Konoha F4 Sets the Strategy

Konoha.

The atmosphere inside the Hokage Building was tense and oppressive in the dead of night. The office was brightly lit, and the Third Hokage's Anbu had summoned Konoha High Command overnight.

The four Konoha High Council F4 gathered in the Meeting Room. The dim light illuminated their gloomy old faces, making it clear that something serious must have happened, otherwise the F4, the highest authority in Konoha, would not have been alarmed.

"The reinforcements sent to support and Kirigakure were ambushed and almost completely wiped out." At this moment, the Third Hiruzen Sarutobi, silently handed the intelligence report to everyone with a gloomy face.

"Judging from the Forehead Protector of the ambush Ninja legion, they are from small countries like Grass Ninja and Rain Ninja. However, based on Ninja legion Ninjutsu, Cloud Ninja, Stone Ninja, Sand Ninja, and even Mist Ninja were involved in this ambush."

The annihilation of five hundred ninjas wasn't what weighed on him so heavily. What the Third Hiruzen Sarutobi, was worried about was the attitude of the Four Great Ninja Villages behind this incident. It seemed that only Konoha was kept in the dark. If the Four Great Ninja Villages secretly joined forces, things would probably get very bad.

Upon seeing the intelligence report, Shimura Danzō couldn't help but frown and sneer, "Useless!"

It was clear he was berating the commander in this situation. Five hundred ninjas, faced with such chaotic command, were losing ground in battle and frantically called for reinforcements before retreating, resulting in a rout.

An experienced commander, when facing a powerful enemy, should take advantage of the terrain. Even Danzo could instantly think of the most basic tactic: to fight and retreat while using the advantageous terrain to delay the arrival of reinforcements.

After all, this is on the border of the Land of Fire. The other side should be the one who's worried, but instead they've encountered such an idiot.

"Danzo, the issue now is not about assigning blame, but whether this ambush signifies that the Four Great Ninja Villages have secretly formed an alliance, or even that the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools is a battlefield used by the Four Great Ninja Villages to contain and wear us down."

Utatane Koharu Utatane's brows furrowed deeply, while Mitokado Homura beside her wore a worried expression and said in a deep voice, "Sarutobi, the situation doesn't look good. If the Four Great Ninja Villages join forces, the Land of Whirlpools might really become a meat grinder, dragging the village into a state of constant exhaustion."

This is equivalent to the Four Great Ninja Villages joining forces to wage war against Konoha, except that it's not a full-scale war, but rather a slow, insidious attack.

They aren't afraid of just one Kirigakure, but if the Four Great Ninja Villages join forces, things will get really serious.

"That's why I called you all here." How could Hiruzen Sarutobi not see what Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu could think of? That's why he summoned everyone here overnight to discuss it.

"Sarutobi, we must break the alliance of the Four Great Ninja Villages."

Even Shimura Danzō, who was never afraid of war, revealed a sinister expression and solemnly stated a fact: if Konoha were to face the combined forces of the Four Great Ninja Villages, he would feel as if he could not breathe.

"The Kirigakure, the Kumogakure, the Hidden Rock Village, and the Sunagakure Village— the Four Great Ninja Villages —joined forces to annihilate the border reinforcements. This is all for show."

Clearly, this incident led to a huge misunderstanding. None of the Four Great Ninja Villages wanted to suffer too much loss, so they all tried to drag others down with them, resulting in the misconception that they had joined forces.

However, everyone would believe that this was an organized and premeditated plan, not a hastily assembled one. It must have been that people from all Four Great Ninja Villages were nearby, which would have enabled them to quickly form a combat team to carry out the plan. Otherwise, how could the Iwakage and Kazekage, whose ninja villages are so far apart, have appeared here so quickly?

The Konoha F4 hadn't considered the possibility of an information leak. After all, the timing seemed improbable, unless they had formulated the plan and the information had simultaneously appeared in the offices of the four Kage of the Four Great Ninja Villages within three days. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? It must have been premeditated.

"If the Four Great Ninja Villages join forces, our village's current situation will be very difficult to handle. We must break the alliance of the Four Great Ninja Villages one by one."

Utatane Koharu frowned and spoke in a low voice, while Hiruzen Sarutobi, seemingly thinking of something, glanced at Danzo with some displeasure and said hoarsely, "Root, keep a low profile. Don't try to take advantage of the major clans lately."

It's truly a case of misfortune striking out of nowhere while one is simply walking on the street; it's quite obvious that Sarutobi's reproachful gaze was referring to the incident Sannin, White Fang Orochimaru.

Shimura Danzō red-faced and furious, feeling incredibly aggrieved. "Sarutobi! You!" He really wanted to yell, "Didn't you just tacitly agree to all of this? When something goes wrong, I'm the one who does the work, and when something goes wrong, you blame me. Damn it, Sarutobi, you just wait. When I become Hokage, I will definitely not let anyone else take the blame."

