Chapter 10 Hokage Building
Konoha, Hokage Building.
Night had fallen, but the Hokage's office was still brightly lit.
Wearing his ceremonial robe, Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared somewhat old and weathered as he slowly raised his gaze from the intelligence scroll spread out on the table.
He took a deep drag on his pipe, letting the bitter smoke swirl in his mouth, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in his heart.
According to the latest intelligence, the Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning, the Hidden Stone Village of the Land of Earth, and the Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind had all dispatched ninja forces.
Following the tacit understanding among the five great nations, they each deployed their troops in the buffer zones surrounding the Land of Fire.
Besides not wanting to be the first to face Konoha's main force directly, they were also plotting to absorb smaller ninja villages and use them as cannon fodder.
The Sand Village coveted the passage between the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers. The Stone Village eyed the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Waterfalls. The Cloud Village's military might was aimed directly at the Land of Hot Springs.
Many small ninja squads had already entered the Land of Fire to ambush and kill Konoha ninjas.
Small-scale conflicts could escalate into a full-blown war at any moment, leaving many areas in a state of chaos. The Konoha garrison was forced to respond, and even ninjas from smaller countries had begun plundering within the Land of Fire.
Across this vast territory, many regions were left to be ravaged by enemy ninjas.
Even more troubling was the Hidden Mist Village — located far overseas, it could cross the sea at any time.
"We must not sit idly by and wait for our demise."
"The legacy of Konoha must not be lost in my generation."
A sharp glint appeared in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. He took a deep breath, and two plumes of smoke billowed from his nostrils.
Thick white smoke filled the room. Just then, the office door was gently pushed open.
"Cough, cough..." Mitokado Homura, who was the first to enter, frowned as the thick smoke hit his throat.
Following closely behind, Koharu Utatane glanced at her old friend shrouded in smoke, sighed softly, and walked silently to the window, pushing open the tightly shut frame.
The night breeze carrying the unique damp scent of the forest and the lingering warmth of the distant market rushed into the office, which had been thick with tobacco smoke and unspoken anxiety.
The heavy smell of smoke that had been clinging around Hiruzen was quickly diluted, replaced by a fresh scent of night dew and earth that cleared his mind, which had grown somewhat drowsy from too much brooding.
"Hiruzen, there's no need to be so anxious. Konoha is known as the strongest ninja village its foundation is not something that can be shaken so easily."
Mitokado Homura walked to a chair and sat down, his tone deliberately relaxed.
"Didn't we get through both Shinobi World Wars the same way?"
Koharu Utatane, who had just taken her seat, calmly analyzed the situation.
"Homura is right."
"The Hidden Cloud, the Hidden Stone, the Hidden Sand have they ever truly trusted one another?
They are merely outwardly friendly while inwardly at odds, gathered together out of nothing more than self-interest."
"Once they discover that Konoha is a tough nut to crack, and we stoke the flames between them, most will grow suspicious of each other and begin tearing themselves apart competing for gains."
"Konoha may yet have the chance to reap the benefits from the sidelines."
This composed and well-reasoned analysis eased some of the tension from Hiruzen Sarutobi's furrowed brow.
But then, as if remembering something, Koharu glanced around the room and frowned slightly.
"By the way, at a time like this... where is Danzo?"
As the words left her mouth, a cold snort came from the doorway sharp and hard, like a block of ice striking stone.
"Stoke the flames? That's easy enough to say." Shimura Danzo's figure emerged from the shadows beyond the door.
"In the end, isn't it always me and my Root operatives doing all the dirty, thankless work that can never be spoken of in the light of day?"
He stepped under the lamplight, and the cold, hardened expression carved into his aged face seemed almost to solidify into something physical.
"The good assignments never come my way. Only the dangerous ones."
"Enough, Danzo."
Hiruzen Sarutobi set down his pipe and waved impatiently at his old friend, cutting off his sarcasm before it could go further.
Since the end of the Jonin meeting after Hiruzen had personally held a private conversation with the Uchiha clan head Shimura Danzo had been brooding like a dead man, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen utterly helpless.
With powerful enemies closing in on all sides, Konoha was in desperate need of manpower and could not afford to squander the Uchiha's formidable fighting strength.
Yet Danzo clung stubbornly to his extreme views, his face openly displaying his deep distrust of the Uchiha clan and barely concealing his desire to eradicate them entirely.
Such stubbornness, so blind to the larger picture, left Hiruzen with a profound sense of powerlessness. He had no time for gentle persuasion.
"Danzo, come and sit down."
Koharu Utatane the only woman among the four senior advisors often served as a buffer, smoothing over the tension whenever the men fell into argument.
With a dark expression, Shimura Danzo dropped into the empty chair, then closed his eye and fell silent.
Hiruzen glanced at him, and seeing no intention to speak, wasted no more time. He laid out the current situation with blunt clarity.
"The conflict between the five great ninja villages is ultimately a struggle for interests."
"And inevitably, it will draw in the nations standing behind them."
Mitokado Homura responded immediately. "Then we must initiate diplomatic action without delay."
"On behalf of Konoha, I will personally travel to the capital of the Land of Fire to meet with the Daimyo."
His tone was firm, his argument clear.
"There are two main objectives for this trip."
"First, we must inform the Daimyo of the border crisis and request emergency financial support from the Land of Fire to sustain us through what may become a prolonged war."
"Second, and more importantly, we must urge His Excellency to use his standing and influence to issue a formal diplomatic inquiry to the other four great powers condemning these acts of aggression and pressuring them to restrain their respective ninja villages, creating an opening for a peaceful resolution."
"The Daimyo would not wish to see the Land of Fire suffer further devastation."
Shimura Danzo's eye drifted lazily toward Mitokado Homura as he spoke with such enthusiasm.
To Danzo, all that high-minded diplomatic language was nothing more than an excuse Homura's way of keeping himself far from the front lines.
An attempt to replace real bloodshed with documents and negotiations.
And besides, in a storm that had swept across the entire ninja world, were the daimyo sitting comfortably behind the scenes truly so innocent?
So uninvolved?
They appeared detached from worldly affairs.
But who could guarantee that behind the steady flow of supplies to the front and their quiet tolerance of the village's war efforts, there wasn't a deeper calculation at work?
These seemingly righteous rulers may very well be fanning the flames themselves or standing safely aside, watching it all unfold.
"Homura, I am entrusting this matter to you. Set out tomorrow morning and reach an agreement with the Daimyo as quickly as possible."
Having made his decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Koharu Utatane, who then presented her own carefully considered plan.
"Konoha's war supplies are sufficient for the early stages of the conflict, and our standby ninja forces can be deployed to the front lines at any time.
The most pressing problem now is the quality of leadership on each front.
If our commanders are weak, we will not be able to withstand the combined onslaught of the other villages."
End of Chapter...