"You... what did you just say?"
Kurotsuchi stared wide-eyed in shock.
She moved to block Makoto's path, her gaze fixed intently on him.
"Kill the Daimyo—what?" Makoto smiled faintly. "Have the ninjas of the Five Great Nations been implanted with ideological shackles? Are you all controlled by some invisible hand to remain loyal to a damn parasite?"
"..."
Provoked by Makoto's words, Kurotsuchi's rebellious side flared up.
But she didn't dare to openly agree.
The concept was too taboo.
Instead, she shifted the angle. "If Iwagakure kills the Daimyo and monopolizes the Land of Earth, the other four Daimyos will panic and they wont sit idly by. They'll summon their villages to attack us. We'll be besieged from all sides, and I would be the one to blame."
"Sigh." Makoto shook his head.
Without saying another word, he sidestepped her and continued on his way toward Amegakure.
Kurotsuchi stood there, stunned by his reaction.
She had been waiting for him to argue, to persuade her with some clever strategy.
Why had he just given up?
"Tell me! What's wrong with what I just said?!"
Gritting her teeth, Kurotsuchi activated her Light-Weight Rock Technique to catch up.
She grabbed his arm and her tone shifting from defiant to pleading.
"You say you want development," Makoto said without looking at her, "but you are unwilling to change."
"You want to be number one, but you don't dare to be the first to stand up."
"From the village system to the Academy to the ANBU... you've been imitating Konoha for decades. Never once thinking of initiating change yourselves."
He stopped and looked at her.
"Do you think this is child's play? This is a revolution. It is aimed at overthrowing the Daimyo and the rotting remnants of the old era."
"In this era of great contention, the strong thrive while the weak perish. If you don't kill the Daimyo today and refuse to change, someone else will kill him tomorrow."
"Not only will they kill him, but they will also kill your people in Iwagakure. They will burn the Land of Earth."
"But you won't care," Makoto sneered. "You'll just continue to follow the Daimyo's orders. You'll remain a piece of meat on the chopping block of fate."
"Then you'll watch. You'll kneel. You'll beg the heavens to send a savior."
"If you're lucky, the savior arrived and you survive as a slave. If you're unlucky and the savior didnt come... then you'll all wait to die."
Makoto glanced back at Kurotsuchi, who was still gripping his arm tightly.
"I originally thought the Tsuchikage's goal was to lead the Land of Earth to prosperity. It turns out... the Tsuchikage is just a glorified servant."
"Uh!"
Makoto's words pierced Kurotsuchi's heart like a kunai.
Her chest heaved as she opened her mouth to refute him, but she found no words came out of her mouth.
"So the identity of a Daimyo is this useful after all?" Makoto mused, looking at the sky.
"Konan, the Rain Country Daimyo has been gone for a long time, right? Maybe I should become the Rain Daimyo instead."
"When the time comes," Makoto continued, his tone mocking, "I'll hold a Daimyo conference. I'll discuss trade with the other lords. I'll offer them some benefits, and in exchange, I'll have them send over young, beautiful kunoichi like Kurotsuchi as tribute. What do you think?"
"Don't ask me." Konan gave Makoto a sharp side-eye but said nothing more.
"Damn you!" Kurotsuchi's voice trembled with suppressed rage from behind him. "Are you treating us as tradable commodities?!"
"When did you get the illusion that you aren't a tradable commodity?" Makoto shot back.
"Let me ask you: If the Earth Daimyo really gave such an order, would you obey it?"
"Don't tell me you'd accept orders to break peace agreements and start wars, yet for such 'minor personal matters,' you'd defy him?"
"Let me put it another way," Makoto leaned in. "If the Earth Daimyo gave you two choices—one to assist him in starting a bloody war that kills thousands, and the other to serve me as my sex slave, which one would you choose?"
"..."
Some things are most frightening when stated plainly.
Kurotsuchi fell silent.
Makoto's words once again stunned her.
He was clearly stating that her position as Tsuchikage—as a servant of the Daimyo—meant she had no autonomy.
