As the sun rose, on the Sage Tree.
Sarutobi Asuma's shadow clone, stationed there, smiled after hearing Uchiha Shisui's report. "Kakashi's doing a great job!"
Handing the captives over to the ruler of the Land of Origins for disposal was a way to inform the ruler that the coup's targets were him, not them, who came from the Sage Domain.
It just goes to show how poorly those samurai thought.
Instead of shouting slogans about removing corrupt officials, they used the imprisoned eldest prince.
But this also proved that Konoha ninjas currently had a good reputation among the people of the Land of Origins.
In other words, popular support!
So.
Who started the war?
Undoubtedly, it was those samurai!
After evaluating, Sarutobi Asuma turned his gaze to Uchiha Itachi and asked, "How has Clan Head Fugaku been lately?"
Uchiha Itachi respectfully replied, "My father is doing very well. He has awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Oh?"
Sarutobi Asuma raised an eyebrow. "Then I must offer my congratulations!"
"It seems Konoha has gained another strong individual, which is something to be very happy about."
"I also greatly anticipate your growth; Shisui will surely teach you well."
Uchiha Shisui quickly responded, "I won't disappoint you, teacher."
Sarutobi Asuma nodded, his gaze falling on Kurama Tenshi. "Shisui is a very skilled genjutsu ninja, learn from him as much as you can."
"Yes, Lord Asuma!" Kurama Tenshi nodded excitedly.
Finally, Sarutobi Asuma looked at the excited, thrilled, and adoring Sarutobi Sanki, and smiled. "Ninjutsu, and the like, aren't quite suitable for you right now. You need to learn the fundamentals well from Shisui."
"You should have covered this in the Genin Preparatory Class: Chakra Control, Chakra Nature Transformation. These are the foundations for your future strength."
Sarutobi Sanki immediately shouted, "Yes, Lord Asuma!"
...
There were many ninjas like Uchiha Itachi who had recently grown stronger and were brought to the South Sage Continent for training.
In fact, it wasn't just them.
It was also the strength of the major ninja clans.
The entire Konoha seemed to have entered a state of war, its power fully unleashed.
Because with the Land of Origins brought under control, a massive market opened up before Konoha.
Konoha was continuously infiltrating the Land of Origins and, centered there and relying on the Sage Tree, was expanding into other indigenous countries on the South Sage Continent.
Vast amounts of wealth were flowing into Konoha.
And Konoha was continuously expanding its power.
Recruiting more children into the Ninja Academy, strengthening the retraining of Genin, Chunin, and even Jonin.
As the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato perfectly understood the saying, "He who has money and doesn't spend it is an idiot."
Not only did he intensify the training of ninjas, but he also initiated multiple projects, increasing investment in research for Space-Time Ninjutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, and Fūinjutsu.
Money poured into Konoha, and then it poured out.
This year, the Chunin Exams were missing one participant: Kirigakure.
The Fourth Mizukage had officially revived the Bloody Mist policy of the Third Mizukage's era, and it was even more brutal.
Konoha's vigorous development made Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and even their ally Sunagakure increasingly uneasy.
Konoha could not completely keep intelligence about the South Sage Continent secret.
However, the major ninja villages, using the Chunin Exams as a pretext to "legitimately" gather intelligence, still had not obtained definitive information about the South Sage Continent.
Everyone now knew that there was a South Sage Continent outside the Ninja World, and it was prosperous.
Unfortunately, none of the major ninja villages could obtain precise information about the continent's location.
And the only clue was the heavily guarded area next to the Hokage Building.
But undoubtedly, it was an untouchable place.
Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure could not approach it.
In the Hokage's office.
Namikaze Minato frowned as he looked at the documents.
The major ninja villages' probing for intelligence about the South Sage Continent was becoming more frequent.
Moreover, he could clearly sense the growing sense of crisis from the major ninja villages.
This was evident from the recent intelligence battles between them and the harassment of Land of Fire merchants by the major ninja villages.
"Fourth Hokage-sama!"
The door was suddenly pushed open, and Nara Shikaku walked in.
Namikaze Minato handed the documents to Shikaku, and after he finished reading them, asked, "What's your take on this?"
Nara Shikaku's expression was slightly grave: "We may need to prepare for war!"
"So it's like that!"
Namikaze Minato raised an eyebrow slightly.
For Konoha at the moment, going to war with the other major ninja villages would be the most disadvantageous.
Unless they could take down the other villages in one fell swoop!
Fortunately, Asuma had dealt with Nagato…
Namikaze Minato secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, the risk of war still remained.
Nara Shikaku pondered, "Fourth Hokage-sama, given the current situation in the ninja world, unless there is someone who can rival Asuma, even if the other four great ninja villages join forces, they wouldn't dare to easily start a war."
"However, Asuma's deterrence probably won't be able to suppress the other villages for much longer."
