This was obviously just an excuse.
Konoha could not possibly establish any new department in such a short time.
After all, Konoha was still at war. The war had already lasted nearly three years, and Konoha had no spare capacity to create a new department.
A high-level meeting was merely the first step.
Even if the high-level meeting approved it, the steps that followed would not be easy either.
A new department meant spending a great deal of money. The village's finances were currently rather tight, and no one knew how much funding could be squeezed out.
Then there was the staffing issue.
They could not establish a new department only to leave it as an empty shell.
With Konoha at war and suffering considerable losses, reinforcements were needed at the front at any time. How could they pull people away to join a new department at a time like this?
Who to pull out was another problem.
Ino-Shika-Cho could be ruled out first. Even if they did not side with Tsunade, they would never join some shady department.
Then clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga would be excluded.
The Hyuga would never involve themselves in something like this, and as for the Uchiha...
Forget whether the Uchiha would be willing—even if they were, Shimura Danzō might not want their people.
If all of Konoha's major clans were excluded, there would be very few candidates left.
Pick from the civilian ninja?
They probably would not find many suitable people unless they dragged in ninja from clans like the Sarutobi and Shimura to make up the numbers.
What a hassle.
The more the Third Hokage thought about it, the worse his headache became.
Yet he still had to do it.
Thus, a high-level meeting regarding the new department was convened in