If it were just an attack by Sunagakure, they wouldn't be too concerned.
Although Hiruzen hoped for peaceful coexistence, he wouldn't fear war if it came.
Being in the prime of his life, he still harbored ambitious aspirations; he wasn't yet the old man who, faced with crises, still sought peaceful solutions.
But.
The allied attack by four Shinobi Villages on Sunagakure failed. Not only did they gain no benefits, they suffered significant losses.
They would definitely not let it rest.
The Second Shinobi World War had ended. After recuperating, the Shinobi Villages saw their Shinobi numbers rise. They now faced a situation where there weren't enough mission commissions.
The Great Shinobi Villages were better off; their reputation ensured most people were still willing to entrust missions to them.
But those smaller villages had already fought over a dozen wars competing for mission commissions.
Now, even Kumogakure and Iwagakure had joined in.
This indicated they too were beginning to face pressure from mission commissions, or a situation where they had to use war to meet their needs.
Having failed in their initial war attempt, their situation would not only not improve, but worsen.
They would inevitably not give up and would seek to reverse their fortunes through a larger-scale war.
Having failed to attack Sunagakure even when they found the perfect opportunity, they would definitely not attack Sunagakure again.
Because the cost would outweigh the gain.
And looking across the vast map of the Shinobi World, the only remaining best target for attack was Konoha.
After all, as the number one Shinobi Village in the world, Konoha handled nearly half of the mission commissions in the Shinobi World.
Toppling Konoha… no, even just achieving a local victory would allow them to gain massive benefits through negotiation.
In other words, Konoha now faced the possibility of being attacked by five Shinobi Villages simultaneously.
Contemplating this possibility, Hiruzen frowned deeply.
He stood up, biting his pipe, pacing back and forth in front of the desk. Smoke filled the air, making the whole room hazy.
"Could you smoke a little less?"
Hiruzen halted, looking at Danzo who was waving away the secondhand smoke. He shrugged helplessly and knocked the tobacco out of his pipe, extinguishing it.
"Don't know since when, whenever we discuss things, you smoke. Whenever something important comes up, you smoke like a chimney. I've really had enough." Danzo continued to complain incessantly.
Regarding this old friend, he had too many dissatisfactions.
Although Hiruzen was quite competent for the position of Hokage, Danzo felt he could do better, be more assertive.
After all, in the current Shinobi World, Konoha was the leader.
Showing too much kindness would only make more rodents dare to reach out their claws.
"I'll be more mindful in the future."
Far from feeling displeased at his old friend's complaints, Hiruzen felt a twinge of nostalgia.
From their days at the Academy to becoming teammates, their relationship had always been like this. It was only after they became the Hokage and the leader of Root, each busy with their own affairs, that they gradually grew distant.
Danzo noticed the nostalgia on Hiruzen's face and felt somewhat touched inwardly, but he didn't show it.
He maintained his usual stern expression. "Konoha is now facing an unprecedented crisis. One wrong move could lead to the village's destruction."
"You're right." Hiruzen nodded lightly. "In a one-against-five scenario, we stand no chance. We should send envoys to Sunagakure to reassure them, even offer appropriate benefits, before they take action, to extinguish their desire to attack. Then, we should engage in negotiations with Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Amegakure, and Kusagakure to break their alliance from within."
"That approach isn't wrong, but just how many benefits would be enough to make Sunagakure abandon their desire to attack?" Danzo sneered. "In normal times, maybe. But now we're facing a joint attack from four villages. If Sunagakure sees an opportunity, they definitely won't let it go easily."
Hiruzen took a deep breath and sighed. "I understand all that, but this is the best plan I can think of right now. When you're in a weak position, you can only carve out and offer benefits."
"That's because you haven't delved deeply enough into the situation." Danzo walked to the desk, took out a map, and spread it open. "First, the alliance of the four villages… Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Amegakure, and Kusagakure. They are only united by interests; it's by no means unbreakable."
"That's why I said we should break their alliance from within through negotiations."
"That's why I said your method isn't wrong, but the order needs to be changed. We must first dismantle the alliance, then send envoys to placate Sunagakure. Or do both simultaneously."
Hiruzen was taken aback for a moment, then stared intently at the map, but couldn't make sense of it even after a long while.
"We have an alliance with Sunagakure, so we can use that relationship to reach a settlement through benefit distribution before war breaks out. But the other four villages..."
"Their relationships with each other aren't harmonious either." Danzo said. "Since the end of the Second Shinobi World War, Kumogakure has been continuously increasing its military capabilities. In terms of pure military strength, they are probably number one in the Shinobi World."
A village's overall strength needs to be judged comprehensively based on population, economy, military, scale, etc.
A village like Kumogakure, which disregards its economic burden to maximize military power as much as possible, cannot sustain itself for long.
The end result can only be self-destruction.
But the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning trusts Kumogakure immensely. Every year, he approves military funds far exceeding the budget, which created this abnormal monster that is Kumogakure.
"Kumogakure is different from our Konoha. They are not only militarily powerful, but also very aggressive, deeply feared by surrounding nations. Compared to our Konoha, Iwagakure, Amegakure, and Kusagakure probably fear Kumogakure more."
"That is indeed true." Hiruzen pondered slightly. "In that case, even if they form an alliance, they won't trust each other, especially since they've already failed once. Exploiting each village's wariness of Kumogakure, there's a high probability we can achieve the dismantling of the allied forces first."
"Compared to a strong Konoha, they fear a strong Kumogakure more. If Konoha loses in this war, then no one will be able to stop Kumogakure." A confident expression appeared on Danzo's face. "Once we show initial setbacks in the war, the Allied Forces will start having their own thoughts internally. Then, sending envoys to negotiate, explaining the stakes, might even incite conflict among them."
"That situation is too idealistic. I'd be satisfied just by dismantling their alliance."
"I was just stating the possibility." Danzo shot him an annoyed glance.
'This guy, always raining on the parade.'
But he couldn't be bothered to argue about such things.
After all, they were no longer carefree like in their childhood. Now, one was the Hokage, the other the leader of the Root.
Each had their own duties, crucially important, requiring a mature and steady persona.
"I am acquainted with Hanzo of Amegakure and understand Onoki's character. Let me be the envoy to Iwagakure and Amegakure."
"What about Sunagakure?"
"Send someone to negotiate simultaneously. Do as you said… offer benefits to placate them. But at the same time, we need to display our military strength. We cannot reveal that Konoha is currently in a position where they can be easily manipulated."
As for Kusagakure, neither of them mentioned it.
In this Shinobi World, weakness is a sin.
Puny Kusagakure wasn't even worth consideration.
(A/N: Kumogakure's military strength being number one in the Shinobi World is information given in the official databooks.
Whether it's Sha no Sho or Jin no Sho, I forget.
It rates each village's strength based on economy, population, military, scale, with a maximum score of 5 and minimum of 1.
Kumo's military strength is 5, overall strength 4.
Konoha's military strength is 4, overall strength 5.
And Sunagakure is the weakest, seemingly unworthy of being one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Hmm, since I read the data last year, the numbers might be off, but that's the gist of it.)