Konoha starts from the root

Will war really come?

Onoki also has no clear answer to this question.

Did he really want to start a war with Konoha?

of course not.

Although the departure of the Sannin and the death of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, severely weakened Konoha's top power, Konoha still has a large number of elite ninjas who can stand alone.

On the other hand, in Yanyin Village, apart from the old myself, who else can we count on?

In comparison, it can be easily discovered that the overall strength of Konoha is still higher than that of Iwagakure.

If a full-scale war really breaks out, Iwagakure Village will never take any advantage.

What's more, there are three great ninja villages surrounding him.

Therefore, he did not want to start a war.

At least not now.

However, in order to maintain internal stability and deal with external crises, he had to do this.

The more times like this, the more he has to show the toughness of Iwagakure.

Only in this way can Iwagakure Village block those prying eyes, continue to stand at the center of the ninja world, and then buy time to allow the village to survive the crisis of drought.

And when it comes to toughness, is there anything more effective than trying to start a war?

In fact, in addition to expressing the attitude of Iwagakure Village to the outside world, the most important thing he did was to put pressure on Konoha.

That's right, it's pressure.

If he really wanted to start a war, he would not have Shi Yi hurriedly dispatch ninjas from the east and west fronts to the border of Grassland before he was fully prepared.

And this is where those Iwa ninjas are confused. Logically speaking, Onoki, who has experienced three ninja wars, is unlikely to make such a mistake.

But he still issued such an order, and other senior officials unanimously acquiesced.

Obviously, these senior officials already knew Ohnoki's true intentions.

Based on Onoki's understanding of Sarutobi Hiruzen, as long as he makes such a move, the other party will definitely give priority to negotiation, and everything will be easy to talk about by then.

If Sarutobi Hiruzen really chooses to go to war, he will not back down.

Because of this, he asked all departments in the village to prepare for war.

I believe Konoha's spies will report the situation here to Sarutobi Hiruzen, so that the other party can see his determination.

What's more, he has a backup plan, and the Xiao organization is a good chess piece.

As long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a problem for the current Iwagakure Village.

······

Soon, time came to the end of November 60 in Konoha.

At this time, in the Country of Fire, Hidden Leaf Village, in the Hokage's office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned and smoked his pipe.

"Dong dong dong."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Sarutobi Hiruzen put down his pipe and said, "Come in."

Immediately, an ANBU ninja pushed open the door, quickly came to the desk, and handed over a document.

"Sir, this is the result of the investigation."

Upon hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen took the file and read it.

It records the number of ninjas arranged by Iwagakure Village near the border of Kusagakure Village, as well as some situations in Iwagakure Village.

After a moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen said: "Tenzo."

"exist."

"Have Shikaku come to me immediately."

"Yes."

After responding, Tianzang left directly using the teleportation technique.

In less than 10 minutes, Nara Shikaku arrived at the Hokage's office.

As the leader of the Konoha Nara clan, Nara Shikaku is a supporter of the Hokage system, and of course one of Hiruzen Sarutobi's confidants. He has strategies and judgment far beyond ordinary people, so Hiruzen Sarutobi will ask him for many things. Ask for advice.

This time is of course no exception.

"Sandaime-sama!" Nara Shikaku bowed slightly and greeted.

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded and said, "Shikaku, look at this."

With that said, he handed Nara Shikaku the investigation report that Tenzo had just given to him.

Nara Shikaku took the document, scanned it quickly, closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and said with certainty: "Similar to our previous analysis, Iwagakure Village does not really want to go to war."

After hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath from the cigarette, slowly exhaled it, and said, "What about their purpose?"

Nara Shikaku replied directly: "Judging from the recent intelligence, I'm afraid it is related to the invasion that Iwagakure Village encountered some time ago."

After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly asked: "I wonder if Lord Danzo has taken any action recently?"

As soon as these words came out, the meaning was obvious.

Due to the seriousness of the situation this time, in order to find out the cause and effect of the matter as soon as possible, Hiruzen Sarutobi had previously authorized Shikaku Nara to access some ANBU intelligence.

From the interrogation records of the Iwagakure spies captured by the ANBU half a year ago, he learned that Iwagakure had been collecting information on a Konoha ninja named Shiroha.

Taking this as a guide, Nara Shikaku relied on his IQ far beyond ordinary people, and through various intelligence and clues, he basically guessed the matter closely.

Therefore, he concluded that the ninja who invaded Iwagakure Village some time ago must be Shimura Danzo's subordinate, Shiroye.

Only Bai Ye, who had learned the art of Flying Thunder God, could escape safely after stealing some secrets of Iwagakure Village.

It is precisely because of this that Iwagakure will target Konoha.

After hearing Nara Shikaku's question, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked embarrassed. It was not that he wanted to hide something, but that the underlying situation seemed to be somewhat different from what he had expected.

Since the last time Bai Ye refused to obey his orders and forcibly escaped from the siege of Kakashi and others, he had secretly investigated the root.

It doesn't matter if you don't investigate. Once you investigate, you will find the problem.

There are various signs that he seems to have misjudged the relationship between Bai Ye and Shimura Danzo.

Fortunately, it was discovered in time. As long as Ibiki and Haiyi get the results, everything will naturally become clear.

Ignoring these thoughts for the time being, Sarutobi Hiruzen returned his attention to Nara Shikaku. After pondering for a moment, he said, "I understand what you mean."

Then, the topic changed and he asked: "Shikaku, how likely do you think peace talks are?"

Nara Shikaku thought for a long time after hearing this, and finally said: "More than half!"

"Oh, talk about it."

“Judging from the available intelligence, Iwagakure Village is not ready for a full-scale war, and the overall strength of Iwagakure Village is lower than ours.

Starting from half a year ago, there seemed to be some internal problems among them. Ohnoki may have wanted to divert the internal conflicts through a small-scale war.

However, once the war lasts longer or the scale of the war expands, it cannot be stopped.

As a result, a full-scale war may break out in the ninja world. Ohnoki cannot afford to gamble, and Iwagakure Village cannot afford to gamble.

Therefore, the possibility of successful peace talks is still high. "

After hearing Nara Shikaku's words, Sarutobi Hiruzen thought of the 'Akatsuki' organization that had been promoting war in surrounding small countries.

"If a war breaks out, will the Akatsuki organization take the opportunity to promote a full-scale war in the ninja world?"

"No, we must not let war break out."

Thinking like this, Sarutobi Hiruzen made up his mind to try his best to prevent the outbreak of war.