Apart from the high-ranking officials and certain individuals with special status within the Hidden Leaf Village, most people only felt that the external situation was somewhat tense, but they couldn't see the undercurrents behind it. Before the conflict truly erupted, they continued their daily lives, and few discussed the matter.
Garura, who was studying in the Hidden Leaf Village, was quite concerned about this. Although it was a conflict between the Hidden Leaf Village and the Daimyo's office, all the allied nations of the Southern Alliance now shared a common fate. Smaller countries, of course, were still recovering, and the Land of Wind had not fully recovered. If the Land of Fire, as the center of the alliance, experienced significant turmoil, it would be extremely detrimental to the Land of Wind.
However, Garura herself couldn't get more information, so she tried to inquire from her good friend Kushina, hoping to get some inside information.
Garura had no ill intentions; she genuinely hoped that the Hidden Leaf Village wouldn't experience any major changes. She had learned a great deal in the Hidden Leaf Village over the years and intended to continue her studies.
The Hidden Leaf Village treated ninjas from other countries without discrimination, just like their own ninjas, entirely based on their daily performance and achievements. This made the international students, far from home, feel very comfortable and greatly admire the Hidden Leaf Village's broad-mindedness.
Perhaps only the Hidden Leaf Village could accept other ninja villages in such a way, because it was extremely powerful, and compared to other ninja villages, the Hidden Leaf Village was established with a spirit of inclusivity.
This can be seen from the fact that the Hidden Leaf Village does not have a distinctive chakra nature. The distinctive features of other ninja villages are named after their countries, but the Hidden Leaf Village is different.
To lead the Hidden Sand Village towards revival, Garura studied very diligently in the Hidden Leaf Village. The ninja academy teachers' understanding of chakra nature truly opened her eyes, giving her a deeper understanding of the secret techniques she possessed.
Of course, this wasn't the most important thing. Garura also understood that the techniques she learned were those the Hidden Leaf Village allowed to be taught to others. Truly influential techniques were not something an international student like her could easily learn. After all, the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Leaf Village were not truly one family, and their leaders were not that naive.
The principle the Hidden Leaf Village adhered to was mutual benefit and assistance. While the Hidden Leaf Village imparted its experience to international students, it also gained their experience in return. No matter what, the Hidden Leaf Village would not suffer any losses.
Most importantly, what Garura learned in the Hidden Leaf Village was the "Konoha Model." This was something that no other ninja village had, existing only in the Hidden Leaf Village, and it was what made the Hidden Leaf Village superior to other ninja villages.
Although Garura couldn't learn very deep secrets,
the "Konoha Model" had permeated every aspect of the Hidden Leaf Village. Simply living there, she could feel how it operated, and just these observations held extremely high value.
Moreover, the Hidden Leaf Village also seemed to have an intention to export its "Konoha Model" to other ninja villages, intentionally or unintentionally letting Garura learn some aspects. Garura naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity, studying tirelessly.
She believed that as long as this model was adapted to the specific environment of the Hidden Sand Village, the Hidden Sand Village would surely embark on a path completely different from its past.
Aside from the factor of self-interest, emotionally, Garura also didn't want the Hidden Leaf Village to encounter any trouble. Facing the Hidden Sand Village, which was in ruins, the Hidden Leaf Village set aside past grievances and wholeheartedly assisted it, allowing it to slowly recover. Such kindness, any conscientious Hidden Sand ninja would not forget. Perhaps there might be some shameless individuals, but the vast majority of Hidden Sand ninjas had not forgotten this kindness.
Those shameless people in the village might say that the Hidden Sand Village's predicament was caused by the Hidden Leaf Village. But don't forget that it was the Hidden Sand Village that first invaded the Land of Fire; the Hidden Leaf Village merely chose to retaliate. Any clear-headed, conscientious resident of Hidden Sand would understand that their own side was in the wrong in this matter, and the Hidden Leaf Village had been benevolent and righteous. Ultimately, the root cause was the Hidden Sand Village's systemic issues.
Therefore, for all these reasons, Garura genuinely hoped that the Hidden Leaf Village and the Daimyo's office could get along well and avoid any major conflicts.
In the afternoon, Garura and her younger brother Yashamaru, who had come to study with her, went out with Kushina and Minato Namikaze to go shopping. Due to their similar identities and ages, Garura and Kushina had already become good friends, and Minato Namikaze was introduced through Kushina.
