Standing at the gates of Konoha Village, before the Konoha blitz force set out, Aoba emphasized once more the two objectives of this special military operation.
First: destroy the resistance forces of the Land of Grass, including Kusagakure and Hozuki Castle.
Second: seize the daimyo's residence, take control of the Land of Grass's daimyo, and have him announce surrender and the transfer of the nation.
This was a world of ninjas. If you set aside that inexplicable loyalty and worship ninjas had toward daimyo, occupying a country was actually very simple.
After stressing these two points one last time, in order to reach the Land of Grass as quickly as possible, Aoba directly used Wood Release to create a wooden dragon, carrying everyone forward at top speed toward the Land of Grass.
———
Time slowly reached noon, inside Kusagakure—
Completely unaware that Konoha's ninja forces were already almost at their doorstep, the senior leadership of Kusagakure, who had only just learned of the Land of Snow's declaration of war, were also holding a meeting.
Seated in the main position was not the leader of Kusagakure, but a pot-bellied, greasy, overweight man dressed in rather lavish clothes.
He was not a ninja of Kusagakure, but an envoy dispatched by the Land of Grass's daimyo.
There was no newspaper office in Kusagakure, so the news of the Land of Snow declaring war had been brought by this envoy.
"What exactly is going on with your Kusagakure? You actually thought about assassinating the daimyo of another country. Fine, assassination aside, but you didn't even know how to hide your identities?", The daimyo's envoy was full of dissatisfaction, his face of jiggling flesh brimming with anger.
He had received the daimyo's orders early in the morning and rushed from the daimyo's residence to Kusagakure. Although the distance wasn't far, it was still enough to put him in a foul mood.
Sitting slightly behind him to the side, the leader of Kusagakure frowned faintly upon hearing this, and couldn't help cursing those three Grass ninjas inwardly for being utterly useless.
He had told them to go negotiate, to see if the issue could be resolved without using force, and only call in reinforcements for military intimidation if that didn't work.
Who would have thought those three idiots would take matters into their own hands and attack the Snow Country's daimyo the moment they arrived.
What was worse was that they had exposed their identities.
He didn't even know whether this commission could still be completed. That was a commission worth tens of millions. As long as they could get the remaining payment, Kusagakure wouldn't have to worry about money for the next few years.
But right now, the most urgent thing was to cut ties as quickly as possible. No matter what, assassination of a daimyo could absolutely not be acknowledged openly.
Otherwise, all of Kusagakure would become the target of the entire ninja world.
The Kusagakure leader hurriedly said, "We never sent anyone to the Land of Snow. Those three had long since betrayed Kusagakure. They are rogue ninjas, and their actions have nothing to do with Kusagakure."
"Hmph! Explaining that to me is useless. What matters is that the Land of Snow has already declared war on the Land of Grass. This matter won't end easily."
One knew one's own people best. As the Land of Grass's daimyo envoy, he naturally knew Kusagakure's nature. This matter was definitely related to them.
After thinking it over, the Kusagakure leader's tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed a little.
Maybe he could use this war to complete that commission.
That way, he could swindle funds from the Land of Grass's daimyo and also get the commission payment. Two birds with one stone.
Thinking of this, his whole demeanor became righteous again.
"This matter truly has nothing to do with Kusagakure. However, the Land of Snow is nothing more than a remote border country. To dare declare war on us without even investigating the truth of the matter. If we don't give them a harsh lesson, where would Kusagakure's face go?"
'Does the Land of Grass even have any face left?'
Hearing this, the daimyo's envoy glanced at him sideways with his tiny eyes buried in fat. How could he not know the purpose behind these words? He said coldly, "Because this incident was caused by your Kusagakure, the daimyo's residence will not provide you with any funds for this time."
What a joke. With the current finances of the daimyo's residence, they themselves didn't have enough money. Taxes from civilians had already been collected ten years in advance. Where would they get money to fight some inexplicable war?
"This battle concerns the reputation of the Land of Grass. The daimyo's residence won't put up even a single coin?", The Kusagakure leader's face instantly fell. A large sum of military funding flying away right before his eyes was no different from losing money outright.
"The situation of the Land of Grass, I believe you know it as well. The daimyo is also very strapped for cash and can't take out much. The situation at Hozuki Castle is the same as yours."
The daimyo's envoy said this without changing his expression.
In truth, a little funding had been allocated. But thinking about how he had rushed over early in the morning, if he didn't get any benefit at all, wouldn't this trip be for nothing? He might as well keep that money for himself.
'Strapped for cash? Strapped for cash, yet they can still afford to raise a useless fat pig like you?'
The Kusagakure leader cursed inwardly, but since this was the daimyo's envoy, he didn't show it. Instead, he looked toward the other Kusagakure elders attending the meeting.
"The Land of Snow is far from the Land of Grass. Even if they declare war, their army rushing here at full speed would still take several days at least. Let's talk about how to fight this battle first."
"This…"
The many elders, who were already scowling because they'd heard there would be no funding, now looked hesitant after hearing the leader's question.
To be honest, although the Land of Grass had existed for many years and Kusagakure likewise had a long history, when it came to war, they really didn't have much experience.
The largest conflict they had ever participated in was the civil war that broke out when Kusagakure split in the past.
Although they had also participated in the Third Great Ninja War, that was only to guide Iwagakure. And before that war had even ended, they saw that the situation was going bad. The moment the Third Hokage proposed an alliance, they immediately leaned toward Konoha again.
Most of the time, the speed at which wars ended couldn't keep up with the speed at which they surrendered.
But facing a Snow Country, there was no need to kneel-slide.
Seeing everyone's expressions, the Kusagakure leader didn't know what to say for a moment.
At this time, an elder with astonishing wisdom suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a good idea.
"Perhaps we can borrow Konoha's strength. From the end of the Third Great Ninja War until now, our alliance with Konoha shouldn't have been dissolved yet, right?"
"With Konoha's help, maybe the Land of Snow will surrender without a fight."
As these words fell, the room instantly sank into a strange silence.
Many people's eyes showed signs of temptation.
The Kusagakure leader also rubbed his chin and started thinking, "With what happened at Kannabi Bridge back then, would Konoha really be willing to support us?"
"They should. After all, it was the Third Hokage who took the initiative to sign the alliance with us back then. If they're unwilling, we can do what we did before and turn to Iwagakure," Another person spoke up, sounding quite confident.
That was just how Kusagakure was.
Relying on geographic advantage, playing political games, playing both sides between major villages. They had profited so much from this over the years that they naturally no longer knew what it meant that the authority of a great village must not be offended.
When the flames of war hadn't burned to their doorstep, over time, they naturally forgot who was the son and who was the father.
"That makes sense…"
The Kusagakure leader nodded in strong agreement, "In that case, someone come—"
BOOM!
However, before he could finish speaking, a massive rumbling sound suddenly rang out from outside, interrupting him.
Everyone in the conference room instinctively stood up.
"What's going on?"
Their faces were full of shock. But before they could go out to check the situation, a Kusagakure patrol ninja burst into the conference room in a panic.
"N-no good! It's… it's Konoha's ninjas. Konoha's ninjas have broken in!"
"What?"
Before the Kusagakure leader could ask for details, an even more terrifying rumble came from beneath the ground.
Large numbers of trees grew out from the floor, the walls, even the ceiling, directly tearing the original conference room apart.
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