"Then, regarding the proposal to transform the Land of Waves into a port city and use it as a transit station for exporting high-end seafood to inland countries like the Land of Wind, let us settle it for now.
"What remains is finding a group of shinobi skilled in Earth Release to clear some reefs around the Land of Waves that are unfavorable for navigation, then having our domestic fishery experts determine which seafood products are suitable for export."
Inside Kirigakure's council hall, Rei Kaguya leaned lazily backward.
Looking at Master Genji and the jonin in the council hall, who were pondering over the materials he had written, he yawned and turned his head to whisper to his little secretary, Mei Terumi.
"Guess how many of them will raise objections because they cannot understand my idea, Mei Terumi?"
"To be honest, I do not understand it either. I also think this is just a proposal you casually rushed out overnight to fool everyone after inexplicably taking control of the Land of Waves' government."
Mei Terumi rolled her eyes and lightly poked Rei's forehead with her finger.
"Before making this kind of proposal, at least think about whether residents of the Land of Wind, who have lived in the desert their whole lives, can even get used to eating food from the sea."
"My plan is not aimed at the common people of the Land of Wind."
Rei rolled his eyes back at her and said irritably, "With the Land of Wind's natural environment, how much oil can you squeeze from the common people there?
"The target group for this thing is definitely the Land of Wind's daimyo and the wealthy people around him. People with money and free time, who also have a need to show off with high-end products from outside the Land of Wind."
"…When you put it that way, it does sound somewhat reasonable."
Mei Terumi nodded thoughtfully.
"But even if the upper-class rich are willing to spend money, their spending power still has a limit, right?"
"Listen to yourself. If the Land of Wind's daimyo and rich people eat it happily and take it out to brag, then if the Land of Earth's daimyo and rich people do not have that experience, will they just quietly endure the Land of Wind's upper class mocking them between the lines?"
Rei glanced at Mei Terumi's chest and said with dissatisfaction, "Can your scale be as large as your chest? Stop always looking only at the first layer of profit."
"First, we make the upper class of the Land of Wind accept our high-end seafood.
"Second, we use the Land of Wind's upper class to promote these products to the upper classes of other countries.
"Third, after the upper classes of each country develop a habit of consumption, we use mid-quality products to spread this food culture to the people.
"Fourth, once everyone has accepted our products, we find a few highly skilled master chefs and heavily promote their artisan spirit, firmly seizing the right to define high-quality seafood preparation techniques…"
"After this entire process is executed in detail, we will have operated and created a high-end aquatic product dining industry that can continue functioning.
"This thing can not only refine and deepen simple fishery development and diversify the Land of Water's sources of income, it can also silently promote and invade other countries with our lifestyle.
"And we do not need to worry about other countries being able to compete with us in this field.
"Isn't that much healthier and more comfortable than relying only on shinobi fighting and killing?"
Rei had not deliberately lowered his voice while speaking, so the jonin present basically heard their Fourth Mizukage's muttering.
However, unlike Rei, who viewed this industry purely from economic and cultural angles, they still had a shinobi's mindset.
Very skillfully, they had already imagined a full plan for inserting scouts and spies into this process.
Although Lord Fourth does not say it outright, since he plans to take the high-end route from the very beginning, he must have considered that aspect too, right?
As for Master Genji, who was in charge of Kirigakure's political affairs, after quietly listening to Rei's muttering, he let out a sincere sigh.
The young people nowadays truly were something else…
Not only were they powerful, their brains were also terribly sharp.
Before such an ambitious young man, the assistance of an old man like him should already be a dispensable decoration, right?
"In any case, I have already explained the basic logic of this plan to you. The rest is refinement.
"Things like finding craftsmen and sailors skilled in building ports, dispatching Earth Release shinobi to carry out terrain modification missions, gathering highly skilled fishermen to catch the finest goods to knock open the Land of Wind's gate, and having shinobi skilled in Water Release and Wind Release help protect the fishermen…"
Just as Rei was speaking enthusiastically to Mei Terumi, his little secretary, he suddenly sensed Ichikishimahime's Reverse Summoning Technique.
He raised his eyebrows, stopped his earnest teaching of Mei Terumi, and quickly said to the jonin seated in the hall,
"We will temporarily adjourn for ten minutes.
"Ten minutes later, if no one has a reasonable and well-supported objection to this proposal, we will move on to the next topic.
"The question of whether we should select a new Six-Tails Jinchuriki from the village now."
"I am going to handle something briefly. Everyone may begin free discussion."
As soon as he finished speaking, a cloud of white smoke burst from Rei's seat.
His figure vanished from the council hall.
The few jonin who possessed their own summoning beasts looked at this scene and could not help raising their eyebrows.
