Repeating it naturally wasn't possible. Jiraiya grabbed Sakura's arm and headed straight for the Hokage Building.
Along the way, the massive crater created by Pain had been filled in with Earth Release, and the new houses successively built upon it were beginning to show the outline of prosperity.
Sakura followed Jiraiya into the Political Department of the Hokage Building, dragged out the two old advisors, and an impromptu small meeting was convened.
"Don't look at me like that. I probably don't know much more than you do."
Reading the expectation in their minds with Observation Haki, Sakura shook her head.
Then she recounted the agreements reached at the Five Kage Summit, along with all the intelligence she, Kakashi, and Asuma had discovered in the Land of Iron.
"You mean the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth are pretending to go to war, but their real target is actually us?"
Koharu pondered for a moment. "But the intelligence received in the village is somewhat different. Among the troops Kumogakure has mobilized, there are a large number of standard-issue weapons designed to counter fortresses."
As a country of plains and basins, the Land of Fire's geographical conditions were not suited for building fortresses to resist invasion.
In the past, when faced with large-scale military incursions, they relied on the advantage of the country's vast territory and dense forests to engage in strategic depth warfare.
So, if Kumogakure's true goal in this operation was Konoha, they wouldn't need to carry so much irrelevant supplies.
But if it really was targeting Iwagakure, then why did the Raikage agree to form an Allied Force at the Five Kage Summit?
Even the most foolish political creature wouldn't gamble their political credibility for a strategic advantage, especially when the suspect was a group of hotheads from Kumogakure.
"Never mind. Let's not overthink it. Prepare our response and deploy troops to the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Waterfalls!" Homura drew two circles on the map.
As the bridgeheads for the Land of Fire against Iwagakure and Kumogakure, stationing forces in these two places meant they could, on the offensive, guard against a potential combined southern push by the two countries expected to fight in the Land of Frost, and on the defensive, move north to cut off their retreat if they needed to end a war.
This demonstrated Homura's shrewd strategic vision and the steady and reliable work style formed over many years in politics.
This proposal immediately gained the support of the other two in the office.
Seeing their discussion was nearly finished, Sakura clapped her hands and stood up. "Well, my part here is done, I guess? So I'll just..."
Unfortunately, before she could finish, she was interrupted by a ninja bursting into the meeting room.
"Four esteemed ones! Tsunade-sama has awakened!"
The Ninja who burst in, seeing Sakura's unfriendly gaze, immediately lowered his head and reported.
This unexpected news startled Sakura. "Let's go! Take us to see her!"
Saying this, she dragged the Ninja out of the Hokage Building and quickly headed towards the temporary hospital built atop the Hokage Rock.
Lifting the dark green tent curtain, the smell of disinfectant wafted over. A hospital bed was placed in the center of the tent. The blonde woman leaning against the headboard was gulping down food, and the small table attached to the bed was already piled high with empty bowls.
Beside her, Shizune was handing up food while also clearing the empty dishes, creating a scene of chaos.
"You're finally awake, Tsunade-nee."
Sakura walked to the bedside and sat down, helping Shizune organize the empty bowls. "If you hadn't woken up soon, I was planning to take you back to Shikkotsu Forest to find the Katsuyu Sage."
"For spiritual repair, you'd need to go to Ryuchi Cave. If you had the ability to beg them..." Tsunade started to retort but suddenly thought of something, leaving the rest unsaid.
Because she just remembered that Sasuke was now a practitioner of Sage Art from Ryuchi Cave. If Sakura were to ask, it was possible she could really pull in reinforcements from all three sacred places.
"Cough, let's not talk about that. Did anything happen while I was unconscious?" Tsunade coughed unnaturally, changing the subject.
"Well..."
Sakura smiled mysteriously, took a few steps back outside the tent, and ushered the several waiting old advisors in front of her.
Their eyes were bloodshot, their hands clutching stacks of documents taller than a person as they approached Tsunade.
The girl outside the tent politely lowered the tent flap, stretched, and felt completely carefree.
Then she lifted her foot and headed towards the Uchiha Clan's compound, completely ignoring the piercing shrieks continuously echoing behind her.
"Sakura! Sakura, don't go——!"
…
One week later.
After the brief morale boost brought by the Hokage's awakening, the village's affairs gradually got back on track.
Reconstruction work in the southern district, with Sakura's assistance, was basically completed.
Sakura's father and mother had also moved out of Sasuke's house, leaving Mikoto disappointed for quite a while.
Inside the new Haruno Residence, a special summons was delivered by an Anbu.
"Mom, something's come up in the village. I won't be home for dinner!"
Quickly greeting Mebuki, who was in the kitchen, Sakura changed into her Jonin Vest.
"Busy again? Honestly, what could be so important that they have to summon you all at this hour?"
Mebuki poked her head out of the kitchen, watching her daughter rush to the entrance and put on her shoes.
"No choice. Things are unstable outside right now!"
Sakura explained casually, and under her mother's instruction to make sure she ate a proper dinner, pushed open the door and left.
After crossing the main road, which had been planned and widened four or five times by the Administrative Department, she arrived at the Hokage Building.
By this time, in the Jonin Conference Room, the Jonins were uniformly dressed and had solemn expressions.
When Sakura pushed open the door and entered the conference room, most people had already arrived.
Sasuke, among the crowd, waved to Sakura, then moved closer to her and asked, "What's happening?"
Speaking of absurdity, it really had to be the Uchiha!
The village was on the verge of war with the outside world, and the strongest Uchiha standing before her was completely oblivious.
Whether to call them naturally dense or say they had not a shred of political awareness.
"War might be coming!" Sakura's words were brief.
She spoke of what every Konoha's resident least wanted to hear.
Because the Great Ninja War, as the name implies, meant the entire Ninja World ganging up on Konoha.
The typical course of the war was usually: two great nations with accumulated conflicts would start fighting first.
Then, as the fighting progressed, it would become—
'Well, they've both worn each other down.' / 'Land of Fire regen instance needs one more.' / 'Count me in.' / 'Oops, Konoha's produced another strong one.' / 'Surrender. Surrender.'
"So, are you planning to go to the battlefield?" Sasuke frowned. "If you are, I'll take the Uchiha Clan's members to whatever unit you're in!"
"Sigh!" Sakura inhaled sharply.
This kind of rhetoric was very un-Uchiha-like. Normally, these iron-headed simpletons originally from the Land of Lightning would actively demand to charge to the front.
Now, Sasuke, as the representative of their will, could actually utter such a reasonable statement. It truly struck her as odd.
Unable to bear the girl's scrutinizing gaze, Sasuke spoke helplessly, "The new generation of the clan hasn't grown up yet. The remaining Jonins are our last strength. If they're all lost in the war, the Uchiha will truly decline!"
So, it wasn't that the Uchiha were afraid of death… it was mainly because they were fully aware, having experienced centuries of warfare, just how valuable Sakura's Medical Ninjutsu was!
"Since you put it that way, then fine!"
Rarely seeing this teammate look so embarrassed, Sakura hooked her arm around his shoulder.
Sasuke nodded at her solemnly. "Thank you!"
"Ah, don't mention it, we're bros!" The girl waved her hand.
Just as the two were quietly finalizing their war arrangements, Tsunade, followed by Jiraiya and the two Hokage Advisors, entered the conference room.
The first words she spoke after sitting down immediately set off an uproar in the entire Jonin Meeting.
"Everyone, the war is about to begin!"