Chapter : 9 : Konohagakure's Higher Ups Meeting And Minato Namikaze's Report :
Location : Hidden Leaf Village , Land of Fire :
Konohagakure no Sato / Hidden Leaf village was established by Sanju hashirama's and Uchiha Madara's cooperation which first started the end of the Waring States period and brought fourth the era of organised shinobi villages .
Since it's creation and the death of Senju Hashirama the First Hokage / Shodai Hokage the village has faced multiple crisis - the First Great Shinobi War / Daiichiji Ninkai Taisen , Second Great Shinobi War / Dainiji Ninkai Taisen and now the Third Great Shinobi War / Daisanji Ninkai Taisen is still ongoing .
Even after all these problems and crisis the Hidden Leaf Village stands tall with pride and honour. It's walls protecting it's people inside and training new generation of shinobis to protect the Will of Fire in the future .
Although it's called a village it's size is a comparable to that of a large city .
Currently Konohagakure no Sato is being lead by the Third Hokage / Sandaime Hokage - Hiruzen Sarutobi .
Don't judge this old man by his looks he was a student of the late second hokage and is known as the professor for his vast knowledge in ninjutsu and various other flieds . He led Konoha after the death of Senju Tobirama during the First Great Shinobi War , afterwards he also led Konohagakure in the Second Great Shinobi War and now is leading the village in the Third Great Shinobi War .
Although many Naruto fans criticised him for various faults ( of which many were not his own to began with ) the fact is that he is one of strongest kage of his time .
And obviously if you compare him with figures like Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara then one would fill weak . Even the five kages were not strong enough to beat Uchiha Madara let alone Senju Hashirama .
One must remember that these two are nothing but beasts and had both Indra's and Asura's chakra in them and comparing them with most of the other shinobi no matter if he is a kage or is a bit unfair .
But when compared to his era he truly is a formidable force to be reckoned with .
But Hiruzen alone couldn't run the entire village all by himself and he was supported by his trusted advisors and childhood friends ( at least some of them are friends ) .
( Authors note : Hello guys I hope all of you are doing well and before going any further I would like to say somethings . I know many Naruto fans hate Sarutobi Hiruzen for various reasons that I am sure I don't need to explain but the problem is that this has turned into prejudice . In fact while I was going through many fanfictions the only thing I read about Sarutobi Hiruzen is that how he was a manipulative guy and all the other bad stuff but not a single of his accomplishments were mentioned .
No matter what he did in his term as the Hokage the fact is that he served his village to the death. He led Konohagakure in difficult times and most of all he was able to maintain stability in Konohagakure that Senju Tobirama left behind even in the face of such great disasters like two great shinobi wars and some unstable clans and peoples within the village . Yes he too made many mistakes and I am not denying that . For example I don't agee with his decision in the Hyuga incident and at the same time I also think that his role should have been more positive in Kakashi's fathers the white fang's incident.But overall I think he's rule was decent at least and he doesn't deserve the hatred he is given. Specially considering the circumstances his faced against both internal and external problems and enimes he had to deal with .
So I believe that this man deserves respect and after reading this if you feel like you are not happy then I ask you not to read any further because in this fanfiction I am not going to say anything that would deliberately deteriorate anyone's dignity or image . If they did a mistake then it's a mistake and if they didn't that means that they didn't , as simple as that .
All these are personal thoughts and opinions so please don't get mad at me 😭 pretty please 🥺 , so if you don't like it then don't read any further . )
Right now inside the office Sarutobi Hiruzen and three of Konohagakure no Sato's advisors were having a high level meeting .
" Hiruzen we need to push forward against the hidden sand village as soon as we can . They have already attacked us at the border and broken through the first defensive line . They have also accused us of killing their third kage this is too upsetting and outrageous , we must strike back with full force let the bestards know what happens when someone betrays us . "
Shimura Danzo the leader of root and one of Sarutobi Hiruzen's so called old friends slammed the table with a furious expression on his face and directly said what he had to say infront of Sarutobi Hiruzen .
" Alright Danzo I understand what you mean but don't forget that we are already fighting other three villages in some manner or not in different frontiers especially the war against the hidden stone village in the land of grass is getting worse hence needs our utmost attention . And as for the Sunagakure no Sato's attack we will send an army of 1,000 shinobi in 3 days to assist our border forces . " - said Sarutobi Hiruzen the third Hokage .
Hiruzen was very much aware of his friend's desires and aspirations to become hokage but since he couldn't , he has always tried to undermine Hiruzen's authority in everywhere possible and showing little to no respect for his authority .
