Tsunade calculated carefully before giving an approximate figure. "About five thousand remain."
"Five thousand... damn."
Ronglin was somewhat taken aback. More than thirty thousand had been reduced to five thousand. One could imagine that once the war ended, these small nations would not even have the luxury of hiding in their shells.
But that was fine too. Since they no longer had the right to hide, if they wanted to resist, then they could go die. Why leave any territory for them?
After all, those surrounding lands had originally been mapped out with Konoha's support. It was time to take them back.
Annexing the surrounding small nations—if that idea were spoken aloud, it would surely frighten quite a few people.
It violated the agreement made by the Five Great Shinobi Villages. When the time came to act, they had to be swift, ruthless, and precise: annex some territory before the other villages could react, then slowly chip away at the rest step by step.
Did the agreement between the Five Great Shinobi Villages still hold any power now?
Leaving aside the fact that Kirigakure had already broken that agreement first, Konoha under Ronglin's rule feared no war.
If annexing these small nations displeased the other villages enough for them to start a war, Ronglin would not mind fighting them. It would be a perfect chance to let them know that Konoha was no longer something they could provoke at will.
Ronglin even had an utterly insane idea in mind. If he voiced it, it would scare plenty of people to death.
When the time came, even if the other villages did not come looking for trouble, Ronglin would take the initiative to find trouble with them. Otherwise, where would he get an excuse to start a war?
Without an excuse