The air in the meeting room grew heavy with Utatane Koharu's desperate words of a three-front war.
Everyone present was a battle-hardened ninja, an elite of Konoha. They knew better than anyone what it meant for Konoha to fight three powerful ninja villages on three fronts simultaneously.
That wasn't a war; it was suicide.
"Lord Hokage, a decision must be made!"
An impatient clan head stood up. "We can't let Hanzo lead us by the nose! I propose we concentrate all our forces and attack the Land of Rain with lightning speed. As long as we can quickly defeat Hanzo, Sunagakure and Iwagakure will naturally retreat!"
"Foolish!"
Shimura Danzo snorted coldly, finally speaking, his voice like a piece of cold iron. "Hanzo is called a demigod. Is he so easily defeated? The Land of Rain has complex terrain and is rainy all year round, a natural defensive barrier. Once we are bogged down there, our supply lines will be stretched indefinitely. At that point, if Sunagakure and Iwagakure stab us in the back, what will you use to defend?"
"So you mean we should cower and defend? Just watch Amegakure act so arrogantly right under our noses?" the clan head retorted, his face flushed.
"Defending and waiting for an opportunity is better than actively jumping into a trap!" Danzo did not back down.
"That's the act of a coward!"
"And yours is the courage of a brute!"
The arguments in the meeting room flared up again, the views of the hawks and doves clashing fiercely, with neither side able to convince the other.
Uchiha Kagami watched all this with a slight frown. He did not speak, but simply turned his gaze to the man at the head of the table who had remained unusually calm from the very beginning.
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He just listened quietly, his fingers tapping a rhythmic beat on the desk, as if the arguments in the room had nothing to do with him.
For some reason, Uchiha Kagami's heart settled down.
He believed that his teacher's student, the current Hokage, already had an answer.
Finally, Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his hand and gently pressed it down.
The rhythmic tapping stopped.
The entire meeting room fell silent in an instant. All eyes, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, focused on him.
"Everyone, do not panic."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was still calm, but it carried an unquestionable power that instantly soothed the anxious emotions of everyone present.
"The war has indeed begun."
"But we have more than one enemy."
He stood up and slowly walked to the huge map of the ninja world, picking up a long red pointer that symbolized command.
Everyone held their breath, thinking he would point the rod at Amegakure, or Sunagakure, or Iwagakure.
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen made a move that no one expected.
His pointer bypassed the three villages that represented a direct threat and landed heavily on the northeast corner of the map.
The Land of Lightning, Kumogakure.
"What?"
"The Cloud?"
"Why the Cloud?"
A series of suppressed gasps sounded in the meeting room.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a look, both seeing deep confusion in the other's eyes.
They couldn't follow Hiruzen's train of thought at all.
Only Shimura Danzo's pupils contracted violently. He stared intently at that spot on the map, as if he had thought of something, and his face instantly turned incredibly grim.
"Have you forgotten how Sensei died?" Sarutobi Hiruzen turned around, his cold gaze sweeping over everyone present.
The meeting room was instantly dead silent.
Senju Tobirama's death was an eternal pain for Konoha, a thorn that could not be removed from the hearts of many present.
"Do you believe that what the Gold and Silver Brothers did back then didn't have the support of some of Kumogakure's higher-ups?"
"For all these years, Kumogakure has been madly expanding its military, faster than any other village. What do you think they're going to do?"
"They will be like the most greedy jackals, tearing open a hole from our northern border!"
A chill ran down everyone's spine.
They had only seen the immediate threat, but had completely ignored this venomous snake hidden in the dark.
"Hanzo is gambling, gambling that the three great nations will fall into a chaotic war because of his declaration, thus giving him a chance to breathe. But it's highly likely he'll fail," Sarutobi Hiruzen said as he walked back to his seat and slowly sat down, his eyes holding a deep wisdom that seemed to see through everything.
A smile touched the corner of Sarutobi Hiruzen's mouth.
"A three-front war? No."
"The first army, the Land of Rain battlefield." Sarutobi Hiruzen held up his first finger, his voice becoming firm and decisive. "I will dispatch an elite squad to the Land of Rain."
"An elite squad?" Mitokado Homura was stunned. "Hiruzen, that's too risky! The Land of Rain is the main battlefield. Sending only one squad is like sending a lamb into a tiger's den!"
"No, their mission is not to win the war."
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. "Their mission is to be the bait."
"Bait?"
"That's right. I want Hanzo, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure to all think I've made a tactical error."
"They will focus all their attention on this squad, trying to devour them at the smallest cost to gain an early victory and boost morale."
"And this will create a golden opportunity for our other forces."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze fell on a corner of the meeting room, where Tsunade and Orochimaru, who were also present, sat upright.
"Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya."
The three whose names were called jolted and stood up.
"The three of you will serve as the commanders of the first army, lead your squads, and immediately set out for the front lines in the Land of Rain!"
"You have only one mission."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at his three students, who had now grown up, his eyes full of expectation.
"Hold them off. Cause the biggest commotion possible in the Land of Rain. Pin all the enemy's attention firmly on that battlefield."
A light of excitement burst forth from Tsunade's and Orochimaru's eyes. They understood their teacher's intention. This was an incredibly dangerous, yet incredibly important mission.
"Yes! Sensei!"
"The second army, the Land of Wind border."
Sarutobi Hiruzen held up his second finger, his gaze turning to a figure standing behind the Anbu captain.
It was a tall, straight-backed man with silver-white hair.
Hatake Sakumo.
"Hatake Sakumo."
"Here!" Sakumo stepped forward and knelt on one knee.
"I order you to immediately select one hundred of the Anbu's top elites to form the second army. You will be like a sharp knife, bypassing the main battlefield and stabbing directly into the heartland of the Land of Wind."
"Your mission is not to occupy, but to destroy!"
"I want you to burn their supplies, cut off their provisions, and assassinate their commanders! With the fastest speed, unleash a storm of death in Sunagakure's rear that will give them no peace!"
Hatake Sakumo looked up, and in his calm eyes, a burning fighting spirit was ignited.
This was the way of fighting he was best at, and the one he craved the most.
"Yes! Lord Hokage! I guarantee the mission will be completed!"
The arrangement of the two armies had already made all the high-level officials present gasp.
Interlocking, one overt and one covert, it was a stroke of genius.
They looked at the Hokage at the head of the table, their hearts filled with nothing but shock and awe.
Was this really the gentle Hiruzen they knew? This strategy, this boldness, was even more terrifying than that of the Second Hokage back then.
Sarutobi Hiruzen paid no mind to their shock. His gaze slowly swept across the room, finally landing on Uchiha Kagami.
Uchiha Kagami's heart stirred. He knew it was their turn, the Uchiha's turn.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at him and slowly spoke.
"And the third army..."
His gaze passed through the window of the meeting room, towards the distant north, that land perennially covered in thunderclouds.
A surging fighting spirit rose in his eyes.
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