Upon hearing this, Utatane Koharu didn't speak, but her eyes conveyed her answer.
Without rescue, without a breakout, and having lost the support of the village, even if their side hasn't revealed all their cards yet.
But even if we were to take out all the chips we had hidden underneath, we clearly wouldn't have as many as the other side!
Even if we gather all the forces outside the village after losing the village, our numbers will only be a little over 20,000.
After 26 years, the funds of the Four Clans were all put together, and it was clear that none of the Four Clans had any extra funds hidden in the dark.
After they devoured our village, and considering the neutral Shinobi Clan who would inevitably join the Senju because of that Ninjutsu, their total strength remained almost unchanged!
You're still asking who has a better chance of winning?
The luckiest thing would be if we weren't swept away by the current Senju!
You still have time to ramble on with such confidence?
The Utatane Koharu thought about it, the darker her face became!
Seeing the change in his old friend's expression, he realized that the other person hadn't thought far ahead but was only stuck in one narrow-minded perspective.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly, "This is truly amazing!" He picked up a pillow and placed it behind him to make himself more comfortable.
Before he could speak, he cleared his throat and stated in the most direct terms. " The Senju side's current fighting strength is more than double ours, and their exact numbers and strength are even twice that of all the Konoha Shinobi Clan combined 26 years ago!"
"How do you think the three kingdoms of Land of Whirlpools, Tsuchi, and Shui, who were destroyed today, will view the Senju with such power?"
Upon hearing this, Utatane Koharu, was taken aback, and her previous thought that her old friend was overconfident immediately dissipated.
"According to our intelligence in recent years, all four Capital are increasing their efforts to train Commoners Ninja within the village."
"But their training numbers were only based on what was acceptable within their respective villages, under our influence."
"They don't face the same crises as we do, nor do they need to gamble their entire fortunes like we do. So right now, the number of Ninja outside the village is already comparable to that of the Land of Earth, a country that ranks high among the Five Nations."
"Given this situation, do you think the three nations that just destroyed the Land of Whirlpools, after understanding the strength of the Senju, will choose to sit idly by and watch us be destroyed by the Senju, or will they intervene?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi explained to his old friend with a smile.
Listening to the words on the other end, and seeing the smile on Hiruzen's lips, coupled with the confidence he exuded at that moment.
Utatane Koharu's gaze swept over Hiruzen's bare upper body as she pondered what he had Hiruzen said.
After a long while, he awkwardly shifted the position of his crossed legs.
Meeting the other person's confident gaze, she voiced the question that had just occurred to her, "Watching the Three Kingdoms play out and then intervening at the end seems to suit their needs even better!"
Hiruzen's words were correct; she had seen all that information before.
Even excluding the village's own forces, their number of Ninja is already comparable to that of Iwagakure.
Of course, this is only in terms of numbers; the actual difference in strength is definitely significant.
With numbers like the Senju and Senju combined strength, they could easily wipe out Iwagakure now!
In this situation, given that the trigger for this war was the annihilation of the Uzumaki Clan by the Three Kingdoms, it's almost certain that the Three Kingdoms would be dragged into the conflict.
But when the opponent leaves the field is beyond our control.
If we lose those people outside the village, then we will truly lose everything!
Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand and shook his head, using these gestures to indicate that the other party's problem was not a problem at all.
Koharu had already considered all of these concerns in detail. "The Three Kingdoms' thinking is probably what you just said, but it's not like we have no way to counter it."
"If the Three Kingdoms don't want us to join forces with the Senju, resulting in Konoha gaining overwhelming power over them, then the Three Kingdoms must immediately join the war!"
"Even after we've pacified the three kingdoms, the Sand Ninja of the Land of Wind can be bound to our war machine!"
"Using prophecy as an external pretext, and internal conflicts with the Senju, we can ensure the three kingdoms' participation. Under pressure from all four sides, the Land of Wind will have no choice but to do its utmost."
"With the combined strength of the four nations and ourselves, the Senju's current advantage will vanish like smoke in the blink of an eye!"
The scene described by Hiruzen Sarutobi involuntarily surfaced in Utatane Koharu's mind.
The various joints that were originally stuck were all connected together with his solution.
However, after Hiruzen's beautiful description, Utatane Koharu looked at the person opposite her and uttered two words: "The price!"
