Chapter 271: Earth-shattering Recruitment

The post-war site of the Whirlpool Country was in ruins. The Mist Ninjas died in all kinds of strange ways. Some were stabbed into sieves by ninja tools, some were burned to charcoal by fire escape, and some were even worse were eaten by insects without leaving any residue. The originally peaceful island was turned into purgatory by the concerted efforts of the Konoha Ninjas.

After the passion, things always become boring. Hinata Hizashi took off his bloody vest and threw it on the ground in disgust. He was a bit of a germaphobe. He usually dressed neatly, even his hair was shiny black, and he couldn't stand dirty clothes.

"Vice-Hokage, most of the Mist Ninja stationed on the island have been defeated, and the remaining ones are concentrated in the ship docking area in the northeast. Do you think we should send people to completely wipe them out?"

Namikaze Minato lit a cigarette, shook his head and said, "Our mission is not to wipe out all the enemies, so let's not make things complicated. Tell those crazy guys to quit while they are ahead. Even rabbits bite when they are cornered!"

"Based on humanitarian principles, let the remaining Mist Ninjas go back to where they came from. The most urgent task is to build a defense line and increase production. The export of minerals from the Whirlpool Country cannot be delayed for a moment."

Hinata almost nodded in agreement, then pointed to a large area of ​​extremely unsanitary bones behind him and asked, "What should we do here? Does the new headquarters need to be relocated?"

"This place is high up and you can overlook the entire island. It's a rare and good spot. If I remember correctly, the ancestral hall of the Uzumaki clan was built here. There's no need to move the headquarters to another place. We can just follow their example."

"But this place has been completely destroyed, and it will probably take a lot of time and effort to clean it up." Hinata Hizashi said with difficulty.

Namikaze Minato exhaled a puff of smoke, smiled faintly and said: "Don't worry, I will deal with them after I finish this cigarette."

A few minutes later, Namikaze Minato threw away the cigarette butt, turned around to face the pale bones, and slowly began to form seals with his hands: "Flying Thunder God Jutsu: Sky Destruction!"

Countless tadpole-sized seal characters jumped out from his hands, quickly surrounding the bones in a circle, and then the space began to distort, and a blue ball of light filled the surroundings. When everything returned to calm, the ground was scraped three feet deep out of thin air, and the white bones naturally disappeared.

Hinata Hizashi pursed his lips and looked at Namikaze Minato with an increasingly respectful look, not daring to be deferential in the slightest: "Vice-Hokage, should we send a letter to the Hokage to report this?"

Namikaze Minato waved his hand casually and said, "Do everything according to the rules. Also, go and call a few earth-style ninjas to fill in the gaps. I want to see a new headquarters appear before dark."

It was naturally not his turn to take care of such trivial matters personally. Namikaze Minato stood under a tree with his arms folded across his chest, watching the Konoha ninjas filling the holes with boredom, his eyes dull and no one knew what he was thinking.

Soon, a brand new command center was built. Hinata Hizashi even thoughtfully found a solemn-looking chair and placed it in the tent after positioning it accordingly.

"Vice-Hokage, please take your seat. The captains have been waiting for a long time."

Namikaze Minato didn't say anything, he straightened his clothes and walked slowly towards the tent. Dozens of ninjas stood neatly on both sides of the tent, all of them with solemn expressions, waiting for the arrival of the person in charge.

Of course, there were no extra seats in the tent for the ninjas to sit down and talk. Namikaze Minato walked step by step to the chair, coughed, asked and sat down, and his eyes were also on everyone.

"Hizashi, please come forward and stand on my right side. You are the head of a branch family of the Hyuga clan, and your status is special." Namikaze Minato confirmed Hizashi's position as the second-in-command of the Hyuga clan with his first sentence.

Besides, most of the people who came to the Whirlpool Country to fight this time were from the old party, and the only person from the new party was Hyuga Hizashi. Now that the Hokage advocated the new policy, he naturally became one of the main persons in charge.

The expressions of everyone in the tent changed slightly, but they dared not speak out. It was not a day or two since Minato Namikaze and the old party gang had been at odds with each other. Who in the village didn't know this?

Hinata Hizashi stepped forward, bowed respectfully, then turned around and said loudly: "The first plenary meeting of the Whirlpool Country advance team has officially begun! Captains, please report the casualties."

Everyone finished their report with this. In just one hour, the army suffered dozens of casualties, which was enough to make people feel painful. After all, these were all veteran ninjas.

