The two of them immediately picked up on the cue. Homura joined in, saying:
"Hiruzen, Danzo isn't wrong. Mist Village is becoming more audacious, even threatening us with war. This isn't a good sign."
"No matter what, I believe the village's intelligence on the Mist Village is too limited. We should start preparing; Konoha must not put itself in a vulnerable position," added Koharu Utatane.
If it had been only Danzo speaking, the Third Hokage probably wouldn't have taken it too seriously.
But with both Koharu and Homura echoing the concern, it caught his attention.
After giving it some thought, he realized the village's intelligence on the Mist Village was indeed lacking.
If not for Xin killing Fuguki Suikazan and bringing back his corpse, Konoha would have had no idea about the recent changes in the Mist Village.
After a moment of contemplation, the Third Hokage nodded and said:
"I will make arrangements for this. But as for the personnel..."
The Mist Village had been sealed off for a long time, and with it located far out at sea, its people looked quite different from those in the Land of Fire. Infiltrating for intelligence was no easy task, and planting a spy there would be challenging.
"Inserting a spy wouldn't be ideal. The best approach would be to send a strong individual to infiltrate and gather intelligence directly," Danzo suddenly suggested.
"The Mist Village has been isolated for too long, and given that it's far from the mainland, their appearance is very different from people in the Land of Fire. The village needs immediate intelligence, and sending a spy would take too long," he explained.
"So we need to send a strong individual instead."
Danzo's argument was sound, and the Third Hokage couldn't find any fault with it.
"So, who do you think is suitable for this mission?" asked the Third Hokage.
Danzo remained silent, letting Koharu take the lead in suggesting someone to avoid raising suspicion.
They had all known each other for decades.
If Danzo were to make the suggestion, the Third Hokage might get suspicious, but if Koharu did it, things would go much more smoothly.
Having already joined forces with Danzo, Koharu had no choice but to play along, even if she didn't like it. She offered her thoughts:
"The Sannin are not suitable for this. Tsunade needs to stay in the village to manage the logistics department. Jiraiya has already left the village, and who knows when he'll return. As for Orochimaru..."
"Ahem!!"
The Third Hokage awkwardly cleared his throat when his three disciples were mentioned. Orochimaru was too engrossed in his experiments; he didn't even want to take on missions, let alone spy work.
The Third Hokage didn't want to force him, and Tsunade had to manage the logistics department and the medical corps, so she couldn't leave.
Jiraiya had long gone.
This meant three suitable candidates were already out.