This is a completely controlled rhythm of negotiation.
Although it is not technical at all, and even looks very barbaric and rough, with no rules at all, it must be admitted that such a rhythm makes Konoha's party very uncomfortable, and Sarutobi Hiruzen had to think more about whether Iwagakure had noticed that Konoha was fighting fiercely with Kumo Ninja, and it was difficult to find the strength to fight against them, so he planned to seize this opportunity to attack?
Is this so-called mission just an excuse to launch a war?
Is there a similar reason why you chose Uchiha Shōji as the team leader?
When they thought of this possibility, the expressions of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Mitokado Homura became very solemn. Nara Shikaku, who was not as mature as Original Work at the side, also looked at Shōji with a hint of surprise.
If Iwagakure planned to start a war from the beginning, it is really possible to avoid the war unless they, Konoha, make huge compromises. But there is also a very serious question here. If it is determined that Iwagakure is going to start a war, what are their intentions?
To be more precise, what does Iwagakure want to gain?
Is it just like the strategic plan in Third Shinobi World War, or are you planning to attack Kumo Ninja from the east and west sides and completely suppress them Konoha? Pull their Konohagakure down from the No. 1 throne of Shinobi World? There is an essential difference between the two!
The former is at best a local war, while the latter may involve a full-scale war, which is the outbreak of Fourth Shinobi World War!
But no matter what, this is not an important matter that can be figured out in a short time and made corresponding judgments!
Just within a few seconds, these thoughts flashed through my mind.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath and said, "Then let's do this for now, Shikaku!"
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
Shikaku on the left bowed slightly and then stepped forward.
"Shōji-kun, Ogata-kun, please come here!"
When he came to Shōji and Ogata, he pointed slightly with his right hand.
"Yeah!"
Shōji and Ogata set off in the same way, following Shikaku, just as they were about to leave.
Shōji paused, turned sideways, and said with a faint smile in his pupils, "Oh, yes, yes, in the past two or three days, I think our mission members have not been restricted in their freedom, right? I want to take a look around your village, Is it okay to return to our Uchiha Clan's shrine to retrieve some of our family's inherited memorial items? Hokage, or have all those items been disposed of by your village?"
"Of course it is possible. There is no damage to the noble shrine. Konoha would never do such despicable things, so please don't worry."
Third Hokage's eyes flashed slightly and he said in a calm tone.
"Then I'll rest assured, then!"
Shōji seemed to be sneering, but also seemed to feel reassured. He bowed his head slightly in greeting, with a hint of sarcasm revealed in the depths of his pupils.
At this moment, he also turned around and followed behind Shikaku, striding away from Hokage's Office.
Looking at the back of Shōji leaving.
Third Hokage's expression also turned completely gloomy.
As the shadow of a village and the most powerful Konohagakure Hokage above Shinobi World, Sarutobi Hiruzen has never experienced such a direct confrontation or provocation by someone from another country, let alone the person who came was the former wealthy Ninja Clan of their Konoha - Uchiha!
This can be called a polar reversal scene.
It made Sarutobi Hiruzen panic deep in his heart. Deep in his heart, he also regretted his original decision, but it was not that he regretted suppressing Uchiha Clan, but that he regretted not using more force to suppress and disintegrate Uchiha Clan, and then completely deal with the problem of the Uchiha Clan. This led to the subsequent collective defection of the Uchiha Clan.
It was because I was too kind and too hesitant that I had such an unimaginable result.
If I could be more decisive and act ruthlessly against the Uchiha Clan like my teacher did and execute the most powerful group of rebels in the Uchiha Clan, it would be impossible for the village to encounter such a development now.
Uchiha or Uchiha of Konoha!
'The soul is weak! '
In this moment.
Sarutobi Hiruzen really hates himself for actually being kind to the evil Uchiha Clan, but saying this now is of no use. Sarutobi Hiruzen feels that he should try his best to make up for the mistakes he made before!
"Yan, Uchiha Shōji, and the surveillance work of Iwagakure Ninja led by him are your responsibility. You must pay attention to each of them. If their intentions are really not pure, this batch of Iwagakure There must be some small moves among the members of the E mission, so we must keep an eye on it! In addition, additional border investigation forces will be deployed, and no trace of Iwagakure's movements near Land of Grass can be missed!"
This is the most basic and necessary monitoring.
Although it is impossible to be 100% vigilant.
But it must be possible to restrict the actions of these people to a great extent.
