After a long while, Shikaku asked Kazuki, "You were on a mission in the Land of Water for over a year. You should know a thing or two about Kirigakure, right? How many ninjas do they have left now?"
Kazuki pondered for a moment and sighed helplessly. "At most, five thousand people. However, the internal situation of Kirigakure is even more chaotic than Konoha. They have many clans, and before, the Mizukage could barely control those clans and maintain the situation."
"But now, even the Third Mizukage has probably died by my hand. Kirigakure is now leaderless, and it seems no one can make a decision."
If he could, Kazuki wouldn't mind annihilating Kirigakure and the Land of Water. But once he did that, those demons and monsters would probably jump out. He needed to resolve all of this after he became Hokage, not while Hiruzen was still in power.
Ultimately, he didn't like being constrained. He wanted to make Hiruzen abdicate and then smoothly take over, or kick Hiruzen aside and become the master himself.
But as a person of integrity, before the other party did anything to wrong him, Kazuki couldn't bring himself to act against Hiruzen. He was not a heartless person, he had his own principles. Hiruzen, along the way, if not safeguarding him, at least provided him with a lot of convenience.
As uncle Sarutobi, Hiruzen was absolutely competent. Regardless of how many despicable things he did in the original story, he was quite good to Kazuki. He gave him ninjutsu when asked, and Kazuki never encountered any outrageous incidents, nor was he ever asked to choose sides between the Uchiha clan and Konoha.
It could be said that the resources Kazuki received were among the best in all of Konoha.
Even Nawaki's resources couldn't compare to his, and the same went for Shinnosuke.
If it weren't for Hiruzen's help in allowing him to become Tsunade's student, Kazuki wouldn't have been able to grow so steadily. Judging by actions, not intentions, Hiruzen was good to him.
Kazuki didn't plan to betray Hiruzen for the time being. At least before he turned eighteen, Kazuki would not directly depose Hiruzen.
Respect, after all, is mutual. If Hiruzen didn't obediently yield his position when Kazuki turned eighteen, then he wouldn't mind letting Hiruzen know what it means that public opinion cannot be defied.
"No, actually, Kirigakure isn't exactly leaderless. The Land of Water still has a Daimyo."
"If we let the Daimyo negotiate this matter with the Land of Water's Daimyo, they will probably surrender."
Shikaku hesitated for a moment, then reminded Kazuki, "Oh, and you're quite famous now. It probably won't be long before the Daimyo might summon you."
"Summon me?" Kazuki sneered.
He had forgotten about the Daimyo before.
Kazuki had always been indifferent to the existence of the Daimyo. Mere ants.
If it weren't for the guess that behind these Daimyos, there might be beings he couldn't afford to provoke, and that attacking them would be seen by some as breaking the rules of the Ninja World, he wouldn't mind eliminating all these so-called descendants of gods.
Before, Kazuki even suspected whether ninjas were brainwashed, or if Chakra, this energy, had some special consciousness.
For example, people with Chakra couldn't conceive of the idea of replacing or killing the Daimyo.
Otherwise, why would there be so many strong people in the Ninja World, yet they still tolerate the existence of the Daimyo?
Ninja clearly possess great power, but why do they serve the Daimyo and nobles like cattle and horses?
If it weren't for the influence of Ninshu's ideology and Hagoromo's control, Kazuki would not believe it at all.
Although the current system of one country, one village, is due to ninjas not engaging in production and a lack of talent, the village now seems to have the confidence to change all of this.
If the Daimyo was sensible, Kazuki wouldn't mind letting them peacefully be a puppet and a money bag for him. There were some things he couldn't do himself, he could let the Daimyo be the villain.
For example, making Hiruzen abdicate, or dealing with Danzo, not doing it himself, but letting the Daimyo do it, would be the best choice.
The only trouble is that the Land of Fire is full of talented people. If he used genjutsu to control the Daimyo, someone would definitely be able to detect it. Ultimately, the Land of Fire is not the Land of Water.
The Byakugan's suppression of the Sharingan's genjutsu is too great. Even Kotoamatsukami can be detected and even broken.
Moreover, a branch of the Senju clan is with the Daimyo's Mansion. Kazuki can disregard anyone, but he doesn't want to become an existence feared by everyone.
Ultimately, he hoped to have more humanity and not do whatever he wanted just because he was strong.
Most importantly, he was not invincible yet. Those Ōtsutsuki were all huge hidden dangers.
Seeing this, Shikaku knew that Kazuki was not very fond of the Daimyo. He didn't care about this either.
After all, the Great Ninja War itself was a game between ninja villages and between ninja villages and the Daimyo's Mansion.
From the perspective of the higher-ups, at this time, how could they not be dissatisfied with the Daimyo?
With Kazuki's current strength, he seemed to no longer need to care too much about the Daimyo's attitude.
Although samurai, Onmyoji, and Ninja who sided with the Daimyo were troublesome, Kazuki had already single-handedly taken on a ninja village. What was there to fear?
"Forget it, you handle it yourself." Shikaku rubbed his temples. He would let Kazuki deal with all of this.
"Okay, prepare the wording. I'll send it to Hokage-sama and let Hokage-sama handle it himself."
Kazuki thought for a moment and said, "It's not good for my uncle Mitokado to remain on the front line."
"His injuries are too severe, he needs to be sent back as soon as possible."
"Homura?" Shikaku nodded slightly.
Now that he had been working for Kazuki, he naturally had to side with him. He pulled out a scroll and handed it to Kazuki.
"This is something I found by chance recently. I think you might need these things."