Chapter 132: Four-Stage Tactics
Only now did Black Zetsu finally understand why Uchiha Douhuan could single-handedly pull the Uchiha clan out of its previous messy situation and bring them to their current state.
Although Uchiha Douhuan's current strength was considerably less than Uchiha Madara's back then, Uchiha Madara certainly didn't possess this ability to incite a large crowd with just a few words. No, none of the reincarnations of Indra or Asura throughout the generations had such an ability.
"Friends! This is a war! A war about to erupt! Those oppressors will perish in the war!" Uchiha Douhuan's shadow clone spoke passionately, completely stirring up the emotions of the entire tavern.
Terumi Mei behind the bar was utterly dumbfounded. She somewhat regretted why she had struck up a conversation with this person earlier. What exactly did he want to do?
"Is everyone still going to drink idly here? Do you want your future children to end up like you, having to risk their lives desperately for a mere C-rank ninjutsu after graduating from the Ninja Academy? Now! Take action! Overthrow the mountain pressing down on us! This village belongs to you! Belongs to me! Belongs to every ninja who strives for the Will of Water! For a better tomorrow for Kirigakure, kill all the Kekkei Genkai clans!"
"Kill the Kekkei Genkai clans! Glory belongs to the Mist!" The emotions of the ninjas in the tavern had been thoroughly aroused. Uchiha Douhuan shouted loudly while walking towards the tavern exit.
The gathered crowd involuntarily parted way for him. After Uchiha Douhuan reached the tavern entrance, he waved his arm again! "Reshape the glory of the Will of Water! Today is the day!"
"Today is the day!" Under Uchiha Douhuan's passionate speech, the crowd inside the tavern was fired up with enthusiasm. Coupled with the catalyst of some alcohol, soon, everyone in the tavern followed the steps of Uchiha Douhuan's shadow clone.
Seeing this, Black Zetsu hurriedly followed. Terumi Mei behind the bar also quickly chased after them. After vaulting over the bar and exiting the tavern door, she watched the direction the vast crowd was heading.
"This direction? The Kaguya clan?" Seeing this, Terumi Mei's heart trembled. Her organization had recently received intelligence that the Kaguya clan was preparing a rebellion against the Fourth Mizukage's Bloody Mist policy. They were currently trying to find ways to prevent this. But now, if so many agitated commoner ninjas truly surrounded the Kaguya clan compound, it would be equivalent to tearing off all pretenses.
"That guy, judging by his attire, is at most a Chuunin, right? How does he dare?" Terumi Mei gritted her teeth and chased after them.
Uchiha Douhuan led a crowd of commoner Mist ninjas, surrounded the Kaguya clan compound, then took the lead, formed hand seals towards the plaque at the Kaguya compound gate, and fired a Water Fang Bullet.
"Such audacity!" Just then, the Kaguya clan ninjas, having received the news, also gathered. Seeing Uchiha Douhuan's offensive act, the leader immediately became enraged, raised his hand, and shot a bone projectile towards Uchiha Douhuan.
Uchiha Douhuan didn't dodge or evade. Tanking the hit with the White Zetsu body, he was knocked back several meters, landing among the crowd of Kirigakure ninjas he had brought.
Under Uchiha Douhuan's instruction, White Zetsu Tobi simulated the appearance of spitting blood.
"Are you alright?" A Kirigakure Jounin saw this and quickly knelt down to ask.
"Comrades! Don't mind me! Since ancient times, revolution has never been without bloodshed and sacrifice! Today, let it start with me! For the Will of Water, kill them!" Uchiha Douhuan pretended to be critically injured, speaking while spitting blood.
After speaking, Uchiha Douhuan spat out a large mouthful of blood, his head tilted, and he closed his eyes.
"Damn it! You Kekkei Genkai ninjas really deserve to die!" Uchiha Douhuan's clone's 'death' instantly ignited the fury of the commoner ninjas present. A chaotic battle immediately broke out.
At this time, Uchiha Douhuan's shadow clone, meanwhile, was brought out from underground amidst the chaos by Tobi, successfully rendezvousing with Black Zetsu.
"This is what you meant by intensifying the conflict?" Black Zetsu looked at the battlefield not far away, already flowing with rivers of blood, and said in astonishment. It had to be said, although he had secretly instigated conflict between the chakra reincarnations of Asura and Indra for thousands of years, Uchiha Douhuan's operation still left him amazed. He had managed to incite a melee involving hundreds of ninjas in less than an hour.
