Early in the morning, before the Jonin Commander meeting.
Yōkō mobilized all four squads of his team to the area near the Hokage Building.
Yōkō said: "Today! Within two hundred meters of the Jonin Commander meeting room, if a dog passes by, break its legs! If a bird flies in, tie its beak shut!"
"We absolutely cannot let even the slightest accident affect this Jonin Commander meeting!"
"If the Third Hokage-sama's speech is interrupted by a bird call, it will be the failure of our Fox Squad!"
This Jonin Commander meeting was the first full assembly after the Second Great Shinobi War.
All Konoha Jonin who could attend were present.
The Jonin Commander meeting should have been held at the end of last year, Year 39 of Konoha, but the Hokage Building's excuse at the time was to let everyone have a peaceful New Year.
After the New Year, it was now February, and the Jonin Commander meeting had to be convened.
Yōkō said: "During the meeting, I will sit at the far edge of the second row. If any accident occurs, notify me immediately with hand signals."
"The Yak Squad will be inside the meeting room, holding the four corners."
"The other three squads will set up defensive positions outside the meeting room."
"Purple Cat will be outside the door, ready to relay commands at any time."
"There must be absolutely no mistakes!"
Yōkō wasn't the protagonist of this Jonin Commander meeting; he could watch a good show.
This was the benefit of hiding in the shadows. Whether the east wind prevailed over the west wind, or the west wind prevailed over the east wind, it held little danger for him.
Soon, the Jonin filed into the meeting room one after another.
Yōkō recalled the intelligence on Konoha's Jonin Commander.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the village's supreme leader.
Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Nara Rokaku – these four were not in the Jonin roster; they were either high-ranking advisors or the Jonin Commander.
After the Second Great Shinobi War, Konoha currently had 187 Jonin.
The Sarutobi clan had 21. The Ino–Shika–Chō trio clans had 22. The Shimura clan had 13. The Five Noble Clans together had 56 Jonin.
The ANBU had 7 Jonin.
Mitokado Homura's son and daughter, and Utatane Koharu's daughter – these 3 were also Jonin.
In other words, the Jonin who completely obeyed the Third Hokage numbered 66.
The Uchiha clan had 11. The Senju clan had 7. The two great founding shinobi clans together had 18 Jonin.
The Hyūga clan had 9. The Inuzuka clan had 5. The Aburame clan had 4. These three neutral shinobi clans together had 18 Jonin.
The Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans' abilities were highly functional, and they didn't take sides much.
If a shinobi from a clan entered the ANBU and was promoted to Jonin, they were counted as ANBU Jonin, completely obeying the Third Hokage. Unless they retired, they would not express support for their clan.
The remaining 85 Jonin were those who grew up from civilian backgrounds.
Civilian Jonin did not naturally form a group based on their status.
Among the 85 civilian Jonin, at least 25 were die-hard loyalists of the Third Hokage, including Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and others each had their own civilian Jonin subordinates.
Just as Yōkō had openly aligned himself with Yellow Dog and now lacked for nothing in jutsu and was thriving, civilian Jonin also needed to survive; each had their own survival wisdom.
The Jonin who clearly and absolutely supported Hatake Sakumo numbered only three: Kawatora, Yamashiro-dera, and Gekkō Sō.
Jonin Kawatora was a stationed Jonin at a fortress outpost and did not attend the meeting.
Beneath the cold numbers, the current Konoha Village was Sarutobi Hiruzen's Konoha Village. This statement might contain some exaggeration, but not much.
When occasional opponents arose, Sarutobi Hiruzen had plenty of ways to deal with them.
The ANBU was most skilled at leaking intelligence to enemy villages. With intelligence completely compromised and movements clear as day, enemy villages could easily kill a specific Jonin.
Shinobi's loyalty to the Third Hokage was sometimes not due to loyalty, but fear.
One of the Third Hokage's powers: Jutsu Granting, controlling the strength of shinobi.
Lower and mid-level shinobi needed basic elemental jutsu; Jonin needed A-rank or even S-rank jutsu.
The Third Hokage's second power: Position Promotion, controlling the voice within the Jonin Commander.
Children shouted about becoming Hokage; the ultimate goal for adult shinobi was to become a Konoha Jonin.
