---
Early in the year 37 of Konoha, an explosive piece of intelligence spread throughout the ninja world from Amegakure.
The Sunagakure was planning to redirect the Red Leaf River into the Land of Wind. This crazy idea shocked everyone.
Especially Konoha.
"Has the Sunagakure gone mad?"
"Don't they know what redirecting the Red Leaf River means?"
In the Hokage Tower's meeting room, the heads of various clans who had come to attend the high-level meeting were filled with righteous indignation and extreme anger.
"Is the Red Leaf River that important?"
Jiraiya, who had come to listen in, sat upright, gently nudging the shoulder of Orochimaru beside him, and asked with a slightly awkward tone.
Orochimaru turned his head and looked at Jiraiya with a condescending gaze, not bothering to explain to this idiot whose head was filled with nothing but lust.
"You idiot, Jiraiya, you wouldn't really not know what the Red Leaf River is, would you?"
On Jiraiya's other side, Tsunade whispered, her eyes on Jiraiya with an expression that said, "You better not say you don't know."
Stimulated by this, and with Tsunade right there, Jiraiya couldn't admit it. He stubbornly said, "Ha... ha... I... I know what the Red Leaf River is, of course. It's just the river near the Amegakure, right? I know. I was just seeing if you guys knew."
Jiraiya's words became more and more confident. He was a bit clever, and it wasn't difficult to tell from the intelligence that the Red Leaf River flowed from the Amegakure into the Land of Fire. He just had to say it in that direction, and he wouldn't be wrong.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru and Tsunade saw through Jiraiya's act and both gave him a disdainful look.
Jiraiya thought that Orochimaru and Tsunade believed him, and a smug smile instantly spread across his face.
"Idiot!"
"Stupid!"
Orochimaru and Tsunade snorted inwardly and ignored Jiraiya.
In the meeting room, the Third Hokage sat in the main seat, the two Hokage advisors sat on either side of him, and the heads of the other major clans were seated on either side. Excellent jōnin like Jiraiya sat on the benches behind the clan heads, listening in.
This was Konoha's highest-level meeting.
Regarding the intelligence from Amegakure, Konoha had already confirmed it from the Demi-God of the Ninja World, Hanzo of the Salamander.
The Sunagakure did want to redirect the Red Leaf River.
Their previous movement of ninjas on the border and their series of intelligence activities in Amegakure were all preparations for redirecting the Red Leaf River.
Now, the preparations were complete. All that was left was to obtain Amegakure's consent, gain Hanzo's approval, and they could implement it.
The people of the Sunagakure knew very well that such a large-scale project to redirect the Red Leaf River couldn't be done without Amegakure and the Rain Village knowing.
They could only do it with Amegakure's consent.
Otherwise, if they forcibly redirected the Red Leaf River, they would have to face both the Rain Village and Konoha as enemies.
Only by obtaining Amegakure's consent would the Land of Fire have no reason to interfere with the decision to redirect the Red Leaf River.
Moreover, even if they did interfere, the Sunagakure could pull Amegakure and the Rain Village, who had agreed, as allies to fight against the Land of Fire and Konoha. They might even be able to defeat the Land of Fire and gain even greater benefits in the process.
Unfortunately, Hanzo of the Salamander wasn't a political idiot.
How could he possibly agree to such a crazy plan from the Sunagakure?
If he dared to agree, then the Land of Fire and Konoha would dare to wage a war of annihilation against his Amegakure.
Not only did Hanzo not agree to the Sunagakure's suggestion, but he also turned around and spread the Sunagakure's plan, letting Konoha deal with them.
He believed that Konoha would never allow the Sunagakure's crazy plan to succeed.
And it was true. Konoha's internal reaction was even more radical than he believed.
"Hokage-sama, declare war on the Hidden Sand!"
"Yes, we need to beat those bastards until they understand the weight of Konoha being the head of the Five Great Hidden Villages."
"They dare to propose such a crazy plan. What's the difference between that and directly declaring war on us?"
"My Uchiha clan is willing to be the vanguard!"
The atmosphere in the meeting room, filled with fervent battle spirit, instantly quieted down with the Uchiha clan head's words. Everyone turned their heads towards the Third Hokage in the main seat.
Prohibiting the Uchiha clan from going to war was just an unspoken rule within Konoha. There was no written regulation, but everyone tacitly agreed to this rule.
Without the Uchiha clan's participation, other ninja clans would be more likely to gain merit and thus receive more benefits in the distribution of spoils after the war.
But it all depended on the Third Hokage.
These ninja clans didn't have the guts to suppress the Uchiha clan within Konoha.
