The First Signs of War

Hokage's Office.

The familiar room, the familiar layout, and the familiar four people.

Hiruzen Sarutobi still had his unlit pipe clenched between his teeth as he quietly listened to Danzo's report.

"Over the past three months, minor border clashes have risen from the usual average of five per month to fifteen. That doesn't even include the enemies encountered by teams carrying out missions in other countries."

In a calm tone, Danzo described the recent increase in border conflicts.

"Has peace lasted so long that certain forces are starting to stir again?"

Hiruzen smacked his lips and let out a helpless sigh.

The problem brought about by prolonged peace was the increase in internal conflicts.

Konoha was no exception.

The most typical example was the Uchiha, who possessed autonomy and had always sought greater political status.

At a time like this, the best way to shift internal conflicts was to establish a common enemy and vent all that energy onto them.

Clearly, Konoha had become that external enemy.

"Can we determine who the enemy is?" Mitokado Homura asked the crucial question.

If they could identify the other side or obtain evidence that they were provoking these clashes, the matter could be resolved through diplomacy.

"They wore no forehead protectors, and their clothing and equipment had no distinguishing features. Clearly, they came prepared."

Danzo had naturally conducted a thorough investigation. However, Konoha had too many enemies, and without any obvious slipup from the other side, he could only have the Anbu investigate them one by one.

"But if they were looking for an excuse to start a war, they shouldn't be doing this so furtively. There must be some other objective, right?" Utatane Koharu formed a few guesses from Danzo's words.

"Testing Konoha's strength?" Hiruzen voiced the speculation Koharu had left unsaid. "Without a suitable opportunity, they wouldn't dare rashly ignite a war. They can only use this method to search for our weaknesses, see whether they can gain some advantage, or disrupt our public security."

"But isn't that troublesome? We don't know who the enemy is, so we can only defend passively." Mitokado Homura frowned.

"Konoha's location dictates that we can only defend passively. There's nothing to be done about that."

Hiruzen let out a helpless sigh.

Konoha's location was indeed prosperous, but that prosperity had also drawn the covetous eyes of the other villages.

Too many opponents meant Konoha could not take excessive risks. In every Shinobi World War, Konoha had relied on its own foundations to wear down its enemies through protracted warfare.

"Ōnoki of Iwagakure has trained quite a few shinobi over the years, but the number of commissions is limited. Once Ōnoki can no longer sustain the livelihoods of the village's shinobi, he will start a war at the first opportunity, and we are very likely to be the target."

Danzo straightened in his seat and laid out the intelligence gathered by his subordinates. "To obtain intelligence on Iwagakure, I have already lost three men. Even then, I could only get an approximate figure: Iwagakure's shinobi force has already surpassed ten thousand."

"That many?!" The two advisors' brows jumped, both startled by the news.

Iwagakure was not particularly wealthy. How could it possibly support so many shinobi with those pitifully few commissions alone?

Unlike the undisguised shock of the two advisors, Hiruzen remained utterly composed. He had clearly learned of this intelligence beforehand.

"Could this intelligence be wrong? Based on what I know of Iwagakure..." Mitokado Homura's first reaction was that the intelligence was false.

After Mitokado Homura finished speaking, Utatane Koharu nodded as well, clearly full of doubt toward Danzo's intelligence.

"Are you questioning my subordinates?" Danzo said with some displeasure.

"But..." Mitokado Homura shook his head, unsure what to say.

One could say Danzo was bad, one could say Danzo was incompetent, or even say he was both bad and incompetent, but it could not be denied that during the years Danzo had overseen intelligence work, there had never been any serious dereliction of duty.

"In that case, we must guard against Iwagakure's movements. Fortunately, Kusagakure lies between us. If Iwagakure makes a move, Kusagakure will notify us in advance." Utatane Koharu sighed, already accepting that Iwagakure would launch an offensive against Konoha.

"Not just Iwagakure. Those brutes in Kumogakure have never stopped seeking to plunder land and resources. Over the years, they have secretly targeted Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques everywhere. They must also be guarded against." Danzo began discussing Kumogakure and Sunagakure again.

"Even Sunagakure, the most barren of the villages, has begun mining gold dust under the leadership of that 'Strongest Kazekage' to make up for the military funding cut by the daimyo."

At that point, Danzo paused. He reached for the teacup before him, gently blew on it, then took a small sip and set the cup back where it had been. "From all available intelligence, we can determine that the outbreak of war is merely a matter of timing. Therefore, I believe Konoha must begin preparing for war immediately."

Opening his half-closed eye, Danzo revealed a fierce gaze and stated his opinion.

"Preparing for war... Though I would prefer to say that this matter should be resolved through diplomacy, Danzo's intelligence has already confirmed the attitudes of the various villages. We may not know when war will break out, but if we wait until it does to prepare, it will obviously be too late." Although he had often criticized Danzo's hawkish behavior in the past, faced with the intelligence Danzo had presented, Mitokado Homura had no choice but to admit that preparing for war was indeed the best choice.

"That's right, Hiruzen. This time, we should listen to Danzo." As Utatane Koharu voiced her agreement with Danzo, she looked toward Hiruzen.

Hearing this, Hiruzen merely shook his head, removed the pipe from the corner of his mouth, and sighed once more. "Sure enough, no matter when it is, shinobi can never escape the fate of conflict. Do as you say."

Having reached an agreement on preparing for war, the four immediately busied themselves according to their respective duties.

To obtain more intelligence, Danzo could no longer spare any attention for Kazashiro's training. He directly summoned Aburame Ryoma and Yamanaka Zen back to his side and had them devote themselves fully to intelligence and assassination work.

As usual, after playing with Kakashi and the others for a while after school, Kazashiro returned home and saw only Yakushi Nonō sitting in the living room.

"Big Sister Nonō." After obediently greeting her, Kazashiro put away his shoes and walked over.

"You're back, Kazashiro." Smiling in response, Nonō reached out and tidied Kazashiro's slightly messy hair, which Obito had thrown into disarray. "You must be hungry. Big Sister will go make you something tasty right away."

"Mm, okay. Then I'll go study in the study first." Kazashiro did not ask why Danzo was not cooking today. Danzo disappeared for several days every month anyway. He had probably gone somewhere to cause trouble again.