Konoha Forces Its Hand
"That is the situation, Lord Third Hokage. Lord Daimyo is extremely, extremely dissatisfied with the actions of the Cloud Ninja and the Third Raikage. The Land of Fire will absolutely not submit to the threat of a mere Kumogakure, and Lord Daimyo has already decided to provide Konoha with an additional batch of war funds and material supplies specifically for the war against Kumogakure."
The emissary from the Daimyo's Mansion spoke to Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura inside the Hokage's Office.
Upon first hearing the Daimyo's hardline stance against Kumogakure, their expressions turned somewhat grim because Konoha was facing three fronts simultaneously and its momentum was already severely exhausted; but upon hearing about the war funds and material support, the expressions of the three eased slightly.
Although the number of shinobi was truly dwindling, with this batch of support they could rope other small ninja villages into joining Konoha's side, which would still relieve the pressure on the front lines.
Small ninja villages like Kusagakure, Amegakure, and Takigakure had a very high probability of being hired.
"I understand, Lord Emissary. Regarding the attitude toward Kumogakure, Konoha always stands with the Daimyo's Mansion."
After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking to the emissary from the Daimyo's Mansion, he had an Anbu Ninja escort him out.
Following that, he slowly lit his pipe, took a deep drag, and before long, the Hokage's Office was once again wreathed in smoke.
Utatane Koharu could not help asking, "Hiruzen, what should we do about our next batch of supporting shinobi? Right now, we can only send those newly graduated Genin..."
"Some of them haven't even completed a handful of missions. Sending them to the battlefield isn't that just adding to the chaos? We should think of other ways."
Mitokado Homura shook