"Mei Terumi, where did Lord Fourth send himself with the Reverse Summoning Technique?"
"I do not know. He secretly works on too many things. Who can say what happened this time?"
Mei Terumi shrugged.
Her broad chest swayed beautifully with the motion.
"But since this is an issue that requires Lord Fourth to withdraw even during something as important as discussing Kirigakure's development plans for the next few years with everyone, it should be something major enough that the entire shinobi world will know about it in a few days, right?"
…
"Yo, everyone from Akatsuki. Looks like you will not be able to take the full bounty from Danzo's corpse out of my hands…"
Taking advantage of the fact that the white smoke from the Summoning Technique had not yet dispersed, Rei Kaguya swiftly put away the Mizukage ceremonial robe on his body.
Then he turned his head and grinned at Konan and the others, whose faces were full of shock.
"Rei… Kaguya…"
Konan looked at the young, proud, and confident face before her.
Subconsciously, she relaxed a great deal.
"You actually… even calculated something like this?"
"It was only simple logical reasoning based on intelligence, my friend…"
Rei, now wearing a black robe with red clouds and looking exactly like a member of Akatsuki, waved at the wary Gamaken while speaking in a casual tone to Ichikishimahime, who had come to help.
"Thanks, Ichikishimahime… If you had not temporarily guest-starred as my messenger, I really would not have been able to get here so quickly."
"Sigh. Who told you to tell the White Snake Sage that this time, you could abduct the wielder of the Rinnegan, the Child of Prophecy spoken of by the Great Toad Sage, into our Ryuchi Cave camp?"
Ichikishimahime shook her head with feigned sorrow.
"Since you already said that, even if I was unwilling, I could only obey the White Snake Sage's arrangements and come out to help you."
"But only ten minutes, all right?
"After ten minutes, you will be sent back to where you came from… This place is not Ryuchi Cave after all. My senjutsu chakra cannot allow a monster like you to fight freely outside for too long."
"Ten minutes? That is already plenty…"
Rei nodded.
Then he crossed past Gamaken and Yahiko, who were standing at the very front, and faced the Amegakure shinobi rushing over in formation alone.
"Be careful. There are many Amegakure shinobi."
Yahiko, who had never seen Rei fight at full power, could not help speaking up.
"And they have also joined forces with Root's shinobi. Maybe some of them are hiding inside the Amegakure formation, waiting for a chance to launch a sneak attack…"
"Hm? Root?"
Rei raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Didn't Danzo Shimura already die? Why can Root still get mixed up with Hanzo?
"Is Hiruzen Sarutobi, who took over Root, an idiot?
"He has been in office for so long, yet he still lets Root members act on their own outside the village?
"Where is Jiraiya? Why isn't he coming out to explain this?"
"Jiraiya-sensei went to support Nagato because Hanzo and most of Root's members are on Nagato's side."
As Konan held Karin Uzumaki's hand, thanking the other girl for her sudden idea, she answered in a low voice.
"Then why can't I even sense Nagato's chakra?"
Hearing this, Rei could not help frowning.
"Forget it. I will solve the trouble on your side first, then go ask that guy Jiraiya who failed to protect anything what exactly happened…
"This is a good chance to let you see the form of war I imagine for the future."
As he spoke, Rei's body slowly floated into the sky.
Then he raised his right hand and said in a low voice,
"Water Release: Extracting Current."
The weather changed abruptly.
Dark clouds that blotted out the sky began gathering around Rei's raised right hand as their core.
Under the effect of Rei's enormous senjutsu chakra, the rain curtain that nearly covered heaven and earth also converged into his hand.
Even the water that had already fallen to the ground and accumulated into puddles rose against the flow under Rei's command and flew toward the sky.
Yahiko and Konan, who lived in this country where rain fell all year round, looked at the specks of sunlight revealed in the distance where the clouds had retreated.
Then they looked at the water sphere in Rei's hand, which was already large enough to form a medium-sized lake and still growing.
Their mouths slowly opened wide.
It was not that they had never seen powerful shinobi.
But someone powerful to this extent…
Not only had they never seen it, they did not even have the room to imagine it.
With such inhuman might, could Rei Kaguya really still be considered human?
Compared to this power, the title of demigod used to praise Hanzo of the Salamander's strength was simply like a joke.
If a shinobi like Hanzo could be called a demigod…
Then the only word that could describe the boy before them was probably god.
"Now then, make your choice, everyone from Amegakure."
Rei looked down from above at the several hundred Amegakure shinobi who had already stopped moving, their minds frozen by this scene that far exceeded their understanding.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he asked,
"Do you want to continue serving your master and die beneath the pressure of a million tons of water, or obediently surrender and wait inside this gigantic Water Prison for the birth of Amegakure's new master?"
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