"Mm... I understand. You may leave."
Looking at the stack of documents in his hand, the Third Hokage leaned back in his chair. His gaze passed over the now much cleaner Hokage's desk and fell on the Anbu Ninja kneeling on one knee before him as he spoke.
"Yes!"
The Anbu Ninja answered, then flickered away and vanished from the spot.
The situation...
Was about what he had expected.
His gaze returning to the stack of documents, the Third Hokage sighed inwardly.
These were intelligence reports sent back from the front lines. After deploying an army of ten thousand to take over most of the main battlefield, he had ordered the front lines to keep close watch on the reactions of every ninja village. In truth, that meant Iwa and Sunagakure. Kumogakure had already withdrawn its entire army, leaving behind only a few Intelligence Ninjas to gather information. They could largely be ignored. Before the Fourth Raikage took office, they would not be able to stir up any trouble.
Konoha's threats were, in truth, Iwa and Sunagakure.
Yes!
Iwa and Sunagakure! Iwa went without saying. The two sides were separated only by the Land of Grass, and their territories lay close together, so friction was inevitable. Should conflict break out, they would be the first to clash. The scale of the threat needed no explanation.
As for Sunagakure, the Third Hokage was not foolish enough to place complete faith in a mere treaty of alliance. After all, in the battle at Mount Kibitsu, Konoha had killed an unknown number of Sunagakure ninja, causing their strength to plummet. They had been forced by circumstances to form this alliance, and the Third Hokage knew exactly what such an alliance meant.
It was merely meant to intimidate Iwa and Kumogakure.
Both Sunagakure and