"Why do you smell like alcohol?", Shizune looked at Aoba, who had suddenly returned, and could not help stepping closer, slightly frowning as she sniffed him.
Aside from that faint fragrance that belonged to Kazahana Koyuki, the most obvious smell was alcohol.
'It even feels a bit familiar.'
"Mm… Koyuki just invited me to drink a medicinal wine, said it could strengthen the body. I brought some back. Shizune-nee, would you like to try it?"
Aoba explained with a smile, while taking out a jug of wine from a sealing scroll.
"..."
'No wonder it feels so familiar.'
Shizune felt a little guilty, "Let's forget it. Drinking during work hours isn't very appropriate. Let's finish handling today's matters first."
She had no idea who leaked the fact that she could prepare certain medicinal concoctions. Not only had Kazahana Koyuki asked her for them, several other girls had too. She just did not expect Kazahana Koyuki to move so quickly.
Aoba smiled and did not tease her too much, "Shizune-nee, the matters within the village aren't urgent for now. There are still some things in the Land of Snow that need to be arranged."
"Huh? The matters in the Land of Snow aren't resolved yet?", Shizune asked in surprise.
Aoba nodded slightly and said casually, "Next, Konoha also needs to make some preparations for war."
"War?"
Unlike Aoba's calm tone, the moment Shizune heard this, her expression changed drastically.
Ever since the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha had not fought a war with other ninja villages for a long time.
Now that these words came out of Aoba's mouth, even though he said them lightly, it was clearly not a joke.
So Shizune's emotions stirred immediately.
Seeing how agitated she was, Aoba quickly spoke to comfort her, "Alright, Shizune-nee. It's just fighting the Land of Grass. Mobilizing part of our ninja force will be enough. No need to be so nervous."
"The Land of Grass?", After hearing Aoba's reassurance, Shizune calmed down a little and noticed the details, "Aoba, if it's declaring war on another country, it needs the daimyo's approval."
In fact, even declaring war on a ninja village used to require the daimyo's approval, because most of the resources needed for war were provided by the daimyo.
But Konoha nowadays did not lack the resources to wage war, so that aspect was no longer necessary.
However, launching a war against another country was a completely different matter.
After all, under the one country, one village system set up by the First Hokage, ninja villages were, in a sense, just the military organizations of their respective countries.
But Aoba shook his head again and said with a smile, "There's no need to worry about that. After all, the one declaring war on the Land of Grass is the Land of Snow. We Konoha are merely acting as the Land of Snow's ally, providing a bit of military assistance."
That said, from beginning to end, he had never really placed the so called Fire Country daimyo in his eyes. What he intended to do would not change just because of the daimyo's existence.
After hearing Aoba's words, Shizune understood, "So the matters you went to handle in the Land of Snow earlier were related to the Land of Grass?"
"Several Grass Village ninjas claiming to be envoys of the Land of Grass tried to threaten Koyuki, demanding that the Land of Snow become a vassal state of the Land of Grass."
"This…"
Shizune felt confused, unable to understand the thinking of the Land of Grass.
'Does the Land of Grass not know their state? It actually wants vassal states?'
"Of course that wasn't the idea of the Land of Grass. It was Kumogakure using fake identities to issue the commission, trying to seize the chance to abduct Koyuki and then dump the blame on the Grass Village."
Aoba explained the truth of the matter succinctly, then added, "But that doesn't stop us from using this reason to bring the Land of Grass into our sphere of influence."
"I see."
Shizune immediately understood Aoba's line of thinking and also grasped his resolve. She asked seriously, "Then how many ninjas are we going to mobilize for this operation?"
Aoba thought briefly and said directly, "Not too many. Kakashi, Yamato, Asuma, Guy, Kurenai-nee, Yugao-nee, and the ninja squads they bring along."
"Also add Aunt Kasui. I'll personally lead the team. That should be more than enough."
The Land of Grass was just a small country, not much larger than Konoha itself. The key was controlling three places.
Grass Village, Hozuki Castle, and the daimyo's residence.
The daimyo's residence was the power center of the Land of Grass. In a world like the ninja world, controlling the daimyo's residence was essentially the same as controlling the majority of the civilians.
As for Grass Village and Hozuki Castle, they counted as the military organizations of the Land of Grass.
At that time, he would personally go to Grass Village, while Hozuki Castle and the daimyo's residence would be handled by Kakashi and the others. Taking those three places would basically mean taking the Land of Grass.
Moreover, in a place like the Land of Grass, the civilians probably would not even think of resisting.
Even if problems arose, he would rush to support them.
Looking at it this way, it really did not seem that different from a village brawl.
And when Shizune heard that Aoba would personally lead the team, and considering that the Land of Grass was originally a fence sitter in the ninja world, she did not feel there was anything to worry about.
However, when she heard the name Kasui, her expression inevitably turned a bit strange.
"You're not going after Kumogakure, the real mastermind, first, but instead targeting the Grass Village. You're not doing this specifically to help Kasui and the others get their revenge, are you?"
"Pretty much. Now Aunt Kasui and Karin and the others are strong enough to carry out their revenge themselves," Aoba did not deny it.
Shizune did not think there was anything wrong with that, and said instead, "In that case, aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?", Aoba blinked.
"Lady Tsunade and Kushina."
Shizune reminded him.
"Right!"
Only then did Aoba react. He had almost forgotten that the two of them had also said before that they wanted to take revenge together.
But if Tsunade went too, wouldn't that be giving the Grass Village far too much credit?
Seeing this, Shizune continued, "Should I go notify them now?"
"No need to rush. Let's wait for the Land of Snow to announce the declaration of war first."
Aoba thought of Kazahana Koyuki, who had been just about to melt into a puddle of water when he left.
The declaration of war would probably have to wait another day.
"For now, call Samui and Mabui over."
"I understand."
Shizune did not ask further questions and stood up to head outside.
Before long, she returned with Samui and Mabui, who looked somewhat confused.
"Lord Aoba, did you call for us because something happened?"
Samui took the initiative to ask when she saw Aoba's serious expression.
"Take a look at these."
Aoba did not keep them in suspense. He took out two scrolls, tossed them onto the ground, and then several corpses, stiff from freezing and already somewhat shriveled, appeared before them.
"This is…"
Even Samui, who was always known for her composure, turned pale along with Mabui.
Although they had left the village for more than two years, they recognized these people at a glance.
"Looks like you recognized them too," Aoba said casually.
"These are all ANBU members from Kumogakure."
Samui recovered the fastest. She clenched her teeth and continued, "Lord Aoba… may I ask what happened to them?"
Although she and Mabui had left Kumogakure, facing the corpses of former colleagues, it was inevitable to feel a wave of sorrow.
"They were sent by the Fourth Raikage to the Land of Snow, attempting to abduct the Snow Country daimyo, Kazahana Koyuki," Aoba said expressionlessly.
"How… how could that be?"
Samui found it hard to believe. Since they had celebrated the New Year together, they knew about the relationship between Kazahana Koyuki and Aoba.
But thinking carefully, kidnapping was indeed something Kumogakure would do.
For a moment, she did not know what to say.
"Next, Konoha will prepare for a war."
Aoba, who had been wearing a stern expression all this time, now revealed a smile. He said the line he had already said countless times.
"Samui, Mabui, you wouldn't want the future Kumogakure to be reduced to a sea of suffering, would you?"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.