You Guys Are a Bit Too Extreme

Rumbling.

After being sultry for a long time, a large number of lead gray thunderclouds finally gathered in the sky.

Pitpat, pitpat.

Raindrops fell from the sky continuously, moistening the thirsty earth.

"This rain is a good scene."

The daimyo of the Land of Fire sat leisurely in the tea room, holding a cup of tea, quietly staring at this gift of nature, his whole body and mind were extremely relaxed.

The older he got, the more he liked rain.

Because rain is rain and won't be anything else.

"If only all people were as pure as rainwater."

The daimyo sighed, moved the shogi board to his side, and started the game against himself with the sound of rain.

This is undoubtedly a very boring thing, because the daimyo knows very clearly the chess style of his opponent and what choice he will make when encountering difficulties.

But the daimyo never tire of it.

Because it was easy.

He doesn't need to guess what the other party is thinking, and he doesn't need to figure out whether the other party has any other intentions after his actions.

Others may not be able to understand this feeling, but for the Land of Fire daimyo, this is a problem that has plagued him all his life.

Loyalty.

How many people have done wrong in your name.

How many people don't say a word, but practice this mission all their lives.

He can't tell, really can't tell.

It is very difficult to be a daimyo in an industrial country.

The fire country daimyo has always envied his ancestors.

Although they may not be as good as themselves in terms of the actual area they rule, they only need to do one thing - to let the farmers die.

But after entering the industrial society, everything changed.

It seemed that suddenly, the farmers who were only staring at the soil began to look up.

Fudai's retainers talk about loyalty, but they keep doing things that damage the reputation of the daimyo.

T/N: Feidai, short for Feidaidaimyo, is Tokugawa daimyo, the Tokugawa is a powerful family in Japan that ruled as shoguns in 1603-1867

He is confused by the changes of the times, and what makes him feel powerless is that he seems unable to keep up with the changes of the times as he did when he was young.

Realizing that he's old is painful.

"But the accumulation of time and experience is not useless, at least..."

The daimyo muttered, and a reminder came from the young attendant outside the tea room.

"Your Highness, His Excellency the Minister of Finance requests an audience. –

"He seems to be pleading for Konoha."

The latter sentence is obviously redundant.

But the daimyo also knew that this was due to the standpoint of this young attendant – their clan was originally a tobacco business.

Because of some reasons that are not easy to talk to outsiders, their clan's business has been mediocre, and the head of their clan has never taken it seriously.

Before the continuous war, the situation of their clan was a bit bad, so when Konoha came to buy it, they easily sold the tobacco company with a low profit margin and exchanged for valuable cash flow.

But who would have thought that after Konoha owned those ordinary tobacco companies, they would miraculously turn losses into profits immediately...

It goes without saying how angry the Patriarch of their clan was.

They were annoyed at their subordinates' deceit, and they were even more upset that Konoha had made profits that were supposed to be theirs – seeing other people making money was really more uncomfortable than losing money themselves.

But Konoha did things so beautifully that time, taking care of everything. The extra expenses that should have been not only maintained, but even doubled than before.

If they do it directly, everyone will look ugly.

And Konoha has nothing else, there are as many ninjas who are not afraid of death.

If they really turn your face, it's really hard to say what those guys who are dying of poverty will do...

So they put up with it.

But at some point, they always say something redundant.

They also know that such words may not be able to change the status quo for a while, but after a long time... three people become tigers, and there will always be some effect.

It's a good thing daimyo doesn't trust anyone by nature.

When he was young, daimyo's father once asked him a question.

You are a person sitting in a car and now your car is out of control. In front of you, there are two roads. One road has only one person, and one road has five people.

No matter which path you choose, everyone on that path is doomed.

In other words, those on the other way will be saved.

At that time, the young daimyo could not give a perfect answer, because he realized that no matter who he chose to save, he would kill another group of people.

It seems that killing one person and saving five people will cause fewer crimes...

The daimyo finally chose to save five people.

He always remembers his father's disappointed eyes.

However, now, he has also reached the age of being a grandfather. With the accumulation of experience, he finally knows what his father's real intentions were.

If I kill someone, they will accuse and scold me, and I will be judged morally.

If I kill five people, the remaining ones will be afraid of me, and I will be isolated.

But if I kill six people, no one will know that I have killed anyone, which means that I have not killed anyone, and I am still a famous daimyo.

I'm a daimyo, why should I follow your rules?

The most important thing in the world is balance.

Let the Loyalists be neither too weak nor too strong.

Neither let the treacherous ones be too strong nor too weak.

Desire is like a rolling stone, always falling down from a high slope. Since he can't distinguish between the so-called traitors, let them all be on the same level.

Not long after, His Excellency the Minister of Finance came in.

"Your highness!"

Although it was already modern, this seasoned retainer still knelt down and performed a very traditional audience etiquette.

"Well, here you are."

The daimyo smiled gently at the minister who was close to Konoha.

"Today's rain is very suitable for this tea."