"I've decided to start with the weakest village in the Land of Wind, Sunagakure."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at everyone with a solemn expression and directly stated his opinion. Upon hearing this, Mitokado Homura exclaimed in alarm, "Sarutobi, don't be impulsive! The Four Great Ninja Villages have now joined forces. Without a well-thought-out plan, it could easily trigger a chain reaction!"

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the three with a determined gaze, "After the Third Shinobi War, the strength of Sunagakure was greatly weakened, especially since the Daimyo of the Land of Wind reduced its funding considerably. Sunagakure had no choice but to implement an elite training program, and as a defeated nation Sunagakure had to give 20% of its high-level missions to Konoha as compensation every year."

Upon hearing this, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura immediately looked enlightened and breathed a sigh of relief. However, Shimura Danzō angrily said, "Sarutobi, this is war reparations. The village needs these missions to recover quickly. You can't take these!"

However, before Shimura Danzō could finish speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi directly asked in a deep voice, "Then Danzo, what good ideas do you have to break the alliance of the Four Great Ninja Villages?"

One sentence from him left Shimura Danzō red and his neck thick with anger. He could only sit back down, feeling humiliated.

"The most important thing now is to break the alliance of the Four Great Ninja Villages. I think that as long as one of them withdraws first, there will be gaps in the other ninja villages. After all, there have never been true allies between ninja villages."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with a resolute expression, Utatane Koharu nodded solemnly in agreement. "Sarutobi is right. Alliances between ninja villages are merely based on current mutual benefits. If we offer our own benefits, this so-called alliance can be easily shattered."

"So, how much should our village contribute to the Sunagakure?" Mitokado Homura posed a crucial question. If you contribute too little, they might become angry and retaliate against you behind your back.

If it were a Sunagakure, they would have already found a way to deal with the other side, instead of feeling so frustrated now.

"Ten percent!" Hiruzen Sarutobi, worthy of being the longest-reigning Hokage, directly offered a temptation that the Sunagakure could not refuse.

Upon hearing this data, Shimura Danzō, slammed his fist on the table, and roared, "Ten percent of high-level missions! Sarutobi, do you know how long this will delay Konoha's economic recovery? This isn't just a year! It's a full fifteen years!"

As the most devastated defeated nation in Third Shinobi War, Sunagakure distributed 20% of its high-level missions to Konoha free of charge. These high-level missions were those of C rank or higher, and they would continue for a full 15 years.

With this shift in balance, Sunagakure directly reduced its high-level missions by 20%, while Konoha was able to accelerate its recovery by relying on these 20% reductions in high-level missions.

However, it's only been a few years, they've only just started to reap the rewards, and now they want to give away half of it.

The 10% profit from this task each year is enough to maintain the entire operating budget of the Root, and there will even be a surplus, which shows how large the profit is.

"Ten percent! I think that's acceptable." Although it was also painful for her, Utatane Koharu in agreement.

"A ten percent benefit in exchange for the breakdown of the alliance of the Four Great Ninja Villages. In fact, if the Sunagakure wants to get this benefit, it must take some action, otherwise it won't get it for free."

At this point, Utatane Koharu glanced subtly at Shimura Danzō, "In exchange for a high-level mission that was originally only 10% of the Sunagakure's missions, the village will gain an ally. The situation of the Four Great Ninja Villages joining forces will become two great ninja villages against Three Great Shinobi Villages."

It must be said that Utatane Koharu was farsighted in this regard. Even Mitokado Homura nodded in agreement, "That's right. Tomorrow I will personally set off to visit Sunagakure to discuss this matter. The Kazekage can't just get this benefit with a few words; he needs at least a statement."

Shimura Danzō heartbroken. He wasn't stupid; he could see the benefits of this exchange, but the village was directly losing a huge amount of money. You have to understand that every year, a large portion of the missions that his Root received from Sunagakure took up.

The result is that it has been cut in half, but the people who share the profits are still the same. It's like a pot of rice that used to be full is now half full, but the number of people eating it is still the same.

"Danzo, don't dwell on immediate gains and losses; you must take a long-term view."

Having known each other for so many years, the four naturally understood each other's character. Seeing Danzo's unwilling gaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"This 10% is not only to secure the withdrawal of Sunagakure, but also to keep one of the Sunagakure in check. This will greatly reduce the pressure on the village. That's settled then. Now let's talk about another important matter."

At this point, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly produced an urgent intelligence report requesting reinforcements, and looking at the three of them, said in a deep voice, "The profits from the Three Mines of the Land of Whirlpools are considerable every year, and more importantly, their extremely important strategic location means they absolutely cannot fall into the hands of the Mist Ninja."

