Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 412 The Land of Waterfall Becomes One of the New Five Great Nations

However, the matter was not over. The relocation work had just begun when Qi Taiming started causing trouble again.

That day, Onoki was inspecting a newly built dirt road in the desert. It must be said that the road was indeed well built, flat and straight, with drainage ditches on both sides.

Just then, a communication hawk landed on his shoulder, with a letter from Daming Prefecture tied to its talons.

Onoki unfolded the letter, but his expression turned grim as soon as he saw the first line.

The ninja world cannot exist without the Five Great Nations, nor can it exist without the Five Great Ninja Villages. With the fall of the Land of Wind, a vacancy has arisen among the Five Great Nations. I, the Daimyo, propose that the Land of Waterfall fill this vacancy and elevate it to one of the Five Great Nations. What are your opinions, Daimyo and Kage?

You've already spread this news throughout the entire ninja world. Are you asking for our opinion? This is more like issuing a notification.

The letter also stated that the daimyo Keita had discussed this matter with the daimyo Heiji of Takinokuni, and both parties had reached an agreement.

Onoki crumpled the letter into a ball, stuffed it into his pocket, and turned to fly towards the direction of the Daimyo's residence.

"What exactly do you want, Qi Taiming?"

"The reason the Five Great Nations exist is because they have the Five Great Ninja Villages. When did we ever acknowledge Takigakure's status? And what about Takigakure's land area and size? Does it even deserve to be considered one of the Five Great Nations?"

It's no wonder Onoki was rude. You have to understand that even a strong ninja like Hanzo of the Salamander was suppressed by them and couldn't even lift his head. What makes Takigakure so special that it has become one of the five great ninja villages and is now on equal footing with them?

Keita sat up straight, looked at him and smiled, "Doesn't Takigakure have any Kage-level shinobi? Aren't the eight thousand ninjas in Ryugakure enough? What we lack now is just a title."

"A title?" Onoki's blood pressure spiked again. "Do you think the other daimyo of the major powers, and the other individuals, recognize this title?"

Qi Tai said methodically, "Whether they agree or not is irrelevant; the main thing is whether people all over the world agree."

Onoki had already discerned the unspoken meaning in his words: their opinions were no longer important.

"Great Master Keita, be careful not to play with fire and get burned. You will regret it in the end!" Onoki said these harsh words and turned to leave.

He simply needed to return to the Land of Returning Winds to work as a road foreman, relocating the people. Disagreements aside, he had to make money.

Although he was still unwilling and frustrated, this was the reality. As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to him, and he who takes another's money is bound to him." He remembered the other party's actions, so why should they jump out and oppose him?

This is like starting to curse before even putting the bowl down.

Keita also felt that Onoki was being a bit nonsensical.

As the saying goes, one cannot have it all.

As expected, once the news spread, it was not only Onoki who opposed it, but almost all the high-ranking members of the ninja world also opposed it.

Even the six major underground families secretly expressed their opposition, but after two families mysteriously disappeared one after another, the remaining four families completely shut up.

They thought they were the kings of the underworld, but in reality, they were nothing in front of the truly powerful. The true darkness wanted them to disappear; they wouldn't even have a chance to show their strength.

Now, they surrendered immediately after we only slightly touched their core strength!

Once arrogant and aloof, they have been utterly crushed and trampled into the mud.

Then the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, the Land of Water, and the Land of Fire all issued statements of opposition and condemnation, stating that they would not accept the Land of Waterfall as one of the Five Great Nations, because they were not within the Five Elements.

This reason left the other people in the ninja world stunned. It wasn't until the Sky Team of Takigakure joined forces to unleash the Wind Sage Technique that the daimyo and nobles of the five great nations were rendered speechless.

At this moment, the Fourth Raikage, A, jumped out to object, "The Land of Waterfall has been promoted to one of the Five Great Nations? What a joke. A tiny piece of land dares to call itself one of the Five Great Nations."

The newly appointed Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, also expressed strong skepticism, saying, "That's right, the land is too small to be considered a great nation! The Land of Waterfalls is less than one-tenth the size of the Land of Wind, and its population is only one-fifth. The number of ninjas is also pitifully small. If such a country is promoted to one of the Five Great Nations, does that mean other small countries should also be promoted? This standard is too arbitrary."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, adopted a relatively reserved attitude, but his meaning was clear: he neither opposed nor supported the idea, and would wait and see.

Admiral Mifune of the Land of Iron publicly stated: This is a disruption of the Five Great Powers system and a trampling of the international order.

Soon, someone raised the question: Is your Land of Iron also going to join the fray and get a piece of the pie?

Many of Aburame Shicheng's men are already itching to get started. We've been keeping a neutral stance and completely forgot about you guys. Now that we've finally remembered, let's add you guys too.

However, no matter how strong the opposition was, it could not overcome the sense of recognition among the people of the ninja world. In fact, it was not just the common people, but also many merchants and minor nobles who had already accepted the name of Taki no Kami as a great power.

After all, 90% of high-end goods and daily necessities currently come from the Land of Waterfall. Not only that, but also high-grade metal materials and weapons. It can be said that if the Land of Waterfall were to cut off supplies, your quality of life would immediately be reduced to its original state.

The comments quickly reached the ears of Heiji, the daimyo of Takigakure, but he didn't refute them, only saying, "Not enough area? Then merge them."

He kept his word. On the same day, the Daimyo of Takino-no-Kuni issued a joint statement: Takino-no-Kuni officially merged with Tadashi-no-Kuni and Yu-no-Kuni.

The former Three Kingdoms alliance was already very close, and with the large number of people already transplanted, it was practically no different from a single country.

Upon receiving the news, the two daimyo were overjoyed and immediately shed their daimyo robes, transforming themselves into nobles.

Overnight, the land area of ​​Taki no Kuni tripled.

But that wasn't the end of it. The daimyo of the Land of Earth, Keita, carved out another piece of land from the Land of Earth—the part that originally belonged to the Land of Grass but was later annexed by the Land of Earth—and gave it to the Land of Waterfall, making it border the Land of Bears.

The daimyo of the Land of Bears was very sensible. On the very day he received the news, he personally went to the Land of Waterfall with generous gifts to express his willingness to submit.

To put it bluntly, it means surrendering voluntarily, annexing one's own country into the land of Taki, and exchanging it for the position of provincial governor.

Immediately afterwards, the witch of the Land of Demons also declared herself a province of the Land of Waterfalls.

Even the Land of Rivers behind the Land of Rain immediately decided to join the Land of Waterfall, which was an unexpected situation. However, the daimyo of the Land of Waterfall accepted all comers.

In just half a month, the Kingdom of Takigawa conquered five small countries without shedding a drop of blood.

These five small countries were originally scattered throughout the ninja world and were not connected to each other, but through the transfer of land from the Land of Earth, they were connected into one.

By this time, the land area of ​​the Land of Waterfalls was almost catching up with that of the Land of Fire.