"Are we going to invade the Land of Earth directly?"
The Third Hokage took a drag from his pipe and fell silent. Deep down, he did not approve of such an aggressive approach. Earlier, Danzo had caught him off guard with his words and forced him to relent a little, but now that they were discussing the specifics, he could not help hesitating again.
Setting aside his talent as a shinobi, Sarutobi Hiruzen was not particularly qualified as a supreme leader.
He was too prone to looking ahead and behind, lacking the decisiveness a leader needed. That was why he could not do without an aide. Whether that aide was particularly resourceful did not matter, but he had to be decisive enough to make the call for him at critical moments.
Any decision was better than no decision at all!
Take the Uchiha Clan massacre, for example. Wiping out the Uchiha Clan was certainly not the best option, but if they kept delaying until the Uchiha Clan launched an attack themselves, the outcome would only be worse for Konoha.
Of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen was not unaware of this. That was why, no matter how excessive Danzo's actions became, he had never truly dealt with his old classmate.
It was the same now. After hearing Orochimaru's detailed plan, he felt that too many parts of it were not secure enough.
Take the Land of Grass, for example. They might lack the ability to resist Konoha, but how would they secure the long supply line stretching from Konoha to Iwagakure?
Then there was the Land of Earth. Konoha's overall strength might indeed crush Iwagakure's, but Iwagakure, with two Tailed Beasts and tens of thousands of shinobi, would not be easy to deal with. What if they displayed the tenacity of the [Will