The young man smiled faintly, then said calmly, "Lord Kazekage, declaring war on the Land of Earth and the Land of Water would certainly be a thankless task. The Land of Water in particular is quite far from us. Even if we won, we wouldn't be able to invade its territory."
"The Land of Earth suffered heavy losses when it clashed with the Third Raikage. They probably won't make any moves against our country next."
"Although the Third Raikage is dead, his son is still a Kage Level fighter. In terms of overall military strength, the Land of Lightning hasn't actually weakened by all that much."
"We need to remember the biggest advantage our village has over the others: our strategic weapon, the Jinchuriki!"
"The Land of Earth has the Four-Tails and Five-Tails; the Land of Lightning has the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails; the Land of Water has the Three-Tails and Six-Tails; and the Land of Fire has the Nine-Tails!"
"But we only have the One-Tail, and we can't even send ours onto the battlefield!"
"A shinobi who can control a Tailed Beast is far more destructive on the battlefield than a Kage Level fighter..."
"So you're saying we should just let others grow stronger while we weaken ourselves?"
"The Iwagakure shinobi used ten thousand men to wear down the Third Raikage. We can do the same and drown our enemies in a sea of people!" The scar-faced man looked impatient and interrupted the young man.
"Of course, if you're afraid of dying, you can just hide in the village!" the scar-faced man sneered.
"Nobuhiro! Don't rush him. Let Souya finish speaking!" the Kazekage said sternly, his words carrying an unquestionable authority.
"Yes, Lord Kazekage!" Ishizaki Nobuhiro replied solemnly. Clearly, as a shinobi who had fought on the battlefield and nearly lost his life, he still looked down on even a celebrated young genius. But he held the Kazekage in great respect.
Souya gave the Kazekage a slight nod, then continued with an unchanged expression. "The time is about right. Even if we succeeded in wiping out another country's top fighters through sheer numbers, it wouldn't benefit our country at all!"
"What we need is actual territory and resources!"
"Negotiations with the Land of Fire have made no progress. They're only trying to stall. The pressure on their front lines has eased considerably, so these talks are bound to collapse completely before long!"
"The time is right. We've been quiet long enough—it's time to make a big impact!"
"My proposal is to gather our forces and seize the Land of Birds, the Land of Stone, and the Land of Rivers in one fell swoop!"
"Once we've taken them, our logistics units will move in quickly and build fortifications to guard against counterattacks from the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth."
"Treat the civilians well and keep them calm. Anyone who resists... kill without exception!" Souya's voice remained steady, but as he uttered those last words, an astonishing aura slipped out of him.
The shinobi in the room exchanged glances. Some clearly couldn't understand Souya's proposal.
"The Land of Rivers and the Land of Birds are fine, but what's the point of taking the Land of Stone? It's all rocky terrain, with very little farmland! We should be targeting the Land of Fire!"
"Even a small piece of the Land of Fire would be extremely fertile!" Ishizaki Nobuhiro protested, his face full of confusion and disdain.
To him, a proposal like this was hardly worth discussing.
But Souya ignored Ishizaki Nobuhiro's taunts and simply stood where he was after finishing his explanation.
The office fell silent.
After a moment, the Kazekage asked, "Souya, why not attack the Land of Fire?"
"Lord Kazekage, forgive me for speaking plainly. Even if the Land of Fire had to fight on three fronts, and we caught them by surprise, we still wouldn't be able to defeat them!" Souya replied, facing the Kazekage.
"..."
"That kid..."
"How dare he say something like that..."
Souya's words set off an uproar in the office.
The jonin murmured among themselves. Clearly, wanting to pick a fight despite lacking the strength was one of humanity's many flaws.
In their minds, if they were going to wage war, they should naturally attack the Land of Fire, with its most favorable terrain.
"Ahem!"
The Kazekage coughed softly and glanced around the room. The noisy discussion stopped at once.
"Souya is right. Don't think that just because we've developed over the past few years, we can stand against the Land of Fire. Konoha has a seemingly endless array of forbidden jutsu and Kekkei Genkai. Take the Uchiha and Hyuga clans alone: once they bring their Kekkei Genkai into play, they far surpass shinobi of the same rank."
"And there's the kunoichi from the Uzumaki Clan. There have long been rumors in the Ninja World that she can control the power of the Nine-Tails!"
"Not to mention the Yellow Flash, who made a name for himself in this war. Human-wave tactics and fighting on multiple fronts mean nothing against his Space-Time Ninjutsu."
"Unless we can find a way to counter his Space-Time Ninjutsu, numbers alone won't let us fight him. We'll just be picked off one by one."
"Even the fearless shinobi of Kumogakure have been ordered to abandon their missions and flee if they encounter the Yellow Flash!" The Third Kazekage's voice was full of apprehension and resignation.
"Therefore, I think Souya's proposal is entirely viable! We should avoid a direct conflict with the Land of Fire, annex smaller countries first, and strengthen ourselves. Then we can wait for the right opportunity to act!"
"Does anyone have any objections?" The Kazekage rose to his feet and slammed his right hand down on the map of the Ninja World. His palm landed directly over the Land of Rivers.
"None!" the shinobi shouted in unison.
"Good! Then let's draw up a detailed battle plan!"
After a long and thorough meeting, the scar-faced man walked down the street with another middle-aged man. Looking puzzled, he asked his companion, "Hey, why didn't Lord Kazekage take the Land of Rain while he was at it?"
His companion was round-faced and looked rather good-natured. He chuckled. "I don't know! Nobuhiro, why worry about it? We just do whatever Lord Kazekage says!"
"You think that kid is really impressive?" Nobuhiro glanced sideways at him.
"You mean Souya? Of course he's impressive! He and Sasori have completed more S-rank missions than anyone else in our village!"
"Although we weren't involved in the war before, we know most of what's been happening. A lot of the intelligence came back with Souya!"
"Strictly speaking, he was among the first shinobi from our village to take part in this war!" The middle-aged man scratched his cheek, admiration showing on his face.
After hearing that, Ishizaki Nobuhiro fell into thought.
That kid... is he really a genius?
"Come on, let's stock up on ninja tools and food. We leave for the Land of Stone tomorrow!"
"We'd better make sure this war makes our Sunagakure's name echo throughout the Ninja World!" his companion urged him.
Before you continue