Namikaze Minato rested his chin on his right hand and listened quietly to the ninja's report. He didn't say until everything was over, "The casualties this time are not optimistic. The Hidden Mist Village is well-known for its treachery and has always done things unscrupulously. You should all be careful."

The strange thing was that while he was speaking, his eyes were always looking at the ground, as if there was something good there.

Even if everyone was slow to notice the abnormality, the atmosphere in the tent suddenly became tense, and many people put their hands on their ninja tool bags.

"Do you want to roll out by yourself, or do you want me to roll you out?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure jumped out of the mud, and a knife with a cold glow stabbed directly at Minato Namikaze, the only person sitting.

"Pfft!"

Namikaze Minato smiled disdainfully and sat quietly without moving. When the surprise attack turned into an open attack, there was no threat.

Everyone in the tent shouted in unison, and immediately used various means to capture the attacker. They sealed his chakra neatly and threw him on the ground, then stood back in their original positions and waited for the Deputy Hokage's decision.

"Does anyone of you know him?" Namikaze Minato changed his posture and asked with his chin resting on his left hand.

Everyone shook their heads. Hyuga Hizashi hesitated for a moment and then replied, "To answer Hokage-sama, I do recognize him."

"Oh? During the Third Shinobi World War, the Hyuga clan was responsible for resisting the Water Country troops. It's not surprising that you know him." Namikaze Minato smiled faintly and said, "Tell me in detail. I'm curious about who is so brave."

"His name is Mizunotsuki Hara, a senior elder of the Mizunotsuki clan. He is quite skilled in ice escape ninjutsu and once froze a small river." Hyuga Hizashi reported honestly.

"So you are a rat from the Mizunotsuki clan. It seems that you are the top leader of the Whirlpool Country."

Mizunotsuki was about fifty years old, but he was well maintained and looked like a man in his forties, except for the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He struggled hard and found that he could not move. He looked up at Minato Namikaze who was sitting on the throne and said, "Yes, I am the highest commander sent by the Mizukage to the Land of Whirlpools. I have heard of the Yellow Flash of Konohagakure for a long time, and today I see that it is indeed worthy of the reputation."

"Who is the deceased Hui Yeqi to you?"

Mizunotsukihara's expression darkened, and he replied, "He is my brother."

Namikaze Minato stood up, walked up to the other man, looked down at his eyes, and said: "Battles between ninjas are accompanied by death. I hope you can forgive me."

Mizunotsukihara shook his head with difficulty and said, "Of course it's not all your fault. We each serve our own masters."

"There's nothing much to say now. I just want to die quickly."

Namikaze Minato untied the ropes on the other person himself, and smiled at his stunned look: "I didn't intend to kill you, or even to kill Hui Ye Qi. He used the forbidden technique and died."

"You won't kill me?" Mizunotsuki Hara asked in disbelief.

"If a member of the Terumi clan was here, I would definitely kill him without any further ado. But you are different. The Mizunotsuki clan still has a good reputation."

"Go and get a chair for the elder to sit down and talk. And get some food. I want to entertain our distinguished guests!"

Although everyone was confused by Minato Namikaze's order, they still followed it. Fortunately, there was no shortage of things in the Whirlpool Country, and soon the headquarters turned into a small banquet hall.

"Come on, come on, please take a seat, let's sit down and have a good talk." Namikaze Minato pulled the other person's arm and greeted him, looking like he had taken the lead.

Honestly speaking, Mizunotsuki's expression right now was 0.0. He didn't understand what the other party was up to, so he had no choice but to sit down, and he sat down hard, with no intention of being polite at all.

Namikaze Minato didn't care either, he sat opposite and said: "You guys can each find a seat and eat something to replenish your energy."

Everyone sat down and their expressions all turned into 0.0.

"Several decades ago, the Mizunotsuki clan lived with the Kaguya clan in the northern coastal area of ​​the Land of Fire. We are all ninjas from the same place. As the saying goes, when fellow villagers meet, their eyes brimming with tears. We should get closer to each other. What's the point of fighting with swords and guns?"

The opening words were well-reasoned by Minato Namikaze, who played the regional kinship card right from the start. He smiled and picked up a glass of wine and said, "This is a fine wine that Konoha has treasured for decades. It was buried underground in the first year of Konoha. It is very mellow. Please drink!"

