A Useful Pillow

"How is the surgery going?"

"Director Chosokabe is personally participating in the surgery. I believe there will be results soon."

In the third-floor conference room of the hospital, the thirty-something Sarutobi Hiruzen, along with advisors Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Shimura Danzō, were all in attendance.

In the years since the end of the Great Ninja War, these core members of the new generation—who once followed the Second Hokage across the battlefield—had gradually completed their transformation from "sharp blades" to "blade-wielders" through rounds of political maneuvering.

For this third (or second) generation leadership team, who had witnessed firsthand what true power looked like, the young men including Hiruzen knew clearly that they did not possess the absolute strength that Hashirama had used to suppress the world. Compared even to the Second Hokage, Tobirama, their own achievements and prestige seemed insignificant...

This objective reality meant that the key positions in Konoha were still held by the seniors who had campaigned with the previous generation, making it difficult for the Sarutobi Cabinet to exercise authority as easily as they might wish.

In fact, had Hiruzen not led the Konoha ninja to victory against Kumogakure immediately after succeeding to the position of Hokage, it would be hard to say whether his core group could have successfully taken over the responsibility of leading the village in accordance with the Second Hokage's final wishes.

Now that several years had passed since the war, this inverted power structure continued to have a massive negative impact on the Third Hokage's administration.

Objectively speaking, the political ecosystem of opposing factions did provide a certain level of oversight for the power center. However, the resulting internal friction caused a far worse waste of resources.

History had proven more than once that, without the ability to bridge the cognitive differences between individuals, demanding absolute democracy and internal oversight was merely a misguided path that accelerated the disintegration of an organization.

Especially in a ninja world where wars erupted periodically, the lack of centripetal force could at any moment lead to the tragedy of a village being destroyed and its people lost!

Although the Hokage, who held the highest combat power in the village, had the core military strength of the village firmly in his grasp, the Conservative Faction (Establishment Faction) still obstructed the Sarutobi Cabinet at every turn in terms of administrative management.

Therefore, from the perspective of the Advisory Council, the moment Chosokabe Masayuki personally took over the treatment, the incident involving the Uchiha ninja being attacked became even more complicated.

"Since that old man Chosokabe is doing it himself, I think it should be considered good news."

Danzō, his right eye wrapped in bandages, clenched his fist and tapped the table lightly with his second knuckle.

"This way, regardless of whether the rescue of the Uchiha clansman is successful, we will be able to gain something."

"..."

Danzō's words sounded somewhat profound, but Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura clearly understood his meaning immediately.

...To put it bluntly, this was a basic risk-hedging strategy.

Just as previously analyzed, although the incident of the Uchiha clansman dying to Magnet Release ninjutsu was very likely to cause a confrontation between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, since one of the leaders of the Establishment Faction, Chosokabe Masayuki, was responsible for the rescue work, it meant the Sarutobi Cabinet had an extra target to shift the blame onto.

Even if the situation developed in the worst possible direction and Konoha went to war with the Sand Ninja, Danzō could use secret guidance to push the heavy public opinion pressure onto the "Conservative Party" that had always constrained them, or even use the name of the war to carry out a massive reshuffle of departments originally controlled by the elders!

If they could truly achieve this, they would be using external pressure to facilitate internal unification and reform, which in the long run would allow them to mobilize more vital forces!

Of course...

The most important point was that, compared to the Sand Ninja living in the desert, Danzō and the other advisors generally believed that Konoha currently held a clear advantage in strength. Even if a full-scale war broke out, they would be able to firmly maintain the upper hand.

Without this confidence as a premise, the Advisory Council likely wouldn't have the nerve to claim they couldn't lose either way...

However, compared to the advisors, Hiruzen himself, as the Hokage, remained skeptical—due to the different angles of intelligence analysis, there was actually a gap in vision between the Hokage and his Advisory Council!

For Sarutobi, who had personally experienced the previous Great Ninja War, he had already smelled something ominous in the recent trends of international maneuvering; therefore, his thoughts on war were clearly deeper than those of the others.

"The Uchiha, like us, are a part of the village. Even for the sake of Kagami's sacrifice for the village, both emotionally and rationally, we should avoid letting the Uchiha clan become the fuse for a war."

Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Danzō as he said this. The latter immediately and subconsciously pressed his hand over his bandaged right eye and fell silent.

Then, the young Third Hokage shifted his gaze to the other advisors and continued to speak eloquently.

"Furthermore, although I personally hope to end the village's internal friction as soon as possible, I hope you will all be careful in the choice of specific methods."

At this moment, Sarutobi displayed a maturity and sophistication far beyond his years: "Nearly ten years have passed since we drafted the second peace agreement with Kumogakure, and the friction and conflicts between the Five Great Ninja Villages have clearly shown an upward trend over the past two years. If the balance is broken, it is hard to say in which direction the situation will develop."

"Are you implying... that a third-party force will participate?"

"Rock Ninja? Cloud Ninja?"

"I cannot be certain, but most of the Five Great Ninja Villages, like Konoha, lost their respective Kage in the last war... Ten years of development have passed, and surely that is enough time for them to put their internal affairs in order and turn their eyes toward the world outside their villages."

"..."

For the new generation of leaders in Konoha, the series of events caused by the accidental death of an Uchiha clansman might indeed be a case of "getting a pillow just as one is feeling sleepy."

Even a medium-scale foreign war could be an excellent way to divert internal contradictions, helping them change the guard and completely stabilize their positions.

But do not forget...

The Land of Fire's old rivals also suffered huge losses in the previous war.

They, too, are harboring irreconcilable resentment.

And they, too, have replaced their leadership with a tough-minded new generation after the war!

—This "pillow" called war is something they are equally desperate for!

If they do not take this into account and blindly ignite the flames of war, Konoha would be handing over its strategic advantage and placing itself in the crosshairs of everyone.

And without the Wood Release of the First Hokage, the current Land of Fire would likely find it difficult to bear the heavy burden of fighting four nations at once.

"We do not fear war, but this time, the flames cannot be ignited by us."

"Seconded."

"I also agree with the Hokage's point of view."

Compared to Danzō's dark strategy, the Third Hokage's view was clearly more persuasive at this moment.

The advisors quickly reached a consensus, and even Shimura Danzō himself did not insist on his own opinion.

Although he currently harbored dissatisfaction toward Sarutobi for missing out on the position of Hokage, his position as "Hokage Assistant" still required the protection of the Third Hokage's own status.

From this perspective, he and Sarutobi Hiruzen were a community of interest in the truest sense—they would prosper together and suffer together—so naturally, he could only take the other's will as the guiding principle.

Yet, ironically, the life and death of the Uchiha clansman did not actually shift based on the decisions of these big shots.

In the operating room illuminated by shadowless lamps, a young, green doctor was racing against the Grim Reaper!