Dispute

Led by a large group of Anbu Ninjas, Qingcheng finally arrived at the Hokage Building after nearly half an hour. Along the way, they encountered enthusiastic villagers and three other groups of people. Qingcheng smiled and said, "Villagers, live well, everyone. The village will remember your contributions."

The Konoha shouted excitedly, "Fifth Hokage, we still want to fight for our village! If Konoha is at war, we are willing to be the first to fight and eliminate the invading enemies!"

Qingcheng smiled as he listened to the villagers' words and said, "Fellow villagers, please rest assured. Those Kirigakure Ninja come to invade our Land of Fire are courting death. I will send the Konoha's Kirigakure Ninja army to wipe them all out."

There were also some civilian ninjas from Konoha who held up signs asking for battle, eager to fight the Hidden Mist Village to the death.

Kakashi stood atop the Hokage Building, watching the Fifth Hokage walk by, surrounded by a large entourage of villagers cheering and jumping for joy.

Kakashi was also shocked, thinking to himself, "Is this the Fifth Hokage's prestige? It's incredible! These villagers unconditionally support the Fifth Hokage. Is it because the Fifth Hokage helped them live a prosperous life?"

Kakashi began to recall, thinking to himself, "When exactly did things turn out like this? Was it at the beginning? Or was it because of Hiruzen Sarutobi's misrule? How troublesome! But he is worthy of respect because he brought a different character to Konoha, which is that the Konoha became more warlike and more spirited."

Inside the Hokage's Office, a large group of Konoha's Elite Jonin, along with the heads of various departments and the clan leaders of major ninja villages, were all waiting for orders.

Mitokado Homura, Koharu, and the others, upon hearing that the Fifth Hokage had arrived, all wore serious expressions and looked in the direction from which Qingcheng was coming.

With a serious expression, Hyuga Hiashi said directly, "If the Fifth Hokage chooses war, our Hyuga Clan will definitely support him. This is the best opportunity to wash away the humiliation of Konoha."

Upon hearing Hyuga Hiashi's words, Mitokado Homura looked worried and said softly, "Hyuga Hiashi, don't be so arrogant. The war in the Shinobi World is not so simple. If we start a war with Hidden Mist Village now, then Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Stone Village will definitely join the battle, and it might even lead to another Ninja World War. Our Konoha just recovered, our economy and finances have just started to pick up, and Konoha ninjas have just improved. If we rashly start a war, Konoha will definitely become the target of everyone's attacks. It might be like before, one against three, or one against four."

Upon hearing Homura's words, Utatane Koharu immediately nodded and stated, "Advisor Homura is absolutely right. If Konoha and Hidden Mist Village start a major war, it could easily escalate into the Ninja World War. Those Mountain Barbarians and Iwakage bandits are waiting for Konoha to deplete its fighting strength before launching a surprise attack. They might even launch a large-scale invasion of our Land of Fire."

A group of Konoha Jonin immediately shouted, "So, if we don't fight, are we just going to let the Hidden Mist Village invade the Land of Fire? Our Konoha isn't afraid of those lazy Kirigakure Ninjas at all!"

Some of the older Jonin, their faces filled with worry, spoke up again, "Elder Mitokado Homura and Elder Koharu are right! Hidden Mist Village is not scary at all. What's scary are Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Stone Village. These barbarians and bandits love to take advantage of our misfortunes. They might just launch a sneak attack on Konoha and tear our Konoha apart."

Inside the Hokage's Office, discussions erupted again, with some supporting war against the Hidden Mist Village.

Another group of people supported communicating with Hidden Mist Village first, and then deciding against starting the Ninja World War. After all, Konoha's economy and finances had only recently been established, and if war broke out, Konoha could easily find itself facing three or four opponents at once.

Standing at the front of the office, Shouhon Yihan spoke directly, "Everyone, please stop arguing. The Fifth Hokage is arriving soon. Let's see what the Hokage chooses. If the Fifth Hokage chooses to communicate first and sends Konoha Ninja to negotiate with the Kirigakure Ninja, we will have to carry out the Fifth Hokage's orders. If the Fifth Hokage chooses to go to war with Hidden Mist Village, then I, Shouhon Yihan, will lead the Police Force and be the first to engage Hidden Mist Village in battle."

Upon hearing Shouhon Yihan's words, the group of Konoha Ninja all spoke up, saying, "Chief Zhang Benyi, you're absolutely right. Everything depends on the Fifth Hokage."

Kakashi looked at the group of people who were discussing and had fallen silent, waiting for the Fifth Hokage to make a decision. He said sternly, "What you all say makes a lot of sense, but the decision still rests with the Fifth Hokage. So what we are discussing now will be discussed again later. In the end, we will all have to listen to the Fifth Hokage's orders."

Surrounded by Anbu Ninjas, Qingcheng went directly to the Hokage's Office.

Kakashi and the others, seeing that the Fifth Hokage had arrived, all called out, "Fifth Hokage- sama!"