In two to three days, as long as it is not too complicated, it is enough for them Konoha to see through some of Iwagakure's intentions.
"Well, I understand, Hiruzen Sarutobi, don't worry, I will definitely handle this issue!"
Mitokado Homura also nodded heavily, and immediately stood up and left Hokage's Office.
"Zero!"
After Mitokado Homura left.
Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered for a while and shouted out the words again.
"Whoosh!"
A white-haired figure wearing Anbu uniform suddenly appeared. This figure was the Anbu squad leader before Shōji - Zero, that is, the famous Hatake 'Five-Five Open'.
"You lead two teams to strengthen Naruto's defense. Before Iwagakure and his party leave Konoha, they are not allowed to leave Naruto's side for 24 hours. They must ensure Naruto's safety. Do you understand?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Kakashi Hatake in front of him and said.
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
Kakashi responded to Responded with a slightly lower tone.
Uzumaki Naruto.
This Fourth Hokage orphan, the protagonist in Original Work, is also the son of Sage of Six Paths, Asura, who is reincarnated and possessed by Chakra in this life He is almost three years old now. Naruto, who is Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, is now a real ace in Konoha, which has been greatly weakened!
To put it bluntly, Konoha did not need Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to fight in the past. In the past fifty years, almost all of the eight Tailed Beast in other ninja villages have appeared in battles in different numbers. Only Nine-Tails has never appeared on the battlefield. Although this is partly due to the previous two generations of Jinchuriki (Mito and Kushina) both used their Uzumaki Clan characteristics to forcefully subdue Nine-Tails. It was related to their inability to perfectly use the power of Tailed Beast, but more importantly, it was because Konoha at that period did not need the combat power of Nine-Tails.
Not to mention the First Hokage and Second Hokage periods.
Later during the Third Hokage administration.
Only at the point where Second Hokage had just died in battle, Konoha was relatively weak. After surviving, Konoha was able to suppress any ninja village for a long time, not only because of the quantity and quality of ordinary ninjas., even the quantity and quality of Kage Level's strong men are far superior to Four Great Shinobi Villages, which is why Konoha at its peak can fight at least two major ninja villages. In the most difficult moments, it can also do the same in the third-line war.
Even though this is based on the fact that the major ninja villages are in conflict with each other.
It's not really a one versus three fight, but looking at the entire Ninja Village, only Konoha can do this.
during that period.
Nine-Tails's combat power is really not necessary.
Konoha has always treasured Nine-Tails as a 'treasure'.
But now Konoha is not good enough. Even if you include Jiraiya and Tsunade who have temporarily left the village and wandered away, the current Konoha is really far away from the power of his peak period. Not to mention many, if Tsunade and Jiraiya do not return to the village.
Kumo Ninja's family is enough for Konoha to drink a pot.
You must know that Fourth Raikage is at his peak!
Two-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchuriki can go to the battlefield!
In the humanoid state, it is already a normal Kage Level. Once Tailed Beast Transformation, what can Konoha do to resist now!?
Tailed Beast is something that can be dealt with either by using human sea tactics.
There must be at least dozens of Elite Jōnin, and with powerful seals and barrier team members, it is possible to resist one or two, and these must be the weaker Tailed Beast. To put it bluntly, the first seven Tailed Beast can be suppressed in this way, and this must be without interference from external factors.
Eight-Tails Gyūki won't work!
Nine Tailed Beasts, according to the strength level, can be divided into three grades. The first seven Tailed Beast are in the first grade. Eight-Tails is stronger than the first seven, but weaker than Nine-Tails.
Why is Third Raikage called Super Kage? Considered the strongest person among the three generations of actors in the same period? The reason is that Third Raikage is 50-50 equal to Eight-Tails, and has the ability to severely damage Eight-Tails. One person and one beast. If there is any difference, it is only because Gyūki is Tailed Beast, and Chakra's power far exceeds that of Third Raikage.
Other than that, the two of them are in a perfect balance of power!
This point not only illustrates the power of Third Raikage, but also proves the terror of Eight-Tails Gyūki. Once Kumogakure makes up his mind to expand the scale of the war, he directly sends two Tailed Beast Jinchuriki to the battlefield.
Say an ugly word, and Konoha's frontline battlefield will surely collapse.
This is why Sarutobi Hiruzen attaches great importance to Naruto. This Third Hokage hopes that Naruto can grow up smoothly, and then master the power of Nine-Tails and become the strongest shield to protect Konoha!
