The next day, in the elders' meeting room,
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood by the window, looking down at all of Konoha.
Konoha was still licking its wounds from the Nine-Tails Rebellion. Many homes were draped in mourning white, and many damaged buildings were being repaired.
But for the most part, Konoha's villagers were living in peace. If nothing unexpected happened, things could remain this way for another decade or so.
They just don't realize that Konoha is about to enter another war...
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed.
They won't even know about this war until it's over...
Nara Shikaku said from nearby,
"War is for the sake of a better peace."
"Lord Third, your devotion to the people of Konoha is a blessing for us all."
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled but didn't reply.
Devoted to Konoha? Not really. He hadn't been here long since his transmigration, and his feelings for Konoha were mostly carried over from his previous life. More than anything, he was acting in his own interests.
Still, Nara Shikaku wasn't wrong. War was for the sake of a better peace.
Although that wasn't Sarutobi Hiruzen's reason for starting a war, peace was simply a by-product.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen was confident that, with his own efforts, he could do a better job than any Hokage in history.
"How are the preparations coming along, Shikaku?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen asked seriously.
Nara Shikaku replied,
"As you ordered, the ninja have been dispatched secretly in separate groups. More than half the forces have already reached the front lines..."
"The rest are on their way."
"Most of the army will be assembled by tomorrow."
"Elder Fugaku has already been stationed at the front lines for some time..."
Nara Shikaku's abilities were beyond question. He had organized the enormous military preparations meticulously and even managed to evade the Cloud Ninja's spies.
"But I'm afraid we won't be able to keep it from the Cloud Ninja much longer."
"After all, we've deployed so many ninja."
Nara Shikaku explained that the Cloud Ninja would soon discover Konoha's movements. There was no way they wouldn't react when an army of ninja had reached the border.
"That's fine..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen understood that as well.
"Have the Cloud Ninja stationed troops there too?"
Nara Shikaku nodded.
"Exactly... They have about a thousand troops gathered there as well."
"Their leaders are the Magnet Release ninja Toroi and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Nii Yugito..."
"They aren't making any effort to hide it from us."
Sarutobi Hiruzen sneered. He knew that the Fourth Raikage wouldn't come out himself.
But deliberately bringing a Tailed Beast close to the border was meant to make Konoha nervous and force the Third Hokage to give in.
"That Fourth Raikage brat..."
"He's only just become a Kage and doesn't understand how treacherous the world can be."
"I'll have to teach him a lesson myself."
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought the Fourth Raikage was still too young.
"The rest of the ninja can march as usual..."
"I'll set out for the front lines immediately."
"You follow afterward and keep a close eye on the other ninja villages."
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't want to be fighting on the front lines only to get stabbed in the back by someone else.
Nara Shikaku had a vague idea of what Sarutobi Hiruzen was planning. He nodded solemnly.
In truth, Konoha was walking a tightrope by starting this war.
Its strength was far from what it had once been, so the best strategy was to end things quickly.
At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning,
a group of Cloud Ninja were also stationed there.
"Uncle Toroi,"
"Do you think we'll end up fighting Konoha?"
The speaker was the Cloud Ninja's Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Nii Yugito.
At the time, Nii Yugito was a girl on the cusp of adulthood, still far from becoming the Perfect Jinchuriki she would later be.
Yet with her shoulder-length brown braids and calm, delicate features, she already had the bearing of the proud and powerful Perfect Jinchuriki she would become.
Toroi was a Magnet Release ninja from the Cloud. Though his Kekkei Genkai wasn't as powerful as the Magnet Release of the Kazekage throughout history, it was still distinctive in its own right.
He was a renowned elite Jonin who had long been capable of handling things on his own.
Otherwise, the Fourth Raikage wouldn't have sent him to guard the border.
"Probably not..."
Toroi had a good grasp of the situation in the Ninja World.
"Every ninja village has just finished the Third Ninja War. None of them have recovered their strength, and none of them want another war."
"Besides, the Third Hokage is famous throughout the Ninja World as a pacifist..."
"He'll most likely send someone to negotiate peace."
Nii Yugito seemed a little disappointed. She had never experienced war and genuinely wanted to take the field for the Cloud Ninja.
This was also her first time accompanying an army. The Fourth Raikage had wanted to train and develop her.
"Really..."
"Then it was so boring to send me here."
"We're just trying to scare Konoha..."
Toroi smiled faintly and looked at Nii Yugito with affection.
"War isn't always a good thing. If we can take what we want from another village without bloodshed, rather than fighting on the battlefield, fewer of our comrades will die."
"And even if there is a war, they wouldn't send a young Jinchuriki like you to the front lines."
Nii Yugito was unconvinced. She wrinkled her delicate nose.
"Uncle Toroi! I'm not a kid!"
"I can already communicate with Matatabi. In a little while, I'll be able to start training to become a Perfect Jinchuriki!"
Toroi nodded in approval.
"That's good. The Cloud Ninja will have to rely on young people like you in the future."
"Report!"
A Cloud Ninja suddenly used the Body Flicker Technique to appear and deliver a report.
"We've spotted troops stationed at the border of the Land of Fire..."
"There are more than eight hundred troops."
Toroi's brows furrowed at once.
If it had been an army of fewer than five hundred ninja, that would have been one thing. After all, if the Third Hokage had shown no response to the Cloud Ninja forces stationed at the border, he wouldn't have been a pacifist—he'd have been ready to surrender.
Sending troops to take precautions was perfectly normal.
But a force of more than eight hundred was a sensitive matter. It was already enough to fight a large-scale skirmish.
And there were bound to be too few ninja near the border to gather such a large force. They must have brought in troops from Konoha itself!
"Keep a close eye on Konoha's ninja!"
"Find out exactly how many there are and who's leading them!"
Toroi was experienced and ordered them to remain calm.
"And..."
"Notify Lord Raikage of Konoha's movements as soon as possible!"
The Fourth Raikage received the report through other spies at almost the same time as Toroi.
"Konoha is secretly gathering troops?"
"More than a thousand?"
For a moment, the Fourth Raikage couldn't be sure of the old Third Hokage's intentions.
Would that old man really drag his feeble body into a head-on fight against the vigorous Cloud Ninja?
The Fourth Raikage had more extensive intelligence sources than Toroi and knew more details.
"Uchiha Fugaku is in command?"
The Fourth Raikage saw the conspicuous name and immediately reached a conclusion.
The Third Hokage was just bluffing. He had no intention of actually starting a war.
Everyone knew how awkward the Uchiha Clan's position in Konoha was. The Third Hokage would never really let the Uchiha Clan lead an army.
Uchiha Fugaku had probably been put forward as a scapegoat, there to pretend to stand against the Cloud Ninja before backing down.
And from this, the Fourth Raikage could tell—Konoha really was out of people!
They'd even sent out the Uchiha Clan. Under these circumstances, the chance of Konoha starting a war was almost nonexistent.
"Still, we can't ignore the worst-case scenario."
The Fourth Raikage was big and burly, but he was also perceptive and cautious.
After all, when it came to war, there was no room for even the slightest carelessness.
"Send that kid Killer B to the front lines for a look."
"That should stop him from complaining that he's bored all the time."
Is the new book's title really that bad?
I'm crying. It took so much trouble to get it approved.
Before you continue