With only "their own people" in the room, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally lit his pipe.
But his next sentence made the Konoha Sannin and Hatake Sakumo change expression.
"We need to prepare for three-front warfare."
Tsunade said grimly, "Is it really that serious? Does the Land of Earth truly intend to join the war?"
"What we need to fear right now isn't the Land of Earth—it's the Land of Rain," Shimura Danzō said coldly. "Those people out there haven't stated their positions yet, so I held this back earlier. The truth is: Amegakure declared war on Sunagakure."
Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo fell into thought, and their faces quickly turned ugly.
"What does that mean? Amegakure declaring war on Suna versus Suna declaring war on Amegakure—what's the difference?" Jiraiya looked completely lost.
"Hanzō is picking the softer target," Orochimaru explained. "The Land of Water isn't on the shinobi continent, and the Land of Lightning is far away. The closest great nations to the Land of Rain are only the three neighboring great lands."
"And among those three, the Land of Wind is universally recognized as the weakest overall."
"Hanzō wants to use the weakest—Sunagakure—to gauge the power gap between Amegakure and the Five Great Villages. If his goal is expansion, would you choose the resource-rich Land of Fire… or the Land of Wind, which is mostly desert?"
"Of course the Land of Fire," Jiraiya answered reflexively—then his eyes went wide as he realized. "So Hanzō's next target is very likely… our Land of Fire?"
"That depends on how Sunagakure responds," Orochimaru said coldly. "If Suna shows enough strength that Hanzō sees no chance of victory, maybe they can restrain his ambition. But if the war becomes one-sided, or even if the gap isn't that large, then the Five Great Villages will no longer have deterrence against a man standing at the pinnacle of the shinobi world."
"At that point, either us… or the Land of Earth will have to face the shinobi world's most terrifying salamander."
Hatake Sakumo added, "If we truly go to war with Amegakure, Iwagakure and Sunagakure will definitely take advantage of the chaos."
"Why?" Jiraiya asked.
"Because of severe economic imbalance," Hiruzen said. "Among the Five Great Nations, the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth have the harshest environments—Wind is resource-poor, and Earth is hard to develop. Without our mutual checks, they would have long ago launched wars of annihilation against the smaller surrounding nations."
"And their enemies aren't only us—they also face the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water."
"In the First Great Ninja War, the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage died together, forming deep hatred."
"Between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, even though several small nations lie between them, there's no buffer zone like the Land of Rivers."
"If the economic gap grows and they get left far behind, neither of those two nations will miss a chance to kick them while they're down."
"Ōnoki is the most anxious among the Five Kage right now," Orochimaru sneered. "He even trains a batch of ninja with no official records, disguises them as rogue-nin or missing-nin, and sends them into nearby small nations to rob passing caravans or assassinate foreign ninja—weakening other countries' national strength."
"That old midget is that sinister?!" Jiraiya said in disbelief.
"That's why we must prepare for three-front warfare," Hiruzen said, gaze deep. "If a chaotic melee truly erupts, it will be a long war. For their clans' sake, the clan heads won't personally lead troops to the front line. You five are the people I trust most."
"When they submit their rosters, you will choose subordinates, organize your teams, and be ready to head to the borders at any time."
"Yes!"
The Konoha Sannin and Hatake Sakumo straightened solemnly. Danzō responded too, though his heart felt bitter.
Every time Hiruzen gave orders, Danzō couldn't help remembering that moment back then.
He had been cowardly—but in the end, he made the decision to step forward and buy time for Tobirama-sensei and their comrades.
Only Hiruzen moved first, and that cost Danzō the Hokage seat.
Every time he thought of it, regret stabbed him.
If he'd stood up faster back then… would the one sitting here giving orders now be him?
That feeling—perhaps only Namikaze Minato in recent years could truly understand.
Hiruzen, of course, didn't know what Danzō was thinking.
After entrusting the five with heavy responsibilities, Hiruzen suddenly looked at Orochimaru and asked, "Orochimaru—did you bring it?"
"I keep it on me at all times, Sarutobi-sensei," Orochimaru nodded.
Under Jiraiya and the others' puzzled gazes, a small white snake slid from Orochimaru's sleeve and spat out a storage scroll far too large for its body.
He opened the scroll and took out what was sealed inside.
Several kunai appeared in front of everyone.
"Kunai?" Jiraiya blinked, startled—he'd expected something far more important.
Danzō and the others were also momentarily confused.
Then Hatake Sakumo seemed to notice something. He picked up a kunai, stared at the pattern on the silicone sleeve, and his pupils tightened. He looked at Hiruzen in shock.
"Hokage-sama… don't tell me this kunai is…"
Tsunade's expression changed too. She picked up one and examined it closely, disbelief on her face. "This is… Second Grandpa's Flying Thunder God kunai?!"
Danzō also picked one up, but his eyes, his hands—his whole heart—were trembling slightly.
"Yes. These are Flying Thunder God kunai," Hiruzen said with a smile and a nod, smoke curling from his pipe with a subtle, hidden pride.
Orochimaru looked just as satisfied, clearly pleased with their reaction.
Once Hiruzen confirmed it, Tsunade immediately pressed, "This isn't Second Grandpa's pattern. Who learned Second Grandpa's Flying Thunder God?"
"It's Sa and Mio's child," Hiruzen said without hiding it.
"Sa and Mio's child?"
Tsunade and Jiraiya froze. Sakumo and Danzō rapidly searched their memory, trying to match names and faces.
Jiraiya reacted first and looked at Orochimaru. "Sa and Mio's child—so that's your student, Orochimaru?"
"Gojo Yoru… the kid Kushina likes?" Tsunade remembered too, and the image of Yoru finally locked into her mind.
Danzō clenched his fist, jealousy blazing.
Kushina—Uzumaki Kushina—the Nine-Tails jinchūriki…
Sa and Mio's child—the owner of Flying Thunder God, the one the Nine-Tails jinchūriki likes, Orochimaru's student…
Hiruzen… you quietly cultivated a secret weapon like this, paving the road for your student. What a terrifying scheme.
From this moment on, Gojo Yoru officially entered the top leadership's watch list in Konoha.
~~~
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