Chapter 41: Shadow of War
"Danzo..."
Minato was the Fourth Hokage. He understood clearly what Danzo was really about.
Looking at the aged Third Hokage, his heart filled with desolation, and he suddenly lost interest in continuing the conversation.
In that moment, he understood the choices made by the Legendary Sannin.
He'd fought continuous major battles, then used Flying Thunder God Technique repeatedly to travel. Though the speed was indeed fast, the consumption had also greatly increased. Now with his spirit dampened, he was too lazy to maintain it further.
However, he still recounted all the detailed intelligence he knew. After explaining everything, he bid farewell to the Third.
"Third Hokage-sama, I don't have much time left. I want to spend what remains with my child, to have a good talk."
"I see..." The Third had no objections, instead feeling full of guilt toward Minato. "You've truly worked hard. Already dead, yet still running around laboring for the village."
"Everything is for the village." The Fourth's smile remained sunny and bright, though tinged with some dissatisfaction. "Also... Kushina asked me to tell Third Hokage-sama that if you dare bully her son and let Naruto be ostracized in the village, she'll pluck out all your beard."
"Ahem..." The Third coughed. "I'm truly sorry. I didn't do well enough..."
However, Minato didn't listen to his apology, directly retreating into Naruto's body, letting Naruto's unconscious form fall.
The Third hastily stepped forward to catch him, having someone quickly take Naruto away for proper care.
"Immediately issue orders to convene a jonin council meeting!"
Moments later, all the major clans had sent representatives. The jonin council meeting officially began.
The Third first briefly introduced the intelligence, then said:
"Rain Country borders Fire Country, always existing as a buffer zone at the boundary between our nations. Because of the existence of the demigod Hanzo of the Salamander, it's been inconvenient to pressure them too much, so our intelligence gathering there hasn't been deep enough."
"If not for Minato bringing back this intelligence, we'd likely have remained in the dark, completely unaware that the situation there has changed."
"This is intelligence exchanged for the lives of elite shinobi like Ino-Shika-Cho. Everyone must not take it lightly. Today we must discuss a counterstrategy."
"What's there to discuss?" Danzo's face was full of excitement, sinister gleams flickering in his single eye. "For such ungrateful small nations, we should completely eliminate them and incorporate Rain Country into Fire Country's rule!"
No wonder the Fire Country daimyo preferred Danzo over Sarutobi Hiruzen. Anyone who constantly wanted to expand territory for their lord—who wouldn't like such a person?
The Third angrily slammed the table. "Danzo, this is a jonin council meeting to discuss response strategies. Don't constantly think about starting wars!"
"How long has it been since the Third War ended?"
"How brutal was that previous war—haven't you learned your lesson?"
"The village just suffered internal incidents. Village strength is greatly diminished. We cannot give other nations justification to wage war!"
Danzo was even more agitated than the Third, also striking his cane repeatedly on the floor with loud clangs.
"Precisely because village strength is greatly diminished, we must show strength externally!"
"At times like this, if we show even the slightest weakness, other villages will think Konoha's strength has declined and will opportunistically pounce to devour us!"
"Conflicting with other great nations isn't wise, but Rain Country happens to be a small nation. Even with a few powerful shinobi, they can't possibly be stronger than Hanzo."
"We only need to eliminate Rain Country with overwhelming force, and no one will dare question us again!"
The Third's brow twitched as he shouted loudly:
"Did you not take any of the intelligence I just mentioned to heart?"
"Minato already said the person secretly controlling Hidden Rain Village is a powerful shinobi possessing legendary Rinnegan like the Sage of Six Paths!"
"Moreover, not just one person—two!"
"Once war begins, we may not face a single aging, dying Hanzo of the Salamander, but two demigods in their prime!"
"Where in the world are there so many demigods!" Danzo simply didn't believe it. He touched the eyes beneath his bandages, saying very confidently: "Didn't Minato already bring back the Rinnegan ocular jutsu's weakness? We just need to design tactics based on that point!"
"If they're truly as powerful as you say, comparable to Hanzo of the Salamander, then we must eliminate them even more!"
"Their current actions have clearly shown malice toward Konoha Village. Rather than wait until they're prepared to eliminate them, should we wait for them to grow stronger?"
"Hiruzen, being Hokage can't be as weak as you!"
"If you're so worried about these so-called Rinnegan shinobi, why not just let Root handle it?"
"I'll show you that Root is Konoha Village's most important force for standing at the pinnacle of the Five Great Nations!"
Seeing that even at such times Danzo still didn't forget to undermine him, the Third trembled with rage.
"Is this about who responds to enemies? This concerns the lives of countless people in both villages!"
"So what?" Danzo stretched his neck and shouted. "Should we just let so many village shinobi sacrifice in vain?"
"Nara Shikaku and the others died in battle at Hidden Rain Village. Don't you need to give the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans an explanation?"
With these words, the Third's momentum immediately deflated. His gaze swept across the faces of those present, seeing everyone emotionally agitated, clearly very indignant that a mere small village like Hidden Rain dared provoke Konoha Village.
The next generation of the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans hadn't yet matured. Those attending were jonin from other clans.
They weren't quite as agitated. Though their faces showed some sorrow, they still maintained calm and restraint.
Among these people, Akimichi Torifu had the highest seniority and experience, so he spoke first:
"Hokage-sama, the matter of starting war is of great importance. Please act prudently. There's no need to consider the attitudes of our three Ino-Shika-Cho clans."
"Whatever choice Hokage-sama makes, our three clans will definitely support it firmly without any objections."
But the more he said this, the less the Third could ignore their sacrifice.
The Third sighed inwardly, saying in a low voice:
"Hidden Rain Village dared to harbor village traitors and attempted to kidnap the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. This has already violated shinobi world taboos."
"I'm not opposed to retaliating against Hidden Rain Village, but we cannot rashly start war. We must collect sufficient intelligence and concentrate all forces. We must defeat Hidden Rain Village with overwhelming speed at maximum velocity."
"Relay my orders: have people find and bring back Tsunade and Jiraiya, recall jonin executing external missions, and send people to infiltrate Hidden Rain Village to gather relevant intelligence."
"Meeting adjourned!"
"Danzo, stay behind. I have something for you to do."