Konoha.
In the middle of the night, the atmosphere in the Hokage's office building was oppressively tense. The lights were brightly lit in the office, and the Third Hokage's Anbu had hastily convened a meeting of Konoha's top brass.
Konoha's top F4 gathered in the conference room. The dim lighting cast shadows on their grim faces, making it clear that something serious had happened—something that had prompted the mobilization of Konoha's most powerful individuals, the F4.
"The reinforcements sent to deter the Hidden Mist Village were ambushed; almost the entire force was wiped out," said the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as he solemnly handed the intelligence reports around the room for everyone to read.
"The ambushing ninja forces wore headbands from smaller villages like the Grass and Rain, but based on their techniques, ninja from the Cloud, Rock, Sand, and even the Mist villages participated."
It wasn't the loss of 500 ninjas that weighed heavily on Hiruzen. What concerned him was the hidden attitude of the Four Great Ninja Villages behind this incident. It seemed that only Konoha was kept in the dark. If the Four Great Ninja Villages were secretly collaborating, that would be problematic.
After reading the intelligence, Danzo Shimura immediately frowned and snorted, "Incompetents!"
Clearly, he was disparaging the commander of this mission. The 500 ninjas had responded poorly under pressure, panicking and retreating, which led to their defeat.
An experienced commander should take advantage of the terrain. Even Danzo could instantly think of the most basic tactic—using favorable terrain to fight a delaying action while waiting for reinforcements. This was, after all, at the border of the Land of Fire; the enemy should have been the one to worry. But they had been led by an idiot.
"Danzo, now is not the time to place blame. The issue is whether this ambush implies that the Four Great Ninja Villages have already formed a secret alliance and are using the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools to distract and drain us," said Koharu Utatane, her face furrowed in concern.
Beside her, Homura Mitokado looked even more worried. "Hiruzen, the situation doesn't look good. If the Four Great Ninja Villages join forces, the Land of Whirlpools could really become a meat grinder, keeping our village in a state of constant exhaustion."
This was tantamount to the Four Great Ninja Villages declaring war on Konoha. Although not an all-out war, it would be a war of attrition.
"A single Mist Village we can handle, but if all Four Great Ninja Villages join forces, that's a serious matter," said Homura.
"That's exactly why I've called you all here," Hiruzen responded. Anything that Koharu and Homura could think of, he had already considered, which was why he had summoned everyone to discuss the situation.
"Hiruzen, we must sabotage the alliance of the Four Great Ninja Villillages."
Danzo Shimura, who has never been afraid of war, showed a gloomy expression and gravely spoke a fact: facing an alliance of the four major ninja villages, even he felt suffocated.
"Mist, Cloud, Stone, Sand—these four ninja villages have destroyed our border reinforcements as a show for us."
Clearly, this event has led to a huge misunderstanding. None of the four major ninja villages wanted to suffer large losses and were trying to pull others in, resulting in them being misunderstood as allies.
However, anyone would think this is a planned and premeditated scheme. It couldn't be a temporary plan. All four ninja villages must have people nearby to quickly form a combat group and execute the plan. Otherwise, how could the Stone and Wind villages, so far apart, appear so quickly here?
Konoha's F4 never considered that information had leaked. From a timing perspective, it seems a bit unrealistic unless their plans had appeared in the offices of the leaders of all four major ninja villages in less than three days. Otherwise, it's too coincidental and must have been premeditated.
"If the four major ninja villages are allied, our current village situation would be hard to handle. We must destroy their alliance one by one," said Koharu with a frown.
At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed displeased and glanced at Danzo, saying, "Rein in your actions. Don't overreach with the major clans lately."
Sarutobi's resentful look clearly alluded to the incidents involving the Sannin. Danzo was extremely frustrated. "Sarutobi, you!" He wanted to curse out loud. All these tasks were approved by you, and when things go wrong, I'm the one to blame.
"I've decided to start with the weakest, the Wind Country's Sand village," Sarutobi Hiruzen said solemnly.
