Chapter 531: ...the fire color staining half the ninja world

At this moment, Shibuki was miserable; he never expected that his previous submission to Mizunuki Ryosuke would lead to this result.

Mizunuki Ryosuke’s words pointed directly at the Leaf. Combined with the current situation, even if Shibuki were stupid, he knew that a great war against the Leaf was likely about to unfold under Ryosuke’s orchestration.

When gods fight, mortals suffer.

Especially since these people were targeting the undisputed hegemon of the ninja world, the Leaf!!!

Let alone the currently fragmented Waterfall, even in its peak period, the Waterfall would never dare to provoke the Leaf in the slightest.

Due to geographical reasons, the Waterfall was extremely close to the Leaf, so they were exceptionally aware of the Leaf’s strength.

Given the current situation of the Waterfall, trying to find trouble with the Leaf was purely a path to death.

But then again, the Leaf was not easy to deal with, but was this Mizukage in front of him a pushover?

The Waterfall was already on the Mist’s boat; trying to get off now was basically wishful thinking.

Shibuki never expected that he thought following Mizunuki Ryosuke was walking on a broad road, but who knew it was actually a pirate ship heading toward a point of no return.

Shibuki wanted to speak several times but stopped, but when he saw Mizunuki Ryosuke’s serious face, he chose to swallow his words and then gulped twice.

Besides Shibuki, the one who was equally shocked and at a loss was General Mifune of the Land of Iron.

Although he had a rough idea of Mizunuki Ryosuke’s purpose, when everything really happened before his eyes, he couldn't help but be stunned.

After all, that was the Leaf!!

Although the current Leaf was not as invincible as it was when the God of Shinobi Senju Hashirama was alive, it was still a behemoth that would make the ninja world tremble if it moved!

Don't you see, not long ago, the Sand and the Rain, both at their peak, attacked the Leaf at the same time, but the result was that both were defeated.

Although there was the reason that the Sand did not use its full strength, had the Leaf ever used its full strength?

Besides Mifune and Shibuki, the other three had normal expressions, seemingly not surprised by Mizunuki Ryosuke’s words.

"You all might think that I am just showing my cards, finding a seemingly bright and lofty reason, and that my ultimate goal is just to launch a war against the Leaf."

"But the truth is really not like that; the source of the turmoil in the ninja world is indeed the Leaf of the Land of Fire."

Mizunuki Ryosuke said in a very sincere tone. After hearing his words, Mifune and the others had no reaction, but the Third Kazekage and the Third Raikage on the other side appeared to be listening attentively.

"Lord Mizukage, why do you say that?"

Not only that, the Third Raikage even chose to ask directly, his dignified face still full of composure.

It was hard to tell from his face whether he really had this question or was just going along with it for Mizunuki Ryosuke’s sake.

Hearing the Third Raikage’s question, Mizunuki Ryosuke just nodded seriously, then turned to face the ninja world map behind him to explain.

"Everyone, listen to my reasons, and you can judge for yourselves."

"As you can see, the red on the map represents the Leaf."

"And the places other than red are the other countries and forces of the ninja world."

As he spoke, Mizunuki Ryosuke raised his hand and pointed to the ninja world map in front of him.

In an instant, the red that originally occupied only an area in the center of the map began to spread continuously toward the surroundings, until it occupied about half of the ninja world.

Seeing the red range continuously rendering the entire map, Rasa behind the Third Kazekage and Bee behind the Third Raikage changed their expressions at the same time.

The areas that changed color at this moment were the small countries surrounding the Land of Fire.

Starting from the Land of Fields, which was closest to the Land of Fire, the Land of Whirlpools, Land of Hot Water, Land of Bears, Land of Rainbows, Land of Rivers, Land of Grass...

Dozens of small countries were all stained with a bright red color in a short period of time.

This was the color of fire, and it also symbolized the influence and voice of the Leaf within these small countries.

Looking at it now, the fire-red that was originally only in the center of the ninja world had now spread to cover half of the ninja world!

Now, even those who didn't understand what Mizunuki Ryosuke wanted to say were shocked by the power of the Leaf.

Especially the Third Kazekage, whose eyes flashed with a fiery light, as if he were imagining when the Sand would have a day as glorious as the Leaf.

After the red stained half of the ninja world, Mizunuki Ryosuke spoke again.

"I think everyone understands without me saying it: all the places occupied by red are actually within the Leaf’s sphere of influence."

"And among these small countries, regardless of whether they have ninja villages or not, in fact, they are all under the control of the Leaf."

"The most direct benefit the Leaf gets after controlling these small countries is obvious."

"That is—profit!"

Everyone present was not a fool; they instantly thought of the core and most critical issue—that is, missions!

Missions, without a doubt, were the foundation of ninjas.

Ninjas existed for missions; they exchanged mission commissions for rewards and trained their own abilities.

In other words, in traditional ninja villages, the number of mission commissions determined the upper limit of the ninjas in that village.

And the Leaf occupied more than a dozen small countries, which was equivalent to monopolizing the mission share of more than a dozen small countries. With such a massive amount of mission shares piled up, how could the Leaf not be so prosperous?

Thinking of this, everyone present felt a bit sad.

"And the benefits the Leaf gets in the small countries are not obtained out of thin air."

"I think no one knows the price of the Leaf’s profit better than Mr. Hanzo, the initiator of this Ninja World War."

Mizunuki Ryosuke fixed his gaze on Hanzo of the Salamander, who was from the Land of Rain.

Hearing this, Hanzo’s face sank; he had been silent since stepping into this secret room.

It was not until he heard Mizunuki Ryosuke’s question that he spoke slowly.

"All the benefits obtained by the great powers come from the exploitation of small countries."

"Whether it is the Leaf, the Sand, or the Rock, it is the same."

Perhaps because he had not spoken for a long time, Hanzo’s voice sounded exceptionally hoarse and unpleasant.

As for the objects Hanzo mentioned, it didn't matter that the people from the Leaf and the Rock were not here, but the Third Kazekage was here, so he naturally could not remain indifferent to Hanzo’s words.

"Hmph!"

But the Third Kazekage, who knew the situation of the Land of Rain, did not know how to refute for a moment. Finally, out of fear of Hanzo of the Salamander, he could only frown and snort coldly.