Chapter 128: Changes in the Ninja World

Hiruzen Sarutobi began the meeting once all the Jonin had arrived.

The Sandaime, Homura Mitokado, Utatane Koharu, and Danzo Shimura, the Konoha higher-ups, sat on the only four chairs available, while the Jonin stood before them.

“Just a short while ago, Iwagakure of the Land of Earth declared war on us,” Hiruzen Sarutobi stated, revealing the reason for the emergency Jonin meeting.

“Iwagakure, huh? They’re a Ninja Village of the same rank as us.”

“Are they coveting the rich resources of our Land of Fire?”

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s words caused a slight stir among the Jonin in the conference room, and they began to discuss amongst themselves.

After all, Iwagakure was not just any random village; even if its overall strength wasn’t as great as Konoha’s, it was still one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, just like Konoha.

“Hmph, Iwagakure dares to declare war on Konoha? It seems they’ve forgotten that there are differences in strength among the Five Great Ninja Villages!” Danzo snorted coldly.

Danzo continued, “We should immediately gather our Ninja, then declare war on Iwagakure of the Land of Earth and launch a swift attack to let them know that the First Ninja Village is not to be provoked!”

Of course, Danzo had more to say, but he kept it to himself. Since war was imminent, spies would be essential, and the restrictions on his Root should be loosened.

However, these things certainly couldn’t be discussed in a Jonin meeting; he and the Sandaime would have to discuss them privately in the office.

“Declaring war on Iwagakure is a must,” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said.

They had already been declared war upon; if they didn’t declare war back, Konoha would no longer be able to survive in the Ninja World.

Konoha’s main sources of income were two: one was the funding from the Daimyo, and the other was the commission fees from various nobles and wealthy merchants.

Clients weren’t foolish; they would definitely go to whichever Ninja Village was stronger and more reliable to post their requests.

If Konoha backed down now, its various mission requests would significantly decrease, and correspondingly, Iwagakure’s mission requests would increase.

“Gathering Ninja to launch an attack is somewhat inappropriate. The current situation in the Ninja World is unclear, and Hidden Cloud Village had a skirmish with Konoha not long ago. Under Iwagakure’s declaration of war, they might also harbor ill intentions.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi affirmed Danzo’s idea of declaring war on Iwagakure but rejected Danzo’s plan of mobilizing troops for an attack.

The Land of Earth was to the northwest of the Land of Fire, and the Land of Lightning was to the northeast of the Land of Fire. If Iwagakure and Kumogakure attacked Konoha together, they would be fighting on two fronts.

If Konoha directly mobilized its Ninja forces and pressured the Land of Earth, Kumogakure would find it very convenient to either block Konoha’s forces from returning home or simply march directly into the Land of Fire.

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi say this, Muzuki roughly understood Hiruzen Sarutobi’s thoughts.

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s meaning was simple: Iwagakure must be fought, but the fight must be steady, without any unexpected incidents.

“Sandaime-sama, I believe the first thing we need to do now is notify Grass Ninja Village to pay attention to the situation in Land of Grass, and if any Iwagakure Ninja enter Land of Grass, they should report it immediately,” Nara Shikaku said after some thought.

There were two fastest ways for Iwagakure Ninja to enter the Land of Fire: one was through the Land of Rain into the Land of Fire, and the other was through Land of Grass.

While there were roundabout routes from other places, they were practically impossible in a war. A roundabout route would involve going through Bird Country into the Land of Wind, then into the Land of Rivers, and finally reaching the Land of Fire.

Not only was the journey long, but it also had to pass through the Land of Wind, one of the Five Great Nations. If Sunagakure saw a large group of Iwagakure Ninja entering the Land of Wind, they would surely assume another invader had arrived.

And the strength of Amegakure in the Land of Rain was considerably stronger than that of Grass Ninja Village in Land of Grass. Nara Shikaku judged that Iwagakure Ninja would likely choose Land of Grass as their breakthrough point.

Another aspect was that Land of Grass was a subordinate of the Land of Fire, but the Land of Rain was not. Konoha could command Grass Ninja Village, but not Amegakure.

“Then, strengthen the border defenses to prevent Iwagakure Ninja from launching a surprise attack and breaking through the lines, avoiding fighting on our home soil,” Nara Shikaku continued.

The impact of war was immense, so it was crucial to try and prevent the flames of war from reaching the Land of Fire’s territory.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slightly; Nara Shikaku’s plan was very much to his liking.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not immediately end the meeting but continued it.

After a considerable amount of time, when no better suggestions than Nara Shikaku’s were heard, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally ended the Jonin meeting. He assigned a few Jonin to lead teams to reinforce the border, and then the meeting officially disbanded, with the familiar Jonin leaving together.

“Minato, who is this?” A somewhat plump-faced Ninja with a kindly smile walked over to chat with Minato and then noticed Muzuki.

“This is my friend, Hayate Mugetsu, he’s a newly promoted Jonin,” Minato introduced with a smile.

“Muzuki, this is Akimichi Dōton-senpai, he’s a very reliable senior,” Minato then introduced Akimichi Dōton to Muzuki.

“Haha, it’s true that I’m a few years older than you, but Minato, your reliability is above mine,” Akimichi Dōton said with a hearty laugh.

He had executed missions with Minato before, and Minato’s strength was not that of an ordinary Jonin.

“Dōton-senpai,” Muzuki greeted with a gentle smile.

“Eh.” Akimichi Dōton looked at Muzuki’s gentle smile, then at Minato, both with the same warm smile and blond hair with blue eyes.

“Minato, your friend looks a bit like you. Could he be a relative of yours?” Akimichi Dōton asked.

“Minato, see? I told you they looked alike!” Hearing Akimichi Dōton’s words, Kushina immediately jumped out and said.

She had always felt the two were quite similar, not in appearance, but in a spiritual resemblance.

“No, he’s just a friend,” Minato explained with a helpless smile.

With Minato’s assistance, Muzuki met many Jonin.

Muzuki found that Minato seemed quite familiar with Ninja from the secret technique clans, recognizing some from the Akimichi, Inuzuka, Nara, Aburame, and other such clans.

While the overall strength of these secret technique clans might not be as great as top Ninja clans like the Uchiha, they were still a core force of Konoha, and when united, they formed a very powerful force.

After the meeting, Muzuki quickly rushed to the South Border Forest to check on his disciples’ training progress.

He gave each of his disciples an appraisal.

Finally, he found that apart from Obito, who had gone from fifteen to sixteen, Shisui and Might Guy had not changed; Shisui was still fifteen, and Might Guy was still nineteen.

However, Muzuki couldn’t say whether Obito’s progress was due to the cooking, because based on Might Guy’s experience, the previous step’s extreme could reach nineteen proficiency.

This was also easy to solve; tomorrow, he would give Shisui the hot dish to eat and see if it had any effect.

“Hehe, Shisui, it’s just a little spicy, but it still tastes really good,” Obito comforted Shisui, his smile unstoppable.

I’m stuck at 7k today, I’ll make it up later.