Homura and Koharu were taken aback, "Sarutobi, don't be reckless. The four major villages have already allied. Without a thorough plan, it could easily cause a chain reaction."
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at them with determination, "After the third war, the Sand village's strength was greatly reduced, especially with the Daimyo of Wind Country cutting a lot of their funds. The Sand village had to implement an elite training program. As the defeated, Sand has to compensate us with 20% of high-level missions each year."
Hearing this, Koharu and Homura understood and were relieved, but Danzo Shimura was angry, "Sarutobi, this is war reparations. The village needs these missions for quick recovery. You can't take these!"
Before Danzo could finish, Sarutobi interrupted, "Then, Danzo, do you have any good methods to break the alliance of the four major ninja villages?"
In one sentence, Danzo Shimura was so choked up that he turned red and couldn't say a word; he could only sit back down feeling frustrated.
"The top priority now is to break the alliance between the four major ninja villages. I think if one village pulls out first, the others will have gaps. After all, there has never been a real alliance between the ninja villages," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a determined expression.
Koharu listened carefully and nodded solemnly, "Hiruzen is right, the alliance between ninja villages is only beneficial for now. We can easily break this so-called ally relationship by offering some benefits."
"So, how much should we offer to the Sand Village?" Homura threw out a critical question. "If you offer too little, they might become annoyed and target us secretly."
"If it were just the Sand Village, we would've already found a way to deal with them. This situation is really frustrating," said another.
"Ten percent!" Sarutobi Hiruzen, as the longest-serving Hokage, directly threw out an irresistible offer for the Sand Village.
Upon hearing this, Danzo Shimura stood up abruptly, slamming the table and shouting, "Ten percent of high-ranking missions! Do you know how long this will delay the economic recovery of Konoha? It's not just one year, but a full fifteen years!"
In the Third War, the Sand Village, which was the worst loser, unconditionally allocated 20% of its high-ranking missions to Konoha. High-ranking missions are at least C-level missions, which would last for fifteen years. Konoha could accelerate its recovery with this 20% of high-ranking missions, while the Sand Village would have to cut theirs by 20%.
"It's only been a few years, and we've just started to see the benefits, and now we have to give half of it to them."
"The ten percent annual mission profit is enough to maintain all the operational funds for our intelligence unit, and even leave a surplus. The benefits are huge," said another.
"Ten percent, I think it's acceptable," said Koharu, who, although in pain, pondered for a moment and then nodded in agreement.
"Offering ten percent of the benefits in exchange for breaking the alliance of the four major ninja villages, even the Sand Village will have to take some action to gain these benefits. It won't be for free," she continued.
Koharu then subtly looked at Danzo Shimura, "By giving away ten percent of the high-ranking missions that originally belonged to the Sand Village, we can gain an ally, and the alliance of the four major ninja villages will turn into two major villages against three."
Koharu's foresight in this matter was undeniable; even Homura nodded in agreement. "That's correct. I will personally go to the Sand Village tomorrow to discuss this matter. If their Kazekage wants these benefits, it won't be easily granted. At the very least, they have to make a statement."
Danzo Shimura is quite pained by this. He's not foolish; he sees the benefits that come after this exchange of interests. However, the village has lost a significant amount of benefits directly. You have to know that each year, a large part of the missions he got were allocated from the Hidden Sand Village.
Now it's been cut by half, and the number of people sharing these benefits hasn't decreased. It's like having a full pot of rice cut down to a half pot, yet the number of people eating remains the same.
"Danzo, don't worry about the immediate gains and losses; you need to focus on the long term," Hiruzen Sarutobi says, shaking his head and sighing as he looks at Danzo's unwilling eyes.
"This 10% not only has to exchange for the Hidden Sand Village's withdrawal but also needs them to restrain another hidden village. The pressure on our village will greatly decrease then. This matter is settled; now let's talk about another important issue."
While saying this, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly takes out an emergency intelligence report. He looks at the three people and says gravely, "The profits from the three mineral veins in the Land of Whirlpools are considerable every year, but what's more important is its strategic location. It absolutely cannot fall into the hands of the Hidden Mist Village."
