I Know You're in a Hurry, but Don't Rush Yet

"Once Iwagakure started a war, the village would have a hard time holding them back."

"Unless the village could stabilize Iwagakure in advance."

Shikaku Nara stood up. "But trying to stabilize Iwagakure would be extremely difficult. Even if we managed it, the price we would have to pay is not something the village could afford."

Doing so would be no different from sacrificing Konoha's interests to placate Iwagakure. Only by appeasing them could Konoha avoid being dragged into the war.

As for breaking the agreement, that was even less acceptable. Otherwise, Konoha's reputation would stink to high heaven.

"Then what do we do? We can't fight, and we can't stabilize Iwagakure either. What are we supposed to do?"

"Who knows? Forming an alliance with Kumogakure in the first place was a mistake. Kumogakure is far too arrogant."

"Exactly. After allying with Konoha, they have Konoha's help to fend off their other enemies, so Kumogakure can boldly launch a war against Kirigakure."

"Why do I feel like this alliance was Kumogakure's scheme from the start?"

Quite a few people in the conference room whispered among themselves.

Jingyi sat in his seat, suppressing a laugh. With a blank expression, he stared at the teacup before him as if its patterns were particularly captivating.

Under normal circumstances, Utatane Koharu would have slapped the table a few times in displeasure and shouted for silence.

Unfortunately, she had just taken the blame today and had no mood to concern herself with that.

Seeing everyone either staring at their noses and contemplating their hearts, sitting there as steady as old sages, or whispering among themselves, while no one was willing to offer any useful suggestion, the Third Hokage began to grow anxious.

"Jingyi, what do you think?"

Unable to find anyone suitable to ask, the Third