Uchiha's personal opinion

“If the border troops are not strong enough, they can be strengthened. As long as you are determined, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished.”

Uchiha Tokumitsu replied, "The key is how to make this happen!"

Sakumo Hatake and Ashina Uzumaki both nodded in agreement.

Chapter 129 Not to Kill the Envoy

Sakumo Hatake and Ashina Uzumaki entered the Uchiha clan's territory overnight without any attempt to hide, and it was obvious who they were meeting.

Therefore, all those who cared about the current affairs of Konoha received information about the meeting of the three.

The Hidden Mist Mission, the Land of Whirlpools, the Uzumaki Clan, Uchiha Tokumitsu, and Hatake Sakumo.

After arranging and combining the above words, the intelligence already has a basic foundation for further analysis.

Kirigakure was interested in the Land of Whirlpools and sent an envoy to discuss the matter. Dissatisfied with this, the Uzumaki clan and Hatake Sakumo approached Uchiha Tokumitsu and the Uchiha clan behind him, intending to join forces to reject Kirigakure's request.

Based on intelligence and current conditions, although the Konoha high-ranking officials and leaders of various ninja clans who were paying attention to this matter could not know the specific content of the talks, they could easily piece together the information by combining it with the recent dynamics of Konoha and arrive at a judgment that was not far from the truth.

Culture and cognitive level determine the character, behavior, and judgment of individuals and groups, leading to different choices when faced with options.

In the eyes of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was accustomed to power struggles and the exchange of interests, nothing was untradeable as long as the starting point was for the sake of Konoha. The reason why he held talks with the Kirigakure delegation and gave a vague response to Kirigakure's claims to the land of whirlpools was also for the benefit of Konoha. It was just a delaying tactic when he had to focus on dealing with the restless Sunagakure and Kumogakure.

On several battlefields of the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha successively repelled Iwagakure and Sunagakure, suppressed Amegakure, and achieved considerable victories. However, apart from Amegakure, Iwagakure and Sunagakure were not entirely convinced and were secretly preparing for another battle.

However, Konoha's standing ninja force is not unlimited.

The Cloud Village barbarians of the Land of Lightning are also making some small moves on the border. The Hokage's son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, and the elite of the Sarutobi clan are heading to the northern front. At this time, even if the village still has spare capacity, it must be reserved as a reserve force to support the northern region in dealing with the Cloud Village.

Therefore, the east must not be thrown into chaos.

Therefore, Mist Shadow needs to remain calm.

Therefore, the demands of the Mist-Hidden Mission could not be rejected outright, at least not in the short term.

Konoha should try its best to avoid being attacked by all four major ninja villages at once, and should keep Kirigakure in check to prevent them from launching an invasion as well.

To avoid misjudging by Kirigakure, even the already notoriously weak eastern border defense forces were not replenished or strengthened after the fall of Uzushiogakure.

As for the remaining Konoha ninja forces that have not yet been mobilized, he plans to save them to support Sarutobi Shinnosuke on the northern border so that he can make a name for himself in battle.

However, he habitually ignored the demands of stakeholders and their potential reactions.

In the past, Danzo would usually step in to resolve such situations, either by visiting the victim to "appease them with emotion" or by having Root ninjas come to the victim to "reason with them." Therefore, all appeasement policies were implemented smoothly and without hindrance.

However, now that Danzo has died by Uchiha Tokumitsu's sword, the Uzumaki clan, as a thousand-year-old prestigious ninja clan, although usually mild-mannered, is definitely not an easy target. Thus, they took the initiative to visit and request a joint response.

As the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally received information that Ashina Uzumaki and Sakumo Hatake had visited Tokumitsu Uchiha overnight.

I just didn't expect the three of them to react so strongly.

The next morning, under the orders of Uchiha Tokumitsu, the police headquarters dispatched multiple ninja units, including special operations teams and rapid response teams, to surround the hot spring resort where the Kirigakure delegation was staying under the guise of a security exercise.

The Eastern District Police Department, led by Deputy Commissioner Yasuharu Uzumaki, also deployed search and investigation teams, assault teams, and other police units to participate in the operation.

Although they did not penetrate the area controlled by the Dark Guard, they have cut off the route for the Hidden Mist to enter and exit the building.

The attitudes of the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans are self-evident.

Hatake Sakumo also went alone into the Hokage Building to meet with the Third Hokage and explain the current demands of the Uzumaki clan.

"Sakumo-kun... if the war with Kirigakure breaks out now, the loss to the village will not be as simple as just a half-destroyed Uzushiogakure. Countless ninja from the village will die as a result..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, once again felt utterly exhausted.

He never expected that it would be Sakumo Hatake who came to negotiate with him about this matter.

Although the Third Hokage was particularly dissatisfied with Sakumo Hatake's choice to align himself with the Uchiha clan, he still believed that Sakumo Hatake, as a staunch believer in the Will of Fire, would not voluntarily do anything that went against the interests of the village.

As for the attitude towards Hatake Sakumo, it was more about "learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the disease to save the patient," hoping that Hatake Sakumo could change his mind. After all, he was still one of the village's indispensable high-end combat forces, and he was the most useful tool in times of war.

"Though the Land of Fire is vast, not an inch of land is superfluous; though the Land of Whirlpools has perished, our homeland must not be abandoned." Sakumo Hatake did not respond to the Third Hokage's words, but instead reiterated his own viewpoint.

This is also a communication style that Hatake Sakumo learned from Uchiha Tokumitsu.

As the saying goes, you say yours and I'll say mine. No matter how elaborately you explain your reasons, I will always firmly reiterate my own point of view.

This is also what the Uzumaki clan desires.

