It could be said that as Hokage, even if the current Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't compare to the First and Second, he was still qualified.
Although he wasn't particularly fond of Li Anshi, Hiruzen Sarutobi had entertained the thought of cultivating Li Anshi as the next Hokage.
Therefore, even though this information from Nara Shikafuku undermined his own prestige, Hiruzen Sarutobi harbored no ill will.
However, he had never expected Danzo to say such things.
"Danzo..."
"Sarutobi, I know you are kind-hearted."
With over a decade of friendship, how could Danzo Shimura not understand Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts?
However, this was extremely disadvantageous for Danzo.
Both were commanders. His front was being battered by the Stone ninjas, forcing him to request aid from the village, suffering heavy losses.
Meanwhile, on Li Anshi's front, without losing a single soldier, merely by transporting some of Li Anshi's weapons, the Cloud ninjas had been scared into retreating.
With such a comparison, what face did Danzo Shimura have left?
Besides Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura would not allow anyone to exist with more prestige than himself!
"This Li Anshi clearly had the ability to completely crush the Cloud ninjas and force their direct surrender."
"But in the end, he allowed the Cloud ninjas to withdraw safely from the Land of Grass. His intentions are sinister!"
"I even suspect he deliberately leaked the information about the weapons transport!"
"Enough, Danzo."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a low voice, "Li is not that kind of person."
"Furthermore, Shikafuku also inquired in this letter whether to hold the line or let Li attack."
"Sarutobi, this fellow is a threat—"
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked directly at Danzo Shimura and said gravely.
He was the Hokage!
Even if he disliked Li Anshi, for the betterment of Konoha, he would not let such petty emotions cloud his judgment.
Danzo Shimura looked up at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
In Hiruzen's eyes, Danzo Shimura seemed to see Master Tobirama from that day.
In that instant, Danzo Shimura's mind seemed to return to that day a year ago.
When Master Tobirama asked who was willing to stay behind, his hand had not been raised.
For these three hundred-odd days and nights, every single day, Danzo Shimura regretted it. If he had mustered some courage that day and spoken before Hiruzen Sarutobi, would Master Tobirama have entrusted the position of Third Hokage to him?
Hooo—
After a long moment, Danzo Shimura took a deep breath and turned away.
"Sarutobi, you will regret this!"
"Regret?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi muttered to himself, then shook his head.
Whether he would regret it in the future was a matter for the future.
At the very least, right now, he did not regret it!
This was the magnanimity a Hokage must possess!
"On the Cloud ninja front, let's maintain the current situation for now!"
"Konoha cannot afford to gamble."
"As for this side..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of Kagami Uchiha and couldn't help but sigh.
Once Kagami Uchiha went blind, his strength would be greatly diminished.
At that point, forget about resisting the attacks of a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki; even an ordinary Elite Jonin could pose a fatal threat to Kagami.
Then, if there wasn't a sufficiently powerful ninja to resist the Stone Village's Tailed Beast Jinchuriki, Konoha's ninjas would suffer heavy casualties when fighting the Stone ninjas.
What gratified Hiruzen Sarutobi was that the Stone ninjas' two Jinchuriki were considerably weaker than the Cloud's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and their lethality against Konoha ninjas was much lower.
"Let me see if there are any other powerhouses here, like Li, whose strength surpasses ordinary Jonin."
"If there are, let Kagami take them to fight the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki before he goes blind, to familiarize them with the Jinchuriki's fighting style."
"This way, even if Kagami's strength is greatly reduced, Konoha's losses should remain within an acceptable range."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sifted through the profiles of numerous ninjas on the table, beginning to select candidates to cooperate with Kagami.
A dozen or so minutes later, several profiles of ninjas were selected by Hiruzen.
Sakumo Hatake's photo was prominently among them.
...
Scrape, scrape, scrape...
Li Anshi sat on the trunk of a large tree, the flying dagger in his hand gliding across a piece of wood.
After realizing his "Ninja Way," Li Anshi's daily routine hadn't changed much.
Every day, he prepared fish for the medical ninja apprentices to practice on, went to see Uchiha Jin's training of the Genin...
When he had free time, he would casually break off a tree branch and begin carving.
Li Anshi quite enjoyed such days.
"Lord Anshi, there's a letter from Lord Third."
Just then, Yamanaka Shin's voice sounded in Li Anshi's mind.
"I know, I'll be right there."
Nodding slightly, Li Anshi replied to Yamanaka Shin in his mind, then "poof," blew on the wood carving in his hand.
As the wood shavings scattered, the three-inch wood carving vaguely took shape.
However, it was easy to see that this carving was only a semi-finished product.
After placing the wood carving into his ninja tool pouch, Li Anshi stood up, and with a few flickers, disappeared into the forest.
"Lord Anshi."
Upon entering the tent, Nara Shikafuku rose and bowed to Li Anshi, then handed him a sealed letter.
"Three days ago, I reported the situation here to Lord Third Hokage through a summoning beast via our clansmen on the Stone Village battlefield, and inquired about our next course of action."
"Lord Third's reply now may contain our next arrangements."
"Lord Anshi, please take a look first, and then tell us what to do."
As the think tank of this battlefield, Nara Shikafuku knew his place very well.
Regardless of what orders Lord Third had in this letter, the one to make the final decision was still the Commander.
He could offer suggestions and ideas.
But only the Commander could issue orders.
If Lord Anshi wasn't prepared to act according to the Hokage's orders, it had nothing to do with him.
He hadn't read Lord Third's letter; he didn't know Lord Third's orders.
Li Anshi was unaware of Nara Shikafuku's many thoughts. He reached out and took the sealed letter. "Jonin Nara, didn't I say before that apart from battles requiring my presence, you can make all decisions in this camp?"
"Something like this, you can just open it and act according to Lord Third's instructions."
Nara Shikafuku smiled.
Rip—
Li Anshi tore open the envelope and took out the letter inside.
After scanning it a few times, Li Anshi handed the letter to Nara Shikafuku.
"The Third Hokage said to maintain the current situation here for now."
"However, the Third Hokage also wants us to be prepared. If the situation changes, we will need to reinforce other battlefields in the shortest possible time."
It seemed the situation on the Land of Earth battlefield was not looking optimistic!