn't defy.
Yet, the Land of Demons achieved the dream that Hanzou couldn't.
Tsunade could foresee that the Land of Demons becoming the sixth great nation was just a matter of time.
Their invitation to join the Five Kage Summit illustrated that the Five Great Nations had acknowledged the ninja power of the Land of Demons, no longer regarding them as a small nation.
Otherwise, the Land of Wind wouldn't lose face at the Five Kage Summit, making constant concessions and compromises; instead, they would immediately counterattack the Land of Demons to destroy them.
So, this wasn't bragging; it was stating a fact.
A fact that gave the great nations considerable headaches.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Speaking from a people's livelihood perspective, what do you think the great nations and the Land of Demons lack in comparison?"
This question was odd.
Always, the Ninja Realm looked up to the Five Great Nations.
Comparisons were typically about what the small nations lacked compared to the great nations.
The nations hadn't officially recognized the Land of Demons as the sixth great nation, but Hakushi suggested that, compared to the Land of Demons, even the mighty Land of Fire lacked something, which seemed odd to Tsunade.
It felt like the Land of Fire was being disrespected.
And consequently, Konoha too, for relying on the Land of Fire for survival.
This kind of disrespect wasn't about military might but was something much deeper.
"Livelihood..."
Tsunade recalled her experiences in the Land of Demons.
Even though she didn't appreciate the tough attitude of the Land of Demons, she had to admit the Land of Demons had raised the standard of living for their populace significantly compared to other countries.
The roads spread widely, each town with hospitals, schools, and security departments as important facilities.
Bandits were eradicated within the country.
Bounty hunters from the underground black market couldn't act recklessly within the borders of the Land of Demons.
Their taxes were the lowest among all the countries in the Ninja Realm.
Even during the previous regime of the Witch Mire, the taxes weren't high.
While civilians in other countries still struggled for survival, civilians in the Land of Demons were no longer worried about survival, sending their children to school to learn various life skills.
Meanwhile, many civilians in the Land of Fire repeated the cycle of farming every year, handing over most of their grain to the nobility and Daimyo.
Good harvests meant they could retain a bit more surplus.
Poor harvests meant they could only scrape by for the year.
During times of war, civilians at the borders of the Land of Fire would migrate and only return once the war ended.
Comparing the two, Tsunade realized the civilians in the Land of Fire were indeed quite miserable.
Most importantly, each town in the Land of Demons had achieved such a complete system, not just in large cities.
Tsunade had noticed this problem early on.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
Building the Land of Demons in this manner required an astronomical amount of money.
Firstly, civilians couldn't afford it; the ninja village needed to develop military strength, and the money couldn't be utilized nationwide for civilian development.
So, the funds could only come from the pockets of the Daimyo, nobility, and the big merchants.
"What are you trying to convey by telling me all this?"
Tsunade was irritated, not knowing what Hakushi was plotting by sharing all this.
"Is the one-country-one-village system really correct? What did the First Hokage bring to the Ninja Realm with this system?"
Hakushi still didn't give a definitive answer but stared intensely at Tsunade with sharp eyes, questioning with a very pointed inquiry.