Start with a Zanpakuto and build the strongest Mist Village

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, in the prime of his life, was smoking a pipe, staring intently at the intelligence report in his hand, without uttering a word.

"What happened, Hiruzen?"

Danzo, leaning on a cane, his head wrapped in bandages, and with a gloomy expression, walked in.

He immediately noticed that, in addition to his old friend Hiruzen, two other old buddies were also present in the Hokage's office.

A middle-aged woman with her hair tied up, her eyes half-closed, and her expression very serious.

The other one wore glasses, had a spiky hairstyle, and wore a raised white scarf.

Both of them are high-ranking officials in Konoha and are his old colleagues, serving as advisors in the administrative department to assist the Hokage in handling political affairs. They are Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. (Fun fact: Homura Mitokado's surname is Mitokado.)

Seeing his two old buddies there, Danzo felt a sudden unease and a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

"You should all take a look too."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, with a pipe in his mouth, handed the intelligence report to the three people present.

With just one glance, the expressions of the three people present became extremely serious.

"Jiraiya encountered terrible trouble at the front line. A ninja named Mizuki Yoru, an ice-style ninja, single-handedly killed elites such as Shikaku, Inoichi, and Hizashi, causing huge losses to the front line."

"His bizarre secret techniques, his Body Flicker Technique surpassing Uchiha Shisui's, his chilling swordsmanship... his immense strength was such that even Jiraiya couldn't defeat him in a short time. Most importantly..."

"He's very young!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned deeply, and Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado also looked displeased.

The deceased Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi were not only pillars of Konoha and heads of the Nara and Yamanaka clans, but also staunch supporters of their Hokage lineage.

Losing these two is undoubtedly a huge loss for the Hokage lineage, like losing an arm!

Danzo Shimura's expression was equally grim; his somber face made his already gloomy expression even more so.

As the mastermind behind Konoha's 'Root' and the head of its intelligence agency, Danzo possessed a vast amount of intelligence resources. He was extremely knowledgeable about the various levels of combat strength, the number of ninjas, and the information on bloodline clans within Kirigakure.

Even so, he had never heard of a master of Ice Release in Kirigakure who was in the Anbu and was skilled in secret techniques, body sleight of hand, and swordsmanship, and whose skills were enough to rival Jiraiya's!

"This was my oversight. I will gather all the information about Minazuki Yoru in the shortest possible time!"

“You just returned from the Cloud Hidden Battlefield. This is not your responsibility, and I believe in your abilities.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag on his pipe, reassuring his good buddies: "But the most urgent matter is still getting Jiraiya's help."

"We have just signed a ceasefire agreement with Sunagakure, and the situation in Kumogakure and Iwagakure is getting better and better. Kirigakure must not become a breakthrough point."

"A single move can have far-reaching consequences. If Kirigakure breaks the deadlock, I'm afraid Kumogakure and Iwagakure will immediately become restless!"

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado nodded in deep agreement.

Cloud-hidden and Rock-hidden are not like Sand-hidden.

Sunagakure surrendered and made peace only after being badly beaten and terrified by Konoha.

The fighting strength of Kumogakure and Iwagakure did not actually suffer much loss; they were forced to regroup due to various other reasons.

If Kirigakure is able to break through Konoha's defenses and inflict heavy losses on Konoha, then Iwagakure and Kumogakure will inevitably launch a counterattack against Konoha immediately!

"How about we let Minato go?"

Mitokado Homura said in a deep voice, "Jirai said that the guy has a speed that even that brat from the Uchiha clan can't match, and he hopes that Minato can restrain him. Why don't we let Minato go?"

"Minato is indeed a good choice. With the Flying Thunder God Technique, there shouldn't be any problems."

Xiaochun, who was switching dorms, also highly approved of it.

"No, the water gate cannot be moved."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and shook his head.

"The situation in Iwagakure is not completely stable yet. Orochimaru alone is not enough to make that old guy Onoki fear him. Only with Minato, who has mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, will Onoki be able to pay attention to logistics and supplies and not dare to act rashly."

"Therefore, the water gate must not be moved arbitrarily."

"Then who should we send? Orochimaru, perhaps?"

