Time flew by. Konoha Ninja Village had entered its thirty-eighth year. Almost five years had passed since the Second Shinobi World War. The Southern Alliance was prospering, and the Northern forces were seeking ways to achieve internal unity. Everything maintained an atmosphere of peace.
However, beneath the facade of peace, undercurrents were slowly stirring. Fumori masaki was well aware of this. The North would not pose a threat for the time being; the main threat was domestic, within the capital.
Asuna would periodically send reports to Fumori masaki, detailing her observations in the capital and any intelligence she noted, especially regarding the movements of that person, Tobi.
Tobi usually treated the Konoha Guardian Shinobi with a smile that hid a dagger, forcing everyone to remain vigilant. As for those not from Konoha, he used various means to win them over and sow discord between them and the Konoha Shinobi.
Due to their humble origins, the Guardian Shinobi, with the exception of Tenichi of the Fire Temple, held little affection for the Konoha Shinobi who hailed from major ninja villages. While it hadn't escalated to outright hostility, their relationship was indeed strained.
If a conflict truly erupted in the future, those Guardian Shinobi might very well side with the Daimyo. Asuna had already assessed their strength; although not comparable to the Konoha Shinobi, a real fight would still be troublesome.
However, more concerning than the Guardian Shinobi was the presence of the Chakra Samurai, which greatly worried Asuna. Under Tobi's training, the number of Chakra Samurai under the Daimyo's command was steadily increasing, and their strength was far from simple. The most outstanding among them were on par with the samurai of the Land of Iron.
With the increasing number of Chakra Samurai, the Daimyo also grew more confident. His tone towards the Konoha Shinobi gradually became tougher, as if he no longer needed to rely on Konoha Ninja Village as he had in the past, and Konoha Ninja Village, naturally, could no longer push its luck as it once did.
Fumori masaki was well aware of the Daimyo's inflated ego. He had to admit that Chakra Samurai were indeed very troublesome, but for Konoha Ninja Village, which was equipped with a large number of new ninja tools, the actual level of threat might not be higher than that posed by ninjas. The nature of warfare had already changed.
Asuna also understood this in her heart, and her concern stemmed from a faint suspicion she had in the capital: it seemed the Daimyo was secretly conducting some kind of technical research. After multiple investigations, she hadn't found any clear clues, only a feeling that it was related to Konoha Ninja Village's new ninja tools.
After internal discussions among the Konoha Shinobi, everyone speculated whether the Daimyo had ordered people to research new ninja tools. Konoha Ninja Village had never sold new ninja tools to the outside world, so theoretically, it would be impossible to replicate them; they would have to start research from scratch.
If it was just that, it wouldn't be much; starting from scratch isn't easy. But Uchiha Ken proposed a hypothesis: had the Daimyo's side collected the wreckage of new ninja tools during the war? If they had collected wreckage, it would be like having samples, making research much easier.
On this point, no one was certain. No one knew if the Daimyo had actually collected any. To be precise, they couldn't even confirm whether the Daimyo was conducting research on new ninja tools, so they could only write a report for Fumori masaki to make a judgment.
Based on the clues mentioned in the report, Fumori masaki felt that the Daimyo might indeed be researching new ninja tools. The Daimyo might not understand the function of new ninja tools, but Tobi very likely did. Moreover, the other party was clearly targeting Konoha Ninja Village, both advising the Daimyo to curb Konoha Ninja Village and helping to train Chakra Samurai. There was no doubt that if he detected it, he would definitely help with the research of new ninja tools.
In fact, Konoha Ninja Village's Anbu had also gathered some intelligence. In certain regions of the capital, there was a flow of certain metal materials among local lords. These local lords were basically affiliated with the Daimyo's faction. Combined with the intelligence from Asuna and others, the suspicion seemed to grow stronger.
Fumori masaki was becoming increasingly curious about Tobi's identity, but unfortunately, Asuna and the others couldn't find any information about his true identity, and the Anbu and Intelligence Department also made no progress.
Although Tobi's identity remained unknown, his influence was undeniably evident. In addition to his previous actions, he also helped the Daimyo implement certain policy suppressions on Konoha Ninja Village's commerce and placed restrictions on nobles who maintained friendly relations with Konoha Ninja Village.
Although it was done rather covertly, how could Konoha Ninja Village, which always paid attention to such situations, overlook it? Because the Daimyo controlled it well, Konoha Ninja Village couldn't find any overt reasons to object, but Fumori masaki could choose to subtly sow discord among them.
Fumori masaki deliberately dispatched ninjas to secretly incite discord between these local nobles and the Daimyo, primarily by appealing to righteousness and self-interest. The latter was particularly important, effectively binding their interests with Konoha Ninja Village. If the Daimyo acted against Konoha Ninja Village, it would definitely harm them. To protect themselves, it was best to stand on the same ground as Konoha Ninja Village.
As long as they stood on the same ground as Konoha Ninja Village, Konoha Ninja Village would protect the interests of these local nobles. In any case, it would never be worse than siding with the Daimyo, and they would receive generous treatment—this was to ensure they wouldn't sever ties with Konoha Ninja Village to protect themselves, because it had to be clear that the Daimyo would certainly not offer them such treatment.
Even if the Daimyo might, Fumori masaki had to make them believe the Daimyo wouldn't. Besides, he felt the Daimyo probably wouldn't treat those local nobles that way. The Daimyo was very disgusted with Konoha Ninja Village, and because of the past friendly relations between these local nobles and Konoha Ninja Village, even if they chose to break ties with Konoha Ninja Village, the Daimyo might not appreciate it.
Once an impression is damaged, it's not so easy to repair. It requires a great deal of effort to regain trust, and how much effort depends on a person's magnanimity, and the Daimyo's magnanimity seemed rather lacking.
With Tobi's assistance, the Daimyo's power gradually swelled, and even he himself became inflated. His every word, action, and movement revealed a sense of a small-minded person who had achieved success. Fumori masaki laid all of this before those local nobles, and if anyone didn't understand, the people he sent would make them understand.
These tasks seemed easy, but they were actually quite complex. However, Fumori masaki sent out people who were eloquent and skilled in counter-intelligence, persuasion, and other abilities. These ninjas might not be great in combat, but in matters that couldn't be decided by force, their role was crucial.
These individuals were specifically cultivated at Fumori masaki's request. The main contributors were Mitokado Homura and Shimura Danzo. The former was responsible for diplomacy in Konoha Ninja Village and had rich experience in this area, while the latter was well-versed in the traditional counter-intelligence capabilities of ninjas.
In the original timeline, Shimura Danzo established the Anbu preparatory unit, "Root," and the Root members he trained played a very significant role in the early stages. He had many powerful spies under his command, the most formidable of whom were undoubtedly the "Walking Miko," Yakushi Nonou, and Yakushi Kabuto.
Although Shimura Danzo in this timeline did not establish Root and was assigned by Fumori masaki to the more overt Intelligence Department, his overall demeanor improved, and his abilities in this area did not wane, as the work of the Intelligence Department also required such skills.
Therefore, Fumori masaki believed that these local nobles would definitely understand what position they should take in the future. They were all intelligent people, and besides, Konoha Ninja Village was not indiscriminate in its choices. The friendly targets they selected were inherently more open-minded individuals, and once they were drawn into Konoha Ninja Village's interest group, it wouldn't be certain that they would choose to give it up.