Reluctant resolve

The three people refused to admit they were wrong.

However, they didn't have Danzo's thick skin to believe that everything they did was right without any basis.

Even if things fail, they can firmly believe that the reason for the failure is that others are unwilling to cooperate and die.

Mitokado Homura asked, "Hiruzen, what do we do now?"

The Third Hokage smiled wryly, "What else can we do? We've all heard the cheers from the Konoha Ninja; they've made it crystal clear. How can I, as the Hokage, go against their wishes?"

Utatane Koharu said, feeling wronged, "These Ninja have no sense of the bigger picture. They just think we're wrong because they were upset by something. We were clearly thinking of them, afraid they'd die on the battlefield!"

Mitokado Homura asked in confusion, "They used to be so reasonable, why have they changed like this today?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, "In the past, they weren't reasonable; they were simply unable and unwilling to express their own thoughts."

"Now that Shazo Zuo has spoken their minds, they only need to express their agreement with cheers, and naturally they have nothing to hold back anymore."

Utatane Koharu, gritting her teeth, said, "That Shazo Zuo is a real menace, maybe we should..."

Mitokado Homura chuckled coldly, "Shazo even killed Shimura Danzō, do you think you can defeat him? Or are you planning to bring a large group of people to ambush and kill him?"

"The legend of the Wood Release Ninja is still circulating among the Konoha Ninja. If they were to actually fight him, I think the Konoha Ninja would all choose to give up the fight, or even side with Shazo."

The Third Hokage smiled helplessly, "Yes, the initiative is in Shazo's hands."

"He doesn't reveal his identity, nor does he openly oppose me. I still hold the position of Third Hokage of Konoha. If he were to reveal his identity and oppose us..."

"Let's grant Shazo and the Konoha Ninja's wish."

"Yan, go and meet with the surviving Cloud Ninja. Tell them that Konoha will not back down an inch. Either continue the previous Peace Agreement, or come and fight."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Mitokado Homura stood up, but stopped abruptly as he walked to the door.

He turned around and said with emotion, "Hiruzen, Koharu, I suddenly realized that after deciding to take a hard line against Kumogakure, I'm actually quite happy inside."

"Perhaps we were wrong in the past. We overthought things and ended up making decisions that went against our own conscience."

After saying that, he left without waiting for his two old classmates' response.

A day later, Killer B the two surviving messengers and learned the details.

The guy went straight back to his tent, relayed the information to the Fourth Raikage, and then asked, "Big Brother, what's next?"

The Fourth Raikage came in secret. After all, he knew his younger brother well; the boy was tall and strong, but his brain wasn't very sharp.

The Fourth Raikage couldn't feel at ease entrusting nearly ten thousand Cloud Ninja to Killer B, even with Dodai's assistance.

Therefore, he secretly came to the front line from the beginning to sit in the central command and stabilize morale.

Yes, what's stable is Dodai's heart, and what's stable is Killer B public.

This wasn't just the Fourth Raikage overthinking things; if he hadn't come along, the Kumogakure Village camp would definitely have turned into Killer B's concert venue.

After reviewing the intelligence, the Fourth Raikage couldn't help but sigh, "Konoha is Konoha."

"Konoha White Fang died, Minato Namikaze appeared; Minato Namikaze died, then Shisui Uchiha appeared; just when the Third Hokage and the Uchiha Clan were fighting amongst themselves, an unknown Wood Release Ninja appeared."

Is this never going to end?

Killer B habitually begins with a rap. "Yo yo, there's a lot more bad news—a lot more!"

The Fourth Raikage knocked his younger brother to the ground with a single punch, scolding him, "How many times have I told you, you're not allowed to talk nonsense when we're getting serious!"

Killer B rubbed the large bump on his head and honestly recounted the other information. "Our Ninja spotted Jiraiya and Tsunade in the hot spring town of the Land of Hot Water."

The Fourth Raikage asked, "Did you also see any trace of Orochimaru?"

Killer B nodded. "There were indeed traces resembling Orochimaru, but we didn't find him."

The Fourth Raikage: "Having any trace is enough. Orochimaru is, after all, missing-nin of Konoha!"

"The legendary Konoha Sannin have all gathered... missing-nin, what a perfect missing-nin!"

To be fair, the Land of Lightning has a harsher environment than the Land of Wind, and the Kumogakure is more impoverished than the Sunagakure.

Therefore, during Konoha's 10th year, Kumogakure was ranked last among the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

The harsh environment forced successive Raikage to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to the development of Kumogakure.

They internally strengthened management to eliminate divisions and devoted themselves to cultivating new talent, while externally they launched Onslaught, plundering talent, resources, and Secret Technique.

Even the successive Raikage personally participated in the raids on Shinobu villages, showing no concern for the status of major powers or large ninja villages.

Throughout the various Ninja World Wars, Kumogakure (Kumogakure) has always exercised great restraint, refusing to squander its resources.

When faced with an unavoidable battle, the Raikage always rushes to the front to preserve the village's fighting force as much as possible.

When faced with the rebellion of Gold and Silver Brothers, the Second Raikage and the Third Raikage faced the siege of the Iwagakure army, both chose to sacrifice themselves to protect the new generation of Kumogakure.

It must be said that although the Raikage never talks about the Will of Fire, Kumogakure leads by example, which is why Kumogakure has grown from the weakest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages at its founding to the second strongest.

Now that Kumogakure can directly challenge Konoha, the Fourth Raikage still maintains his style of leading from the front.

However, when the Fourth Raikage faced the endless stream of geniuses in Konoha, as well as the legendary Konoha Sannin, despite bearing the title of missing-nin, still secretly contributed to the Konoha, he still felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

He wasn't afraid of the current Konoha, nor was he afraid of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi; he wasn't even afraid of the Konoha Sannin.

What the Fourth Raikage feared was the deep-rooted strength of Konoha.

The sheer number of young Kage-level Ninja that appear every now and then is terrifying. If the Fifth Hokage were a normal Hokage, not focused on internal Hokage, how many Kage-level Ninja would Konoha have produced in ten years?

Can Kumogakure's fifty years of effort truly maintain its current status?

The Fourth Raikage found it increasingly terrifying, yet also increasingly difficult to weigh the pros and cons.

According to the intelligence we had previously received, the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, and all the Jonin, including Fugaku Uchiha Shisui Uchiha, were dead. Uchiha Itachi Shimura Danzō.

With only the Third Hokage remaining as a Kage-level Ninja, Konoha certainly presents a suitable opportunity to attack. They might just be able to cripple Konoha in one fell swoop and overthrow this strongest ninja village.

But Shisui Uchiha didn't die; instead, he displayed the legendary Susanoo, proving that he was a Jinchuriki -Kage-level Ninja capable of suppressing Jinchuriki.