“Ninjas from Amegakure have already invaded the Land of Fire’s border.” In the conference room within the Hokage Building, Hiruzen smoked his pipe, thick smoke swirling around him, and said with a deep frown, “It seems war is unavoidable.” Danzo glared at Hiruzen with his single eye.
“Hmph!
I’ve said it before, don’t harbor illusions.
When dealing with enemies, you must strike first.
They should be eliminated before they even arrive.” “What about Sakumo?
With his strength, he should be able to annihilate the invading enemies, right?” Homura frowned, clearly not very satisfied with Sakumo’s performance.
“The border is too long, and it’s not just Amegakure, there might also be people from the Sunagakure.
With insufficient manpower, it’s difficult to establish an effective defense line.” Hiruzen said.
“Even Sunagakure is involved?
That’s truly big trouble.” Koharu said.
“Hmph, if my advice had been heeded earlier, we would have already pushed back against Amegakure by now.
How could we still be harassed by these small nations?
Hiruzen, you’re too weak.” Danzo remained indignant, a fire simmering within him.
He felt that if he were the Hokage, that damned Amegakure and its damned demigod would have long since been dealt with by him.
Hiruzen wasn’t annoyed in the slightest.
He shook his pipe and said, “Overly aggressive actions can easily make us targets.
Our enemies aren’t just Amegakure, there are many enemies we need to be wary of.” “You mean, besides Amegakure and Sunagakure, Kumogakure and Iwagakure might also get involved, leading to a major war?” Homura asked anxiously.
“It’s not clear yet, but the border skirmishes and conflicts between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth haven’t ceased recently.” Hiruzen said.
“What do you plan to do then?
Why not dispatch the Uchiha Police Force to support the border and have them resist the invaders from Amegakure?” Koharu immediately thought of the Uchiha, shamelessly inserting her own agenda.
“Koharu is right.
The Uchiha Clan is powerful and well-staffed, keeping them in the village is a waste.
It would be better to send them to the border to play a greater role.” Homura also had no trust in the Uchiha.
“The Uchiha are Konoha’s Uchiha, they are also members of Konoha.
There should be no prejudice against them, nor should they be ostracized.” Hiruzen said with a serious expression.
Entrusting the Uchiha Clan with the management of the Police Force was Tobirama’s arrangement.
On one hand, it was out of apprehension, and on the other, it was to limit the Uchiha’s power to the Police Force, so that the strength of the Uchiha Clan would be wasted on trivial matters within the village, earning them no good reputation, thereby naturally serving to suppress them.
“Hmph!
No one from the Uchiha Clan is trustworthy.
There are many Uchiha ninjas who have inherited Madara’s radical ideology.
Everyone in this clan carries a potential danger.” Danzo grumbled.
“There are also different people within the Uchiha Clan.
After all, they are Kagami’s descendants.” Hiruzen offered a few words of defense.
Furthermore, as the Hokage, the leader of the village, it would be incompetent to lead the ostracization of a portion of the villagers and ninjas.
This conflicted with his personal “Will of Fire.” “Kagami is Kagami, and Uchiha is Uchiha, they are different.” The Advisors still didn’t trust the Uchiha, or rather, they didn’t trust Uchiha ninjas who possessed the Sharingan.
After all, no one who had truly witnessed the power of the Sharingan could fail to be wary of the Uchiha Clan.
“Alright.
The Uchiha Police Force will remain in the village, performing the important task of protecting the village.” Hiruzen didn’t want to dwell on this issue.
“What do you plan to do then?” Homura’s eyes held an inquisitive look.
“I plan to dispatch two units to support the Land of Fire’s border.
One will be led by Danzo, with Root as its main force.
The other will be led by Orochimaru, selecting twenty ninjas to go together for support.
Tsunade and Jiraiya will temporarily remain in the village to prepare for subsequent reinforcements should the situation change.” Orochimaru!
Koharu and Homura subtly exchanged glances, both seeing the same assumption in the other’s eyes.
Sending Orochimaru out now somewhat implied grooming him as a successor.
Consequently, Danzo was extremely displeased, his anger about to erupt.
He jabbed his cane onto the floor and said, “Departure at 6 AM tomorrow,” before turning to leave.
“Hiruzen…” The two advisors felt somewhat awkward.
Hiruzen waved his hand, signaling them not to speak, and instructed, “I’ll leave the frontline supplies to the two of you.” “Alright.
Koharu and I will go prepare immediately.” Homura said.
“Yes, I’ll leave it to you.” After receiving their orders, Homura and Koharu quickly left the conference room.
— — — “Yo!
Been waiting long?” At the entrance of the dessert shop on Konoha’s pedestrian street, Ryosuke greeted the waiting Mikoto.
“No, I just got here too.” Mikoto smiled.
“Let’s go in then.” Ryosuke pushed aside the shop’s door curtain.
After entering with Mikoto, he chose a corner spot and ordered five skewers of dango and two cups of barley tea.
The two leisurely chatted while eating dessert and sipping their tea.
Mikoto loved dango, but Ryosuke found them quite ordinary.
So, one skewer was enough for him, the remaining four were all Mikoto’s.
“How is it?
Are you getting used to the Police Force?” Ryosuke asked.
Mikoto replied with a smile, “Mmm, it’s pretty good.
The senpais take good care of me and the tasks are all very simple.” This was reasonable.
After all, Mikoto was the Great Elder’s granddaughter, with a prominent status.
Who in the Uchiha Clan would dare to bully her?
“And you?
Is it hard following Orochimaru-sama?” “It’s alright.
They’re all simple tasks, nothing I’d call hard.” “What about your training?” “I’ve made some progress, I’m much stronger than before.” “Mmm, that’s great then.” “I expect I’ll be leaving the village for missions soon.” “Leave the village?” “Yeah, I’ve done all the simple tasks in the village.
It’s time to go out.” “So you’ll be facing real enemies then?” Mikoto sounded a bit worried.
“For ninjas, it’s unavoidable…” Before Ryosuke could finish, Nawaki rushed in.
As soon as he saw Ryosuke, he said, “I finally found you.
Hurry, Orochimaru-sensei is looking for us.” “Looking for us?” “Yes, hurry!” Nawaki grabbed Ryosuke and ran outside.
When Mikoto chased after them, she saw the two already at the end of the alley.
Ryosuke turned his head back and shouted, “Mikoto, don’t worry!
You go back first!
I’ll come see you later!” “I understand!” Mikoto replied loudly, standing on the street until Ryosuke’s figure disappeared from sight, then she worriedly headed home.