Hokage Building

Konohagakure, the Hokage Building.

The night was deep, but the Hokage's office remained brightly lit.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, clad in the Imperial God Robe, showed a trace of the aging exhaustion of years, slowly raising his gaze from the intelligence scroll unrolled on his desk.

He took a deep drag from his pipe, letting the bitter smoke swirl around his mouth, yet it was hard to disperse the gloom in his heart.

According to the latest intelligence, Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning, Iwagakure of the Land of Earth, and Sunagakure of the Land of Wind had all dispatched shinobi armies.

Following the unspoken tacit understanding among the five great nations, they had respectively massed their troops in the buffer zones surrounding the Land of Fire.

Aside from not wanting to face Konohagakure's primary strike first, each was also entertaining the notion of annexing the small-country shinobi villages to use as cannon fodder.

Sunagakure coveted the passage through the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers, Iwagakure eyed the borders of the Land of Grass and the Land of Waterfalls, and Kumogakure's military blade pointed straight at the Land of Hot Water.

Quite a few small-scale shinobi squads had already entered the Land of Fire, hunting down and killing Konohagakure shinobi.

Small-scale conflicts could evolve into a full-scale war at any moment, leaving many places overwhelmed as Konohagakure garrison forces were forced to respond, and even some small-country shinobi had begun taking advantage of the chaos in the Land of Fire.

Across the vast territory, many regions were left at the mercy of enemy shinobi running amok.

Even more worrisome was that Kirigakure, far away across the sea, might cross the ocean at any time.

We must never sit here and wait for death.

The heritage of Konohagakure must never be cut short in my generation.

A ruthless glint surfaced in Hiruzen's eyes. He took a deep breath, and two dragons of smoke spewed from his nostrils.

Thick, white smoke billowed through the room, and precisely at that moment, the office door was gently pushed open.

"Cough, cough..." Mitokado Homura, entering first, frowned at the dense smoke.

Utatane Koharu, following close behind, glanced at the old friend shrouded in the smoke, let out a slight sigh, and walked toward the window without a word, reaching out to push open the tightly closed casements.

The night breeze, carrying the damp botanical scent unique to the Konohagakure forest as well as the lingering warmth of the distant market, surged all at once into this office saturated with tobacco and anxiety.

The thick smell of smoke lingering around Hiruzen's nose and mouth was quickly diluted, replaced by a freshness mixing night dew and earth, which cleared his head, somewhat sluggish from excessive overthinking.

"Hiruzen, there's no need to be overly anxious. Konohagakure is hailed as the strongest shinobi village; this foundation is not something they can easily shake."

Homura walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, her tone attempting to appear somewhat relaxed.

"Haven't we made it through two World Wars just like this?"

Koharu, sitting down simultaneously, followed up with a calm analysis.

"Homura is right."

"Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure—when have they ever truly trusted one another? They are merely allies in appearance but divided at heart, gathering together out of self-interest."

"As long as they discover that Konohagakure is a stubborn, hard-to-crack bone, and we add fuel to the fire, most of them will turn to mutual suspicion and tear at each other for the sake of seizing benefits."

"We in Konohagakure might not lack the possibility of sitting back and reaping the spoils."

This analytical breakdown was clear and logical, causing Hiruzen's deeply furrowed brow to relax slightly.

Yet immediately afterward, as if remembering something, Koharu glanced around the room, her brow furrowing slightly.

"By the way, at a time like this... where is Danzo?"

As her words fell, a cold, mocking snort came from the doorway, sounding like a block of ice slamming onto the floor.

"Add fuel to the fire? It certainly sounds nice." Shimura Danzō's figure strolled in from the shadows outside the door.

"When you boil it all down, doesn't it just mean you want me and my Root to go do all the unseen, dirty, and exhausting work for you?"

He stood still under the light, the expression on his age-creased face so gloomy it nearly turned into a physical substance.

One could tell at a glance that this person was no good.

"It's always the case that good jobs never come my way, while all kinds of dangerous tasks fall squarely on my shoulders."

"Enough, Danzo."

Hiruzen lowered his pipe, impatiently waving a hand at his sarcastic old friend to cut off his uncooperative remarks.

Ever since the jounin meeting concluded and he had held a closed-door conversation with the Uchiha Clan Head in person, Danzō had maintained the demeanor of a dead man, leaving Hiruzen utterly helpless.

With formidable enemies lurking all around right now, Konohagakure was in a period that called for making use of its personnel—precisely the time when it needed to heavily rely on the formidable combat strength of the Uchiha Clan.

Yet Danzō stubbornly clung to his own set of extreme doctrines, his face clearly spelling out an extreme lack of trust in the Uchiha Clan, even revealing an intent that wished he could pull them up by the roots.

Such a stubborn attitude, so oblivious to the greater good and the overall situation, genuinely made Hiruzen feel a deep sense of powerlessness, leaving him with no time to offer soothing advice anymore.

"Danzo, come over and sit down."

As the only female among the four high-ranking elders, Koharu frequently acted as a lubricant, softening the rigid atmosphere during the men's arguments.

Danzō sat down in a vacant chair with a gloomy face, then closed his eyes, putting on an attitude of refusing to speak.

Hiruzen glanced at him, and seeing that he had no intention of speaking, he stopped wasting time and clearly laid out the currently grim situation.

"The battles among the five great shinobi villages are, at their core, a contest for interests."

"At the same time, they will inevitably involve the respective nations standing behind them."

Hearing this, Homura immediately spoke up, "I suggest that we must initiate diplomatic-level actions at present."

"I shall represent Konohagakure, personally traveling to the Capital of the Land of Fire to have an audience with Lord Daimyo."

Her tone was resolute and her reasoning distinct.

"There are primarily two objectives for this trip."

"First, to present the border crisis to the Daimyo and earnestly request the Land of Fire to provide emergency financial aid to sustain the long-term war consumption we may face."

"Second, and even more importantly, to earnestly request Lord Daimyo to utilize his status and influence to issue a formal diplomatic inquiry to the remaining four great nations."

"Condemn their unjust acts of aggression and pressure them to rein in their respective shinobi villages, creating a glimmer of an opportunity to resolve the dispute peacefully."

"Presumably, the Daimyo would not wish to see the Land of Fire suffer further losses."

Danzō sat with his eyes half-closed, casting a sidelong glance at Homura, who was speaking eloquently.

To him, those high-sounding diplomatic platitudes were merely Homura's excuses intended to avoid the front-line battlefields.

Attempting to use documents and negotiations to replace real blood and slaughter.

What was more, in this storm sweeping across the entire Shinobi World, were the Daimyo sitting in the background of various nations truly innocent and blameless?

They appeared to be transcendent and above worldly affairs, but who could guarantee that behind the endless flow of supplies transported to the frontline, and behind the tacit connivance allowing the shinobi villages to wage war, there weren't deeper calculations hidden?

These sanctimonious rulers might well be playing the roles of fueling the flames, or even watching the fires from across the river.

"Homura, leave this matter to you. Set off tomorrow morning and reach a consensus with the Daimyo as soon as possible."

Having made his decision, Hiruzen looked over at Koharu, and the latter laid out the plan she had just thoroughly pondered.

"Konohagakure is not lacking in early-stage war supplies; we can have the shinobi forces on standby within the village take them to the front lines at any time. Right now, the biggest problem is the commanders for the shinobi forces on each front—if their strength is too weak, they won't be able to hold back the military blades of the other shinobi villages."