The Uchiha clan head was older than the Third Hokage, but his expression was much younger and more unrestrained than the Third Hokage's.
Facing the Uchiha clan head's fervent gaze, the Third Hokage glanced at Danzo. This was the time to release... oh no, it was time for Danzo to take action.
But Danzo was different today, eerily quiet. He wasn't even arguing with the Uchiha.
Seeing that Danzo didn't respond to his several glances, the Third Hokage frowned slightly and sighed inwardly. He had no choice but to step in himself.
"Konoha's safety is also very important. The Uchiha clan should uphold the responsibility of the Guard Department, which the Second Hokage entrusted to the Uchiha clan, to protect Konoha."
The Third Hokage used the Second Hokage's importance to reject the possibility of the Uchiha clan going to war.
The Uchiha clan head's expression instantly calmed down. His eyes returned to their usual calm and composed state, completely different from his previous unrestrained and reckless demeanor.
It was as if his previous statement about being the vanguard was just a casual remark, not to be taken seriously.
The Third Hokage frowned. He had lost this round by a small margin.
The Uchiha clan head had done his best. There was nothing to say from either the radical faction or the conservative faction within the clan.
Instead, the Third Hokage himself became the target of hatred from both the radical and conservative factions.
This way, the Uchiha clan head's lineage could continue to sit back and relax, firmly holding onto the position of clan head.
The other clan heads breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this, then they all began to volunteer to fight.
"Let's send someone to Amegakure to negotiate first. As long as Amegakure doesn't agree, the Hidden Sand's plan won't succeed."
The Third Hokage suggested. He still wanted to avoid war as much as possible. He was a staunch member of the anti-war faction.
Of course, if war was truly unavoidable, he wouldn't back down.
"Alright, we'll listen to the Hokage-sama."
"Good, let's try negotiating first."
The Hokage had spoken, and the clan heads gave the Third Hokage face and didn't object.
After all, they knew that the Sunagakure wouldn't easily cancel their crazy plan.
And Konoha would never allow the Sunagakure's crazy plan to succeed.
War was inevitable. It was just a matter of when it would begin.
Leaving the Hokage Tower, many clan heads were still filled with anger towards the Sunagakure's crazy plan.
As everyone knew, the Land of Fire was the country with the best geographical location, the best environment, and the richest variety of resources among the Five Great Nations.
Its grain production was also the largest among the Five Great Nations, accounting for almost forty percent of the entire ninja world's grain production.
Just from grain trading alone, the Land of Fire earned a fortune every year.
Not to mention the other abundant resources.
The title of "Richest Nation in the Ninja World" wasn't just a title for the Land of Fire.
The foundation that made the Land of Fire the country with the greatest grain production was the Red Leaf River, which flowed from Amegakure into the Land of Fire.
The Red Leaf River originated in the northwest of Amegakure and ended at the southeastern sea mouth of the Land of Fire. The main channel of the river ran through the entire Land of Fire, and countless branch rivers, like capillaries, extended deep into various parts of the Land of Fire, nourishing the land.
It could be said that at least half the credit for the Land of Fire's abundant land and resources belonged to this Red Leaf River.
The Sunagakure wanted to redirect this river, which could be considered the mother river that nurtured the entire Land of Fire. What was the difference between that and directly taking the Land of Fire's life?
The Land of Fire's Daimyo's Mansion would never allow this to happen.
This war would receive the greatest support from the Daimyo's Mansion.
And the Daimyo's Mansion's support meant unimaginable profits.
Konoha was essentially a large military base.
The major ninja clans within Konoha were like individual legions.
The entire Konoha Village was a military group.
With almost no commercial activity outside Konoha Village, war was their greatest channel for acquiring profits.
The Daimyo's Mansion's support was the greatest guarantee of their enormous profits during the war.
It was precisely because they knew that the Daimyo's Mansion would definitely strongly support the war against the Sunagakure that the major clan heads were so eager to go to war.
It was all about profit!
---
PATREON UPDATE
You get 3 Fanfics when you join.
One payment for two fics.
patreon(.)com/ShixT9
CURRENT PATREON CHAPTER : Chapter 109
=> If you join as a FREE MEMBER you'll get +3 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
=> TIER 1 you'll get +10 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
=> TIER 2 you'll get +20 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
=> TIER 3 you'll get +40 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
=> TIER 4 you'll get +60 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
THE PAID TIERS DOES'NT INCLUDE THE FREE CHAPTERS SO IT'S A BONUS +3 CHAPTERS FOR EACH TIER
EXTRA BENEFITS FOR ALL TIERS
>DISCORD ACCESS
>VOTE AND SUGGEST FUTURE FICS
>FEET PICS 0.0