Analysis

"With that, the threat from the Stone Ninja will be temporarily eliminated. Even if war breaks out again later, the Stone Ninja will have to devote half their attention to the Cloud Shinobi," Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly analyzed. "And vigilance goes both ways. Once the Stone Ninja make a move, they will surely provoke the Cloud Shinobi as well. By then, most of both sides' strength will be tied down."

"That leaves only the Sand Shinobi!"

Sunagakure was truly in its golden age. Chiyo and Ebizo were both in their prime. The Second Kazekage was the only surviving former Kage among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Now in his fifties, he was still at the tail end of a ninja's peak. Though the Third Kazekage had yet to take office, he was already twenty, the age when a ninja's strength began to take shape. Moreover, they had not taken part in the previous Shinobi World War, so their strength remained intact. They might even be considerably stronger than the Cloud Shinobi and Stone Ninja.

As for the Mist Ninja? Their island nation's geographical disadvantage doomed them to be more than capable of defending themselves but lacking in offensive potential. Unless someone as monstrous as Hashirama Senju or Uchiha Madara emerged, they could only take advantage of chaos, grab what they could, and leave.

"I think Konoha would be better off fighting the Sand Shinobi head-on," Sarutobi Toru suddenly suggested.

"Oh? Why is that?" Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned and asked.

"Because while Sunagakure is powerful right now, it has already reached the limit of what it can sustain. No matter how much we plan, they will probably still have to fight Konoha in the end."

That was right. Both the Land of Wind and Sunagakure had reached the limits of what they could bear.

The Land of Wind was mostly desert, making development difficult. It was notoriously poor among the Five Great Nations, and the funding it gave Sunagakure had never been substantial.

Sunagakure's environment was so harsh that it was simply impossible for it to accept missions from other countries. It could only scrape out a living within the Land of Wind.

After all, Sunagakure's village and outposts were surrounded by desert. If someone wanted to assign a mission to the Sand Shinobi, did they have to cross the desert first? They might as well go to Konoha instead.

The poor transportation and harsh environment also caused them to lose a great many missions. Konoha had a beautiful environment and excellent transportation. Even if it was a little farther away, it was still more cost-effective than the Sand Shinobi.

Furthermore, while Sunagakure had not participated in World War I and had thus preserved its combat strength, its ninja establishment had greatly exceeded what it could support. At this point, it truly had no choice but to fight.

If they did not fight, death awaited them anyway. If they fought, they might just win.

The Third Hokage trusted Sarutobi Toru's judgment fairly well. He sighed. "I see. It seems this battle is unavoidable."

"Although Sunagakure is powerful right now, its ability to recover is weak. As long as we cut them down hard once or twice, they will surrender on their own!" Sarutobi Toru added another reason to go to war with the Sand Shinobi.

Indeed, whether in terms of economy or population, the Land of Wind ranked near the bottom among the Five Great Nations. Once it suffered heavy losses in war, it would never dare drag things out. After all, its ability to replenish itself was the weakest, and it could not bear excessive risk.

Just like after the Third Shinobi World War, even the Kage of a village had ultimately been reduced to working as a miner. That was because the death of the Third Kazekage had driven the Sand Shinobi into an impulsive war, leaving them severely weakened and unable to recover no matter what they did.

The Cloud Shinobi and Stone Ninja would often refuse to let go even when the war situation turned against them. The Sand Shinobi, on the other hand, would surrender decisively once defeated.

"One last point: the Land of Fire is the richest country in the Shinobi World, and Konoha is the strongest shinobi village. Situated at the crossroads of four battlefronts, the best way to crush the ambitions of the other shinobi villages is to display strength beyond all comparison! And Sunagakure, as it stands now, is the best target for establishing our prestige!"

"Exactly! Hiruzen, what are you still hesitating for?" After hearing Sarutobi Toru's words, Shimura Danzō's blood boiled, and he immediately voiced his agreement.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took another puff of smoke. "Of course we will act, but we cannot be the first to act. Sunagakure cannot hold out for much longer anyway, so why not let them make the first move?"

He then turned his gaze to Danzo. "Danzo, have Root work a little harder. Disrupt more of the Sand Shinobi's missions. In addition, I will appropriately subsidize the outposts near the Land of Wind and have them lower the rewards for missions in the Land of Wind!"

Danzo blinked. Well, he wanted to be a whore and still build a shrine to chastity. No wonder you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, could become Hokage!

Sarutobi Toru also drew a sharp breath. Damn, had his uncle learned how to maliciously undercut competitors this quickly? That was a little frightening.

It seemed he truly could not underestimate the people of the Shinobi World. Their knowledge might be lacking, but their minds were anything but slow!

With this, the Sand Shinobi would definitely find things even harder to endure. In a few months at most, they would surely clash with Konoha!

And Konoha would not even be at fault, while claiming the moral high ground!

At last, the Third Hokage turned his gaze to Sarutobi Toru. "Toru, do you have anything else to add?"

Sarutobi Toru rolled his eyes and said, "I do have an idea. Lord Hokage, do not forget that there is also Amegakure."

"Amegakure? Hanzo of the Salamander?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked in confusion.

At this time, Hanzo of the Salamander's reputation had yet to spread. Everyone knew he was formidable, but they did not yet know that he possessed Kage-level strength.

Especially in large-scale battles, Hanzo of the Salamander, with his deadly poison, and his summoned beast, Salamander Ibuse, were practically superweapons of mass destruction!

It was precisely because of this that Hanzo of the Salamander in the Original Work was a master at crushing weaker opponents. By himself, he fought against the Stone Ninja, Sand Shinobi, and Konoha, even earning the title of "Demigod"!

Hanzo was still unknown now, which made him perfect for digging a pit for the Sand Shinobi!

"That's right. Hanzo of the Salamander has Kage-level strength, and even his breath carries deadly poison! His destructive power is especially immense against ordinary ninja!"

"Moreover, he is quite ambitious. The Land of Rain has been developing well in recent years, and its strength is no longer weak!"

In small countries like the Land of Rain, internal conditions were chaotic. Some countries had no shinobi villages, while others were entirely controlled by their shinobi villages, with no Daimyo at all.

The Land of Rain was just such a case. Hanzo was the leader of the Land of Rain, so Amegakure was closer to the Land of Rain's military. Even in peacetime, it received direct military expenditure and was less affected by the number of missions available.

Thus, the Land of Rain was actually developing quite well now, and Hanzo of the Salamander had developed the ambition to make Amegakure the sixth great shinobi village!

"Kage-level?" The Third Hokage turned his gaze toward Danzo, who nodded slightly.

Sarutobi Toru had once relied on the Flying Thunder God Technique to carry out missions throughout the Shinobi World. On one occasion, when he returned from the Land of Rain, he had indeed brought back this intelligence along the way.

Of course, Danzo had not reported the intelligence, so the Third Hokage had not known about it.

The Third Hokage could not be bothered with Danzo's little schemes. He merely considered how to use this intelligence to dig a pit for the Sand Shinobi and make them clash with the Land of Rain first.

But that would not be difficult. After all, the Land of Rain's geographical position was right there!