The War's First Signs

Hokage's Office.

A familiar room, a familiar layout, and the familiar four people.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, still holding his unlit pipe, listened quietly to Danzo's report.

"In the past three months, minor border skirmishes have increased from an average of 5 per month in previous years to 15 per month. This doesn't even include enemies encountered by teams on missions in other countries."

Danzo stated the recent increase in border friction in a calm tone.

"Has peace lasted too long, causing certain forces to stir again?"

Hiruzen smacked his lips and let out a helpless sigh.

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

Konohagakure was no exception.

The most typical example was the Uchiha clan, which had autonomy but was constantly seeking political status.

At this time, the best way to divert contradictions was to establish a common enemy and direct all energy towards them.

Clearly, Konoha had become this external enemy.

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

If they could figure out who the other party was, or obtain evidence of them causing friction, the matter could be resolved diplomatically.

"They are not wearing headbands, and their clothing and equipment have no distinguishing features. It's clear they came prepared."

Danzo had naturally conducted a detailed investigation, but Konoha had too many enemies. Without the other party revealing obvious flaws, he could only rely on the Anbu to investigate them one by one.

"But if they're looking for an excuse for war, they shouldn't be acting so sneakily. There must be another purpose, right?" Utatane Koharu had some conjectures based on Danzo's words.

"Testing Konoha's strength?" Hiruzen voiced Koharu's unspoken guess. "Without a suitable opportunity, they wouldn't dare to rashly start a war. They can only use this method to find our weaknesses, see if they can gain some advantage, or disrupt our public order."

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

"Konoha's geographical location dictates that we can only defend passively. There's no other way."

Hiruzen sighed helplessly.

Konoha's location was indeed prosperous, but this prosperity also attracted the covetousness of other villages.

Having too many opponents meant Konoha couldn't take too many risks. Every time there was a Ninja World War, Konoha relied on its own foundation to wear down the enemy through prolonged battles.

"Ōnoki of Iwagakure has trained many ninjas over the years, but the number of commissions is limited. Once Ōnoki can no longer sustain the survival of his village's ninjas, he will launch a war immediately, and our village is likely to be the target."

Danzo sat up straight and listed the intelligence his subordinates had gathered. "To obtain intelligence on Iwagakure, I have already lost three subordinates, and I can only get an approximate number. The number of ninjas in Iwagakure has already exceeded ten thousand."

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

Iwagakure was not very wealthy. How could they possibly support so many ninjas with such a pitiful number of commissions?

Compared to the undisguised surprise of the two advisors, Hiruzen was remarkably calm, clearly having already known this intelligence.

"Is this intelligence incorrect? After all, based on my understanding of Iwagakure..." Mitokado Homura's first reaction was that the intelligence was false.

Utatane Koharu, beside him, nodded after Homura finished speaking, clearly also full of doubt about Danzo's intelligence.

"Are you doubting my subordinates?" Danzo said somewhat displeased.

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

You could call Danzo evil, or incompetent, or even both evil and incompetent, but there was no denying that during the years Danzo was in charge of intelligence, there had been no serious dereliction of duty.

"In that case, it is very necessary for us to 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 attack Konoha.

"Not only Iwagakure, but those brutes from Kumogakure have never forgotten to plunder land and resources. Over the years, they have been secretly targeting Kekkei Genkai and secret jutsu everywhere, and they are also a force that must be guarded against," Danzo began to talk about Kumogakure and Sunagakure:

"Even the most barren Sunagakure, under the leadership of that 'Strongest Kazekage,' has begun to compensate for the military expenses cut by the Daimyo by mining gold sand."

At this point, Danzo paused, reached for the teacup in front of him, blew on it gently, and then took a small sip before placing the cup back. "Based on all the intelligence, we can confirm that the outbreak of war is only a matter of time. Therefore, I believe it is very necessary for Konoha to begin preparations for war."

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

"Prepare for war... Although I also want to say that it would be best to resolve this matter through diplomatic means, Danzo's intelligence has confirmed the attitudes of the various villages. Although we don't know when the war will break out, it will clearly be too late to prepare for war when it does." Although he often had reservations about Danzo's hawkish actions, considering the intelligence he had presented, Mitokado Homura had to admit that preparing for war at this time was indeed the best option.

"That's right, Hiruzen. This time, we should listen to Danzo's opinion." Utatane Koharu agreed with Danzo's idea and looked at Hiruzen.

Hiruzen heard this, merely shook his head, removed the pipe from his mouth, and sighed again. "As expected, no matter when, ninjas can never escape the fate of conflict. Let's do as you all wish."

The four people, having reached an agreement on the matter of preparing for war, immediately got busy with their respective tasks.

In order to obtain more intelligence, Danzo, at this moment, could no longer concern himself with Kazashiro's training. He directly summoned Aburame Ryoma and Yamanaka Zen back to his side, dedicating himself entirely to intelligence and assassination work.

Kazashiro, as usual, played with Kakashi and the others after school for a while before returning home. He saw Yakushi Nonō sitting alone in the living room.

"Nonō-neechan." He greeted her obediently, put away his shoes, and walked closer to her.

"You're back, Kazashiro." Nonō responded with a smile and reached out to tidy Kazashiro's slightly messy hair, which Obito had ruffled. "You must be hungry. I'll make you something delicious right away."

"Okay, I'll go study in the study room first then." Kazashiro didn't ask why Danzo wasn't cooking today. Anyway, Danzo disappeared for a few days every month, so he figured he was off causing trouble somewhere again.