Vegapunk saw Mei Terumī's confidence. Although he was somewhat unconvinced, he didn't say anything.
If it were a conventional Ninja battle, the current Sea Ninja Village could indeed crush the other Three Great Ninja Villages. Even the Hidden Sand Village, which started developing later, could at least defeat two major Ninja villages in conventional combat.
However, in addition to conventional battles, there are many battles involving top-tier experts. Although Kirigakure has gained many top-tier experts with Vegapunk's help, those enhanced by animal abilities ultimately have monotonous skills and are not truly difficult to deal with in a real fight.
At that time, Vegapunk's technology hadn't fully developed, and his understanding of Chakra was still vague. He hadn't developed powerful weapons like Pakura's Light Release, so most of his efforts focused on simple physical enhancement. If a real fight broke out, Vegapunk wasn't very optimistic about the Sea Ninja Village.
Leaving aside other things, if Konoha really went crazy and used the Edo Tensei Jutsu, the Sea Ninja Village alone would definitely not be able to withstand it.
However, unless Konoha is pushed to its limits, it probably wouldn't do such a thing. In conventional battles, the Sea Ninja Village's strength can definitely crush the Three Great Ninja Villages. If combined with the Hidden Sand Village, there might really be hope of completely dividing the three countries and Ninja villages.
And if Vegapunk was also willing to intervene, then it wouldn't be hope or possibility, but an absolute certainty.
"But Lord, if the three Ninja villages intend to unite, wouldn't your trip to Konohagakure be even more dangerous?"
Mei Terumī asked with some concern. Before Vegapunk could speak, Hancock impatiently interjected:
"Maid, mind your place! darling can decide such things himself! And with me protecting him, darling won't encounter any danger."
"All you need to do is serve darling and me well!"
Mei Terumī secretly rolled her eyes, but her face showed extreme caution, not daring to reveal the slightest dissatisfaction. The original Mei Terumī was actually a very proud person, until she was severely beaten by Hancock several times, after which she settled down.
Or rather, except for Nico Robin, Hancock had always firmly suppressed both Pakura and Mei Terumī. Otherwise, Mei Terumī, who had already become the Mizukage successor, wouldn't be so obedient.
After all, even the real Kazekage was suppressed into obedience, let alone her, the Mizukage successor... "Hiruzen, I received intelligence that Vegapunk is coming to visit Konohagakure. This is a good opportunity!"
The speaker was an old man with bandages wrapped around his face, exuding a gloomy aura. Hearing his words, the Third Hokage, who was processing documents at his desk, looked up with a headache.
"Danzo, what trick are you trying to pull now?"
"That Dr. Vegapunk is the heir to the Land of Sea's Daimyo and holds a very high status in the Land of Wind and Land of Water! Are you still thinking of making a move against him?"
This is no ordinary matter. If something goes wrong, not to mention the current Hidden Sand Village and Sea Ninja Village, the entire Land of Wind and Sea Country Alliance, and even other countries, including the nobles and Daimyo of the Land of Fire, would not let it go!
After all, both the Daimyo and those nobles are wary of the power of Ninjas. Once they cross the line, they will face a joint counterattack from all Daimyo and nobles.
There is ultimately a certain boundary between Ninjas, who wield extraordinary power, and the secular world. Perhaps, with the development of the times, Ninjas will eventually be able to break free from the Daimyo and nobles and become the true masters of the world.
But before that, the first Ninja village that dares to take the plunge, without peerless experts like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara holding down the fort, would definitely be crushed to dust by the backlash of the era, even if it were the strongest Konohagakure!
"But Hiruzen, you must understand! Even if we do nothing, with the current momentum of the Hidden Sand Village and Sea Ninja Village, in a while, their power will truly surpass ours! And it will be a complete surpass of Konohagakure, both economically and militarily!"
"And the root of all problems lies with that Vegapunk! His inventions, which transcend the era, are too significant for Ninja villages and countries!"
"This month, the funds allocated to Konohagakure by the Daimyo have decreased again. Although the proportion in tax military expenses has increased, the actual funds received have continuously diminished... The entire Land of Fire's tax revenue has begun to fall sharply!"
"Meanwhile, the income of the Land of Sea and Land of Wind is constantly increasing, and they are even willing to invest large amounts of funds to develop their Ninja villages. I don't think this is a sign of peace!"
Ninja villages are, in this era, military organizations unique to each country. Although the power of Ninjas has made these military organizations somewhat distorted, even exhibiting a semi-mercenary, semi-national attribute, which seems incredible to some, it must be said that the ultimate military strength of the entire country still depends on its respective Ninja villages.
And when a country invests most of its tax revenue into the military, what they intend to do is already self-evident.
"So I have already reached a certain consensus with the Land of Earth and Land of Lightning. Iwagakure and Kumogakure have agreed to advance and retreat together with us."
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and said:
"The alliance of the three great nations and Three Great Ninja Villages should effectively curb the ambitions of the Sea Ninja and Sand Ninja..."
"What a joke?! Kumogakure and Iwagakure are inherently untrustworthy!"
Danzo said with an excited expression, nearly spitting on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face:
"If those two Ninja villages knew what sincere cooperation meant, Konoha would have been flattened long ago!"
There's truth to that. In every Ninja World War, Konohagakure's main opponents were Iwagakure and Kumogakure. The Hidden Sand Village always started battles earliest and sought peace quickest, and Kirigakure was merely a foil.
And the course of each battle was roughly the same: at first, Iwagakure and Kumogakure would simultaneously declare war on Konoha; when Konoha gradually couldn't hold on in the middle, both sides would backstab each other to contend for spoils and hold each other back, only to then be swept away by Konoha.
After several such occurrences, the true nature of these two Ninja villages was revealed, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was no fool, naturally seeing how unreliable his two allies were.
"That's still better than you directly attacking Vegapunk!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke without hesitation:
"Perhaps doing so could suppress the development momentum of the Hidden Sand Village and Sea Ninja Village, but it would undoubtedly concentrate all pressure on Konoha! At that time, Konoha would inevitably become an enemy to the entire world, and those two allies would truly turn their backs!"
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