Therefore, before Naruto grew up, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not allow any surprises in the situation. The arrival of Uchiha Shōji made Sarutobi Hiruzen more vigilant. Although Mangekyō Sharingan restrained and even controlled Tailed Beast, he was not very clear about it, but he still understood it to some extent, and he was indispensable to guard against others.
Sarutobi Hiruzen Of course, you have to prepare for the worst.
What's more, in a day or two, the Kumo Ninja delegation will arrive. Strengthening vigilance and defense during this period cannot be considered an exaggeration in any case.
This was also when Sarutobi Hiruzen was issuing various orders and making various arrangements.
Danzo, who was originally warned by Sarutobi Hiruzen, also quietly started his own actions. This Shadow of Konoha will never take Sarutobi Hiruzen's warning seriously. Root has always been regarded as his taboo by Danzo. An order from Hokage?
That's a joke!
Unless Sarutobi Hiruzen will one day really make up his mind to ban the Root establishment and completely detain and restrain him Shimura Danzō.
Otherwise, no one can stop Danzo's actions.
Forget about normal times.
At this special moment when the Iwagakure and Kumogakure missions are coming one after another, it is impossible for Shimura Danzō to be honest at all, not to mention that the leader of the mission of Iwagakure is actually Uchiha Shōji. Not to mention the deeper hatred, just the hatred of a broken arm, Shimura Danzō cannot sit aside and watch!
Moreover, the most important point is that after witnessing the power of Uchiha Shōji in Separation War, this Shadow of Konoha could not restrain his greed for the power of Sharingan!
'Wait, Hiruzen Sarutobi, I will prove you wrong, and I am the right person who can truly lead Konoha to the road of revival. Uchiha Shōji, I will make you regret returning to Konoha in such an arrogant way! '
Konoha Under the deepest underground.
Sitting in Root Base, Shimura Danzō's pupils showed an extremely gloomy look at this moment.
Wood Release, Sharingan!
In Danzo's opinion, this is the supreme power that only he has the qualifications and ability to use!
It can be said that Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen, who sometimes have a tacit understanding in this regard, can really be called the 'crouching dragon and phoenix chicks' of Konoha. Although there are unavoidable external factors affecting Konoha's situation, the greater responsibility still lies with these two people.
As long as one of the two people is a little more "ordinary", Konoha will have an easy time maintaining his dominance as Shinobi World, not to mention further suppressing Shinobi World.
I can only say that time is also destiny.
Let's not mention the respective actions of these two 'crouching dragons and phoenix chicks' for the moment.
On the other side, Shōji and Ogata, who slowly left Hokage's Office, also followed Shikaku directly to stay at the hotel specially built by Konoha to welcome and entertain foreign guests.
"In the next few days, everyone from Iwagakure is invited to stay here. You can move around freely during the day. Please abide by the rules of this village at night and do not act arbitrarily. If necessary, please let us know. I think Mr. Shōji and you don't want to cause further problems, right?"
Although some things are just words for the occasion, they still need to be said.
Shikaku also wants to put as much pressure as possible on Shōji and his team in this way, and this is also a different kind of testing method.
"Haha, at any rate, I was once considered a member of Konoha. I still understand this rule. Shikaku-san, you don't need to worry at all. Please also ask Shikaku-san to report back to Mr. Hokage. Our patience is also limited. I hope your village will not be too procrastinating!"
Shōji said with words that seemed peaceful but were actually full of threats.
This Chi Guo Guo showed a fearless attitude.
Shikaku couldn't help but take another deep look at Shōji, and then nodded slightly with the same cold expression. "There is no need to worry about this, we Lord Hokage will definitely make the most appropriate decision, so I will be rude first!"
After saying these words.
Shikaku also turned around and left without any sloppiness. Looking at the back of the now very young leader Nara Clan, Shōji also sneered. Shōji could not clearly see the attitude of that Konoha Shinobi Hero.
After all, this person is committing an old habit again and plans to use delaying methods to see what kind of attitude they Iwagakure have.
If one's side really wants to take action and the strategic intention is not particularly excessive, Shōji is almost 100% sure that this Third Hokage will definitely give in. This has been confirmed several times in Original Work.
Isn't the fact that the famous Kumo Ninja kidnapped Hinata Hyuga the best proof?
