War

Since he had spotted some familiar faces, Jiraiya had no intention of avoiding them. At this point, Orochimaru was still a pretty decent person.

The five of them simply sat down together.

Jiraiya struck up a conversation with his old teammate Orochimaru, and brought Namikaze Minato into it as well, so he could get to know his uncle Orochimaru.

Senju Genma turned to Nawaki and asked seriously, "Nawaki, you hardly ever come back to the clan grounds these days. Do you know how much Sister Tsunade misses you?"

Nawaki looked a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and said, "It can't be helped. This mission really was pretty difficult, and Teacher Orochimaru had to look after me, so we got back late. Please put in a good word for me with Sister Tsunade!"

Just thinking about Tsunade made Nawaki shiver.

Tsunade was very gentle with Senju Genma—but only with Genma. She was rough with everyone else.

Senju Genma said irritably, "Don't give me that. How many times has this happened already? Go explain it to Sister Tsunade yourself."

He fell silent for a moment, then continued, "Was this mission really that dangerous?"

Nawaki nodded. "Yes. Even Teacher Orochimaru was injured."

Senju Genma said, "Give me your hand."

Nawaki obediently held out his hand, and Senju Genma took it.

Nawaki felt a warm current flow through his hand.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I just updated the version of your Wood Clone Seed."

"Genma!"

"Quiet!"

"Okay!"

Nawaki lowered his head and didn't dare say anything.

Even though Nawaki was older and should have been the big brother, their relationship seemed to be the other way around.

The next day, in the Hokage Office at the Hokage Building in Konoha, a white-haired ninja wearing a green flak jacket and carrying a short sword appeared before Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Lord Hokage, this is a report from the border outpost."

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up the report on his desk and studied it for over ten minutes before asking with a frown, "Is this information reliable?"

Hatake Sakumo bowed his head and replied, "Anbu have verified it. It's absolutely reliable."

Hiruzen Sarutobi slapped his hand on the desk and said furiously, "Convene the Jonin Council."

At Hiruzen Sarutobi's command, every Jonin in the village had gathered at the Hokage Building within two and a half hours.

"You called us all here in such a hurry. What's going on?" Shimura Danzō asked displeasedly. He and Hiruzen Sarutobi were currently at odds.

"All our ninja in Amegakure have lost contact. On top of that, Amegakure is gathering troops at the border of the Land of Fire," Hiruzen Sarutobi said gravely, his face full of pain.

Some of the missing ninja had been Jonin, after all. He felt as if the grief would leave him unable to breathe.

"It must have been Hanzo. He's eliminated the spies we planted in Amegakure!" Mitokado Homura, a Hokage Advisor, immediately offered his assessment. His voice, too, was thick with suppressed fury.

The Jonin below began a heated discussion at once.

"Hanzo? You mean that legendary ninja, Hanzo?"

"What do you mean, 'legendary ninja'? Konoha doesn't acknowledge that. We have the strongest Hokage, who surpasses even the God of Shinobi!"

"Damn Hanzo! He dares kill our Konoha ninja?"

"They have to pay for this in blood!"

"A tiny village like Amegakure could be wiped out with a wave of our hand. Do they think they can turn the world upside down?"

Utatane Koharu, another Hokage Advisor, said coldly, "Konoha is the number one village in the Ninja World. We won the First Shinobi World War, too. The Land of Rain isn't even a major nation. A tiny village like Amegakure dares challenge us? We have to make them pay!"

They were all high-ranking members of the Hidden Leaf Village, and their interests were tied together at both the national and village levels. Amegakure had openly killed Konoha ninja and was amassing troops. It was clearly slapping them in the face—and threatening their interests.

"Konoha's prestige and security cannot be challenged. I'll lead the troops against Amegakure myself." Shimura Danzō fixed his gaze on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Danzō had decided to take part in the war himself for two reasons.

First, he was the leading representative of Konoha's hawks and advocated using force to protect Konoha's interests. If he didn't step forward now, he might lose the hawks' support.

Second, he was preparing to compete for the position of Fourth Hokage. To become Hokage, he needed the ninja's support, and that meant he needed both military achievements and prestige.

In Danzō's view, although Hanzo was powerful, Amegakure was still a weak village. Unless Hanzo had the strength of Senju Hashirama, there was no way he alone could make up for the gap between Amegakure and the Hidden Leaf Village. This was a war Konoha was certain to win, and military achievements and prestige were there for the taking.

"Ahem!" Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed, and everyone fell silent and looked at him.

After all, he was the Hokage, and he was still in his prime. He held absolute authority in Konoha!

"Then we'll go to war! Konoha fears no challenge, least of all one from a mere Amegakure." Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze sharpened, revealing the true bearing of the Shinobi Hero.

Perhaps one day he would grow timid, or hesitate over every decision—but that day wasn't today!

Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "We'll send troops to Amegakure. We'll discuss who will lead them later. That's all!"

The meeting ended. Hiruzen Sarutobi stood and left the conference room.

Before he left, he glanced at Shimura Danzō but said nothing.

He understood what Danzō was after, of course.

But there were so many people in the Hokage's faction that there wasn't enough of the pie to go around. How could he give any to Danzō?

Shimura Danzō said nothing. That one glance from Hiruzen Sarutobi had already made it clear that he had no chance.

His expression twisted with anger.

The Jonin around him hurriedly took the long way around.

Root was Konoha's harbinger of bad luck. They didn't want to get involved.

Under the command of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Shinobi Hero, the War Leadership Group was established with the Hokage at its core, and Konoha quickly turned into a war machine.

Ninja inside and outside the village received their orders. Some began heading for the battlefield, while the rest returned to the village to defend it.

It was worth noting that the Uchiha Clan was unusually eager to join the war effort this time, asking to send troops to the front lines.

Their motives were the same as Danzō's: military achievements and prestige.

The Uchiha Clan's leaders weren't fools. They knew perfectly well that ever since the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had taken office, their clan had been under pressure.

Their branch had chosen not to follow Madara Uchiha when he left, hoping instead to live peacefully in the village. Being constantly ostracized by the village clearly went against their original intentions.

So they wanted to ease tensions with the village by distinguishing themselves in the war.

As expected, Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected their request.

Neither the original story nor the official guidebook calls Hanzo a demigod, but he was indeed one of the strongest ninja in the Ninja World at the time.