Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

The three people refused to admit they were wrong.

However, they didn't have Danzo's thick skin to believe that everything they did was right without any basis.

Even if things fail, they can firmly believe that the reason for the failure is that others are unwilling to cooperate and die.

Mitokado Homura asked, "Hiruzen, what do we do now?"

The Third Hokage smiled wryly: "What else can we do? We've all heard the cheers from the Konoha ninjas; they've made it crystal clear. How can I, as Hokage, go against their will?"

Koharu Utatane said with a sense of grievance, "These ninjas have no sense of the big picture. They think we're wrong just because they were upset. We were just thinking of them and afraid they would die on the battlefield."

Mitokado Homura asked in bewilderment, "They used to be so reasonable, why have they changed like this today?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, "In the past, they weren't reasonable; they were simply unable and unwilling to express their own thoughts."

"Now that Xia Zuo has spoken their minds, they only need to express their agreement with cheers, and naturally they have nothing to worry about anymore."

Koharu, gritting her teeth, said, "That Xia Zuo is a real menace, maybe we should..."

Mitokado Homura chuckled coldly: "Natsuzo even killed Shimura Danzo, do you think you can defeat him? Or are you planning to bring a large group of people to ambush and kill him?"

"The legend of the Wood Release ninja is circulating among the current Konoha ninjas. If they were to actually fight him, I think the Konoha ninjas would all choose to give up the fight, or even side with Xia Zuo instead."

The Third Hokage smiled helplessly: "Yes, the initiative is in Xia Zuo's hands."

"He doesn't reveal his identity, nor does he openly oppose me. I still hold the position of Third Hokage of Konoha. If he were to reveal his identity and oppose us..."

"Let's grant Xia Zuo and the Konoha ninjas' wish."

"Yan, go and meet the surviving Cloud Village ninja. Tell them that Konoha will not back down an inch. Either continue the previous peace agreement, or come and fight."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Mitokado Yan stood up, but stopped abruptly as he walked to the door.

He turned around and said with emotion, "Hiruzen, Koharu, I suddenly realized that after deciding to take a tough stance against Kumogakure, I was actually quite happy inside."

"Perhaps we were wrong in the past. We thought too much and made the wrong decisions that went against our own hearts."

After saying that, he left without waiting for his two old classmates to respond.

……

A day later, Kirabi met the two surviving messengers and learned the details.

The guy went straight back to his tent, relayed the information to the Fourth Raikage, and then asked, "Big brother, what's the next step?"

The Fourth Raikage came in secret. After all, he knew his younger brother well. The boy was tall and strong, but his brain wasn't very sharp.

The Fourth Raikage couldn't feel at ease entrusting nearly ten thousand Cloud Village ninjas to Killer Bee, even with Tsuchida's assistance.

Therefore, he secretly came to the front line from the beginning to sit in the central command and stabilize morale.

Yes, what's stable is Tsuchita's heart, and what's stable is Kirabi's desire to sing in public.

This wasn't just the Fourth Raikage overthinking things; if he hadn't come along, the Cloud Village camp would definitely have turned into Killer Bee's concert venue.

After reading the intelligence, the Fourth Raikage couldn't help but sigh, "Konoha is Konoha after all."

"Konoha's White Fang died, then Namikaze Minato appeared; then Namikaze Minato died, then Uchiha Shisui appeared; and just when the Third Hokage and the Uchiha clan were fighting amongst themselves, an unknown Wood Release ninja appeared."

"Is this never going to end?"

Kirabi habitually begins with a rap: "Yo yo, there's a lot more bad news—a lot more!"

The Fourth Raikage knocked his younger brother to the ground with a single punch, scolding him, "How many times have I told you? No rapping when we're talking about serious matters!"

Killer Bee rubbed the large bump on his head and honestly recounted the other information: "Our ninjas spotted Jiraiya and Tsunade in the hot spring town of the Land of Hot Springs."

The Fourth Raikage asked, "Did you also see any trace of Orochimaru?"

Killer Bee nodded: "There were indeed traces that resembled Orochimaru, but we didn't find him."

The Fourth Raikage: "Having any trace of him is enough. Orochimaru is, after all, a rogue ninja of Konoha!"

"The legendary Sannin of Konoha have all gathered... Rogue ninja, what a perfect rogue ninja!"

To be fair, the Land of Lightning has a harsher environment than the Land of Wind, and the Hidden Cloud Village is more impoverished than the Hidden Sand Village.

Therefore, during Konoha's 10th year, Kumogakure was ranked last among the five great ninja villages.

The harsh environment forced successive Raikage to devote themselves wholeheartedly to the development of Kumogakure.

They internally strengthened management to eliminate divisions and devoted themselves to cultivating new talents, while externally they launched frenzied attacks to plunder talent, resources, and secret techniques.

Even the successive Raikage personally participated in the raids on smaller ninja villages, showing no concern for the status of major powers or large ninja villages.

Throughout the various Shinobi World Wars, Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) has always exercised great restraint, refusing to squander its resources.

When faced with an unavoidable battle, the Raikage would always be the first to rush to the front, doing everything possible to preserve the village's remaining strength.

When faced with the rebellion of Kinkaku and Ginkaku, the Second Raikage and the Third Raikage faced the siege of the Iwagakure army, both chose to sacrifice themselves to protect the new generation of Kumogakure.

It must be said that although the Raikage never talks about the Will of Fire, he leads by example and puts it into practice. As a result, Kumogakure has grown from the weakest of the five great ninja villages at its founding to the second strongest.

Now that Kumogakure can directly challenge Konoha, the Fourth Raikage still maintains his style of leading from the front.

However, when the Fourth Raikage faced the endless stream of geniuses in Konoha Village, as well as the three legendary Sannin of Konoha who, despite bearing the title of rogue ninja, still secretly contributed to Konoha Village, he still felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

He wasn't afraid of the current Konoha Village, nor was he afraid of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi; he wasn't even afraid of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha.

What the Fourth Raikage feared was the deep-rooted strength of Konoha Village.

The sheer number of young Kage-level ninjas that appear every now and then is terrifying. If the Fifth Hokage were a normal Hokage who wasn't focused on internal strife, how many more Kage-level ninjas could Konoha have produced in ten years?

Can the Hidden Cloud Village really maintain its current status after fifty years of effort?

The Fourth Raikage found it increasingly terrifying, yet also increasingly difficult to weigh the pros and cons.

According to the intelligence we had previously received, the Uchiha clan was wiped out, and all the Jonin, including Fugaku and Shisui, were dead. Itachi and Danzo Shimura defected.

With only the Third Hokage left as a Kage-level ninja, Konoha Village certainly presented a suitable opportunity to attack. They might just be able to cripple Konoha Village in one fell swoop and overthrow this strongest ninja village.

But Uchiha Shisui didn't die; he even displayed the legendary Susanoo, proving that he was a Kage-level ninja capable of suppressing Jinchuriki.