Konoha, Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat upright in his chair, staring intently at the intelligence scroll in front of him.
This was delivered half an hour ago.
It is said that a civil war has broken out in Sunagakure, with the Reform Society and the Council of Elders ' Council clashing fiercely, drawing the entire village into the battle. At the same time, three thousand garrison troops have left the border to join the war.
As for the outcome... he still leans towards the Reform Society.
After all, there are so many villagers in Sunagakure who have had cybernetic bodies installed; even if you piled up human lives, you Council of Elders.
Not to mention that Hoshino also possesses modified Kikaichū, which are theoretically capable of destroying the world. What Council of Elders use to stop them?
The current problem is whether Konoha should take this opportunity to attack Sunagakure.
He didn't care at first. Sunagakure was so poor and dilapidated that even if it were given to Konoha, Konoha wouldn't want it.
But things are different now.
Because of Hoshino's presence, Sunagakure has mastered several technologies that are ahead of the Shinobi World, greatly increasing its threat.
If we don't seize this opportunity...
After the Reform Society achieves a great victory, Sunagakure will definitely enter a period of rapid development, and may even threaten Konoha's position, which would be a very bad thing.
"This is such a headache!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples, somewhat undecided.
After all, once the war begins, besides Konoha and Sunagakure, Iwagakure will most likely join in, and Kumogakure will definitely join in.
And then there's the Land of Rain, located at the Three Stations, where Pain possesses the Rinnegan.
It won't be so easy to stop when the time comes.
Not to mention, if Hoshino is pushed too far, he might release the Kikaichū to devour the entire Shinobi World —wouldn't that be a disaster?
Maybe we should just forget about it.
The Land of Wind still has three thousand ninja troops on its border; opening it up will require a considerable price.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi his inner turmoil, the office door was gently pushed open, Jiraiya strode in.
He immediately noticed Hiruzen Sarutobi's worried expression, then his gaze fell on the intelligence scroll, and he instantly understood what was going on.
"Old man, I've heard about what happened in Sunagakure," Jiraiya said, sitting down in a chair nearby. "Are you worried about whether we should take this opportunity to attack Sunagakure?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slightly, sighed, and said, "Yes, the situation in Sunagakure is very complicated right now. This is an opportunity."
"I disagree!" Jiraiya stated his position directly.
Nowadays, apart from Kirigakure, all the other major ninja villages in the Shinobi World have entered into a different kind of military competition, frantically developing all sorts of extremely dangerous technologies.
He couldn't get information from other ninja villages, but he still knew a thing or two about the situation in Konoha.
The old man approved a large sum of money for the Root.
Initially, they wanted to replicate Wood Release ninjas in batches, but later discovered that Tenzo's Wood Release was just so-so, with more symbolic significance than practical value, and far from being comparable to the First's world-destroying Wood Release.
The plan was ultimately shelved, and a large amount of money was wasted.
Next, they wanted to expand their research into the forbidden techniques in the Scroll of Seals, such as the Eight Gates Released Formation, in order to mass-produce Kage Level powerhouses.
Ultimately, it was unsuccessful.
The amount of training was simply unsustainable for most people. Even the genius Kakashi could only open the first gate before having to give up.
Afterwards, Shimura Danzō sights on the power of the Nine-Tails, but the old man wouldn't allow it, and the plan ended before it even began.
We've gone through countless plans, back and forth, but haven't seen any results; instead, we've wasted a lot of money.
As for research on prosthetic bodies, some progress has been made.
After all, those things weren't actually that difficult; Konoha just looked down on them before. The core Chakra Crystal technology has also been broken through, and a substitute has been successfully found.
As for how he broke through, Shimura Danzō didn't say, but both the old man and he could guess.
Who else could it be but Orochimaru?
However, so far, the old man has not made up his mind to imitate Sunagakure and promote it throughout the village; he has only created a cyborg ninja force.
"Why!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply, "Are we just going to do nothing? Watching Hoshino lead Sunagakure to rise and threaten Konoha's position... I'm truly unwilling to accept this!"
Jiraiya frowned. "I'm not resigned to this either, but there's nothing I can do! Nobody knows what trump cards Hoshino is hiding. What will happen to Konoha if the attack fails?"
"So, are we just going to watch Konoha slowly die?"
Reality has begun to gradually awaken Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Konoha was the number one ninja village from its founding until a year and a half ago, winning all three Shinobi World Wars. However, the developments in the last year and a half have been far too bizarre.
The emergence of prosthetic bodies has led all major ninja villages to pay more attention to scientific research, and research talents in various fields have become highly sought after.
The known technologies of Sunagakure include...
Various weapon modules centered around prosthetic bodies possess formidable combat power; the Mutant Insect theoretically a world-destroying weapon; the Kekkei Puppet allows a single puppet to possess multiple Kekkei.
Judging from their frenzied actions in Falling Rain Town Kumogakure's technological development is definitely about to achieve a breakthrough. I wonder what kind of weapons they will come up with then.
Iwagakure... as always, keeping a low profile. I wonder what that old guy Ōnoki is up to.
As for Kirigakure, let's not even mention it. There's no such force in the Shinobi World for the time being, and it's not worth their attention.
Only in Konoha is there a shortage of strong leaders, and research projects are failing one after another. There is absolutely no one or weapon technology that can hold the line.
If it weren't for the fact that a certain forbidden technique violated human ethics, he would have wanted to try the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu to summon back the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, and other Konoha predecessors.
With their strength and wisdom, Konoha will once again return to its peak.
But reason told him that he absolutely could not do that, as it would only plunge Konoha into a moral abyss and make it a target of public criticism.
Seeing the struggle and helplessness on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face, Jiraiya felt bad too. Konoha was, Jiraiya all, the place where he had grown up, and he had deep feelings for it.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Old man, I think you shouldn't worry about these issues for now."
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Jiraiya said, "Have you forgotten what day it is in five days?"
Five days later?
Hiruzen Sarutobi was taken aback at first, then realized, "You mean the Four Kage Summit proposed by Hoshino? The one in the Land of Water?"
He had always remembered this incident, but the internal strife in Sunagakure had momentarily left him somewhat dazed.
Jiraiya said solemnly, "That's right, it's this meeting."
" Hoshino must have anticipated the Reform Society's victory, yet he still chose to announce the Four Kage Summit in advance, which shows that he also did not want to start a war."
"This meeting might determine the future of the Shinobi World; we must seize this opportunity."