“No, if Minato is the key to restricting Onoki, then Orochimaru is the general who commands the front line of Iwagakure and is the heart of the army. He cannot be moved rashly.”

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's suggestions were rejected by Sarutobi one after another, and for a moment, the Hokage's office fell into a deathly silence.

They were embarrassed to discover that Konoha was now in a situation where no one was available!

Recall how powerful Konoha was during the Second Shinobi World War.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was at his peak; Danzo the Dark Ninja silenced the crying children; Sakumo Hatake of Konoha was a force to be reckoned with; the Three Legendary Sannin emerged out of nowhere; and outstanding talents like Dan Kato and Fugaku shone brightly on the battlefield. They had more cards in their hand than they could play.

But now.

"If Tsunade were still here, that would be so good..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took two puffs on his pipe, a look of melancholy appearing in his eyes.

Unfortunately, due to the deaths of her younger brother Nawaki and her lover Kato Dan, Tsunade, who suffered from hemophobia, chose to leave Konoha.

In addition, there was the suicide of White Fang a few years ago. Even if the Third Hokage wanted Tsunade to come back, Tsunade probably wouldn't want to get involved in this mess again.

"How about I go to the Fog Shadow Battlefield?"

Danzo said in a deep voice, "There has been no unusual activity in Kumogakure recently, and according to the intelligence I have obtained, the Fourth Raikage has just taken office. They need some time for handover and adaptation, so there shouldn't be any problem for me to go to the Kirigakure battlefield."

"But what if something goes wrong?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head: "Unlike other ninja villages, Kumogakure's power transition is extremely easy, not to mention that the Third Raikage and the Fourth Raikage were father and son."

Danzo fell silent.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's concerns were indeed valid. The transfer of power between the Third and Fourth Raikage would not cause much of a shock to Kumogakure. In fact, the Fourth Raikage might even use a victory in a war to boost the morale of Kumogakure when he took office.

He really cannot leave the front lines of the Hidden Clouds.

Silence fell over the Hokage's office.

After a long while, the Third Hokage took out a list of ninjas from the drawer, took a puff of his pipe, and said...

"I want Kushina to go to the Kirigakure front."

"no!"

"What?! This won't do!"

"I also disagree with Hiruzen; Kushina can't go!"

Upon hearing this, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Danzo all changed their expressions drastically and immediately rejected the idea.

Danzo slammed his cane heavily into the ground, making a dull thud, and stared intently at Hiruzen Sarutobi with his one eye.

"Hiruzen, Jinchuriki must never leave Konoha!"

Chapter 32 Danzo, I am the Hokage!

"Jinchūriki must never leave Konoha!"

Danzo stared intently at Hiruzen Sarutobi with his single eye, his gaze leaving no room for doubt: "You should understand the importance of the Nine-Tails. Once the Jinchuriki leaves Konoha, there will inevitably be thieves who covet it. If anything goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"Yes, Hiruzen, Kushina is far too important to Konoha, and we cannot afford to lose her."

"Don't forget her identity, Sarutobi. Besides being a Jinchūriki, she is also a successor of the Uzumaki clan and a junior of Lady Mito!"

"But besides Kushina, can you find any other high-level combatants to aid the Hidden Mist battlefield?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said somewhat irritably, "Of course I know how important Kushina is, but so what? We have no one else to use, do you understand?!"

"If we don't support the Kirigakure battlefield, Jiraiya and the others will definitely not be able to withstand Kirigakure's full-scale attack once they make their move. If the front lines collapse, Iwagakure and Kumogakure will surely seize the opportunity to strike. The advantage and the dawn of victory that we have gained at a great cost over several years will probably be shattered in an instant!"

"I know, but that doesn't mean we can send Jinchuriki to the front lines," Danzo said coldly. "I'll have the heads of the various clans in the village send out more people."

“They’ve even sent their chieftain to the battlefield; what other people can they possibly offer?”

"But……"

"Alright, that's enough!"

Seeing that Danzo was about to speak again, Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped wasting words and slammed his hand on the table, saying, "Let Kushina go to the battlefield. She has the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan, has an extremely strong physique, and with her sealing techniques and initial use of the Nine-Tails' abilities, there shouldn't be any problems."

