"Danzo, a message from Yamanaka Zen."
Just as Danzo was considering whether to personally go to the battlefield to search for Kazashiro's whereabouts, a Root ninja appeared at the door and respectfully handed a scroll to Danzo.
"Okay, put it there. Hmm? Whose is it?!"
Danzo suddenly turned his head and stared straight at his subordinate.
"It's Yamanaka Zen..."
Before the ninja could figure out what was happening, the scroll in his hand was taken by Aburame Ryoma and handed to Danzo.
Eagerly opening the scroll, Danzo a deep breath, mentally preparing himself before looking at its contents.
Danzo quickly finished reading the entire contents of the scroll, then slammed it onto the table with a loud bang, his face beaming with delight.
His own son had severely injured the Son of the Third Raikage and had also ambushed the Magnet Release Ninja, Toroi!
Based on this achievement alone, he could persuade Hiruzen to promote Kazashiro to Jonin.
"Ryoma, your training is very effective."
Aburame Ryoma Danzo him and handed the scroll to him.
After quickly skimming through the contents, Aburame Ryoma was somewhat moved. "I only did some insignificant work; Young Master Kazashiro's own talent is also outstanding."
"Um."
Danzo nodded and said nothing more.
At this moment, he was thinking about how to use this victory to pave the way for his son's path to becoming Hokage.
At the same time, he also thought of his old friend, after all, the other party was Kazashiro's true teacher.
"Spread the word about this throughout the village, let everyone know about this battle!"
Having retrieved the scroll from Aburame Ryoma, Danzo began his own scheme.
The Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen and his two advisors were waiting for Danzo's arrival.
Because of the outbreak of war, the group met much more frequently than usual, and Hiruzen lost his time to inspect the bathhouse, looking quite listless.
"What is Danzo doing? The meeting is already past its scheduled time."
Utatane Koharu glanced at the clock on the wall, and, still waiting for Danzo, complained impatiently.
"Let's wait a little longer. After all, Danzo still needs to handle intelligence work for the village, so it's understandable that he's busy," Mitokado Homura said, trying to smooth things over for Danzo.
He had barely finished speaking when the door was pushed open, and Danzo appeared before them, clutching a scroll tightly in his hand.
"So you've finally arrived, Danzo."
Upon seeing Danzo arrive, Hiruzen, who had been silently smoking, finally put away his pipe, removed his Hokage's Hat and placed it aside, adopting a serious stance.
"Um."
Danzo, who had no intention of saying anything about his lateness, sat down to the side and gently placed the scroll on the table.
Curious, they glanced at the scroll, but none of them asked any questions. Finally, Hiruzen coughed lightly and summarized the meeting. "Port of Saga has discovered traces of a small group of Mist Ninja. The patrol has already engaged them. It seems that the main Kirigakure force will land around this time."
"Danzo, do we still not have any information from Kirigakure about this war?"
Upon hearing the news that the Mist Ninja had landed in the Land of Fire, Utatane Koharu sighed. Knowing how difficult it was to obtain information about the Kirigakure, she could only ask Danzo on a whim.
"No."
Danzo shook his head. Since Kirigakure declared war, the intelligence agents he sent out had basically died in droves, and he hadn't obtained any useful information at all.
"However, as Hiruzen said, since small-scale enemy activity has already been detected, it means that the main force of Kirigakure is already on its way. The most urgent task is to determine the commander and then construct defensive positions."
Danzo turned his gaze toward where Hiruzen was:
"Hiruzen, it's time to make a decision."
Seeing Danzo looking at him, Hiruzen subconsciously picked up his pipe and put it to his lips, but finally fixed his gaze on Mitokado Homura, who was sitting to the side.
Noticing Hiruzen's gaze, Mitokado Homura realized something and instinctively straightened his spine.
"Yan, your skills haven't gotten rusty, have they?"
Hearing Hiruzen's almost joking question, Mitokado Homura gave an ugly smile, "Look at what you're saying, Hiruzen. I'm still as strong as ever. Maybe I can even have a hand-to-hand fight with Kurama."
"Haha, in that case, this task will be assigned to you. You first integrate the local patrol teams, and as for reinforcements, I will send them to the front lines as soon as possible."
Seeing that Mitokado Homura did not refuse, Hiruzen, who knew the other party's strength well, confidently handed over the task to him.
"Regarding reinforcements, I think we should send the elite Jonin from the Uchiha Clan, Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans to the front lines. After all, according to the current intelligence, Kirigakure is taking an elite force approach, and ordinary ninjas alone may not be able to withstand their attack."
Once the commander was chosen, Danzo proposed a plan.
"The Uchiha Clan?"
Before Hiruzen could speak, Mitokado Homura frowned first.
Those unruly fellows are not easy to command.
"The Uchiha Clan generally only accepts orders from members of the clan. If they are to be sent to the battlefield, Fugaku must go with them, otherwise problems are likely to arise."
Mitokado Homura Uchiha Clan countless times, did not approve of this arrangement.
"It's alright, let Fugaku go with them. Haven't they always wanted to contribute to the village? Now that war has broken out, it would be a waste of their talents to only have them maintain order."
Danzo his one eye, his expression returning to its usual calm and composed state.
"I'll discuss this with Fugaku; let's put it in the plan for now."
Taking a drag on his pipe, Hiruzen also believed that the Uchiha Clan should contribute more to the village, so he did not object.
"According to the intelligence sent by Orochimaru, the battle on the Kumogakure side is still fierce. Even though the enemy is fighting on two fronts, we haven't been able to gain any advantage, which shows how formidable the Cloud Ninja are."
Mentioning Kumogakure reminded Hiruzen of the time when his group was pursued by the elite forces of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
It's time.
Seeing that Hiruzen had finally mentioned Kumogakure, Danzo was finally able to steer the conversation toward the scroll he had brought:
"Speaking of Kumogakure, I just received some intelligence."
Danzo spoke, he unrolled the scroll and laid it out on the table.
"Have you heard? Our village has a genius ninja. He's only twelve years old and he can take on three Jonin at once."
"Really? When did this happen?"
"I just heard about it too. A friend of mine is on the front lines in Kumogakure. In a letter he just sent, he said that the Third Hokage's disciple, Shimura Kazashiro, defeated three Kumogakure Jonin, one of whom was the Son of the Third Raikage!"
"The Third Hokage's disciple? Isn't that the Sannin?"
"Not Sannin, but a new disciple from outside the Sannin!"
While Danzo and others were discussing their battle plan, under the arrangement of the Root ninjas, discussions about Kazashiro gradually spread throughout the village.