"Is this difficult?" Uchiha Douhuan chuckled lightly. "Kirigakure's ninjas already harbored massive dissatisfaction under the high pressure of the Bloody Mist policy. All I did was help them release their emotions, nothing more."
Black Zetsu looked at Uchiha Douhuan, his eyes flickering slightly. After a moment, he finally asked, "What you seek... is it truly peace?"
"Is Ancestor pitying them?" Uchiha Douhuan asked, narrowing his eyes.
"No. I just feel that your methods and your ideals are somewhat inconsistent," Black Zetsu said with some difficulty. He was beginning to doubt if someone like Uchiha Douhuan could really be controlled with lies like Uchiha Madara.
"This is just the necessary path to peace," Uchiha Douhuan said frostily. "Their current identities are enemies on our path to unification. The more of them die now, the less harm our comrades will suffer on the battlefield in the future. Anyway, in the new world created by the Infinite Tsukuyomi, they will all be resurrected and live happily in a new world without war and suffering. Right, Ancestor?"
"Alright, I understand." Black Zetsu looked deeply at Uchiha Douhuan, then nodded. "Well then, what should we do now?"
"Now?" Uchiha Douhuan looked at the battlefield not far away, where Kirigakure's Anbu were successively arriving and beginning to control the scene, and chuckled lightly. "Of course, we go see our Fourth Mizukage. Lead the way, Ancestor."
...
Soon, White Zetsu Tobi and Black Zetsu brought Uchiha Douhuan to the Mizukage's office. The moment the two appeared, the Mangekyou tomoe imprint flashed for an instant in Yagura Karatachi's eyes. Then, Yagura Karatachi stood up from behind his desk and bowed respectfully towards the two.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the Mizukage's office door. Seeing this, Uchiha Douhuan and Black Zetsu instantly concealed their figures.
Before long, several Anbu entered the Mizukage's office and reported to Yagura Karatachi about the events that occurred at the Kaguya clan compound gate tonight. Both sides in the conflict suffered heavy casualties. Nearly half the ninjas Uchiha Douhuan had led to the Kaguya clan compound died, while the Kaguya clan also paid the price of several Jounin under the siege.
"Lord Fourth, the ninjas involved in the tavern riot incident have all been brought under control! According to them, the mastermind already died in the conflict. However, the Kaguya clan requests a reasonable explanation from you."
"Explanation? What explanation do they want?" Uchiha Douhuan, controlling Yagura Karatachi, said coldly. "Go back and tell them, if they want an explanation, have him come to my Mizukage office and ask for it himself!"
"Yes!" This Anbu member nodded. "Then Lord Mizukage, how should those ninjas who participated in the riot be dealt with?"
"Dealt with?" Yagura Karatachi said. "Dealt with how? They were all responding to the village's Bloody Mist policy, ninjas possessing the Will of Water! I believe after this bloody battle, they will become even stronger! Let them all go."
"I understand," This Anbu member accepted the order and left.
After this Anbu member left to handle the matter, Uchiha Douhuan and Black Zetsu reappeared. At this point, Black Zetsu became somewhat curious.
"Do you plan to have the Mizukage step forward to help that group of commoners?" Black Zetsu asked. "I must remind you, if Yagura appears before the public, there's no guarantee someone won't notice something's amiss."
"Of course. To let Kirigakure descend into chaos, then we must help that group," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"But how do we help them?" Black Zetsu asked.
"Do nothing," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"Do nothing?" Black Zetsu was somewhat puzzled.
"We can provide them with all support, except helping," Uchiha Douhuan elaborated.
"But what if they insist that we help them?" Black Zetsu pressed.
"Then follow the Four-Stage Tactics," Uchiha Douhuan unhurriedly walked towards the Mizukage's desk and sat directly in the Mizukage's chair.
"Four-Stage Tactics? What is that?" Black Zetsu asked.
"This is the standard crisis response strategy I summarized from Sarutobi Hiruzen's patterns of action," Uchiha Douhuan explained.
"First step: Have the Mizukage declare that nothing happened."
"Second step: Say perhaps something happened, but we shouldn't take action."
"Third step: Say perhaps action should be taken, but we can't do anything."
"Final step: Say perhaps something could have been done back then, but now it's too late."
Black Zetsu: ...
After a long pause, Black Zetsu finally spoke slowly: "This... isn't this just muddling through?"