Mizunoehara looked down at the wine in front of him, then looked at the Konoha ninjas sitting around him who were like wolves and tigers, and finally understood what "no good banquet" meant. But things had come to this point and he had no choice, so he simply made up his mind, picked up the glass and drank it all.

"How's it going? Does it taste good?"

"It's soft and smooth on the throat, worthy of the name of a fine wine." Mizunotsukihara's answer was quite concise.

Namikaze Minato put down his wine glass and continued, "The Mizunotsuki clan's ice escape technique is unique in the ninja world. It emphasizes being a clean person and doing things cleanly, which is completely different from the cunning style of the Hidden Mist Village."

Mizunotsukihara raised his eyebrows, knowing that something serious was about to happen, but he heard the young man sitting opposite him with a warm expression say, "It would only cause more trouble if we pursue the old grudges now. Konohagakure has always been embracing the world and absorbing ninjas to join. Do you have this intention?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was shocked. They never expected that he would come to show respect to the wise and humble. Their expressions turned into 0.

Mizunotsukihara was so shocked that he almost fell to the ground. He calmed himself down and said, "Since you are the Vice Hokage of Konohagakure, I won't say any bad words. But we are both independent ninjas. Do you really know what you are saying?"

Namikaze Minato smiled and poured a glass of wine, raised the glass and said: "We might as well make it clearer, so that the elders don't hear the whole story."

"But before that, please drink your fill. This kind of fine wine is hard to find outside."

After another glass of wine, Namikaze Minato picked up a few strands of emerald green kelp with chopsticks and put them into his mouth to taste, and slowly said: "According to the secret report, your two families are not having a good time in the Hidden Mist Village. The new Mizukage regards you as enemies and keeps suppressing and humiliating you. I wonder if this is true?"

Mizunotsukihara drank a glass of wine with a gloomy expression, and said with a bitter mouth: "It is true."

It was more than just suppression and humiliation. The Mizukage was ruthless in his actions. Both families were almost wiped out. Otherwise, why would he be sent to the Whirlpool Country to do hard labor?

"Hokage-sama has a good saying, a wise bird chooses a tree to roost in. Since the Hidden Mist Village hates you, why don't you try another way? Konohagakure has always welcomed new blood to join. You will definitely live better here!"

Mizunotsukihara put down his cup and loudly retorted, "Don't worry about the village affairs of Kirigakure, Vice Hokage. I heard that Konoha is now divided into the Old Party and the New Party. You should pay more attention to yourself."

"The Mizunotsuki clan has no intention of changing its clan. Please kill me, Vice Hokage."

Namikaze Minato put down his chopsticks and said, "You can't represent the will of the clan, but I can represent the Konohagakure! I think you still have the ability to distinguish who is truly kind to you and who wishes you dead."

"Since the Hokage is not here today, I would like to make a statement: If the Mizunotsuki clan and the Kaguya clan turn over a new leaf, the entire northern coastal area of ​​the Land of Fire will be handed over to you to manage, and the combined annual funding will be no less than that of the Hyuga clan!"

"Hiashi, tell the elders how much funding your clan receives every year."

Upon hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi stood up and replied, "The Hyuga clan has been kindly received by the village. Not only do we have a large piece of our own ancestral land to collect rent, but we also receive hundreds of millions of taels of funding every year!"

Some people may have no idea what tens of billions of taels mean. Let's put it this way. The bounty on the black market for the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, was only five billion taels. Theoretically, ten billion taels is worth two First Hokages. Again, the Land of Fire lacks everything except money!

Namikaze Minato wiped his mouth with a tissue and began to promise political treatment: "You don't have to worry about being ignored after you come. The Hokage is very generous and is willing to give you one or two high-level positions."

"As long as you come, the position of the leader of the Jounin Squad of Konohagakure will be yours! The position of the head of the Root Division will also be yours! Even in a few years, it won't be strange if there is a Hokage named Mizunotsuki!"

It is worth mentioning that these two positions are now held by the Uchiha clan. Namikaze Minato is being generous to others and has no pressure at all when talking about it.

"Instead of staying in the Hidden Mist Village and waiting for death and extinction of your clan, you might as well join the big family of Konoha. Here you have wine and meat, love and home. It is ten thousand times better than the wet Kingdom of Water! At least you don't have to worry about the loss of your inheritance one day."

Mizunotsuki remained silent. He couldn't help but think of the Mizukage's tyranny, the dissatisfaction of the radical factions within the clan, and even the clan's land that was gradually being surrounded.

Maybe a different approach wouldn't be a bad idea?