"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi acting so arbitrarily and completely disregarding their opinions, Danzo's face darkened considerably.

If Kushina were to suffer an accident on the battlefield, it would be an absolutely devastating blow to Konoha!

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a stern face.

Danzo's face stiffened, his whole body trembled, and his entire body tensed up.

This feeling was more unbearable than ever before, even when facing those Cloud Ninja scum on the Cloud Village battlefield.

In the end, all he could do was snort and turn away.

"boom!"

The loud slam of the door shut caused Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu to exchange bewildered glances, wanting to say something, but ultimately they could only accept Hiruzen Sarutobi's decision.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi said, Konoha no longer has any fighting strength to go and aid the Hidden Mist battlefield.

Unless, of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi personally steps onto the battlefield.

but.

The decision to have a general stationed in the heart of Konoha, deterring all sides, is the absolute core of all of Konoha's current tactics.

This is unshakeable.

Because in the eyes of the Konoha leadership, only by having the Hokage in charge of Konoha can other ninja villages keep them guessing about how many tricks Konoha has up its sleeve.

If even the 'Kage' have gone to the front lines, then no matter how great the results Konoha achieves on the front lines, other ninja villages will feel that Konoha is weak and empty, and there is no doubt that a situation of mutual destruction may occur.

……

The waiting time didn't last long. In just two days, the Mizukage's transfer order and new mission were delivered to Yagura's desk.

Yagura also immediately summoned all the high-ranking officials at the Kirigakure front.

By the time night fell, most of the people in the camp had arrived. Apart from Yagura, Mei Terumi, and others, there were about a dozen other people. These people were all elite Jonin-level individuals and pillars of Kirigakure.

Of course, Full Moon, Yu Yuri, and others were also in the queue.

Upon seeing Yoru's arrival, both Yumi and Yukiko kept winking at him, but because of the white masks covering their eyes, Yoru couldn't see anything.

The white bandages had been removed by the night, and in their place was a small, silver-white one-eyed mask.

However, there was a white ANBU mask over the mask, so the crowd's attention was not focused on Ye's eyes.

"Lord Yagura, I've arrived."

The term "senior brother" is naturally reserved for private conversations. In such a formal setting, Yoru would address him as "Lord Yagura."

"Ah."

Yagura nodded slightly, waited a few more minutes, and when everyone was almost all there, he looked around and said in a deep voice, "Upon learning of the situation on the front lines, the Third Hokage was furious. Not only have we been unable to capture Tsunami Town after a long siege, but due to intelligence failures, all seven Ninja Swordsmen have been killed in battle, and we've even lost three of our swords. This is a disgrace to Kirigakure!"

boom!

Yagura slammed his fist heavily on the table, making it shake. His baby face glared angrily, seemingly without any authority, but everyone lowered their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

"The Mizukage has issued the latest order, removing all members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen from their positions and dismissing all related personnel. The new appointments are now being announced!"

Everyone's expressions changed, and their gazes all fell on Yagura.

When someone goes down, someone else will naturally come up. They anticipated that the Third Hokage would take some action against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and the intelligence department for such a serious dereliction of duty, but they did not expect that all the personnel would be dismissed at once, which means that more positions will be vacant!

"Mizuki Yoru, the captain of the first squad of the Anbu, has distinguished himself in battle and is hereby appointed as the vice-captain of the Anbu, concurrently serving as the captain of the new Ninja Sword Squad."

The first appointment is Night!

Moreover, once appointed, he was promoted twice.

Ye's original position was the captain of the first squad of the Hidden Mist Dark Division, a squad leader with four platoons under his command, totaling sixteen people.

Above him were the captain and vice-captain of the Dark Guard, such as Yoru's former superior, Kushimaru Kurihara, who held the position of vice-captain of the Dark Guard.

Each commander of the secret forces leads four squads.

Within the hidden fog, there are four dark forces captains, each in charge of an assassination team, intelligence team, surveillance team, and coordination team. However, their powers overlap to some extent, and it mainly depends on the mission assignments from above.