"Haha! I've finally been waiting for your arrival, Accelerator-san."
At the agreed-upon location.
The moment Menma's figure appeared, a look of delight emerged on Suien's face. The reason he dared to say he would break his agreement and dispose of the Rain ninja group after the plan was successfully executed was, firstly, his confidence in his own strength, and secondly, because he had the backing of Menma's side.
After several contacts, exchanges, and his own reconnaissance, Suien was 100% certain of Menma's identity: a ninja unit directly under the Fire Daimyo.
An existence similar to the "Twelve Guardian Ninja."
Although he didn't know much about them, the Land of Fire was the largest country in the entire world. A ninja unit directly under the Fire Daimyo—even if not overwhelmingly strong—would at least be stronger than the ninja of an average small ninja village.
The Hidden Rain didn't have the capacity to dispatch too many troops. As long as he had such strong reinforcements, he didn't need to worry about any problems.
"Heh, I'm a little later than the scheduled plan. I hope Suien-san doesn't mind," Menma said with a chuckle, wearing the somewhat rugged face of a young man as he watched Suien approach.
"No, no, no. Accelerator-san being willing to come is already the best outcome. I assume the Daimyo has already agreed to my request?" Suien asked, looking at Menma with excitement, seemingly unable to wait.
"Of course. If the Daimyo didn't agree, I wouldn't have come. However, Suien-san, I need to confirm with you one last time. Once the plan is successfully realized, while your Hidden Waterfall Village naturally doesn't need to pledge allegiance to His Highness, you will need to obey His Highness's orders in many matters. You must remember this clearly," Menma said with a faint smile, leaning forward slightly. Although he was smiling, his look clearly carried a warning.
"That is a matter of course. His Highness's help to me is a great kindness. As I said before, from now on, as long as His Highness has a need, even if it means climbing a mountain of knives or plunging into a sea of fire, I, Suien, will certainly not decline!" Suien said with an incredibly serious expression, looking at Menma as if swearing an oath.
"Heh, it hasn't reached that extent. His Highness won't force you to do anything too difficult. Suien-san should be very clear about what His Highness needs. Some things can be done, and some things may not turn out as one wishes. Wouldn't you say so, Suien-san?" Menma said noncommittally.
But the more Menma displayed this attitude, the more Suien believed in the sincerity of the Fire Daimyo that Menma represented.
Often, the so-called highest level of lying is when almost everything is true, but only one sentence is false.
But that one sentence is enough.
The more Menma put on this attitude, the more Suien trusted him.
There was also a big difference between "using" and "using." At least compared to the Rain ninja group led by Aoi, Suien clearly gave greater trust to Menma's group.
After all, the conditions and requirements given by the Fire Daimyo, represented by Menma's group, were simply too realistic—so realistic that Suien felt it was a little absurd for a moment, but still within an acceptable range.
Precisely because of this, the credibility skyrocketed infinitely.
As a former quasi-high-ranking official of the Hidden Waterfall, Suien was naturally very aware of the complex relationship between nations and ninja villages, and even more aware that the relationship between Daimyos and ninja village leaders was incredibly delicate.
The Fire Daimyo was considered a type with a relatively stable position.
After all, he had a ninja power system like the Twelve Guardian Ninja under his command. Although far inferior to any large-scale ninja village, it had begun to take shape and was much stronger than the Daimyos of other countries.
Therefore, it was understandable and acceptable that he had more ambition.
In this day and age, which country's Daimyo or nobles didn't hope to fully control the ninja power within their own country?
It was just that they couldn't do it.
And they didn't dare to take overly drastic measures. Heaven knows what kind of problems would occur.
Based on this, Suien felt that Menma's group was completely problem-free. Even if there were problems, that would be after he had firmly seated himself on the throne of the Hidden Waterfall Leader. In fact, it should be said that as long as no problems arose that put him in too difficult a position, Suien didn't intend to turn against the Fire Daimyo represented by Menma.
To be able to steadily obtain large amounts of supplies, money, and other comprehensive resource support—only a fool wouldn't do it.
Again, as long as the risks didn't far outweigh the benefits, Suien was happy to continue this "semi-obedient" relationship.
"Haha, Accelerator-san must be joking." Suien laughed and glossed over it directly.
He had no idea that Menma had been fooling and patronizing him from start to finish, simply wanting to use him to stir up internal strife in the Hidden Waterfall Village so that he himself would have the opportunity to intervene.
"So, what's the situation now? That Leader Shibuki should have fallen completely into the trap, right? If the time is ripe, don't delay any longer. Dealing with that Leader Shibuki sooner will also allow the situation to stabilize sooner. His Highness still has many missions that require Suien-san to execute," Menma said in a slightly low tone, wiping the smile from the corner of his mouth and revealing a profound look in his eyes.
"Everything is going very smoothly, Accelerator-san. Everything that needed to be arranged has been arranged. Before you arrived, the final chess piece was also played. That kid Shibuki fell for it completely. A full hundred or so of the Waterfall ninja most loyal to Shibuki have been transferred away. For the next few days, Shibuki won't have much guard strength around him. This is the best time for us to make our move," Suien said with a smug look on his face.
Speaking of which, he felt completely entitled to be proud.
Externally, he had obtained help from the Fire Nation officials and the Hidden Rain Village.
Internally, besides his own subordinates, he had also cleverly persuaded Fu. Now that the part of Shibuki's most loyal subordinates had been transferred away, the power balance between enemy and friend had reached an extremely disparate level.
Based on this situation, Suien was truly confident that he could take the throne of the Hidden Waterfall Leader.
"Very good. Since everything is going according to plan, then no follow-up adjustments are needed. My side will also make a move at the end according to Suien-san's request. Leave that group of people for us to deal with," Menma said with a very satisfied smile and nodded.
"Haha, then I'll have to trouble Accelerator-san when the time comes!" Suien said with a face full of joy.
"Mhm, let me also congratulate Leader Suien in advance here!" Menma smiled slightly.
These words made the smug look on Suien's face even more intense.
And deep within Menma's pupils, a very faint trace of mockery that no one noticed emerged.
Now, truly, everything was ready; all that was needed was the east wind!!