Inside, the chill that had been dispelled by Hiruzen Sarutobi's recounting of his wonderful plan returned.
The two words that Koharu uttered made Hiruzen Sarutobi's smiling face freeze.
The cost—something he had subconsciously overlooked before.
The Three Kingdoms, or rather the Four Kingdoms, were not exactly benevolent people, especially after the Senju were wiped out.
Faced with the fertile lands of the Land of Fire, this was not something the four impoverished nations were willing to give up.
If we don't prepare for this early, then the day the Senju are destroyed will be the day we are besieged by four nations!
If you're not prepared with weapons beforehand, the tiger might try to harm you.
"Knock knock knock~!"
The sound of fingers tapping on a wooden object rang out, and both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Utatane Koharu were pondering these two words.
Both of them could agree with the plan that Hiruzen Sarutobi had mentioned earlier.
This is one of their few remaining paths to survival, and since Hiruzen Sarutobi did not choose to break out, it means he has already begun to execute his plan.
Now that the plan has begun, they need to fill in the gaps as soon as possible!
"Win them over, divide them!"
Gone was the smile and arrogance of before; these four words were slowly uttered from Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips.
Upon hearing Utatane Koharu, frowned and asked, " The Land of Wind?"
"Yes, keep them in this war, but don't let them fight." Hiruzen Sarutobi in confirmation.
Her fingers, resting on her thigh, twitched unconsciously a few times. Utatane Koharu said, " The Land of Rivers!"
This was the price she had calculated in her mind: relinquishing control of the Land of Rivers and allowing it to annex the country.
However, the territories of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind later became adjacent, and she really didn't want to give up any of the larger share, or rather, the share of the Land of Land of Fire's territory!
After weighing the value of Koharu's offer in his mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed, "That's enough. Those who eat sand, with the Land of Rivers, they'll take the bait."
Seeing that the other party agreed to his idea, Utatane Koharu and continued, "Give the Land of Grass to Iwagakure, support the Land of Waterfalls in annexing the Land of Frost, and provide the Mizukage with money and resources."
"As for those barbarians from the Cloud Shinobi, let them become enemies again after we win them over to the other factions!"
The things she provided were all based on the information she had gathered in the past and were what suited her best.
The Land of Land of Wind is barren, so its strength is limited no matter how much it develops. Even if it were given to the Land of Rivers, it would be difficult for the Sand Village to have the strength to defeat the Konoha.
The Mizukage live on an island, where land holds little value; money and resources are enough to sustain them.
The Land of Waterfalls may not be the strongest, but it does possess Tailed Beast. By supporting them in conquering their arch-enemy, the Land of Waterfalls ' power can be put to their own use.
Iwagakure needs land, and we've offered them a beautiful, Land of Grass.
After negotiating with the three companies mentioned above, Iwagakure, being the most pragmatic person, will surely agree!
The Kumogakure gave nothing because these guys' desire for land far surpassed that of the Earth and Wind Kingdoms.
Furthermore, this second largest country in the Shinobi World cannot be annexed by them; not an inch of land can be given away.
By winning over and dividing the other countries, we will have to resort to force when facing the Kumogakure!
Nobody's a fool. If they don't want Konoha to have the strength to overwhelm the Shinobi World, they also won't want Kumogakure to have it.
If the land is given to Kumogakure, then Iwagakure, Mizukage, Sunagakure will definitely overturn their previous plans.
Letting the two strongest fighters fight like dogs is exactly what the other hidden villages of the Three Kingdoms love to do!
According to Koharu, after weighing the options Hiruzen Sarutobi was very satisfied.
After considering the current battlefield situation, he agreed and assigned a new task to his friend, "You won't be fighting in the next battle. While maintaining visibility, you'll be responsible for communicating with Yan!"
Upon hearing this, Utatane Koharu, was about to nod in agreement.
But then, as if remembering something, she paused, her head about to nod.
She had already received the answer to the question she wanted to ask when she came, after Hiruzen's plan was revealed.
Hiruzen clearly doesn't want to break out now. He wants to use the lives of these villagers to buy time for the outside forces and rely on the dead to deplete the Senju's strength as much as possible.
But abandoning the village isn't a big deal, since the other three clans have enough people outside the village. The Utatane family has the most power in the village!
