Inside the Hokage Building, it was still the same large conference hall where the jonin meetings had been held before.
Ninjas who could represent Konoha's present, and its future, had all gathered here.
Aoba stood on the high platform. To his left and right were the recently retired former Hokage Tsunade, and Shizune, who had served two consecutive terms as the Hokage's personal secretary.
Below them stood not only a group of jonin, but also the ninja squads led by Kakashi, Might Guy, Sarutobi Asuma, Yamato, Uzuki Yugao, and Yuhi Kurenai.
The appearance of a group of boys and girls caused quite a few jonin to reveal curious expressions.
Not just them. Even Sasuke and the others were looking around, equally confused about why they were here. They had simply woken up, and ANBU had knocked on their doors.
However, Aoba's expression at this moment was extremely serious, which made the atmosphere in the conference hall solemn as well. No one dared to speak casually.
Today was only the first day of the Hokage's inauguration, yet such a grand meeting was being convened again. Even an idiot could tell that something big was about to happen.
Those who knew what was coming naturally wore stern expressions. Those who didn't, seeing everyone else's serious faces, also followed suit and kept straight faces.
Even Naruto, Rock Lee, and Might Guy, who were usually the noisiest, were staying quiet.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Aoba on the platform finally spoke.
"Has everyone read this morning's newspaper?"
"The newspaper?"
Quite a few people froze slightly, looking confused.
It was obvious that most ninjas didn't have the habit of reading newspapers.
"Are you talking about the Land of Snow declaring war on the Land of Grass?", Nara Shikaku spoke up. He did have the habit of reading the paper.
He had also vaguely guessed the reason Aoba had gathered them here.
After all, although not many people in Konoha knew about Aoba's relationship with the Queen of the Land of Snow, he was one of those who did.
Hearing his response, Aoba nodded, then said in a deep voice.
"I believe everyone also knows that as early as two years ago, the Land of Snow had already established an alliance with Konoha. Over these two years, the Land of Snow has continuously provided technical and financial support to Konoha's research departments, and Konoha has likewise been helping the Land of Snow establish its own ninja village."
"Now, the Land of Grass, which has always acted as a fence-sitter, actually dared to carry out an assassination attempt against the Queen of the Land of Snow. As their ally, we naturally cannot just sit by and do nothing."
As soon as these words were spoken, many people's expressions stiffened, followed by a collective sharp intake of breath, as if the air-conditioning in the hall had been turned up a notch.
'Is war about to begin again?'
But there weren't many who were afraid. Setting aside the fact that the opponent was a weak fence-sitter like the Land of Grass, Konoha's current strength had already begun to show signs of returning to the level of the First Hokage's era.
Let alone fighting the Land of Grass. Even going straight up against Kumogakure wouldn't scare them.
So quite a few people looked expectant, with only a small number showing worried expressions.
Seeing this scene, Aoba nodded in satisfaction and continued.
"Last night, ministers from the Land of Snow already contacted me. Because of the long distance, they can't strike the Land of Grass in a short time, so they entrusted the matter to Konoha."
"Konoha will launch a special military operation against the Land of Grass. At the same time, because of the distance involved, after the special operation is over, the Land of Grass will also be handed over to Konoha for management."
As soon as these words fell, the scene erupted again.
What they had thought was just a large commission done for money, could it actually end with gaining ownership of an entire country?
Although the Land of Grass was chaotic internally, weak in national strength, and poor economically.
Even so, it was still a country. Could it really be handed over to ninjas to manage?
Many people still felt a bit at a loss.
"Next, I'll announce the specific objectives of this special military operation, as well as the list of personnel participating."
At this moment, Shizune, who had been standing to the side, stepped forward and came out holding documents.
"This operation will be personally led by the Hokage-sama, with Tsunade-sama as second-in-command, leading the Kakashi Squad including Uzumaki Kasui, the Might Guy Squad, the Asuma Squad, the Yamato Squad, the Uzuki Yugao Squad, and the Yuhi Kurenai Squad. The forces will split into three routes and carry out a blitz on the Land of Grass's daimyo residence, Kusagakure, and Hozuki Castle, taking the Land of Grass in the shortest possible time."
Although the number of people being sent might not be large, in terms of high-end combat power alone, it was already enough to crush several of the other great ninja villages.
Not to mention the Hokage personally taking action, along with former Hokage Tsunade, plus top-tier jonin like Kakashi and Might Guy. Cover up the name of the Land of Grass and say the target was Kumogakure or Iwagakure, and they would believe it.
As for Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and the other parents, after hearing the list, they all showed complicated expressions. This was obviously helping Shikamaru and the others pad their resumes.
An operation personally led by two generations of Hokage, how could it possibly fail?
And by participating in such a military operation, the few of them would likely be promoted to jonin at the fastest possible speed.
After all, the reason Kakashi had become a jonin at twelve was largely because he'd fought his way out of war.
Seeing that Shizune had finished announcing the entire list, Aoba issued the final order.
"In that case, all personnel participating in this operation are to assemble at the Konoha main gate in one hour. As for how to quickly take over the Land of Grass and stabilize the situation after we've secured it, I'll have to trouble Shikaku-dono and the others to put some thought into that."
"Yes, understood," Nara Shikaku replied with an extremely solemn expression.
This was not a simple task. Although he was already very experienced in handling village affairs, expanding that scope to an entire country still placed enormous pressure on him.
And of course, not everyone agreed with this so-called special military operation.
After all, this counted as actively starting a war. For ninjas who had already grown accustomed to peace, no one liked war.
But that didn't matter, because this was the Hokage's authority.
Usually, discussion was discussion. Voting during the Hokage election was voting.
But when it truly came to major decisions like this, the Hokage's decision-making power was always supreme.
The authority of the Hokage in Konoha was unlimited, and Konoha, as a violent institution, would act from top to bottom in accordance with the Hokage's will.
Therefore, when Konoha's Hokage announced the launch of a war.
Konoha would only have one voice.
So even though some people still leaned toward a conservative stance in their hearts, wanting to resolve the issue through peaceful means.
In such circumstances, they could only obey the Hokage's will.
Otherwise, there would have to be a thorough investigation into whether your Will of Fire was deep enough.
Still, not a single person chose to stand up and say a word on behalf of Kusagakure, this neighboring village that was also technically an ally.
The ninja world had always been like this. Weak villages had no possibility of diplomacy.
And the ninja world had never given a voice to villages and countries that were wiped out.
As the number one ninja village in the world, if you still had to worry about the thoughts and dignity of small villages, then what was the point of being a great ninja village?
Perhaps ten years ago, Konoha would have had very strong anti-war sentiment due to the war having just ended.
But today's Konoha had already achieved economic takeoff and was at the peak of strength and vitality.
There were quite a few left-leaning ninjas who couldn't wait to show off their muscles to the surrounding villages.
Clearly it was a blitz against a country, a special military operation, yet not only was the number of assembled personnel small, the preparation time was also extremely short.
From proposing the blitz plan at the meeting, to assembling at the village entrance and heading toward the Land of Grass, the total interval was less than an hour.
One could say this was the high efficiency of ninjas.
One could also say that so-called ninja world wars really weren't that different from an armed brawl at the village entrance.
Just these ten or so people were enough to decide the outcome of a war.
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