Regarding how to conquer You Country, both of them already had an initial plan.
With Uchiha Tenxiu's successful experience of taking over LouLan through the Queen of LouLan, they deeply understood that even directly assassinating the country's Daimyo and then using a Ninja to impersonate him could only achieve secret control over You Country, but not completely annex it.
After all, to legitimately annex this country and prevent other Ninja World countries from interfering, while also making its citizens willingly accept it, would be harder than ascending to heaven!
Not to mention, even if the citizens of this country were exploited to the point of misery and bullied without any means of resistance, they would still feel resentment and resist everything from Great Zhou if they suddenly heard their country had changed its name.
After all, the servility and heritage deeply rooted within them were like an incurable disease; how could they be changed simply by treating them well for a short period?
Especially in You Country, a small land where, although the common people lived hard lives, they could at least barely make ends meet, unlike those countries suffering from war and turmoil. The poor might accept it, but ordinary commoners were extremely resistant to change! Not to mention the middle and elite upper-level personnel within it.
Uchiha Tenxiu wanted to thoroughly and simply obtain everything within it, turning it into his own nourishment.
Rather than expending a large amount of energy, and after annexing the country, constantly conducting internal reviews and internal friction.
This approach went against Uchiha Tenxiu's future goal of unifying the Ninja World; it was an opposing choice.
To reasonably integrate You Country into Great Zhou, although a certain degree of control over it was unavoidable, it was not necessarily required to kill all of its internal rulers.
Instead, it was only necessary to deal with those who strongly opposed Great Zhou.
For example, Uchiha Tenxiu could, as he did in LouLan before, propose a powerful slogan, control all these people. Then, leave a suitable princess to inherit the country and have her marry him.
This way, the entire You Country would become a generous dowry, completely integrated into the nation of Great Zhou.
This would not be called aggression or occupation, but rather integration—a win-win for everyone.
Even other countries in the Ninja World would have no reason to object. At the same time, this approach could, without Great Zhou being exposed, allow it to be internally divided, paralyzing the resistance within the country and rendering it unable to resist.
After all, it was an internal struggle within the Daimyo family. Even if a woman seized power, it was an internal matter of the Daimyo, and outsiders had no reason to interfere. This was the result Uchiha Tenxiu needed.
Although the Daimyo lost power, he still retained his life, the family's heritage, and the continuation of his own prosperity.
The princess gained power; although she lost freedom in marriage, she gained a better future, a much better choice than previous noble intermarriages.
And Great Zhou also obtained the legitimate right of inheritance to the land.
Thus, a truly win-win outcome was achieved.
"This way, wouldn't it be wonderful! By presenting it as an internal power struggle to the outside world, wouldn't all the protective measures and policies implemented have a reasonable explanation? This would also avoid various suspicions and calculations in the minds of other outsiders!" Uchiha Tenxiu couldn't help but say.
On this point, Uchiha Tenxiu also specifically mentioned his methods of handling the LouLan territory in two different timelines, using them as reference and inspiration.
"Hmph! You got off easy!" Uchiha Lingyue rolled her eyes at Uchiha Tenxiu with disdain, sighing inwardly.
She never expected him to come up with such a shameless method—inheriting the other country by marrying its princess.
Such a tactic was truly despicable!
Alas, who told him he was her future husband!
She could only forgive him!
"..." Uchiha Yukino was similarly speechless. She truly couldn't imagine Tenxiu doing such a thing before. However, when she thought that Tenxiu hadn't hidden any of this from her, her dissatisfaction gradually subsided.
For the sake of the entire Great Zhou and their family's arrangements, Tenxiu's actions were a helpless choice.
Only if Great Zhou developed smoothly could Tenxiu accumulate more good fortune, ensuring their future would be smooth sailing.
This was also for the future of their family.
There was no other way!
Thinking of this, for a moment, Uchiha Yukino felt that Uchiha Tenxiu's sacrifice was truly immense!
Facing the reactions of Uchiha Lingyue and Uchiha Yukino, Uchiha Tenxiu couldn't help but smile awkwardly. He secretly groaned, "What am I doing? I just heard about some of the actions of those P-society members. Compared to their truly demonic acts, I'm practically an innocent little white flower! At least, I didn't make canned goods out of dead people and feel no guilt like them!"
Time passed quickly. In just a few exchanges between Uchiha Tenxiu, Uchiha Lingyue, and Uchiha Yukino, the fate of You Country had already been decided.
At the same time, under their arrangements, several warships from Great Zhou were speeding towards You Country.
And the seemingly powerful countries in the Ninja World were also gradually being eroded by Great Zhou, step by step.
...
A day later, the waters of You Country were shrouded in thick fog, like a dense veil, obscuring people's vision and reducing visibility on the sea to less than a hundred meters. Only near the coastline did the faint light of the lighthouse, like a beacon in the darkness, provide some guidance to the surroundings.
"Heavens, I hope this thick fog doesn't spread any further! Otherwise, how much can we catch fishing only in these inshore waters?" On the fishing boat, the fisherman looked hopefully at the faint lighthouse light, eagerly wishing for the fog to dissipate so he could go to deeper waters to catch more fish. However, his eyes, peering through the pervasive fog, involuntarily revealed a hint of fear.
Since several years ago, this sea area of You Country seemed cursed, constantly enveloped in thick fog.
All nearby fishermen were affected, and a large number of people even mysteriously disappeared in the mist, causing the number of missing persons in the entire country to increase daily. If not for the increasingly heavy taxes, why would they risk going out to sea to fish?
Fortunately, precisely because of the existence of this eerie thick fog, the price of You Country's fishery products soared, and even a small catch could bring considerable value.
"Liuzi, drive a little further. This time, the catch is pitifully small..." The man was shouting to Liuzi, who was steering at the back, trying to move a little further.
Suddenly, as if under a paralysis spell, he sharply turned his head, his eyes drawn like magnets, staring intently ahead. Right there, several black shadows slowly emerged from the thick fog like ghosts, instantly plunging him into an ice cellar, filled with terror, and he couldn't help but think of You Country's superstitions.
He secretly pondered, "What... what is that? Such huge black shadows, as majestic as mountains, could it really be demons and monsters descending? Don't tell me I'm that unlucky?" His heart trembled wildly like stormy waves. Without time for deep thought, he shouted hoarsely, "Liuzi, quick, retreat, hurry back! Can't go any further..."
"Yes, Uncle, I'll immediately..." Liuzi immediately tried to turn the boat around, but his words were cut short.
The next moment, after a ghostly figure flashed, he fainted as if struck by lightning.
Subsequently, the man at the bow also collapsed to the ground like a deflated ball.
"Hmm, at least no one could escape!" The black-clad Ninja touched the pitch-black mask on his face, looked at the two fallen men, and sighed with relief, feeling a weight lifted from his heart.
Then, he turned his head, gazing at the dense fog that filled the sky, and secretly sighed, "The thickness of this fog, like an impenetrable net, has covered this sea area for years. The members of this Shadow Anbu are truly resourceful. Thanks to them, our Great Zhou's main forces were able to arrive in You Country without anyone knowing!"
As the Ninja finished speaking, several pitch-black warships had already entered these inshore waters, with thousands of Ninja troops on board, standing by and ready for the upcoming secret operation.