Hiruzen Sarutobi momentarily baffled by his friend's unusual behavior.
However, after thinking about it carefully, he roughly guessed why the other person had paused.
How long can the team hold on in its current state?
" The Hokage Building and the supplies from various clans should be enough to keep us under the Senju's siege until around midnight," Utatane Koharu replied, recalling the information she had seen earlier.
Having received an answer Hiruzen Sarutobi asked again, "With the neutral Shinobi Clan also involved, how long can we hold out against this two-pronged attack?"
Utatane Koharu, couldn't answer this question right away.
She frowned and began to mentally review the intelligence and make calculations.
Chakra Hiruzen Sarutobi that his friend needed time, so he lay down and closed his eyes to begin refining his chakra.
In his previous battle with Senju Toka, he used every trick in the book but still couldn't gain any advantage.
The wound on his stomach that nearly spilled out his internal organs was the result of his battle with Senju Toka.
Although his wounds have healed after treatment, he still needs some rest to recover his depleted vitality!
The second hand of the wall clock in the room kept ticking forward.
After clicking and clicking for about three minutes, Utatane Koharu, relaxed her brow and said, "If the neutral forces join the battle within an hour, then we can only hold out until 6 PM at the latest."
This number was the answer she arrived at based on countless pieces of intelligence.
Based on the approximate timeline of neutral intervention, the current situation, and whether the Senju would be willing to pay a price to attack.
These things were all part of her thought process in answering the question.
The dead have now become one of the main forces on the defensive line.
When the intelligence from the outside world reaches the Senju side two hours later, there is a high probability that the Senju will not choose to launch a direct attack.
Knowing that there was no rescue available, Senju was not that foolish to continue fighting despite the lives of those below!
In a normal siege, if the Senju choose to eliminate their own forces layer by layer, they can hold out until that point.
"Six o'clock, six o'clock..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi muttered to himself, lost in thought.
The forces outside Konoha are already assembling, based on intelligence gathered by Mitokado Homura.
Even at the furthest Root from Nagatama Castle, these people could reach it in a morning if they traveled at full speed!
Half a day was spent traveling, and half a day was spent training the team (if combat strength were not a consideration, this wouldn't be necessary, but can he not consider combat strength?).
The communication and wrangling with the three kingdoms of Thunder, Earth, and Water will take at least half a day, and sometimes a whole day!
After Senju the village's problems, the Senju clan will need rest and to reorganize their forces, which will definitely take a day.
In other words, 6 PM is the best time for me to stay awake.
However, if you can't manage to arrive earlier, as long as it's not later than noon, then you can achieve your goal of gaining time!
With the bottom line clear, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to his friend and said, "The bottom line is noon. You can plan how to use the Sarutobi Clan's Summoning Technique to send out your talented clansmen!"
"But if you send them away, then some geniuses from the other races will also need to be sent away."
"I will give you a list of members of the Enma Clan who possess Summoning Technique. You can then organize them into a team along with the elites from the three clans that you need to retain!"
"At the very last moment, these Sarutobi people can still leave this place with a group of elites from the Four Clans!"
The Enma Clan is a group of ninja beasts that has cooperated with Sarutobi for hundreds of years. Correspondingly, the Enma's habitat has become one of Sarutobi's backup plans.
Besides the Three Great Sage Regions, many powerful ninja beast races also possess the Reverse Summoning Technique, which can take people away.
The attack today was too sudden, which is why the Sarutobi Clan suffered such heavy losses.
But by the time they realized what was happening, the families of the talented and important figures had already completed the necessary relocation.
The only pity is that the Scroll from those two Sacred Land that allow Reverse Summoning were only signed by myself and two disciples; everyone else signed for a single ninja beast.
Otherwise, they could have easily used Reverse Summoning Technique to take away most of the people currently surrounded.
Sigh!
Utatane Koharu, sighed softly, but she understood that this was an unavoidable part of the plan.
If you lose the initiative, then these are the prices you have to pay.
Furthermore, it wasn't just the Utatane clan members who died for the plan; the Sarutobi, Shimura, and Mitokado clans also suffered significant losses due to the plan.
Their clans were not Clan specializing in Secret Technique or Kekkei Genkai, so in a way, such sacrifices for the victory of the grand plan were actually a very worthwhile trade.