"The front lines already have substantial casualties. Now we face our rear forces being wiped out. People are restless, and the Hidden Mist has already dispatched a lot of reinforcements. Our influence in the Land of Whirlpools is in grave danger. We've already lost 10% of the interests from the Hidden Sand Village. The interests of the Land of Whirlpools can be compromised at crucial times, but we absolutely cannot lose this strategic location."
Once the Land of Whirlpools is occupied by the Hidden Mist Village, they could directly march into our territories during future wars.
As long as the Land of Whirlpools remains in our hands, it will serve as a buffer against the Hidden Mist Village.
Seeing this situation, everyone shows a worried expression. Koharu Utatane even sighs regretfully, "Had we known this, we should've assisted the Land of Whirlpools at any cost back then."
How nice it was back when the Uzumaki clan was in the Land of Whirlpools; it eased our worries, serving as a buffer against the Hidden Mist Village. Now we are a single village facing four major hidden villages; it's really tough.
"Hmph, have we not paid enough of a price? How many of the Senju clan sacrificed themselves on the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools? Otherwise, we wouldn't have risked researching Wood Release."
Once the Wood Release research from back then is mentioned, everyone's faces turn extremely grim. It's an unforgettable nightmare and directly led to the demise of the Senju clan.
"Alright, let's now discuss the matter of front-line reinforcements."
The matter of that year is a taboo. Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately shifted the topic to the current issue at hand and looked directly at the three people, saying solemnly, "I have decided to pull 600 ninjas from the rear to provide support, and at the same time increase the troop numbers by a thousand at the border area of the Water Country. If the Mist ninja continue to increase their forces in the whirlpool country battlefield, we will also continue to invest."
Facing the four major ninja villages, he is under pressure, but just a Mist Village! Even if it's three against two, Sarutobi Hiruzen was still filled with anger. After all, they are the first ninja village. To be bullied like this, they think they are made of clay.
"Sending 600 people! Isn't that a bit too much? You should know that once the frontline ninja numbers exceed a thousand, the situation will be quite different."
Koharu and Homura both showed serious expressions. If the ninja army exceeds a thousand, then they would be on the red alert edge of a full-scale war. One more slight increase and it will be an all-out war between the two major ninja villages.
The losses from the third war were huge, and it had just ended. Now there seemed to be a danger of starting the fourth war again.
The horror of the Ninja War is something even they have to treat seriously.
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent, and after Koharu and Homura exchanged glances, they said solemnly, "Hiruzen, try to control the number of people on the Whirlpool Country battlefield to within a thousand ninjas for now. You can send some elites to stabilize the situation. After the Sand ninja defect, that will be our opportunity."
This time even Danzō Shimura nodded in agreement with a grim face, saying directly, "Among the forces left by Orochimaru, there are also many good civilian ninjas in the village. We can send some to support. The major clans can also send people. Now is not the time to start the fourth war."
Seeing the three opting for caution, Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered for a moment and said, "I was a bit hasty. A war with a thousand ninjas indeed touches the red line."
"Visit the Sand Village as quickly as possible. The sooner we win them over, the sooner we can break the current deadlock."
"Nara Shikaku is now the commander at the border of the Lightning Country. I intend to send Sarutobi Shinzo to the border of the Water Country as the general commander, and also send a message to Jiraiya, asking him to guard against the Rock Ninja border to deter Ōnoki."
It has to be said that experience speaks. Sarutobi Hiruzen's approach was to bluff. Konoha doesn't want to go to war, and neither do the four major ninja villages.
"Shinzo, huh? Not bad. The elites left by Orochimaru have almost all been sent to the frontline of the Whirlpool Country. The remaining ones won't make much difference. Sending Shinzo to guard the border of the Water Country can also eliminate previous hidden dangers. Agreed."
"'Agreed!'"
"'Agreed!'"
In an instant, the Konoha's F4 have drawn up a plan for dealing with the four major ninja villages. No one probably thought that such a big issue would arise due to a misunderstanding.
The four major ninja villages also did not expect this.
~~~
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