I don't demand that Konoha help me restore my country; I just hope they won't cede the Land of Whirlpools to me without my consent.

"Once the Fog Shadows attack, the eastern border defense forces will be powerless to resist. Even with the mission system operating at a minimum, the village won't be able to spare any more manpower..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was also particularly helpless.

He could understand the resentment of the village's ninjas towards the appeasement policy, but his actions were also based on a combination of Konoha's realities and his own personal interests. His ambiguous response to Kirigakure's demands was a helpless move.

Furthermore, if he truly intended to reach an agreement with Kirigakure to divide the Land of Whirlpools, he wouldn't allow the Kirigakure delegation's whereabouts and purpose to be leaked.

"Lord Hokage, I share the same opinion as Uzumaki Clan Chief Ashina and Assistant Chief of Police Uchiha Tokumitsu, a Jonin." Hatake Sakumo said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "No matter what the circumstances, not an inch of the Land of Fire or the territory of our allies can be easily ceded. I hope that you will understand and support us, Lord Hokage."

“I support… I do support them psychologically…” Hiruzen Sarutobi reluctantly lit his pipe, took a puff to suppress his inner turmoil, “Sakumo-kun, Jonin Tokukō always preaches that everything should be based on strength, but the current reality is that the village is simply incapable of simultaneously dealing with the challenges from the four great ninja villages, so they resorted to this tactic to try and stabilize Kirigakure…”

"The Land of Whirlpools is a staunch ally of Konoha, and the Uzumaki clan is the wife's family of Lord Hashirama. Failing to defend the Land of Whirlpools is already a disgrace to us all; to allow Kirigakure to seize the former Uzumaki territory would be an even greater humiliation!" Hatake Sakumo's stance remained unyielding. "The Uzumaki clan emblem still adorns the uniforms of Konoha's Jonin; we, the descendants, cannot allow our ancestors to be disgraced once more!"

"It's just a delaying tactic to buy time for Kirigakure..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, explained again, but seeing that Sakumo Hatake still looked determined, he didn't continue.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep drag on his pipe.

The Hokage's office fell into a deathly silence once again.

"...If I hand over the eastern region and the entire border forces to you, can you hold off Kirigakure?"

After a long while, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, suddenly spoke.

"Not at the moment, we must strengthen the ninja army."

Sakumo Hatake also spoke without hesitation.

"We can meet your needs in terms of supplies, as long as it's not too excessive..." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, smoked his pipe while calculating the strength comparison with Kirigakure. "How many ninja troops do you need as reinforcements?"

"The more the better," Hatake Sakumo succinctly replied.

"The more the better..." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, couldn't help but smile wryly upon hearing this. "Sakumo-kun, as the leader of the Jonin squad, you should know the current situation of the village. Where are you going to find so many ninja soldiers for you?"

"The Ninja Clan!"

Sakumo Hatake said.

He added at the end, "A clan ninja."

"The Ninja Clan..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was filled with mixed emotions.

The ninja clans of Konoha still possess the strength to sustain a war against a ninja village.

However, ninja clans are all greedy, and the price to pay for them to hand over their clan ninjas and accept the village's deployment for battle is painfully high.

Before the war, with the aim of weakening the ninja clans to a limited extent, he, Danzo, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado had already convened a ninja clan meeting. After paying a heavy price, they mobilized a large number of clan ninjas to fight for the village.

However, the power of the ninja clan was not weakened much, and instead, the freak Uchiha Tokumitsu took advantage of the situation to rise to prominence.

Now, Uchiha Tokumitsu's momentum is unstoppable, and he even ambushed and killed Danzo and destroyed Root, causing the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi to suffer heavy losses. Therefore, whenever the ninja clan is mentioned, he reflexively wants to oppose it.

Fortunately, I managed to control myself.

"Sakumo-kun, if too many ninja clans are directly promoted to the Jonin rank, the other ninjas in the village will have objections..."

After hesitating for a moment, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, finally revealed his predicament, "Furthermore, the village doesn't have enough funds and resources to exchange with the ninja clans after the war..."

"We can issue an IOU first, and then use the funds and resources of the losing side to pay compensation to the ninja clan after the war ends."

Sakumo Hatake said this.

"Which ninja clan would accept such conditions!"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was furious upon hearing this.

"The Uchiha and Uzumaki clans are willing!"

Sakumo Hatake answered decisively.

"If the number of Jonin continues to increase, the village won't be able to provide that many resources..."

"What we lose to the ninja clan, we can gain from other villages. As long as we defeat the visiting enemy, we can take them over regardless of what happens next."

"War reparations..."

After that, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had nothing more to say.

"Then let's convene another ninja clan meeting."

After taking another puff of his pipe, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, approved the re-conscription of clan ninjas.

He had no idea how many clan ninjas he could actually recruit for battle with such reckless actions.

"Thank you for your support, Hokage-sama. I will do my utmost to ensure that not an inch of the Land of Fire and its allies are lost!"

Sakumo Hatake stepped forward and readily agreed.

"Let the delegation from Kirigakure leave."

Without even looking up, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, offered a reason: "Even if both sides formally declare war, do not rashly punish the other side's envoy."

"As ordered!"

Sakumo Hatake stood up and solemnly acknowledged.

He then left the Hokage's office.

……

"De Guang-jun~"

After leaving the Hokage Building, the first thing Hatake Sakumo did was to find Uchiha Tokumitsu.

"How exactly?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu asked with great interest.

"The Hokage has decided not to continue probing the Kirigakure delegation," Sakumo Hatake said. "Furthermore, to prepare for a possible attack from Kirigakure, I will be appointed as the commander of the eastern region..."

"Deguang-kun, I hope to get your support!"