Diplomatic Turbulence

The problem now is that the stubborn fear the resolute, and the resolute fear those who don't fear death.

Konoha could achieve final victory if it went all out against the Land of Lightning, but the manpower and resources consumed would absolutely exceed the reparations demanded by the Raikage for a ceasefire. If they stopped the bleeding now, it would at least be financially beneficial for Konoha, allowing them to invest their fighting strength into commissioned missions sooner and generate more profit.

However, if they did this, the Land of Fire would indeed reduce its losses, but the Land of Lightning, despite being unable to win, would become the biggest winner. With this shift in power, Konoha's losses would be even greater in the next conflict.

But if they refused to stop the fighting now, the Land of Lightning might be utterly defeated and unable to recover for at least ten years. However, the Land of Fire would also be dragged down by this fearless opponent. At that point, the problem wouldn't be that they couldn't defeat the Land of Lightning, but that they would once again face a situation of wolves encircling them. The weakened Land of Fire would be caught up by the other nations that had already withdrawn from the war, having declared defeat. In this scenario, the Land of Fire, possessing the most fertile land, would become a prize everyone wanted to bite into, returning them to the situation at the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War.

What should they do?

Danzo clearly stated his opposition, but everyone knew the reality in their hearts: no matter which choice they made, it would be detrimental to Konoha.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had clearly mastered the skill of the middle path. If Xing Ran were here, he would scoff at these two. Every time the village faced a major decision, these two would start looking out for themselves. And every time a decision was mishandled, they would either shift the blame to the Hokage or to Danzo. Judging by this alone, Danzo, as an advisor to the Hokage, was far more competent than the two of them.

The Third Hokage looked at the two of them and saw that, as usual, their eyes were focused on their noses and their noses on their eyes. He knew he couldn't count on them. Konoha was truly in a period of turmoil, filled with people who were skilled at internal strife but incompetent at external conflict.

The Third Hokage couldn't help but recall his teacher, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. He really had a good eye for people. He knew that he would be the one to take responsibility. But he was truly tired of his own personality. It was always like this; at critical moments, he had to be the one to act.

"We will not agree to the Raikage's terms, but peace is also very important to us. I have decided to talk with the Raikage until we reach a suitable peace agreement," the Third Hokage said after a long period of contemplation, making a compromise.

It seemed like a concession to the Raikage's mutually destructive approach, but in reality, nothing was agreed upon. Not only did it kick the problem back to the Raikage, but it also gained the initiative and an implicit advantage.

They had actively chosen peace and entered the stage of negotiation. The Raikage had proposed the talks, so they couldn't show zero sincerity in bargaining. Since bargaining had begun, shouldn't military operations be paused? Once the front lines stopped bleeding, Konoha's overall advantage would become apparent. They could even enter the rotation phase early by resting nearby, swapping out the exhausted troops on the front lines with the well-rested reserve forces, or allowing the reserve troops to undertake missions and create value.

Even if the Cloud Ninja rotated their forces like Konoha, their war potential was still inferior. Rotation wouldn't solve the fact that more of their combat power had been damaged. War was about money; whoever had greater war potential was more likely to become the final victor.

The most crucial point here was the issue of supplies. Everyone knew that Kumogakure's supply lines were stretched too long. Once peace talks began, the daily cost of transporting supplies to the front lines would be astronomical. If they continued to consume resources like this, the Raikage's leverage at the negotiating table would only diminish.

The strategy of delay. Once the Third Hokage employed this tactic, the Land of Lightning would be defeated without a fight.

Everyone present was astute. Upon hearing the Third Hokage's proposal and explanation, they all expressed their firm support for the Hokage's decision, standing with him to resist the conspiracies of foreign reactionary forces.

Danzo's mood was very complex at this moment. He had to admit that in many situations, Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly admirable as Hokage. He hadn't thought of such a simple tactic of delay before. Most of the time, he solved problems through underhanded schemes. His opposition to the negotiations earlier was partly due to years of experience; whenever he encountered a dilemma, he would simply oppose Hiruzen Sarutobi. After all, Hiruzen wouldn't listen to him in the end. If it succeeded, all well and good. If it failed, he could still find fault with the Hokage. For years, many of his subordinates had been misled by this tactic of blaming the Hokage for failed decisions (Kakashi himself served under Danzo for a period, influenced by Danzo's rhetoric of shifting blame to the Hokage).

However, he also wished he could solve problems through political means like Hiruzen Sarutobi. Unfortunately, at his age, his way of thinking had become habitual and was difficult to change.

"Hiruzen, your method is indeed good, but we can't rely solely on these means. A ceasefire on the front lines is fine, but we cannot stop the espionage war behind enemy lines. We can increase the pressure on them to force Kumogakure to make concessions quickly. It's unreasonable for us to suffer in silence after being targeted by their 'rogue ninja.' This list contains the weaklings whose will has been affected by the war. Sign it and hand them over to me for training. I guarantee they will quickly become useful spies." Danzo's primary job was to train spies who could be sacrificed at any time, to act as human bombs.

The Third Hokage pondered for a moment, then wearily accepted the documents Danzo handed over. It was a stack of individual ninja profiles.

There were a total of nine people. They were all individuals who had performed poorly during missions or after attacks, either dragging down their teammates, being cowardly and unsuitable for being ninja, or suffering from combat-induced psychological trauma after the war, making them no longer fit to be ninja.

The profiles of the nine individuals were not extensive. The Third Hokage finished reading them quickly without much expression. He pulled out one person's profile and signed the remaining eight, handing them to Danzo.

The meaning was clear: he could have these eight. This made Danzo pay more attention to the ninja with combat trauma that Hiruzen had kept.

He had memorized the profiles of all nine people. The one Hiruzen kept was named Yamanaka Xingran. After the last annihilation, he had developed a gambling addiction, which was a major taboo for ninja. Money could easily corrupt a ninja's will and make them prime targets for espionage and recruitment by other countries. Such targets were low-risk and high-reward.

"This Yamanaka Xingran has violated three ninja taboos. Do you expect him to achieve anything?" Danzo actually didn't have many expectations for such an ordinary genin. However, if the Third Hokage took an interest in someone, they must have some hidden potential. Did he have some information he didn't know? Should he investigate again when he had time?

To be continued

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