"Danzo, you'd better not have any designs on Naruto. I won't hand him over to you."
After Naruto Uzumaki left, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his gaze to Danzo Shimura and said.
"Hiruzen, what are you saying?"
"What ulterior motive could I possibly have? I'm protecting him. Even a three-year-old child understands that, surely you can see that?"
Danzo Shimura said calmly.
After dealing with them for so many years, this was a rare moment when he could finally hold his head high.
He imagined that every time Hiruzen Sarutobi stormed off in anger, the old man must have felt just as relieved as Danzo did now.
"From now on, don't appear in front of Naruto casually. That kid is too naive, and I'm afraid you'll corrupt him."
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, but his heart was heavy.
"That won't do. I've already promised Naruto I'd go see him."
"Hiruzen, you didn't want Naruto to know that you were secretly preventing me from seeing him, did you?"
Danzo Shimura smiled very happily, and it was a genuine smile from the bottom of his heart.
This was the first time in all these years that he had made this old rival suffer a setback.
Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent.
...
The Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane sat side by side.
Below them were, in order, the heads of the various ninja clans, and the jonin of Konoha.
"That's the situation. The entire Kumogakure delegation has perished in Konoha, and Kumogakure will certainly not let this go."
"This could very well trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War. Everyone, please offer any suggestions you may have!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi recounted the situation and looked at everyone before speaking.
"Lord Danzo did the right thing. Since Kumogakure dared to attack the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, how could Konoha stand idly by?"
"But now Konoha no longer has the strength to wage war. If a war really breaks out, the other major ninja villages will definitely take advantage of the situation and invade the Land of Fire."
"Now that things have come to this, are we still going to give in to them? Or should we send Lord Danzo to Kumogakure to be dealt with at their mercy?"
As soon as Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, everyone began to discuss the matter.
"I think that one should take responsibility for one's actions. Since it was Lord Danzo who ordered the killings, let Lord Danzo negotiate with Kumogakure!"
Just as everyone was expressing their opinions, a voice suddenly rang out.
The speaker was none other than Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha clan.
Konoha was currently facing a talent shortage, and it simply couldn't muster many high-level combatants.
Only Uchiha Shisui, who became famous throughout the ninja world by defeating the people of Kirigakure during the Third Shinobi World War, could be considered a worthy opponent.
Therefore, Fugaku Uchiha was allowed to attend this meeting.
After all, Shisui, the master of the Body Flicker Technique, was a member of the Uchiha clan. If they wanted him to fight against Kumogakure, they would inevitably have to deal with the Uchiha clan.
However, no one expected that Fugaku Uchiha would directly push Danzo out.
"Fugaku, Danzo was thinking of the village, which is why he ordered his men to kill the Kumogakure delegation," Hiruzen Sarutobi said. "Now, how can we let him take the blame alone? Wouldn't that discourage the village's ninjas? Who would dare to fight for the village in the future?"
Despite his usual indecisiveness, Hiruzen Sarutobi was surprisingly decisive this time.
He couldn't possibly hand Danzo over; Danzo knew far too many secrets.
If Danzo fell into the hands of Kumogakure, it would be a devastating blow to Konoha.
"Hiruzen is right. I called you here to discuss tactics after the war between the two villages, and how to help Konoha win, not to ask you to try to make peace with Kumogakure," Mitokado Homura added.
The four of them shared a deep bond and were all disciples of the Second Hokage. In this crucial moment, they would naturally unite.
"Shikaku, if we were to go to war with Kumogakure now, what are the chances of Konoha winning?"
Koharu Utatane ignored the others and looked directly at Shikaku Nara, asking him a question.
As Konoha's strategist, the current head of the Nara clan, and the intellectual powerhouse of the ninja world, only by consulting him could one obtain definitive answers regarding matters of war.
"If Konoha were to fight Kumogakure with its current strength, its chances of winning would be no more than 30%."
"If we could recall Jiraiya and Tsunade, who are currently traveling, and add Shisui of the Uchiha clan, we might be able to fight them to a standstill."
Nara Shikaku pondered for a long time before slowly saying, "However, we don't necessarily have to go to war. This time, Konoha is in the right, and we may be able to resolve this matter through negotiations."
It wasn't that he boosted the morale of Kumogakure and diminished the prestige of Konoha, but rather that Konoha was really in a bad state right now, with Kumogakure having another Eight-Tails Jinchuriki who was second only to the Nine-Tails.
The key point was that he was a perfect Jinchuriki. In addition, other villages might take advantage of the situation and forcibly invade the Land of Fire. Considering all factors, being able to fight to a draw was already an extraordinary performance.
Of course, Kumogakure would also face the same situation as Konoha, such as having their base raided during a battle.
It was worth noting that the Third Raikage had been killed by 10,000 ninjas sent by the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure.
"Negotiation?"
"Who should go to negotiate? Lord Danzo?"
Fugaku Uchiha spoke again, saying that the Uchiha had been targeted by Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi for years and had already been keeping a low profile, but the other party still refused to show mercy.
Now that this had happened, Fugaku Uchiha naturally didn't mind verbally humiliating these old geezers.
"Clan Chief Fugaku, do you have some kind of problem with me?"
"In my opinion, the Uchiha people are full of energy, and they all have plenty of energy but nowhere to use it. Why don't you make them the vanguard of Konoha's attack on Kumogakure?"
Shimura Danzo glanced sideways at Uchiha Fugaku. As expected of the inherently evil Uchiha, he was always looking for an opportunity to harm him.
"As long as Lord Danzo declares war on the Kumogakure shinobi, my Uchiha clan will not back down," Fugaku Uchiha said nonchalantly.
As the head of a clan, Fugaku Uchiha was certainly no ordinary person.
There were so many people here, and not a single one of them wanted to fight.
Even if Danzo really wanted to declare war on the Kumogakure shinobi, someone would naturally stop him.
"Alright, you two, shut up."
"Shikaku, tell me how to talk to the Kumogakure shinobi."
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly stopped them from continuing and turned his gaze to Shikaku Nara.
"In this matter, the Kumogakure shinobi are in the wrong. We only need to send someone to hold them accountable and accuse the Kumogakure delegation of attacking our Konoha Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, causing the Nine-Tails to go berserk and resulting in heavy casualties for Konoha."
"The Kumogakure delegation died from the Tailed Beast Bomb. Their actions caused great losses to Konoha, and the Raikage needs to provide compensation."
Nara Shikaku pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking to himself how troublesome it was, but he had no choice but to reveal his plan.
"A good plan, but I still want to ask, who's going to Kumogakure? Lord Danzo?"
Fugaku Uchiha praised him, and then asked again.
...
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