Just like senior professional titles in a hospital in his previous life; no matter how good your medical skills were, without a full senior attending physician title, you felt you couldn't hold your head high.
The Third Hokage's third power: Mission Assignment, directly holding the life of every shinobi in his hands.
After you died, the village would say sacrificing yourself for a mission was glorious.
As for how you actually died, that was unclear.
In such a system, trying to oppose the Hokage was practically seeking death.
The Uchiha clan, arrogant as they were, had to lower their eyes before the Hokage.
The Hyūga clan, self-proclaimed as Konoha's greatest clan – when the Hokage pointed, the main family's young master, Hyūga Hiashi, had to be handed over to Kumogakure.
The Senju clan, the number one shinobi clan at the village's founding, had now weakened to the point of relying on Konoha Hospital for self-preservation.
Hatake Sakumo, not to exaggerate, could single-handedly defeat three of the five high-ranking officials on the stage in combat, killing them within ten seconds each.
However, combat strength was useless in certain matters. Even Hatake Sakumo had to be extremely cautious when facing Konoha's higher-ups.
Last night, Yōkō was still excited about the alliance between Tsunade, Hatake Sakumo, and the Uchiha clan. But now, thinking about the faction distribution within the Jonin Commander, he wondered if Tsunade was being somewhat impulsive?
Out of 187 Jonin, 152 were present.
12 were stationed fortress Jonin, 4 were Guardian Ninja for the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, and the Daimyō of the Land of Rivers, Land of Whirlpools, Land of Hot Water, and Land of Grass each had 2 Guardian Ninja Jonin, totaling 24 Jonin who could not return to the village.
The only one who could have attended but did not was Jiraiya, who remained in the Land of Rain.
Yōkō sat in the second row near the door, surrounded by the ANBU's seven Jonin.
Yellow Dog was the only ANBU Jonin sitting in the first row.
The clan heads of various shinobi clans entered one after another and took their seats in the first row.
Then came Tsunade and Hatake Sakumo, who also sat in the first row.
The last to enter was Orochimaru. He nodded at Tsunade and sat down beside Yellow Dog.
Orochimaru was currently considered an ANBU Jonin.
In the large tiered meeting room, there were 250 seats in total. The number of Konoha Jonin had never exceeded 250.
Finally, the Hokage and the 4 high-ranking officials entered.
Nara Rokaku did not take a seat but went directly to the speaker's podium and said:
"The Second Great Shinobi War, under the command of the Hokage-sama, through the desperate battles of all you Jonin, and through the efforts of all Konoha shinobi, has ended with our Konoha's great victory."
"We fought against Kumo-nin in the Land of Hot Water, warred with Iwa-nin in the Land of Grass, battled Rain-nin in the Land of Rain, clashed with Suna-nin in the Land of Rivers, and warred with Kiri-nin in the Land of Whirlpools."
"No other shinobi village, like our Konoha, faced enemies on all sides, yet attacked on all fronts and emerged victorious on all fronts."
"Now, we hold the first post-war Jonin Commander meeting."
"This Jonin Commander meeting has several agenda items."
"The first item is Konoha Village's Three-Year Team Leader Plan."
"With the exception of ANBU Jonin, every Jonin must, within three years, serve at least once as the assigned Team Leader for a graduating class of the Ninja Academy."
"The war cost us many excellent shinobi. The quality of Chūnin and Genin has severely declined. We must cultivate outstanding talents for the village as quickly as possible."
Hearing that ANBU Jonin were exempt, Yōkō thought it was just fine; he didn't want to be responsible for kids right now.
A thought suddenly occurred to him, and his eyes lit up.
The most dazzling genius in Konoha in the next ten years was undoubtedly Namikaze Minato.
Namikaze Minato was due to graduate next year.
A genius like that, without exaggeration, you could leash a dog as his teacher and still produce an Elite Jonin or even a Kage-level shinobi.
Abbreviated as 'Leash the Dog Kage' for Namikaze Minato.
Why not find a way to have Namikaze Minato become a student of Hatake Sakumo?
That way, the Hokage faction would lose a very powerful asset.
This matter must be put on the agenda. Yōkō would summon Pakkun tonight to have Pakkun advise Hatake Sakumo.
No, not just remind – it must happen.
***
Dive deeper into the story with 50+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!
(Chapter end)