But Hiruzen had always remained tolerant towards his old friend not only because of his friendship with him but because the village needed him.
Yes unlike what the root organisation will be shown in the future main story line right now they did conduct many useful operation for the village specially during the time of war .
Infact all the shinobi villages had organisations similar to ANBU for example the hunter ninja of the hidden Mist village . They all perform various undercover and dirty task that cannot be done in light but had to be done for the village .
But in Konoha this is more complicated as the ANBU is divided into two parts first under the hokage and there is the Root shinobies who are equally qualified but work under Shimura Danzo . Although , nominally they too are under the Hokage's command but in reality they perform task for Shimura Danzo .
" Sorry to interrupt your meeting Hokage sama but Namikaze Minato and his team has return to the village and Mr Namikaze is requesting permission to see you on an urgent notice . " - suddenly while the meeting was going on the unbu guard who was outside the door came in and reported Minato's arrival .
" Alright let him in. " - said Sarutobi Hiruzen .
If it was any other shinobi of Jonin rank shinobi he wouldn't even consider letting the in so easily but since it's Minato who came the scenario is different .
Minato is an once in a lifetime genius who had successfully learned the flying thunder God technique and is also the student of Jiraiya one of the three legendary Sanins . Not only that Minato's romantic relationship with Uzumaki kushina the nine tails Jinchuriki of the village has also given him a fair advantage in everyone's eyes .
In Hiruzen's eyes Minato is the true up holder of the will of fire and one of the best candidates of becoming the future Hokage only followed by his other student Orochimaru .
In fact since Hiruzen learned of the closeness and the hazi experimentations that Orochimaru is doing along side Shimura Danzo who had always covered the position of the hokage by any means required , had started to favour Minato more and more .
This is why he had repeatedly send Minato on more and more task so that he can form his own reputation and earn enough merits for himself in this war .
And everyone present here knew about it and except for one person no one else had any problem .
And the one having problem happens to be none other than Shimura Danzo . To him Namikaze Minato is not someone he can control unlike Orochimaru who he has more liberty with . So he always tried to minimise and undermine Minato's achievements through various means .
" Lord Hokage and respected advisors forgive me for interrupting your discussion right now but I have something very important to say and this cannot be delayed . " - Minato who had just came in from the door after getting the permission bowed slightly towards the audience in the room and said in an apologetic manner .
Seeing another opportunity to scold Minto Danzo who was sitting quietly in the side wanted to shout at him but was stopped by Hiruzen who knowing his old friend's tactics choose start the conversation first .
" Don't worry Minato you can speak freely infront of me . " - Hiruzen said as he gave a kind smile to Minato .
" Thankyou lord third but right now I have something very important to report . You see ... " - after getting Hiruzen's permission Minato started to speak recounting all the events he and his team went through since the start of their mission .
At first he recounted his team's encounter with the the Iwagakure shinobis and the subsequent fight white giving over the scools containing the enemies dead bodies .
After hearing this everyone's mood in the office changed as the fact that the enemy was able to get so deep within their border means that there are some major loopholes in their defences .
But what they didn't expect was that what Minato would say afterwards will leave them even more shocked .
Soon Minato Namikaze recounted his meeting with the retreating shinobis from the city and his subsequent fight against the masked man .
For a shinobi getting proper information to the village is indispensable as such he didn't hide from his opponent's strength to him being suppressd through out the battle .
After Minato finished his report the room fell into a deep silence as no one knew what to say .
" Leng Luo ! A demonic mask ! Strong armour ! The leader of the Black Knights ! Unknown Jutsu which doesn't require chakra ! "
Right now Sarutobi Hiruzen's eye's were closed in contemplation as he quickly summarised all the information Minato had given.
This was a tricky situation even for Hiruzen. An unknown enemy suddenly appearing out of nowhere that too in a town which was closely located near a big supply route is strange and very problematic but the fact that this enemy has the powers to overpower Minato in a short confentation is even more shocking .
Undoubtedly in today's time Minato is one of the greatest asset and fighting force of the village he was the student of Jiraiya a one of the three legendary Sanins and a person who has reached the kage level threshold at a young age not only was he a master in many different jutsus including the flying thunder got technique his character and smart mind made him a formal opponent even for the most experienced to Kage level enemies .
But in front of this enemy he was not only defeated but also over powered thoroughly throughout the fight which puts the opponent strength at least at the level of a Kage .
Although Minato didn't use different much of his strength the fight but for experienced and powerful shinobis specially of the Kage level shinobis a few moves even if it's basic is enough to give them the understanding of the opponents strength .
