Hoshigakure would soon have no secrets to Shiki. The boy even had half a mind to return to Roran and check whether his enhanced senses could pierce into their sealed secret areas.

  ‘Truly . . . With the right inspiration, progress is a breeze. Even without massive numbers of shadow clones, just by studying the Shuigan and comparing it with my own knowledge and sensory ability, I’ve made such a rge leap.’ He thought to himself.

  Meanwhile, he unreservedly expanded his senses to investigate every nook and cranny of Hoshigakure.

  It was a truly small vilge, the Uchiha District, their rge cn compound was easily comparable in size and even better in terms of facilities and quality of construction.

  ‘Such is the gap between Hidden Vilges.’ Shiki thought as his observation continued.

  “Isn’t this a little pitiful for a shinobi vilge?” Mei scooted close to the boy on the carriage he was sitting and whispered in his ear.

  ‘Ever since Beni began shadowing me, Mei has gotten a lot more clingy . . . It’s honestly quite cute, the childish jealousy.’ Shiki internally noted.

  He kept those thoughts to himself and answered her question without dey however.

  “This is the reality of the truly small Hidden Vilges. Even if one puts aside the Five Great Vilges, the gaps between the smaller ones can still be quite massive.” The boy expined.

  “School mostly focuses on the other four of the Great Vilges so I actually don’t know that much about the others.” Mei said.

  Shiki doubted that.

  Mei was the studious type so he was confident she knew about the most important ones at least, the bespectacled girl just wanted to keep talking with him and so she undersold her knowledge to get a longer topic of discussion.

  “All shinobi vilges are part of a hierarchy, regardless of what their shinobi want to believe.” Shiki started.

  “Even the Five Great Vilges have significant differences. Konoha is currently the strongest, most populous and most economically powerful.”

  “Kumo follows with a slightly inferior economy as well as moderately inferior military power and popution.”

  “Iwa has a considerably worse economy than Kumo but a significantly higher popution and equivalent military might.

  “Kiri’s popution and economy are very poor but their brutal training methods, guerril style of warfare and high number of kekkei genkai cns keep its military might only moderately inferior to Kumo and Iwa.”

  “Suna on the other hand, has a low popution and weak economy, simir to Kiri, but cks its many powerful cns, making it militarily weaker.” The boy first expined the situation of the five major vilges.

  Mei was actually quite surprised, she did indeed know more than she let on but not as much as Shiki had expected.

  “If the differences are so big, how is the bance maintained? Why are the weaker vilges like Kiri and Suna not destroyed when war breaks out” The bespectacled girl questioned.

  Although only one Great War had taken pce, smaller scale conflicts between just two vilges did occasionally happen, they had just stopped for the time being because everyone was gearing up and saving strength for the big one.

  “Simple. Kirigakure’s territory is a multitude of isnds, easily defendable yet hard to attack, especially considering the rge numbers of Water Release shinobi they possess.” Shiki responded.

  “Suna’s environment is very harsh which makes their growth in popution and economy terrible which in turn harms their military development. But at the same time, this also makes their nd undesirable and not worth the resources required to conquer it.” He further expined.

  “Iwa and Kumo are pretty well matched so they can’t push each other too far without risking their own destruction. Iwa has a much rger volume of troops but Kumo surpasses them in quality, all of which ends up equalizing the odds.”

  “As for Konoha, there are two reasons we can’t just move in despite being the strongest but they both circle back to the same thing. The Land of Fire is the most prosperous country in the known World.”

  The boy was going to continue but being a smart girl herself, Mei had already drawn the right conclusions.

  “As the richest we don’t need to take resources from elsewhere, just protect our own and as the holders of the best territory, everyone is aiming at us so we can’t carelessly move.” She spoke.

  “Exactly.” Shiki nodded, pleased at his companion’s increasing grasp of the world’s state.

  ‘This only puts into perspective the damage that Hiruzen’s leadership, especially his second term, did to Konoha. To make it drop from the strongest in all categories to among the weakest in terms of economy and mid-tier in military might despite retaining the highest popution . . .’

  The boy could only ment.

  ‘The Third Hokage, despite Konoha being severely depleted by the wars, he not only ended the fighting without any restitution being given despite Konoha being the victor, he even continued to suppress the restless cns who got no return for their investment, further weakening the vilge.’

  It was too much foolishness to comprehend or, if Hiruzen did not have Konoha’s best interest in mind, it would be maliciousness instead . . . But he digressed.

  Bringing his thoughts back to the present, the boy continued with his expnations.

  “As for smaller vilges, they can be roughly split into three piles. The dangerous pile, the useful pile and the worthless pile.”

  “I get the st one refers to small and weak vilges like Hoshigakure. They barely deserve the title of Hidden Vilge and ck the strength to affect the overall situation but how are the other two piles split?” Mei inquired.

  “First of all. For smaller vilges, it’s not all about military might.” Shiki cautioned.

  He then went into more detail.

  “The Jomae Vilge for example, is quite pathetic in terms of fighting prowess but its shinobi are some of the best spies in the world so the vilge maintains its relevance and importance through the power of information. They are in the useful pile.”

  “Some vilges, while not weak, are too far from the action to matter so they are also ignored. Vilges with isotionist stances but sufficient military power are often just ignored, relegated to the worthless pile.”

  “But then, there are cases like the three strongest vilges beneath the Five Great ones. From powerful to weak, they are Taki, Ame and Kusa.”

  “Takigakure has one of the most defendable vilges and are the sole holders of a Tailed Beast outside of the Five Great Hidden Vilges so most of the time, attacks on them are just checks to make sure they stay in their territory.”

  “Their power makes them dangerous because they can influence the overall situation but their isotionist stance lowers this danger so long as these checks are made.”

  “Ame owes its position to its current leader Hanzo of The Samander, one of the strongest shinobi currently alive. This along with their central position in the continent and dangerous ambitions to become the 6th Great Vilge, puts them atop the dangerous pile.”

  “As for Kusa, their diplomatic stance, moderate military power for a small vilge and willingness to be the neutral jailors for the scum of the shinobi world and the Five Great Vilges, puts them in the useful pile.”

  Despite her interest in what the boy was saying, Mei could not help but to interject with a small quip.

  “Wow! Always thought you were more of a jutsu enthusiast that neglected other areas of study but your handle on things is like that of a seasoned hypoc-polititian.” She teased.

  Shiki merely gave her an unamused, deadpan look before continuing.

  “The standard Hidden Vilge Hierarchy is like I described with one two major exceptions.”

  “Exceptions? Uzushiogakure?” Mei guessed.

  “Yeah. That’s the biggest one but there is also the Land of The Sky. Their shinobi tend to be as powerful as those of one of the Five Greats, even if only under certain conditions but they are not centralized.”

  “This, combined with their general unpredictability in recent years, makes them quite dangerous.” The boy expined.

  “But back to Mei-san’s guess, Uzushio is the great exception of the Hidden Vilge system . . .”

  Shiki paused.

  “But I’ve already yapped way too much so we’ll finish this conversation next time.” And with those words, Shiki bolted, leaving his Uchiha teammate hanging with her mouth open.

  +++++

  Hey, Author here!

  To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.

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