The Most Important Issue Was Internal

Tsunade's eyes narrowed slightly. After giving Shimura Danzō a deeply penetrating look, she slowly nodded.

"Of course, we'll need to contact the Cloud and Mist Ninja. Gathering intelligence ahead of time is the most important thing. In a moment, Konoha will publicly declare Namikaze Naruto a missing-nin. The Nine-Tails belongs to Konoha; there's no doubt about that. I only hope the two Advisors and Elder Danzō will cooperate with the village's mission arrangements."

Tsunade looked directly at the three old men seated to her left. She especially fixed her gaze on Shimura Danzō, deliberately emphasizing the final sentence as she issued her subtle warning.

Tsunade didn't believe for a moment that a few words like that would make Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu obediently fall into line.

Danzō in particular was an old hand who had been domineering even while her teacher, the Third Hokage, was in power. (Of course, much of that was due to the Third Hokage's own indulgence. Even if it had been difficult, if the Third Hokage had truly wanted to disband Root and strip Danzō of all his authority, he should have been able to do so.)

Now, facing her, how could Danzō possibly be so agreeable?

There had to be some secret behind it.

Tsunade saw that clearly. To put it bluntly, infighting among the Konoha High Command had already grown fierce, and because of what she'd just said, it was practically being brought into the open. Whether that would prove effective was another matter, but she had to give Danzō a warning first.

The two Advisors weren't the concern. A Hokage was still a Hokage; the Advisors could no longer influence her as easily as they had when she first took office two years ago. The real problem was the Root organization