The group had not been in the conference room long.
The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing his Hokage Battle Robe, walked into the conference room with a grave expression.
He glanced around at the two advisors and one Hokage Assistant seated to his left and right at the head of the table.
He silently counted the remaining department heads and core Jonin.
Seeing that almost everyone had arrived.
He immediately walked to the head seat and sat down, addressing everyone with a serious face.
"Everyone, war is coming!"
The Konoha higher-ups and department heads present had long anticipated the situation in the ninja world, and were not surprised by this.
However, everyone's expression, like the Third Hokage's, became solemn.
No one likes war.
Once a war starts, their relatives, friends, and children may lose their lives as a result of being involved.
Who would want to see such a thing?
"According to intelligence, Cloud Village has already dispatched two thousand elite ninjas to engage in a full-scale war with Hidden Mist in the Land of Sea. Hidden Mist also has more than two thousand ninjas participating in the battle. The environment of the Land of Sea is unique..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen began by talking about the situation of the Cloud Village and Hidden Mist fighting.
This time, both ninja villages acted extremely quickly, taking less than twenty days from preparing supplies to directly engaging in combat.
Even though this war was secretly instigated by Konoha.
They had the advantage of knowing what was coming, but the speed at which this war was launched fully showed that the two sides had actually been secretly preparing to start a war for a long time!
More importantly...
A force of more than two thousand ninjas seems like a lot, but for both sides, they are far from going all out!
Unlike Hidden Mist, which has always pursued secrecy, making it difficult for information to leak out, Sarutobi Hiruzen knows very well about the development of Cloud Village in recent years.
They still have a large number of available combat forces that have not been put into the battlefield. What are they planning to do?
Defend against surprise attacks from other ninja villages?
Or is there another plan?
Hidden Mist, there is too little information, but they are obviously planning something else.
Otherwise, why would they attack Hanzō the Salamander of the Rain Ninja Village!
"Hidden Sand has currently stopped issuing various tasks, and a large amount of war materials have also been collected. All ninjas are on standby in the village..."
"Iwagakure Village does not seem to have large-scale personnel movements, but according to the situation, they have recently had many more merchant escort missions. The Intelligence Department suspects that they may be secretly escorting supplies to the border..."
"Just now, news suddenly came from Rain Country that Hanzō the Salamander of the Rain Ninja Village was assassinated by the Hidden Mist Anbu. The Rain Ninja Village has fallen into civil strife, and Hanzo's subordinates have begun to compete for control of the Rain Ninja Village. The Daimyo of Rain Country is already preparing to come to the Land of Fire Daimyo Residence to take refuge."
Sarutobi Hiruzen finished speaking all the information in one breath, and first looked at his three old partners.
"Assassinating Hanzō the Salamander, causing the Rain Country bordering the three major countries to lose its last layer of protection, putting us, Iwagakure, and Hidden Sand in a state of high tension? Hidden Mist?"
The Danzo played by White Zetsu opened his mouth sinisterly at Yamanaka Kei's prompting.
Instead of completely pinning the blame on the Hidden Mist, he subtly hinted that the Cloud Village was also under suspicion.
He perfectly portrayed Danzo's suspicious nature.
In any case, the Salamander clan's Summoning Beast had been kept secret under the watch of Root ninjas.
They could shift the blame however they wanted.
"Regardless of whether it was the Hidden Mist or not, the Sand Village has already been stalled, and the main thing is to guard against Iwagakure!"
Torifu Koharu then spoke.
Previously, the Sand Village and the Hidden Mist had been fighting fiercely.
Logically speaking, if the Hidden Mist and the Cloud Village went to war, as long as the Sand Village's higher-ups still held a grudge from before, they would definitely advance directly towards the Hidden Mist from the sea.
But now, with Hanzō the Salamander of the Rain Ninja Village suddenly attacked and killed, no matter how impulsive the Sand Village was, they would have to consider whether Iwagakure and Konoha would stab them in the back.
"Send an envoy to negotiate with Onoki and delay their advance."
Mitokado Homura pondered for a long time before offering his suggestion.
Iwagakure was also led by the Militant Faction.
Moreover, according to intelligence, Iwagakure's finances were already in serious trouble.
In the current chaotic situation, launching a war was the fastest way to shift the financial burden.
If war was unavoidable.
Under the guise of negotiation, they could gather intelligence and delay their advance, giving Konoha more time to prepare.
"Unrealistic."
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head.
He could already foresee that Iwagakure would definitely be impatient and launch a war first.
Moreover, their target would definitely be Konoha!
After all...
The Sand Village was too poor!
Sending a Konoha high-level official to negotiate at this time would be like sending them intelligence.
Yamanaka Kei sat in the middle of the conference table, subtly giving Nara Shikaku and the others a look, including the Uchiha clan as well.
The Danzo played by White Zetsu, along with several members of the Militant Faction who favored proactive warfare, began to exert their influence in the meeting.
The meeting, which had made little progress for half a day, began to move forward significantly.
After a series of arguments between Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen, the main theme of this high-level meeting was basically set according to Yamanaka Kei's ideas.
They would not be the first to attack, but anyone who dared to attack would be met with a thunderous counterattack!
"We've already consolidated the logistical supplies once before, immediately allocate a portion and start transporting them to the front lines."
"Nara Shikaku, Mimura Hayaki, start drafting the personnel list. The vanguard... one thousand people."
"One thousand people? Hiruzen, unless you personally go to the front lines to oversee things, who will you be able to deter?"
"One thousand people is a statement, showing that we are not afraid of war. But if I personally go, what will the other ninja villages think? They probably wouldn't want to fight, but they would have to."
"Heh~ I only see weakness."
"Danzo, you're too extreme!"
Accompanying the sounds of arguing.
The high-level meeting, which lasted for several hours, finally came to an end near midnight.
One order after another was issued after Sarutobi Hiruzen inquired about the situation of various departments and ninja clans.
A ninja force of one thousand people is indeed not many.
But this is not a declaration of war, just a demonstration of their attitude to the surrounding ninja villages.
Troops are stationed on the border of the Land of Fire.
With One of the Sannin, Jiraiya, leading the team, plus elites drawn from various ninja clans, even if they are suddenly attacked, they can temporarily hold off the opponent's offensive.
At that time, Konoha, relying on its rich war reserves, can completely send a large force of more than three thousand people for support while leaving sufficient backup forces.
Even if Sand Village wants to take advantage of the situation, Konoha is not afraid of fighting on two fronts.
It's just...
Fighting on two fronts?
Yamanaka Kei slightly curled his lips as he walked out of the conference room door.
In the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha fought against the other ninja villages one by one. It would be nice if we didn't make you fight on four fronts at the same time.
Still thinking about fighting on two fronts, what good things are you thinking about!
"However... Third Hokage..."
The corner of Yamanaka Kei's eye glanced obscurely at Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Although he hasn't completely turned into the kind of old man who is cautious in doing things and wants to maintain stability in everything, like in the original story more than ten years later when the plot begins.
But he is still old after all!
Intentionally or unintentionally, he has already begun to suppress those ninja clans and powerful family ninjas who want to get ahead.
Let's give this guy a dignified exit.
A village's Kage.
How can someone live to be 69 years old and be killed by their own disciple?
It's embarrassing to even talk about!
Whoosh~!
A Root ninja appeared next to Yamanaka Kei using the Body Flicker Technique.
Bowing deeply, he presented the Intelligence Scroll in his hands.
"Loves Cupping?"
Yamanaka Kei looked at the four large characters on the scroll's cover, his mind momentarily blanking.
Then he realized where this information came from.
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