Whether Ronglin's operation succeeded or failed, it would drag the other great nations and villages into this vortex. The entire Ninja World would undergo upheaval in the future.
"No. Just pretend you know nothing, old man."
Ronglin shook his head, waved toward the distance, and left with his men, leaving the Third Hokage behind to sigh endlessly.
After quickly returning to Konoha, Ronglin began making a series of arrangements. The first thing he did was have people contact the Daimyo's personal guards—the Guardians Twelve!
Some of them came from Konoha, while others had been recruited by the Daimyo himself.
Do not underestimate the Daimyo. He secretly spent vast sums recruiting ninja willing to sell their lives for him. Unfortunately, those ninja were nothing special. Only the Guardians Twelve were worth paying attention to.
They were quite formidable.
"Lord Hokage."
The first person to arrive at the Hokage's Office was White Fang.
"White Fang."
Ronglin looked at White Fang, addressing him differently from usual. This was a special understanding between Ronglin and White Fang: calling him Uncle White Fang meant the matter could be serious or trivial, and might even be handled as a private affair.
But once the word "Uncle" was omitted, it meant the matter was extremely serious and no joke could be made of it.
"At your command."
White Fang put away his smile and assumed a stern expression.
He had also heard that Ronglin had roared in fury and smashed his office desk to pieces. Under normal circumstances, Ronglin would not act like this.
"Immediately take men to contact the generals of the Land of Fire. I need all information on the Guardians Twelve. If they are willing to return to Konoha, I will welcome them on Konoha's behalf. If they refuse to return, bury them."
White