Now that relations had broken down completely, Hidden Mystery certainly would not swallow this insult and would stop at nothing to retaliate. Everyone present wore a worried expression. If they could not withstand this offensive, Konoha might really suffer a crushing defeat.
"To be honest, I don't have any good ideas right now either." The village chief shook his head. "Hidden Mystery sent nothing but elites. If we fight them head-on, we'll pay a terrible price. But if we leave them alone, they'll only grow more brazen. They might even wipe out our home base."
At those words, the entire room fell frighteningly silent. Everyone knew the village chief was not trying to scare them; they simply could not find a solution that satisfied both concerns. At present, Konoha had only thirty or so people capable of taking on Kage-level opponents, even counting everyone available. The rest were merely chunin. Hidden Mystery, however, had at least twenty-odd Kage-level experts, and there was no telling how many trump cards they still had hidden.
The village chief's sudden challenge made everyone realize how serious things were. Was this a probe? Or were they really going to attack? If it was merely a probe, that was manageable. But if not, Konoha truly stood on the brink of disaster-the village's foundations were far too weak now, and they could barely muster even a few respectable ninjutsu.
"If Hidden Mystery's people dare come here, we won't be pushovers!"
"Exactly! Konoha might not be strong, but we won't let anyone walk all over us!"
Many villagers rose to voice their support for the village chief meeting force with force. They felt they would die either way, so they might as well fight to mutual destruction and see who gave out first.
After hearing everyone's calls, the