"What else?" Uchiha Douhuan shrugged. "We're not actually here to govern Kirigakure."
"Alright, Ancestor, we should head back now. Afterwards, let Kirigakure be chaotic for a while," Uchiha Douhuan looked at Black Zetsu and chuckled, then proactively dispelled the shadow clone.
...
In Uchiha Douhuan's home, Uchiha Douhuan, who was meditating in the backyard comprehending natural energy, suddenly opened his eyes.
Subsequently, Uchiha Douhuan came before the ninja world map hanging in his home and pondered carefully.
"The Land of Water side doesn't need too much worry for now. The main trouble still comes from..."
Uchiha Douhuan's gaze shifted to the upper left and upper right corners of the map.
The Land of Wind, that poor and remote place, didn't require too much attention. After all, a place needing its village Kage to personally go mining in the desert just for the village to function normally was a joke compared to Konoha's scale. Among the Five Great Nations, the only ones truly worthy of Uchiha Douhuan's attention were the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth.
Firstly, the Land of Lightning. Those barbarians with only muscles in their heads, who believed whoever had the bigger fist was right – even Uchiha Douhuan himself wasn't sure how effective Uchiha Douhuan's methods would be against them. Without being able to act directly, the difficulty of plunging them into internal chaos was considerable.
Then there was the Land of Earth. Compared to Sarutobi Hiruzen, Onoki was undoubtedly a more mature politician. Iwagakure was firmly in his grasp. The current Iwagakure, aside from the problem of lacking successors, was basically a monolithic bloc. Uchiha Douhuan's room for maneuver was very small, though not entirely impossible to try.
[If I want the Land of Earth to fall into chaos as well, then I need a trigger...]
[The small countries between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth...]
[The Land of Rain... now is temporarily not the time to start a war with Akatsuki. The Land of Waterfalls, although a fence-sitter, still leans towards the Land of Fire's side in stance, no need to touch them for now. So, only the Land of Grass remains?]
"The Land of Grass..." Before the map, Uchiha Douhuan's eyes flickered slightly. Calculating the time, Karin and her mother should have already been captured by them to be used as blood bags. In that case, the reason for sending troops is ready-made.
"However, while dealing with Kusagakure is effortless, dragging the Land of Earth into it as well requires careful planning," Uchiha Douhuan looked at the map, lost in thought.
After a long while, Uchiha Douhuan finally looked towards the calendar placed beside the map and murmured softly, "I remember, in two weeks, it should be the anniversary of the destruction of Uzushiogakure."
...
The next day, after the village's routine meeting ended, Uchiha Douhuan stopped Tsunade, who was preparing to return to the Medical Academy after the meeting finished.
"Lord Hokage, if it's not particularly important, it's best not to bother me. I still have students waiting for me to return for class," Tsunade turned back somewhat impatiently and said.
Uchiha Douhuan: ...
It was clear that having to come for a meeting early in the morning made Tsunade, who usually went to gamble at casinos over a hundred li away until midnight after finishing work each day, very unhappy. Therefore, towards him, the Hokage who made her work overtime, Tsunade showed no goodwill at all. Moreover, in the entire village, Tsunade gave Uchiha Douhuan the least face. Only on those few days each month when funds were allocated would this formidable woman show Uchiha Douhuan some semblance of pleasantness.
But Uchiha Douhuan was also helpless. He had, after all, invited this formidable woman back himself. Currently, in the entire ninja world, only Tsunade had the ability to cultivate a large batch of qualified medical ninjas. Therefore, Uchiha Douhuan didn't pay too much attention to this old woman's attitude, just considering it as respecting the elderly.
"Um, Lady Tsunade, do you have any news about the remaining Uzumaki clan members?" Uchiha Douhuan asked.
As Uchiha Douhuan's words fell, Tsunade's expression instantly changed. She asked coldly, "Why does Lord Hokage suddenly ask about this? Didn't the Uzumaki clan perish decades ago?"
It wasn't surprising Tsunade reacted so strongly. This was, after all, her paternal grandmother's clan. And regarding the destruction of the Uzumaki clan, Konoha had wronged Uzushio. Now that Uchiha Douhuan suddenly brought this up, Tsunade couldn't help but think deeply.
"It's like this. As you know, decades ago, it was indeed Konoha that abandoned Uzushio. But now, as Hokage, having learned about this piece of history, I also wish to do something to compensate the village's staunchest former ally."
...
(End of Chapter)
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