After learning about Minato Namikaze's situation, Garura immediately felt a strong similarity between them—both were from commoner backgrounds, and both had a teacher who was the leader of a ninja village. Moreover, Minato Namikaze was different from the Hokage's other students; they were of similar age and he was a member of the Hidden Leaf Village's newly established Aerial Combat Unit.
Garura had only witnessed it once at the Hidden Leaf Village's athletic festival and didn't know what it was like in actual combat. She had only read in the newspapers that the Aerial Combat Unit had performed exceptionally well in missions to attack Jashin cultist villages, but the specifics of their excellent performance were unknown.
Given this, Garura also became good friends with Minato Namikaze. Minato Namikaze had a good nature and was a friend worth getting to know deeply. Moreover, Garura sensed an inexplicable ambiguous relationship between him and Kushina. This was her female intuition, and she felt that their relationship might progress further in the future.
"Ah, that idiotic Daimyo, he's up to something again recently." The group sat down in a drink shop and ordered their items. Kushina casually flipped through a newspaper available for free on the roadside, and seeing the news, her eyebrows instantly shot up as she voiced her displeasure.
"What's wrong?" The others were curious, including the youngest and gentle Yashamaru. They gathered around to look, and upon seeing what the newspaper said, they couldn't help but shake their heads.
After politically curbing the Hidden Leaf Village's commercial activities, the Daimyo was now beginning to meddle in the Hidden Leaf Village's external political and diplomatic activities, all in an effort to secure greater profits for the Land of Fire within the alliance.
How could Fumori masaki possibly agree to such a thing? The alliance was established because the Hidden Leaf Village involved every country, leading to shared prosperity and mutual assistance. As the strongest core, it was normal for the Land of Fire to have a larger share of the benefits, but it couldn't be overly greedy and disadvantage its allies. That would cause the alliance to become estranged, with the best outcome being a superficial alliance that was internally fragmented, and in severe cases, a direct collapse.
Regarding the various demands made by the Daimyo's office, Fumori masaki stated that he would not agree and requested to go to the capital to discuss the matter, but the Daimyo refused Fumori masaki entry into the capital.
"Lord Hokage spoke so well." Garura looked at Fumori masaki's official response to the Daimyo's demands in the newspaper and felt very grateful in her heart, because Fumori masaki was protecting the interests of the Land of Wind. He could have gained more, but Fumori masaki was very restrained, and his arrangement of interests for each party was very reasonable.
It was precisely because of this that Fumori masaki earned the trust of the ninja village leaders within the alliance. Under his leadership, the Hidden Leaf Village also had a reputation that convinced its allies, who believed that the guarantees given by the Hidden Leaf Village were trustworthy.
"In contrast, the Daimyo's office doesn't know what they're thinking." Kushina snorted softly. She had no reverence for the Daimyo's office.
"This is really worrying. The Daimyo's office won't back down, and Sensei certainly won't agree to unreasonable demands." Minato Namikaze's tone was a little worried.
"So what? I believe every action our village takes is done with a clear conscience. The Daimyo's side is the one being unreasonable. Even if something truly happens, the people of our country will surely understand who is in the right. My father once said—'A just cause attracts much support, an unjust cause little'—anyone with a discerning eye can see who has a just cause and who doesn't." Kushina said.
"Exactly. The Hidden Leaf Village's reputation is known throughout the ninja world, while the Daimyo of the Land of Fire... honestly, in the past, he hasn't done anything particularly memorable." Garura nodded.
"That's right. I think if it weren't for my father, this country would have already fallen apart under his leadership." Kushina shrugged.
"I wonder if the Daimyo will pull back from the brink; continuing like this isn't good for him." Garura said. The Hidden Leaf Village had a very high influence and formidable military strength in the Land of Fire. Logically speaking, continuing like this would not be good for the Daimyo's office.
"Who knows what he's thinking? Although that Tobi is stirring up trouble, a Daimyo who would trust such a fellow wouldn't be any good either." Kushina snorted, "Things were peaceful before, why couldn't they just stay that way? He just had to stir up something else."
However, no one expected that the Daimyo's office's subsequent actions would exceed everyone's expectations, making people feel that a storm was brewing.