Konoha Village.
Hokage Office.
Danzo Shimura pushed open the door and walked in, asking Hiruzen Sarutobi with a puzzled expression, "Hiruzen, what do you need me for?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe and said with a smile, "Guess."
"..." Danzo Shimura's mouth twitched. He really couldn't understand what was wrong with his old teammate today.
Ever since the Uchiha Clan left Konoha, he had been constantly worried, fearing that the Hidden Cloud Village would suddenly attack.
Why did he seem so happy today?
"Hiruzen, don't look at me like that. It's making me uneasy."
Seeing Danzo Shimura's resistant expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi snorted lightly and tossed an intelligence scroll onto the desk.
"Danzo, our spy in the Hidden Sand Village sent news. After the Third Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village went missing, the Third Raikage took advantage of the chaos to attack the Hidden Sand Village."
Danzo Shimura asked while examining the contents of the scroll, "And then?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped the table, emphasizing, "The Hidden Cloud Village took advantage of the chaos to loot, so the Hidden Sand Village must be very displeased."
"Coupled with the Third Kazekage's disappearance, the Hidden Sand Village must be in a state of panic right now."
"As long as we extend an olive branch, the Hidden Sand Village will surely be grateful to us."
"If our two nations form an alliance, we won't have to constantly worry about those guys from the Hidden Cloud Village like before."
Hearing this, Danzo Shimura frowned, "Hiruzen, the 'olive branch' you mentioned..."
"It's just giving the Hidden Sand Village some money or resources," Hiruzen Sarutobi said indifferently. "The Hidden Sand Village is so poor, they will surely agree to our terms."
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's idea, Danzo Shimura felt a faint ache in his chest.
He had always coveted the position of Hokage, and a significant reason for this was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He felt that if he became Hokage, he would definitely be better than a guy like Hiruzen, who was always giving money away.
Tobirama-sensei, you were mistaken!
Thinking of this, Danzo Shimura's face darkened, and he said, "Hiruzen, can't you be a little tougher?"
Hearing his words, Hiruzen Sarutobi snorted coldly in his heart.
This guy Danzo was too stupid; he completely failed to understand his brilliance.
Why fight to the death over something that could be solved with a little money?
As long as there was no fighting, no one would be able to probe his true strength.
Just like the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama—they were strong fighters, but the strongest Hokage in people's hearts was him, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The reason for this was self-evident.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts were wandering, an Anbu suddenly appeared in the office.
"Hokage-sama, the latest intelligence."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took the intelligence from the Anbu's hand and casually glanced at it.
The next second, his pupils suddenly constricted.
Seeing this, Danzo Shimura felt curious and asked, "Hiruzen, what's wrong?"
"These, these, these bastards... they're going too far!!!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi spat out a mouthful of blood and actually fainted directly.
"Hokage-sama!"
The Anbu exclaimed, about to step forward, but was stopped by Danzo Shimura: "You go first, I'll handle things here."
The Anbu dared not disobey Danzo Shimura's order and could only leave.
After he left, Danzo Shimura unhurriedly picked up the scroll on the desk.
The content of the scroll was very simple.
[The Hidden Sand Village has declared war on Konoha, the front line is critical, requesting support!]
After reading it, Danzo Shimura understood why Hiruzen Sarutobi was so furious.
He was still thinking of forming an alliance with them, but instead of finding the instigator of the trouble, they turned around and bullied Konoha... This was no longer a matter of face; this was being ridden over and defecated upon!
After some wild thoughts, Danzo Shimura reached out and placed his finger in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi's nose.
Immediately after, his face turned ashen, and he slapped Hiruzen Sarutobi across the face.
How are you still so alive, you bastard!
— — — —
— — — —
The Hidden Sand Village and Konoha Village still went to war.
However, both sides tacitly chose the Land of Rain as the battleground.
On the Hidden Sand Village's side, led by Chiyo, Rasa, Pakura, and others, they continuously assaulted Konoha's defenses.
Konoha Village, on the other hand, was passively defending with Orochimaru, Hizashi Hyuga, and the Ino–Shika–Chō clans.
Overall, Konoha Village still held the advantage.
But the Hidden Sand Village, having nothing to lose, would retreat into the desert after battlefield setbacks, recuperate for a period, and then attack Konoha again.
Back and forth, the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha Village reached a stalemate.
— — — —
— — — —
Hidden Cloud Village.
Raikage Building.
Raikage Office.
The Third Raikage looked at Uchiha Yuzuru, Ay, Dodai, Sakumo Hatake, and others, and said in a deep voice, "The war between the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha Village has been in a stalemate for some time. I think now is the best time for us to enter."
"As long as we make a move, the current stalemate will surely be broken!"
Hearing this, Ay immediately nodded and said, "I agree with Father's idea. With the Hidden Sand Village tying them down, Konoha Village cannot be our opponent."
Dodai, Sakumo Hatake, and the others also had no objections to this.
Seeing his idea approved by everyone, the Third Raikage excitedly looked at Uchiha Yuzuru: "Yuzuru, what do you think?"
"As long as we defeat Konoha, we can extort another hefty sum in reparations."
Seeing everyone's gaze on him, Uchiha Yuzuru chuckled, "You're all a bit too impatient. We're still early."
"As long as we don't make a move, the Hidden Sand Village won't be able to do anything to Konoha, and Iwagakure and the Hidden Mist Village will surely join forces to deal with Konoha."
"And us..." Uchiha Yuzuru took out a kunai and an explosive tag and placed them on the table.
"We just need to keep selling various ninja tools, and we'll make a fortune."
"Our Land of Lightning is rich in various mineral resources, so this is essentially a no-cost business."
"The longer the war lasts, the more money we make."
"And..." Uchiha Yuzuru chuckled, "with four ninja Villages in a free-for-all, their respective strengths will become weaker and weaker."
"By then, we'll launch an attack on Konoha and firmly grasp the fruits of victory in our hands!"
After hearing Uchiha Yuzuru's idea, everyone present was stunned.
Even strategists like Dodai and Mabu Shin were astonished by Uchiha Yuzuru's idea.
In the previous two Great Ninja Wars, everyone rushed in to fight.
Today you fight me, tomorrow I fight you, the day after tomorrow we all fight Konoha... Everyone thought of trying to seize money and resources from other Villages, but no one had ever thought of selling war supplies to other Villages.
Could he really be a Genius?!
After much thought, Dodai suddenly noticed a loophole.
He asked Uchiha Yuzuru, "Lord Yuzuru, if things truly develop as you say, your strategy is indeed very good."
"But what if Iwagakure and the Hidden Mist Village simply don't participate? Even if they do, they might not necessarily buy our things."
To say nothing else, Ōnoki of Iwagakure was not someone to be trifled with.
Currently, their Hidden Cloud Village was the strongest. If they didn't make a move, other ninja Villages probably wouldn't be foolish enough to give them money, would they?
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