A brief disturbance was thus smoothed over, though the resentment in the hearts of the Raikage and the others would not be so easily calmed.
Of course, there was an even better way to vent that anger, by unleashing it on Ye Zi.
A sat down again, arms folded, his face full of rage. Ōnoki also settled down.
Seeing this, the Cloud shinobi Dodai and the Iwa shinobi Kitsuchi finally let out a sigh of relief.
Without those two hot-tempered men interfering, the meeting could finally proceed.
Konan quietly glanced at Minato, who was also slowly sitting back down, then turned her gaze to the others around the table.
At this point, she too had made her choice. Yahiko and Nagato were gone, leaving only her behind, and an Amegakure left in her hands. With Amegakure, she could still carry out what she wanted to do.
After sharing all the information she knew with Konoha, she could still contribute Amegakure's strength, all for the sake of cutting down Ye Zi.
"All supplies are in place, and the location of Ye Zi's base has already been identified. As long as we divide the forces properly, we can set out to strike him immediately," Minato said calmly.
Rasa said evenly, "Dividing squads according to specialty is natural. However, since this is the first time the Five Great Villages have united, there will inevitably be lingering grudges. Even a trace of personal resentment might affect cooperation."
Rasa spoke from experience. When Suna had previously joined forces with Konoha, Pakura had often brought up issues of poor coordination between the two sides. If just two villages struggled to work together, how much worse would it be with five? The problem would surely be even more severe.
"This is indeed an issue we cannot ignore," Minato said solemnly. It was unprecedented for the Five Great Villages to unite, and no one could predict whether such an alliance would truly bring forth great strength.
"Hmph," A snorted coldly. "Our Cloud shinobi are not so petty. Once we know who the enemy is, our only thought is to kill him. For that goal, putting aside grudges is nothing."
At those words, everyone in the room fell silent.
They sounded impressive, but coming from A's mouth, they felt strangely ironic.
Shitun gave a soft cough, then said, "As for this issue, you needn't worry about us Mist shinobi. We know very clearly the purpose of this alliance."
With both A and Shitun having spoken, the others followed suit and let the matter drop. Still, none of them could be sure whether the shinobi of each village would really be able to set aside their grudges and focus only on their common enemy.
Having established cooperation as a concern, the meeting moved to the main agenda.
Before A's outburst, Konoha had already shared all their intelligence with those present. That was precisely why A and Ōnoki had lost their tempers: according to Konoha's reports, Ye Zi was far from the simple figure they had imagined.
Unknown to them, Ye Zi was not only a terrifying fighter on his own, he also commanded considerable forces behind him.
Minato clasped his hands, resting his elbows on the table, and spoke calmly: "A Surprise Attack Division, a Medical Support Division, an Intelligence and Communications Division, a Sensor Division, and the main Combat Army. The Combat Army will be divided into four squads: Close-Range Combat, Mid-Close-Range Combat, Mid-Long-Range Combat, and Special Operations. If there are objections, speak now."
Main force, logistics, mobility…
The Medical, Intelligence, and Sensor Divisions belonged to logistics. The Surprise Attack and Special Operations Divisions fell under mobility. Close-, Mid-Close-, and Mid-Long- Range Combat Divisions were the main force. Logistics and mobility both served the main assault.
All the villages had fought in multiple Shinobi World Wars and already had established systems. Minato's proposal was not unusual, they were just standard divisions, so the other Kage raised no objections.
What mattered now was choosing the commanders of each division.
Each unit was based on specialization, and their commanders had to be leaders in those fields.
Once the divisions were agreed upon, Shikaku timely produced a stack of documents and handed them to Minato.
These were personnel files, highly classified information that could not easily be shown to outsiders. In the intelligence wars between ninja villages, such files, detailing shinobi abilities, were among the most coveted.
Minato took the files, divided them into four stacks, and slid them across the table to the other villages.
"These are Konoha's recommended personnel," Minato said, watching the others. Though the files were incomplete, they contained everything necessary to show.
And it wasn't only Konoha that had prepared. The other villages also brought their own files.
The Kage each took up the documents and began to read.
From the recommended candidates, they needed to choose appropriate commanders. Personal bias or emotion had no place here, only ability mattered.
"For the commander of the Medical Division... Other than Tsunade-hime, who could be more suitable?" Ōnoki was the oldest among them, yet he finished reading first.
"Agreed," Rasa said, lifting his eyes from the papers.
"No objections," A rumbled.
Through this alliance, the other villages glimpsed a part of Konoha's hidden strength, the sheer number of medical shinobi.
Had it not been for this union, they might never have realized how far Konoha's medical corps had developed in silence. And the one who had brought about this transformation was none other than Tsunade, one of the Sannin.
As such, no one else could be more fitting to lead the Medical Division.
The speed with which Tsunade was confirmed as its commander showed just how much the Kage respected her.
The shadow of a great tree, the fame of a great name.
Indeed, the candidates put forward by each village were not only the most talented in their fields, but also widely renowned.
Choosing the right commanders could not be done carelessly. It required unanimous agreement. And Tsunade had earned it.
"Konoha truly has no shortage of talent," Ōnoki thought as he watched the others still poring over their files. He read quickly, but not carelessly. From Konoha's documents, he had already spotted several individuals who could not be ignored.
If… Ye Zi had never defected from Konoha, then within ten years, even if all the other villages united, they might not have been able to stand against Konoha.
"Given the situation now… should we be grateful, perhaps?" Ōnoki could not help feeling conflicted at the thought.
If Ye Zi's roots had remained firmly in Konoha, how could there have been such deadly enmity between him and the village? And then, so many of Konoha's strongest would not have died by his hand.
In that case, Konoha would have grown terrifyingly strong.
By then, how could the other villages possibly hope to oppose it?
So perhaps they should be grateful…
It was only Ye Zi's defection that had prevented Konoha from becoming an unrivaled power.
"If the villages had not once forced Konoha to hand over Ye Zi, would things still have turned out this way?" Even at his age, Ōnoki could not help but sigh at the thought.
The selection of commanders… proceeded step by step.
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Currently on Chapter 616 - What Was on Their Minds