Of course, when it comes to this specific matter, it may not be said that Third Hokage's approach is definitely wrong. This needs to be viewed objectively, but the conclusion that can be drawn is that this Hokage is not a hardline leader. If it were the character of Raikage in the past, the decision he would make would be completely opposite to that of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Therefore, when facing different people, we have to adopt different strategies. If Shōji were in Kumogakure at this moment, we would not use such drastic measures.
If you want war, let me give you war!
Kumo Ninja will never be the representative of swallowing one's anger.
As the head of a village, Raikage is a die-hard!
This has nothing to do with right or wrong, and it has nothing to do with justice. In the final analysis, it is the result of different personal values and personalities.
At this point, Sarutobi Hiruzen is the best proof.
The series of words before Shōji can be regarded as a special test. He wanted to see whether this Third Hokage would change when the plot in this life was very different from that in Original Work.
If there is any difference.
My next strategic choice must be conservative, because human beings do have a certain probability of changing themselves to a certain extent when encountering different plot unfolding moments. Although according to the description of Third Hokage in Original Work, the probability of this is not very high, but you still need to be prepared to avoid decision-making errors.
But for now, everything is still in line with expectations. This Third Hokage is still the same as Original Work!
'Hmph, is this the most appropriate decision? Haha, then I'm really curious about what kind of reply you will come up with, Mr. Third Hokage! '
Shōji smiled coldly, thinking secretly in his heart.
"Let's go, Ogata-san, the first wave of attitude has been tested, and we also need to figure out how to act next!"
Shōji looked at Ogata on the side and said with a very serious expression.
"Hmm"
Ogata also nodded lightly.
The two of them turned around simultaneously and entered the interior of the hotel.
The corresponding configuration was already in place before departure. It makes no sense that after arriving at Konoha, it would be tied up and inactive.
Collect as much intelligence as possible, no matter which aspect it is. Only in this way can you fully understand what the current situation of Konoha is like, especially the most important point, how much power Konoha still has left!
Even if it can be detected that the battle between Konoha and Kumo Ninja in the northeastern border has entered into a fierce battle, this does not mean that Konoha is really a camel that can die. In addition, We also have to consider the attitude of Kumo Ninja. If we misjudge the situation and send troops rashly, let alone seize Land of Grass and build a bridgehead for the southward invasion, our own country will be at risk of being invaded.
My own Ninja Village is in a critical stage of growth.
Whether Ōnoki or Shōji, both of them have to act with caution, and Shōji is also prepared for the worst.
For example, if things go wrong, he may have to abandon the members of his own mission and escape back alone. Although the probability is very low, this outcome cannot be ruled out, and everyone in these missions, including Ogata, is also very aware of this.
But none of them would choose to retreat.
When they came to Konoha, these people had already made the corresponding awareness.
One and a half years seems to be a long time, but it is actually very short, especially for a ninja village. Compared with before his family left, Konoha has not changed much. At most, it is because of the departure of his family that some Ninja Clan's residence has changed to a certain extent. Other than that, everything is as before.
Shōji also assigned different types of tasks to the subordinates in his mission based on the Konoha terrain, building distribution, and the division of some sensitive and dangerous areas in his memory. Most of them were easier to complete.
Not everyone has the ability to be perfectly invisible in one of the ninja villages of Five Great Nations to complete those difficult invasion tasks!
Only two or three people who are experts in this field need to undertake the most dangerous tasks, and the strength of these two or three people has reached the Jōnin level.
This was also the mission set from the beginning.
There always needs to be some people to do these things.
Moreover, these people are even more prepared to commit suicide immediately if they are exposed. Only in this way can they not be caught by Konoha, but also bite Konoha back. This trick works well in other ninja villages. Shōji doesn't know, but it will definitely work here in Konohagakure!
Don't think that this method seems dirty and despicable, but it is the most common practice between countries.
"Then, I wish you all good luck in martial arts!"
Shōji looked at the people in front of him with slightly deep eyes and said in a solemn tone.
"Yes!"
"Yeah!"
These people also responded synchronously.
"Whoosh"
"Whoosh"
"Whoosh"
They each dodged and left the hotel. Taking advantage of the cover of the night, they submerged into the shadows to carry out their 'hell-level difficulty' mission! '
"Ogata-san, the next response at the hotel will be left to you!"
"Well, don't worry, Shōji!"
Ogata also nodded heavily.
Soon after.
Shōji also has a straight body shape.
Submerged into darkness.
Go do what you should do.