President Yamada was busy doing ideological work on Fugaku's side, and before anyone noticed, he had downgraded Comrade Danzo's historical status from a behind-the-scenes mastermind to a reusable scapegoat...
Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building not far from Konoha Hospital, the Advisory Council and representatives of the major clans were focused on a different point of contention.
The chain reaction triggered by the Mother Nest Fleet's debut in the Land of Water had led the Shinobi World's major military powers to develop distinctive air-to-air and air-to-ground strike forces based on their respective strengths, all to avoid falling into a disadvantageous position in asymmetric warfare during large-scale conflict.
Thus, a brutal arms race officially began.
Through a life-or-death process of natural selection, the operational range and bombing capabilities of every nation's Air Combat Unit steadily rose, until two years later, they directly threatened one another's heartlands!
To address this new form of warfare, the major military installations throughout the Land of Fire—including Konoha's main headquarters—underwent comprehensive air-raid defense renovations.
Inspired by the Land of Water, which had taken the worst beating since the war began, the Hokage Building and other key institutions that had once stood aboveground in Konoha had now mostly been relocated underground.
The meeting place for these important figures had been placed directly on the fourth underground level, where multiple evacuation routes had been prepared in advance... Sixteen protective and detection barriers of different functions provided the attendees with the most comprehensive security possible!
Yet no matter how thorough the defensive arrangements were, the low ceiling, dim lights, and stale air made the shadow cast by war tangible. It echoed the oppressive atmosphere of the underground fortress, congealing into a massive stone upon everyone's chest and making it almost impossible to breathe.
"From the perspective of troop deployment, the