So even if Minato had not gone all out with his power while fighting this mysterious elite it was enough to give the basic impression of this man's power to Hiruzen and the others .
And then there is the fact that this man claim to be the leader of an organisation known as the Black knight.
What is this organisation ? How many people did this organisation have ? What is their objective ? Are they related to any other hidden villages ? - so many questions popped out in Hiruzen's mind but he knew that right now there was no way to get any these answered .
" Minato are you sure of what you just said is true that is Leng Lao person is that strong . " - Hiruzen asked Minato in order to get the final confirmation and if he had missed any details .
" Yes lord Hokage that's all I knew about this man . For his strength I am sure I have made no mistakes in my observation and this person is definitely a Kage level power house . And as for for his identity and this organisation called Black Knights all though I am not sure how much of the information is true but from the looks I doubt that a man like him with his power will lie about such a thing . " - Minato replied quickly without any hesitation as he was sure of observation .
" Sigh ! " - after hearing Minato's confidence Hiruzen released a troubled sigh .
" Good job ! Minato you have made the right decision to inform me immediately of the matter . Now you can go and rest properly afterwards come to me personally to give a written report on the entire incident . " - after sometime Hiruzen regained his kind smile once again as he said to Minato in a gentle manner .
" Thank you lord Hokage I will take my leave then . " - after bowing to the esteemed people in the room once again Minato left while closing the door .
After Minato left Shimura Danzo one of Konoha's elder councillor and Hiruzen's childhood friend opened his mouth to speak .
" Hiruzen this matter needs to be carefully investigated . We can't let such a strong and unpredictable variable remain especially not now while we fight on multiple fronts . " - Shimura Danzo said in a serious yet strong voice .
" But we are already facing manpower shortages while dealing with the Kumogakure no Sato and Iwagakure no Sato as it is and soon we will have to fight a full scale war with Sunagakure no Sato as well . We certainly don't have time to deal with the a person and a hypothetical organisation . " - but before Hiruzen could say something to Danzo , Koharu Utatane one of Konoha's elder councillor objected stating the current manpower shortages as her reason .
" Hmph ! As if those sand shinobis can be a threat to us and if we need more manpower than we can just shorten the time of shinobi accademy's graduation time and have more fresh recruit . " - Danzo said totally dismissive of Utatane Koharu's worries .
In Danzo's eyes both Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado are useless people who were not much effective on the battlefield and only survived so long due to luck and by associating with strong people . If not for the fact that they held important positions in the village thanks to their skills in finance and diplomacy he would have outright dismissed their existence altogether .
" Alright but let's not forget about the financial situation we are facing right now . Even without the manpower problem we are already starting to get low on funds and we can't dedicate too much for this search of a man . " - Homura Mitokado who was silent till now spoke up trying to stabilize the situation and bring forth the financial issue on the table .
" Alright alright everyone calm down what you all said are true and good points . Danzo others are correct we can't give too much of our attention and manpower in finding one man or a hypothetical organisation for now . But at the same time it is also true that we need to find any evidence of this man known as Leng Luo as soon as possible because we can't have such a variable in this stage of War so I will have a part of my ANBU investigate this matter as much as possible . " - Hiruzen seeing the discussion was going out of track deceively opened his mouth and gave his final decision .
After hearing Hiruzen's decision the rest of the people in the room nodded in agreement although Danzo did so with much reluctance .
After this they discussed some other matters and finally decided that Orochimaru would be the one to lead the troops against Sunagakure no Sato .
" Alright since there is no other discussion left let's dismis today's official meeting . " - Sarutobi Hiruzen said as everyone left the meeting room one by one until Hiruzen was the only one remaining in the office room .
After getting up from his seat he went towards the window and gazed at the village below . As he saw the streets full of people enjoying and cheerful even while the war is going on he felt a little emotional as a smile formed on his face involuntarily .
Whenever he looked at this scene he somehow regains the energy he needs to live on . This scene of happiness is what reminds him that what is fighting for .
But then a sad expression appeared on his face as he remembered the countless shinobi who died and will die to protect this village .
" Teacher and lord First since you too passed away a lot has happened and don't know if I have able to become a good Hokage . " - Hiruzen started saying while looking at the stone faces of the first and second hokages rook faces .
" A lot of wars and needles killing had happened in my watch of which I too am directly responsible for . But now I know that times have changed and it's time for me to hand over the position of Hokage to the next generation's hand . Once this war is over I will take responsibility for the losses and take my retirement gracefully . I hope you all will agree with my decision . " - Hiruzen said as had already stealed himself to retire after this war and handover the hat to the Yondaime Hokage / Forth Fire Shadow .
To be continued .