"After all, Asuma is different from the First Hokage of that year and Uchiha Madara. Although he defeated the Kage of each village, the strength he displayed hasn't reached a level that makes them despair."
"Therefore, if the Kage of the four great ninja villages join forces and believe they can defeat Asuma, they will definitely use the threat of war to intimidate us."
"This period might only be a year or two."
Namikaze Minato nodded as he listened.
This was more or less the same as his own analysis.
Sarutobi Asuma's true strength was likely only partially revealed when he fought the Kage of the four great villages back then.
And how strong he was now, perhaps no one in Konoha knew.
But from his mastery of Kekkei Mōra, it was likely that he had reached the level of the Sage of Six Paths.
Namikaze Minato was not afraid of war at all. With Konoha's current strength and internal unity.
Even if the four great ninja villages united, Konoha would not be afraid.
But this would undoubtedly interrupt Konoha's current vigorous development trend.
This was something he, as the Fourth Hokage, did not want to see.
After Nara Shikaku left, Namikaze Minato pondered for a moment, then went to the Ninja Academy and found the clone of Sarutobi Asuma there.
On the rooftop.
Sarutobi Asuma chuckled after listening: "Currently, it seems we only have two options."
"First, directly deal with Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. This is a bit difficult, but it can nip Uchiha Madara's resurrection plan in the bud, which the main body can accomplish."
"Then we can focus on dealing with the four great ninja villages. War will break out sooner or later."
"It's just a matter of whether we initiate it now, sweeping away everything, or wait until we are old and dead, and let the younger generation fight, just like when the First Hokage was around."
Namikaze Minato nodded.
Konoha now truly felt like it had returned to that era.
Asuma was like Senju Hashirama, and he was like Senju Tobirama.
At that time, and now, these were probably the two most prosperous periods for Konoha.
Unfortunately, with the battle between the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara, peace collapsed!
Sarutobi Asuma continued, "Or, we deal with the four great ninja villages first, and after a certain amount of attrition, we then destroy Uchiha Madara's Moon Eye Plan and any potential mastermind behind the scenes."
Namikaze Minato frowned: "Our original plan is still the most suitable."
"Give all ninjas in the ninja world a common enemy, and unify them in a relatively peaceful manner… at least without such large-scale warfare."
"However, the development of the situation will not follow our will!"
Sarutobi Asuma knew Namikaze Minato's intention was to minimize war, to avoid large-scale conflict.
He had thought the same way before.
That's why he wanted to use the Moon Eye Plan to unify the ninja world, just like in the original story.
Using such an opportunity, they could first form a ninja alliance, then unify the ninja world, and change the entire social structure and system of the ninja world.
But now, it seemed that the idea back then was somewhat wishful thinking.
If things went according to this plan, it might not be so smooth, and bloodshed might still be unavoidable.
"Although we should avoid war as much as possible, we are not afraid of it either," Sarutobi Asuma said with a smile. "Of course, war and violence are the last resort."
"And now, we can find something for the restless Stone Ninja and Cloud Ninja to do."
Namikaze Minato listened and asked with a smile, "What idea do you have this time?"
Sarutobi Asuma said with a smile, "A new organization has appeared in the Ninja World, specializing in collecting Kekkei Genkai. What do you think, Brother Minato?"
Namikaze Minato, being a qualified Hokage, thought for a moment and said, "As long as it has no relation to Konoha, there's no problem."
Sarutobi Asuma smiled, "That won't be a problem!"
Namikaze Minato nodded and said, "As long as we can stall for a few years, and then the Akatsuki organization starts capturing Tailed Beasts, we might have another 10 years to develop."
If they had 10 years to develop.
With Konoha's current development speed, they would fear no challenge by then.
Sarutobi Asuma nodded in agreement, then said, "Brother Minato, you should find more assistants to help you, so you have more time to train."
"Look, Kakashi has already mastered a Kekkei Genkai."
Namikaze Minato retorted lightly, "If you take over the position of Fifth Hokage right now, I'll have plenty of time to train!"
"As if I said anything!"
Sarutobi Asuma immediately fled.
Namikaze Minato watched and couldn't help but chuckle, then thought to himself, "Asuma is right. Hmm... I'll call it a day then. I should go home and see Shana and Kushina."
Thinking of his adorable daughter and wife, a gentle smile appeared on his face.
On the Sage Tree.
Sarutobi Asuma opened his eyes after receiving news from his Shadow Clone.
After thinking about it, he directly ordered the Shadow Clone at the experimental base to cultivate a few more Clones.
If he was going to stir up trouble, he couldn't use his main body, nor could he use a Shadow Clone.
Clones were the most suitable.
After causing trouble, he might even be able to join the Akatsuki organization, strengthening their ranks.
At that time, besides Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, everyone else would be a spy. He thought it sounded a bit thrilling.
"Sigh, looking at it this way, Uchiha Madara is really a little pitiful..."
Sarutobi Asuma sighed with a smile, then lowered his gaze to continue his training.
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