Sunagakure’s Current Strength

"You’re right. To go against the tide and start a war when the timing is unsuitable—the initiator of that war will definitely have the hardest time and gain the least."

The Third Kazekage nodded and continued,

"Karatachi Yagura was able to take the position of Kage. He shouldn’t be a shortsighted mediocrity. Based on the relevant intelligence the village has gathered in the past, Karatachi Yagura is determined to change Kirigakure’s Bloody Mist policy. He is quite capable and possesses considerable strength. He shouldn’t be the sort of person to do something like this.

Even if he failed to see it, Kirigakure’s Genji is a man of profound wisdom and strategy. He would certainly be able to see this clearly."

Shimizu agreed with the latter half of the Third Kazekage’s words. As for the first half…

Not necessarily.

Someone who rose to the position of Kage was not necessarily incapable of being mediocre. Perhaps they were simply relatively good at fighting, while everyone else was worse, and the village had no one more suitable to put forward.

Still, the Third Kazekage said Yagura was capable and did not seem like someone who would do such a thing. Even if he did, a wise man like Genji would step forward to dissuade him.

Yet Yagura still wanted to do it.

Could it be…

Shimizu frowned slightly.

It was probably that man’s handiwork.

Looking back a hundred years across the entire shinobi world, the only people who truly made the current Shimizu wary, people he believed he was not yet capable of defeating, were Senju Hashirama and Madara Uchiha.

They had already transcended the realm of ordinary shinobi.

Had Karatachi Yagura fallen under Madara Uchiha’s control just after ascending to the position of Fourth Mizukage?

Then that guy was rather pitiful. He had struggled for half his life before finally becoming Mizukage, only to be turned into someone else’s puppet before he even had the chance to accomplish anything. It would not be an exaggeration to say that all his life’s hard work had become another man’s wedding dress.

That meant Kirigakure, one of the five strongest powers in the shinobi world, had now become a tool Madara Uchiha could wield as he pleased.

However, that man’s ultimate objective was to carry out the Moon Eye Plan. His current goal should be to choose an agent from the Uchiha clan for his own use. Since he had already controlled Kirigakure, he should not be able to interfere too heavily with Sunagakure.

As for whether he would choose someone else as his agent, Shimizu considered that possibility exceedingly small—so small it was nearly nonexistent.

He had already seized control of a powerful force like Kirigakure through Karatachi Yagura. If he truly intended to choose someone, why would he have gone looking for Obito Uchiha in the original timeline?

It could only be said that Madara Uchiha had never regarded anyone else highly. Aside from his younger brother Izuna, only Senju Hashirama had ever caught his eye. Likewise, the only powers he valued were the Sharingan and Wood Release.

The Senju had declined, and Wood Release had vanished. Madara Uchiha understood the Sharingan’s power better than anyone and understood the Uchiha better than anyone.

Someone as arrogant as Madara would only trust himself. And once he had grown old, he would only trust someone of the same bloodline—someone he had personally raised.

For the time being, as long as he did not draw too much attention and make Madara Uchiha think he would obstruct the Moon Eye Plan, Shimizu should not attract his notice.

Only once he possessed power that even Madara Uchiha at his peak could not overcome would it truly be time for him to spread his wings.

"What are you thinking about?"

The Third Kazekage looked at the absent-minded Shimizu and interrupted him.

"Nothing. Perhaps Yagura’s rise to power was not smooth, or perhaps the existence of Genji and the others made him feel constrained. So he wants to provoke a war, use victory to build prestige, and consolidate his position and authority."

Shimizu shook his head, casting those distracting thoughts from his mind as he spoke to the Third Kazekage.

"That explanation does make some sense."

The Third Kazekage nodded in agreement.

He could not think of any other explanation either.

"Then what do you think? Should we get involved, or should we stay out of it?"

The Third Kazekage asked Shimizu again.

"I think…"

"Don’t answer in a hurry."

The Third Kazekage tapped the table and cut him off.

"First, let me tell you about the village’s current overall situation. Then you can make your judgment. These figures were compiled at the end of this year."

