After the war between Konoha and Kumogakure ended, Sunagakure and Kirigakure also tacitly sheathed their fangs and went into hiding.
However, Konoha had suffered the heaviest losses in the war.
It wasn't until they took a head count after the war that Minato Namikaze realized that of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans who had gone to war, fewer than one in ten had survived!
Konoha, Hokage's office.
Bang!
Danzo slammed his palm hard against the desk and spoke in a clearly reproachful tone. "Fourth Hokage!"
"In this war, apart from you making it back safely, nearly all the elite forces from our village who took part were lost on the battlefield!"
"Who's going to take responsibility for that?"
"This was an obvious failure of leadership!"
"You deployed defenses along the front without first confirming the enemy's movements. You didn't even notice that the man from Sunagakure had made it to the northern front!"
Danzo grilled Minato with the attitude of someone saying, "Setting the facts aside, don't you have even the slightest fault?"
At Danzo's blatant Monday-morning quarterbacking, the Third Hokage merely smoked in silence, letting purple smoke spread through the office like the worries weighing on the hearts of Konoha's leaders.
"Elder Danzo."
"If you think I made mistakes in my command, then the next time we go to war with Sunagakure, I'll appoint you commander of the front lines and send you to face Souya."
"Then I can properly appreciate your command skills, Elder Danzo."
Minato sat behind the desk, his face dark with gloom. In his foul mood, he showed Danzo no courtesy whatsoever.
Minato's patience was nearly at its limit with men who were useless when it came to real work but excelled at running their mouths.
"Minato!"
"Whatever else you may say about Elder Danzo,