The daimyo spoke to the Minister of Finance in the tone of a foolish king.

He had known for a long time that the finance minister would come.

After all, since the Godaime Hokage came up, even those who hate him have to admit one thing, this Hokage is really bold.

Konoha almost defeated Kumo and Iwa before, although it was blocked by Mizukage in the end, but the trend of unity among ninjas finally appeared.

This is not what the daimyos of the five major countries want to see.

So after some secret discussions, the daimyos have decided to secretly create a little trouble for their Hidden Villages.

It's not necessarily to really look good at Hidden Village, it's just a normal loyalty test.

It's like the boss of the company will let the employees do some outrageous things, and even ask them to give themselves red envelopes.

No matter what the hell is on their minds, they do, and that passes the test.

If not passed...

– The daimyo of the Land of Wind is an exception, because he has already cut the budget of Suna. If you put more pressure on the ninjas, only the dead knows what the ninjas will do.

The Land of Fire daimyo didn't say anything on the surface, but he only needs to change his tone slightly, and those big shots who are waiting to see Konoha's joke will naturally take action.

Godaime is not a person who is stingy with money, so he will naturally invite lobbyists.

The military industry system and the Minister of Finance who have always been friends with Konoha are the best targets.

Very annoying.

But the daimyo still smiled and chatted with the important minister without revealing any flaws.

The daimyo wanted to talk to the important minister in a slow pace as usual, but the finance minister put his head on the ground firmly.

"Your Highness, what a disaster!"

"...Oh? What's so urgent? Get up quickly."

The daimyo is very curious about what the finance minister can do this time.

The way he jumped up and down when he helped Konoha sell war bonds last time was really funny.

Hearing this, the Minister of Finance quickly took out several newspapers and an official investigation report from his pocket.

The daimyo glanced around and found that these newspapers were all unknown tabloids. And this official survey report... Ah, I remembered, it was an official poll conducted a few days ago.

After all, it is an industrial country, even if it is just a show, some things have to be done.

Although rare, there are some upper-middle-class guys who espouse so-called straight-talking.

"This investigation report is... hmm? –

"The national dislike rate for Konoha has reached 91%? –

"How come!"

This time even the daimyo was shocked.

He knew earlier that many people were very unhappy with Konoha. And as the biggest partner of the military-industrial faction, it is normal for them to bear the anger of some common people.

But the disgust rate is over 90%, what is going on?

Are you pointing fingers?!

Is Konoha so unpopular now?

Or... is this what the silent majority really thinks?

Daimyo was really scared.

But he did not question the authenticity of this report, after all, no one would dare to lie about such a major issue.

Those so-called big men may not go to the office once in a hundred years, and even if they do, they will not read any reports and will only sign at the end, but the daimyo believes that they have no reason to deceive themselves in such a place.

"This..."

The daimyo looked at the finance minister speechlessly.

The chancellor, still looking funny, said loudly.

"Your Highness, I only have you as the sun in my heart!"

"Please believe me, I am absolutely loyal!"

"I don't know a single word about Konoha!"

The daimyo is a bit willing to trust the minister.

After all, he is just greedy.

Hearing such fatal information suddenly, daimyo was also flustered. If this matter is not handled properly, something serious will happen.

To put it bluntly, the Land of Fire still needs Konoha to charge forward.

Everyone knows that there will be a big war in ten years.

The daimyo quickly calculated in his mind, and picked up those tabloids again.

Well, as expected of a tabloid, the content is indeed very violent.

The daimyo's eyes lingered on the tabloids for a while, and soon found what he wanted.

"Suo Makoto, you bastard, you are not human! You scummed me and my daughter..."

"Public trial of Suo Makoto!"

"Who will give this super lolicon a divine punishment!"

They knew that Makoto was not very well-groomed and had a bad reputation among some people, but seeing the tabloids criticizing Makoto at length, the daimyo was still a little scared.

But he didn't doubt it.

Because in this era, people are quite convinced of publications, and it has not yet reached the level where random people can talk nonsense with just a single mouth.

To a certain extent, tabloids are the ones that best meet the consensus of the people at the bottom.

Because the tabloids scolded Makoto so badly, the daimyo couldn't help but speak up for Makoto.

"Actually, it's not that bad, isn't it just that the girl he likes is younger? –

"During the Warring States period, when a wealthy family named Maeda married his wife, wasn't the other party only 11 years old? They later gave birth to ten children for him, and they helped the husband countless times, and they were considered to be the object of all the wives of the rich family..."

The Minister of Finance and Konoha were very close before, so now they are in such a hurry to get rid of the relationship... It seems that the matter is really serious.

The Minister of Finance ignored this and yelled loudly.

"Your Highness! The situation in the Land of Fire is very critical now! Please issue an order to end Konoha and Godaime's perverse actions! –

"I risked my life today, and I want to end this mistake at this moment!"

The daimyo thought for a while, and took a sip of tea slowly.

"You guys, that's a little too extreme. –

"How can you treat the hero of our Land of Fire like this?"