"The village currently has more than fourteen thousand six hundred active shinobi. More than eight thousand three hundred are Genin, and two thousand six hundred of those only graduated from the Ninja Academy after the Ninja World War ended. They have been formally serving as shinobi for less than three years. There are more than five thousand two hundred Chunin, seven hundred and thirty-three Special Jonin, and one hundred and forty-four Jonin…"

"Among them are the Puppet Force…, the Medical Department…, and the Sealing Squad…"

Shimizu lowered his eyes and swiftly memorized the figures described by the Third Kazekage.

Outsiders, including even the lower- and middle-ranking shinobi of Sunagakure, would speculate and assess the overall strength of the major shinobi villages, but they could only make rough estimates.

Some of the figures the Third Kazekage mentioned, however, were known only to the village high command. They included detailed information on the Anbu’s secret forces, as well as the specific state of all kinds of war supplies.

"Overall, with the rapid expansion of the village’s Puppeteer ranks and the boost Breathing Style provides to elite shinobi, the combat strength of the village’s lower and middle ranks is not much weaker than it was at the beginning of the Second Great Ninja War. Although we have slightly fewer Jonin, their quality is considerably higher."

Shimizu knew that the Jonin the Third Kazekage referred to were not merely ordinary Jonin. They also included the village’s top combatants.

During the Second Great Ninja War, aside from the Third Kazekage himself, Sunagakure had no fewer than four top combatants: Chiyo and her brother, along with Sasori’s parents.

The latter two had been relatively weaker. They were only in their twenties when they died, and their strength had probably been comparable to a relatively weak Kage-level fighter like Rasa.

Combined with the fact that their abilities had been countered, they had both fallen beneath Hatake Sakumo’s blade.

Now, those vacancies could be filled by Rasa and Karura, whose strength had already approached their complete forms.

Add Shimizu himself, along with Pakura, who had now thoroughly mastered Scorch Release and possessed strength close to the Kage level.

In total, there were a full seven top combatants. Aside from Konoha, Sunagakure was nearly comparable to two or three major shinobi villages in that regard.

"Our strength is no weaker than it was back then, and we won the Second Great Ninja War. What about Konoha? They got White Fang killed themselves, Tsunade is crippled, and Dan Katō is dead. If war breaks out again, our chances of victory are far greater than they were before."

Shimizu remained silent.

Sunagakure’s victory in the Second Great Ninja War had actually been quite fortunate.

According to the original trajectory, Sunagakure should have lost. It was only because of Shimizu’s existence that certain changes occurred. They had happened to expose Yakushi Nonō, an elite intelligence operative, and at the right time Sunagakure had learned that Tsunade suffered from hemophobia. That allowed Sunagakure to correctly judge the situation, causing Hanzo to waver.

But what about now?

"Does the village have an accurate assessment of Konoha’s current strength?"

"The Intelligence Department compiled an assessment. It combines analysis of Konoha’s known casualties and retired shinobi over the years with intelligence sent back by operatives planted in Konoha. Their total number of shinobi is around seventeen thousand. Based on known information and normal ratios, their number of Jonin should fall somewhere between one hundred seventy and one hundred eighty.

"Other than the Third Hokage and his old classmates, only Jiraiya and Orochimaru are worth being wary of. The rest… are nothing to fear!"

Shimizu looked at the document the Third Kazekage had produced and rapidly calculated in his mind.

Regarding conventional combat strength, Sunagakure’s intelligence operatives were likely more or less correct. Their assessment of the Uchiha clan’s fighting power might even have been overly cautious.

Konoha had penned the Uchiha into the Police Force for many years. The current Uchiha were at their weakest point in history. While some clan members would still go to the battlefield, the number who received genuine tempering was ultimately small.

Especially those Uchiha with greater talent and strength—the Konoha High Command guarded against them with extreme vigilance. They feared that another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan might awaken one day, giving rise to a second Madara Uchiha who would drive them from the Hokage’s seat and seize their interests.

The current Uchiha had not undergone much tempering. They were still the foremost clan in the shinobi world, but compared to the Sengoku Era, when everyone had been a soldier, they had become far, far weaker.

For that very reason, the entire shinobi world had misjudged the Uchiha clan’s strength, believing Konoha treated the Uchiha as a trump card on par with the tailed beasts.

If that were truly all there was to it, Konoha and Sunagakure would have roughly even odds. And with Kirigakure serving as the vanguard, Konoha would certainly lose based on these figures.

But…

Shimizu flipped through the document until he reached the page containing information on Minato Namikaze.