"The front lines already suffered heavy casualties, and now we're facing the destruction of our rear reinforcements. Mist Ninja is in turmoil, and the Land of Whirlpools has already sent in a significant number of reinforcements. Our power in the Land of Whirlpools is in grave danger. We've already lost ten percent of the Sunagakure's interests. We can afford to lose the Land of Whirlpools' interests at Land of Whirlpools moments, but we absolutely cannot lose this strategic location."

The Land of Whirlpools not only involves enormous interests, but also holds an extremely important strategic position. If it is occupied by the Kirigakure, then in the event of another war, the Mist Ninja Village will be able to advance unimpeded.

As long as the Land of Whirlpools remains under our control, this area will serve as a buffer zone against the Hidden Kirigakure.

Seeing this, everyone looked worried, Utatane Koharu sighed with regret, "If I had known this would happen, I should have helped the Land of Whirlpools back then, even at a cost."

How much better it would have been if the Land of Whirlpools of the Uzumaki Clan back then! They would have had so much less to worry about, with someone to hold off the Kirigakure for them. Now, they're facing Four Great Ninja Villages. It's truly a miserable situation.

"Hmph, haven't we paid a heavy price? How many Senju Clan sacrificed themselves on the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools? Otherwise, we wouldn't have risked our lives to conduct Wood Release research."

When the topic of the Wood Release Research Project was brought up, everyone's faces immediately turned extremely grim. It was a lingering nightmare, a nightmare that directly led to the demise of the Senju Clan.

"Alright, now let's talk about reinforcements at the front."

The events of that year were a taboo subject, so Hiruzen Sarutobi directly addressed the current issue in a deep voice, looking directly at the three of them and saying in a solemn tone, "I have decided to transfer 600 Ninja legion from the rear to provide support, and at the same time, reinforce the border area of Land of Water with 1,000 troops. If the Mist Ninja continue to increase their forces on the battlefield of the Land of Whirlpools, our side will also continue to commit troops."

He felt pressured facing the Four Great Ninja Villages, but a Kirigakure! Even with a three-on-two situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still filled with rage. After all, they were the number one ninja village, yet they bullied them like this, as if they were made of clay.

"Requiring six hundred people! Isn't that a bit too many? You have to understand that once the number of ninjas on the front lines exceeds a thousand, the situation will be completely different."

Both Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura wore solemn expressions. With Ninja legion exceeding a thousand, the battle they were about to face had reached the Red Alert level of all-out war. If it escalated even slightly, it would mean a full-scale war between the two great ninja villages.

They suffered heavy losses in the Third Shinobi War, which had just ended, and now there seemed to be a danger of starting Fourth Shinobi War, even though they were all filled with solemnity.

The horrors of the Shinobi World War were something even they had to take seriously.

Hiruzen Sarutobi Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance before Koharu said in a deep voice, "Sarutobi, try to keep the number of ninjas on the Land of Whirlpools battlefield under a thousand for now. We can draw some elite troops to stabilize the situation. Once the Sand Ninja turn against us, that will be our chance to break the deadlock."

Even Shimura Danzō nodded in agreement this time with a grim expression. He said in a deep voice, "Among Orochimaru's remaining forces, there are quite a few good civilian ninjas in the village. Some of them can be sent to provide support. At the same time, the various clans can send some people to stabilize the situation first. Now is not the time to start the Fourth Shinobi War."

Seeing that all three had chosen to play it safe, Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment before nodding solemnly and saying, "I was short-sighted in this matter. A battle involving a thousand ninjas has indeed crossed the line."

"Visit the Sunagakure as quickly as possible, and the sooner we can persuade them to defect, the sooner our current predicament can be resolved."

"Shikaku Nara is currently the commander of the Land of Land of Lightning's border. I intend to transfer Shin'nosuke Sarutobi to the Land of Land of Water's border as the supreme commander. At the same time, I will send a message to Jiraiya, ordering Jiraiya to guard against the appearance of Stone Ninja at the Ōnoki border to deter him."

It has to be said that Jiang Hai is still the most cunning and experienced. Hiruzen Sarutobi's methods were simply a bluff. Konoha didn't want to start a war, and neither did any of the Four Great Ninja Villages.

"Shinnosuke? Not bad. Almost all of Orochimaru's elite forces have been sent to the front lines of the Land of Land of Whirlpools. The rest are not much of a threat. Sending Shinnosuke to guard the border of the Land of Water can eliminate any potential threats left over from before. Agreed."

I second that!

I second that!

In an instant, Konoha F4 devised a plan for Konoha to confront the Four Great Ninja Villages. Perhaps none of them expected that a misunderstanding would lead to such a huge incident.

The Four Great Ninja Villages also didn't expect this.

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