Not for the village, not for her comrades, not even for her own dignity.
The Daimyo order was absolute.
"Then... what should I do?" Kurotsuchi softened.
Her voice lost its edge, and her grip on his hand relaxed.
"Abolish the Daimyo system," Makoto said simply. "As Tsuchikage, take complete control of the Land of Earth. Realize your own ambitions."
"Centralize all resources. Distribute them reasonably. Achieve comprehensive development in economy, technology, and diplomacy."
"Don't tell me you don't have the capability," Makoto cut her off before she could speak.
"Based on the intelligence I've gathered, the Daimyos and their officials are incompetent parasites. The future development of the world revolves around the ninja villages. All new technologies emerge from us."
"The Daimyos are just leech feeding off the villages and the civilians. In other words... you could tie a dog to the Daimyo's throne, and nothing would change."
"If you think you're inferior to a dog, then forget I said anything."
"..."
Hearing the first part of Makoto's speech, Kurotsuchi was about to say she had no experience managing a country, but Makoto had anticipated her thoughts once again, leaving her momentarily speechless.
"Wouldn't that be... very exhausting?" she asked quietly.
Asking this question was an admission of defeat.
She was already considering it.
"No," Makoto shook his head. "Because I'm also gonna reformed the Kage system. Only major events require the Kage's decision."
He pulled out a new scroll and tossed it behind him.
"The Fifth Mizukage of the Mist has already taken my advice and is preparing to change her village as we speak."
"Fifth Mizukage? Isn't the Fourth currently in power?" Kurotsuchi caught the scroll, confused.
"The Fourth Mizukage voluntarily stepped down due to the damage the Bloody Mist policy caused. If you have spies in Kirigakure, you can confirm this soon."
"Alright."
Kurotsuchi didn't probe further.
If Makoto said it, it was likely true.
After all, she only need to confirm it with Iwa spy in Kirigakure.
Learning that the Mizukage was a "kindred spirit" gave Kurotsuchi a surge of confidence.
She wasn't alone!
"I never thought you'd convince the Mist before me," Kurotsuchi laughed, a spark returning to her eyes.
"You should have told me earlier. It makes the 'treason' easier to swallow."
"So what's your plan?" Makoto asked.
"My current strength isn't sufficient," Kurotsuchi admitted. "I want to train here with you all to improve my abilities. Then, I'll go back and deal with..."
"No need." Deidara's voice interrupted her.
He floated down on his clay bird, raising his hand to show off his Akatsuki ring with a sly grin plastered on his face.
"After hearing about what Itachi, Kisame, and the Strategist did in the Land of Water, I guessed the Strategist's grand vision. Un."
"So, when I returned to the village this time to 'visit,' I conveniently dropped a modified C4 over the Earth Daimyo's residence."
Kurotsuchi's jaw dropped.
"So, Kurotsuchi," Deidara smirked. "You should thank me."
"And hurry back to become the Tsuchikage. Don't even think about joining our organization! Hmm!"
The C4 Deidara mentioned was his masterpiece, the C4 Garuda.
A technique originally developed to kill Uchiha Itachi.
Garuda created a puppet identical to itself, filled with countless microscopic explosive spiders invisible to the naked eye.
When the puppet exploded, these explosive spiders would disperse into the surrounding air to be inhaled by others.
Through countless micro-explosions, it would completely destroy the human body.
The modified C4 Deidara mentioned actually removed the first step of Garuda.
Instead of using the puppet explosion for initial damage and dispersal, he directly scattered the micro-explosive spiders from the air like artificial rainfall.
And he removed the manual trigger.
Instead, the nanobombs were pressure-sensitive.
Only when inhaled and subjected to internal biological pressure would they detonate.
It was a silent death.
There would be no explosion. No flash. To the naked eye, the victim would simply disintegrate into dust.
For an artist who loved loud, flashy bangs, developing a silent, invisible assassination technique was a testament to how serious Deidara actually was about this "Grand Vision."