As Jiraiya’s disciple, the Third Hokage’s grand-disciple, and a new-generation genius of Konoha, Sunagakure’s intelligence division naturally possessed information on him.

Sunagakure’s assessment classified Minato Namikaze as merely an ordinary Elite Jonin skilled in Wind Release and the Body Flicker Technique.

So their evaluation had indeed been wrong?

Shimizu closed the document without changing his expression.

Before developing the Rasengan and gaining an instant high-damage offensive technique, Minato Namikaze’s absolute combat strength had likely not yet reached its peak. But he had certainly already mastered the Flying Thunder God and absolutely possessed Kage-level strength.

Moreover, if war truly broke out and three of the Five Great Shinobi Villages began to move, what would the remaining two do?

"Third Lord, I still stand by my previous view. This is not a good time to provoke a war.

"We may be able to defeat Konoha, but defeating Konoha alone is useless. What we want is to replace Konoha and become the new hegemon of the shinobi world. Kirigakure will cooperate with us, but how much strength will they truly commit?

"What about the other shinobi villages? Kumogakure does not share a border with us, nor do we have conflicting interests. We both have Konoha as a common enemy. But what about Iwagakure?

"Third Lord, I dare say that once war begins, Iwagakure will directly strike at us. And if we show even the slightest sign of falling into a disadvantage, Hanzo and Amegakure’s stance will waver.

"Perhaps we now have the ability to defeat any single shinobi village, including Konoha. But if another Iwagakure is added while we are fighting Konoha, our chances of victory will likely plummet.

"Not to mention, what we see now is only the strength Konoha has displayed. The First Hokage and the Second Hokage left Konoha an incredibly deep foundation. None of us knows whether people like the Legendary Sannin might suddenly emerge from Konoha again."

Shimizu slowly shook his head at the Third Kazekage.

This was not a matter of whether they could win. There was simply no need to fight.

Sunagakure was currently in an unprecedented period of rapid development.

Shimizu believed that as long as he could continuously bring over all kinds of knowledge and technology from other worlds, Sunagakure’s rate of growth in both strength and foundation would far surpass that of the other four shinobi villages in the coming years.

As long as they could stabilize the current situation, everything would come with Sunagakure’s growing strength.

"Yes. Iwagakure, and Hanzo as well, are indeed forces that cannot be ignored. You are right."

The Third Kazekage knew that, with Shimizu’s intelligence and vision, he would be able to see these things.

That was not what he wanted to test by asking for Shimizu’s opinion, nor was it something he himself had failed to see.

What he wanted to know was whether Shimizu was the type of person who would start a war for the sake of war, for the sake of power.

The Third Kazekage was not young anymore. In a few more years, he would begin to decline from his peak.

If Shimizu could lead Sunagakure to a great victory at that time, or even simply perform better than Rasa in war, then the position of Kazekage would undoubtedly be his.

He did not believe Shimizu failed to see this.

The Third Kazekage believed that, for Shimizu personally, this was the quickest path to becoming Kazekage and obtaining the greatest benefits.

Yet Shimizu still told him that not starting a war now was what would be best for Sunagakure.

What did that show?

It showed that Shimizu placed the village’s interests above his own!

The Third Kazekage was very satisfied.

To become a qualified Kage, one had to place the village above one’s own life and interests.

Shimizu did not know that his words had received a perfect score from the Third Kazekage.

Because as far as he was concerned, the position of Kazekage was already his. It was only a matter of time before he took that seat.

Perhaps the Third Kazekage believed everything was still within his grasp?

But that was merely what he believed.

Even if the Third Kazekage suddenly lost his mind and chose Rasa as the Fourth Kazekage, Shimizu could still easily seize the position.

What strength did Rasa have? What methods did he possess?

Through his achievements in creating new Puppet Techniques, Shimizu was practically Monzaemon reborn in the eyes of Sunagakure’s Puppeteers. Through teaching Breathing Style, constructing the Great Sand Rain Canal, producing Energy Vehicles, establishing the Production Line, and a series of other accomplishments, he had already built his prestige to an extremely high level.

With Chiyo and Ebizo’s support as well, even if the Third Kazekage disagreed, he would have to agree.

Of course, Shimizu now believed that he only needed to proceed step by step. In time, he could smoothly take up the Kazekage’s banner and assume Sunagakure’s supreme authority.