Daimyo's Letter

Hurrying to the Hokage Building, Danzo didn't bother knocking this time, slamming the door open. The clan heads and advisors who were supposed to be at the last meeting were already there.

"The Daimyo sent a letter?" Danzo asked, seeing Sarutobi's probing gaze and understanding his intentions.

"How did you get the Daimyo to agree to send troops?" Sarutobi didn't answer, but his attitude was already clear.

The Fire Country Daimyo was different from them ninjas; he was a pure politician. Without the premise of profit, he would never allow military action.

The previous times he participated in the war were all because he was forced to.

The other clan heads also looked at Danzo curiously. Danzo's actions these past few days had not been concealed, and they had all been paying attention.

This kind of pre-battle mobilization meant that Danzo had long anticipated that the Fire Country Daimyo would agree to send troops.

How did he do it?

Danzo didn't hide it from them, replying, "Benefits and face."

"As a politician, the Daimyo doesn't care about much. Catering to his preferences will naturally get his agreement."

This kind of thing was simple for him, with his experiences from his previous life and exposure to various cultures, but it was a bit difficult for these ninjas who focused more on martial power.

In the entire Shinobi World, perhaps the only one who could match him in terms of conspiracy and planning was that extremely hidden Black Zetsu, who had been plotting for thousands of years.

Sarutobi and the others frowned; Danzo's answer clearly didn't satisfy them.

His words were as good as saying nothing.

"Now that the Daimyo has agreed to send troops, shouldn't we discuss the strategic aspects?" Danzo didn't give them a chance to continue pestering him, going to his seat and sitting down.

"You're quite impatient," Sarutobi said, but didn't stop him.

"You are the commander-in-chief this time, so you should make the arrangements," Torifu Koharu said, changing her previous attitude of refuting Danzo, and surprisingly stood on Danzo's side this time.

Danzo didn't stand on ceremony, directly standing up from his seat, scanning everyone, and slowly saying, "Although this matter was started by the Cloud Village people, the current situation in the village doesn't support us expanding the war."

"Not much time has passed since the Third Shinobi World War. Except for the Sand Village, which was defeated and withdrew from the war early, the situation in other villages is actually similar to ours."

"Cloud Village faced encirclement from us and Stone Village simultaneously in the later stages of the Third Shinobi World War, and their losses were also considerable."

"Although Cloud Village is currently actively issuing warnings to us, their attitude is ambiguous and there is a high probability that they are trying to seize the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan."

"In other words, they may just be scaring us and don't have the intention or ability to start a war."

"Then what do you plan to do?" Sarutobi asked. Everyone present wasn't stupid and understood this, but they mainly couldn't afford to gamble.

"My arrangement is only one thing, and that is to be fast and fierce enough!"

"What do you mean?"

The people in the conference room were confused and didn't quite understand Danzo's meaning.

"Since the other party may be aiming at our current weakness and taking a scare tactic, then we will give them a good look and let them know that the people of Konoha are not easily frightened," Danzo said with a smile.

"Launch a full-scale attack to suppress the Cloud Village people, making the other villages uncertain about Konoha's current strength. At the same time, we will end the conflict with Cloud Village as soon as possible and strive to end the war before the war expands."

"The current situation absolutely cannot be delayed. The longer it drags on, the more difficult it is to guess the attitudes of other Shinobi Villages."

"We have to end the war before the other Shinobi Villages are determined to join the war."

"Are you confident?" Sarutobi frowned as he looked at Danzo. As expected, he was not suitable to sit in the Hokage's seat; his ideas were still so radical.

"Yes."

Danzo glanced at him, guessing what Sarutobi was thinking, but the Hokage's seat held no allure for him now.

However, since he was the commander-in-chief, he naturally needed to reassure these people.

"I've already made contact with the Hidden Mist Village. They will ally with us in this war, pressing their forces into the Land of Lightning, but they won't help us too much."

"They will only help us by exerting pressure and will not send troops to participate in the war," Danzo explained.

"Hidden Mist Village?"

Shikaku frowned and asked, "How did Lord Danzo get in touch with the people from the Hidden Mist Village? Those lunatics are not easy to deal with."

"Indeed, the Fourth Mizukage is a Jinchuriki. The people of the Hidden Mist Village even dare to fight among themselves during wartime. Those lunatics are not easy to deal with," Mitokado Homura added.

"Danzo, you need to think carefully about cooperating with them."

He was responsible for Konoha's diplomacy, and the people from the Hidden Mist Village were nothing but a bunch of lunatics, with unreasonable attitudes.

"There are no eternal enemies in this world. The Land of Water is not as rich as our Land of Fire, especially in terms of resources."

"The Daimyo will help us coordinate matters related to resources in the Land of Water, obtaining the help of the Hidden Mist Village," Danzo explained to everyone present.

"Compared to that old fellow Ōnoki, although there are many capable people around the Fourth Mizukage, his position in the Hidden Mist Village is still relatively awkward due to his age and his identity as a Jinchuriki."

"He has only been in office for a short time and needs achievements to consolidate his position, and I just happened to help him with that."

The others nodded. Although they didn't understand how Danzo had done it, having the assistance of the Hidden Mist Village would indeed add a bit more certainty.

"This time, I plan to focus most of our forces on the Land of Lightning. As for the other three countries, we mainly need to be wary of the Stone Village."

"The Sand Village has a ceasefire agreement with us, and the Hidden Mist Village is allied with us. Moreover, the Stone Village killed the Third Raikage during the Third Shinobi World War. Although we know they most likely won't be with the Land of Lightning, and may even take advantage of their misfortune..."

"But to be conservative, we should still allocate some forces to be wary of the Stone Village."

The originally precarious situation, under Danzo's analysis, actually looked very promising.

Everyone present, except for Sarutobi Hiruzen, felt an infinite fighting spirit arise within them.

With a seemingly guaranteed victory, how could they not fight?

As soon as the meeting ended, everyone couldn't wait to go back and prepare their troops.

It had been quite a while since the Land of Lightning's delegation was killed. Although Danzo's Root had been imitating the delegation to send information to the Land of Lightning, the time couldn't be delayed for too long.

They had to strike first before that Raikage guy could react.

"Sarutobi, now is not the time for internal strife."

As soon as the others left, Danzo said unceremoniously to Sarutobi Hiruzen. Although many clans supported his participation in the war, Sarutobi's attitude had always been wavering.

This also led to many people in the Hokage faction hesitating along with him.

Now that it was just the two of them in the conference room, he spoke much more freely.