"Initiate the Great Ninja World War directly!" Obito was momentarily stunned by these words, then asked in confusion, "But didn't you say last time that we should wait until the Three-Tails revives before starting the war?"
"If we start the war now, there's no way to resurrect the Ten-Tails, right?"
"Haha! What a coincidence!" Black Zetsu chuckled awkwardly. "I just happened to discover the Three-Tails reviving these past couple days, and I've already completed its capture!"
"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have procrastinated!" Black Zetsu secretly sighed inwardly.
Because he feared that Konoha might discover the Three-Tails first after its revival, since the Three-Tails' death he had filled the coastal areas with White Zetsu to ensure being the first to capture it.
Half a year ago, the Three-Tails revived in the deep sea area and was captured by him before even reaching shore.
Nobody else in the shinobi world knew about the Three-Tails' revival.
Fortunately, Obito had first been emotionally shaken over being exposed, and later became deeply conflicted over Black Zetsu pointing out his scumbag nature, so he didn't pay much attention to Black Zetsu's 'coincidence', simply exclaiming in surprise, "That's really quite a coincidence!"
Seeing Obito's genuine astonishment, Black Zetsu relaxed inwardly. "Haha, this is heaven helping us!"
Obito nodded and asked, "What about Aizen's side? When should we take action?"
Black Zetsu suggested, "Wait until the war breaks out, until Akatsuki's attention is completely diverted to the war, then we'll act!"
Obito hesitated for a moment, his voice filled with emotion, "So we've finally come to this point. Whether it's right or wrong, I will bring you back, Rin!"
...
A week later, in Konoha's Hokage building.
"Indeed, I've already lost my true self!" Danzo looked disheartened as he placed the mahjong tile he had been fiddling with back on the table. "I can't even feel the mahjong tiles anymore!"
"I've sacrificed far too much for this village!"
Just then, several urgent knocks sounded on the door.
Danzo quickly shoved all the mahjong tiles on the table into the drawer with lightning speed, then straightened his demeanor.
"Come in!"
Pushing open the door, Tatsuma rushed in, clearly flustered as he spoke, "Hokage-sama, it's terrible! Many white monsters have landed from the coastal areas of the Land of Fire's south. These creatures are burning and looting their way toward Konoha!"
"White monsters?" Danzo didn't take it seriously. "Is this the Akatsuki's plot or another village's conspiracy? Doesn't matter though, these creatures will be perfect for demonstrating Konoha's strength!"
"Oh right, how strong are these creatures?"
"These monsters possess approximately Chunin-level strength. Our estimate puts their numbers at over five hundred thousand!" Tatsuma hurriedly added, "And it's not only the Land of Fire being attacked. Considering all countries, the monster army currently rampaging across the shinobi world may number in the millions!"
"What? Millions of Chunin!" Danzo's eyes widened in shock, his mouth gaping open.
Though the shinobi world had seen a trend toward mass-producing ninja, those with the talent to become true ninja were still few, let alone Chunin.
Even combining all forces across the entire shinobi world wouldn't produce so many Chunin!
"Still, it doesn't matter!"
Danzo quickly regained his composure, "Even if the enemy has a large number of people, there is nothing to be afraid of!"
Those at their level of strength could easily kill hundreds of Chunin with a single large-scale ninja technique. As for someone like Seiki Shimaseki, a monster of that caliber, a single Wood Release technique might wipe out tens of thousands of Chunin!
Just as he was feeling relaxed, a figure rushed in in a great hurry.
"Bold..." Ryoma was about to scold, but after getting a clear look at the visitor's face, he swallowed the words he was about to say.
Not only because of the other person's status as the Third Hokage, but also because of that complicated relationship filled with love and hatred between him and the Hokage.
Hiruzen leaned both hands on the table, his face solemn as he asked, "Danzō, have you heard about those monsters?"
Danzo scoffed with a smirk, "Hiruzen, you're still the same old man. Did this little thing really scare you that much?"
The Third was not bothered by Danzō's mockery and simply asked in surprise, "Do you have a way?"
Danzo calmly tapped the table: "The might of legion warfare is indeed formidable, but that only comes into play when powerful individuals are checking each other. Although the Akatsuki organization has many strong individuals, they still haven't reached the point where a single organization can stand against the five great ninja villages!"
"When they attack Konoha, we will organize all the jonin to counter their numbers with quality!"
"Just this?" The Third sighed in disappointment and shook his head.
Danzō's mouth twitched: "Do you have an objection?"
The Third Hokage sighed and said, "Those monsters will never come to Konoha! They have already split into countless small groups and are rampaging throughout the Land of Fire!"
If the enemy disperses into smaller units, their advantage in quality will be difficult to leverage.
Even if they possess powerful ninja techniques capable of killing hundreds in one go, since the enemy group consists of only five or six individuals, their effectiveness might only be slightly better than that of ordinary jonin.
"Hmm?" Danzō instinctively looked at Tatsuma. "That's not what you just said!"
Tatsuma looked confused: "I don't know either. Was it a sudden change in plans?"
The Third nodded: "Those are the movements that just changed!"
Danzo took a deep breath: "They're trying to uproot our very foundation!"
Tatsuma couldn't help but ask from the side, "Isn't the Akatsuki organization claiming to be righteous? They have been recruiting ordinary people and saying they only target the five great ninja villages. Why are they now attacking the entire ninja world like madmen?"
"That is indeed quite strange!" Homura murmured. "The Akatsuki's previous actions always followed discernible patterns, but this time, I can't see any logic in their approach at all! Have they truly accumulated enough strength to challenge the entire ninja world?"
"Let's not worry about that for now," Danzō analyzed methodically. "The priority now is rescue! The enemy has a significant advantage in numbers, so no matter how we allocate our forces, it will be difficult to cover all vulnerable points. If that's the case, we should instead maintain our advantage in quality by assigning more people to each group. The rescue speed can be somewhat slowed—we mustn't sacrifice ourselves in the process of trying to save others!"
"Also, at least one-third of our combat strength should remain to protect the village, in case Akatsuki attempts to take advantage of the situation by luring away our forces."
"Finally, the people of Konoha have had some misunderstandings about me, but since this is a critical moment, I hope everyone can unite and overcome this crisis together! Therefore, I won't delegate missions to them this time. I'll leave the communication with them to you—please handle it carefully."
The Third stared at him in disbelief. "Danzo could never have such an awakening, let alone be this polite. Who exactly are you?"
Danzo's eye twitched violently as he forced a smile. "People do change and grow!"
"That's right, people do change and grow!" Sandaime said with emotion, patting his shoulder. "Although your enlightenment was painfully slow—finally understanding this at over sixty—you've grown up after all... I'm truly glad!"
Danzo's temple pulsed visibly as he listened. Since when did Hiruzen start sounding like a disapproving father?
After Sandaime left, Tatsuma lowered his voice and asked, "Hokage-sama, should we contact the leader of Akatsuki to get to the bottom of this?"
Danzo scoffed coldly. "Of course we should ask. I intend to find out exactly what they're playing at!"
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