Although the upper echelons of Konoha had always wanted to avoid being dragged into multiple fronts of battle like during the last great war, in order to focus their strength and prevent unnecessary losses, in terms of overall power, Konoha was not weak but strong. It could definitely handle fighting two fronts at once, or even three if necessary.
The Third Hokage hadn't suffered any crushing defeats nor was he so old as to be past his prime. He also had no intention of turning against his three most cherished disciples—if even the students he personally selected were to grow distant from him, then the Third would truly have failed. How could he talk about the "Will of Fire" then?
This was still early in the war, unlike the later stages of the Second or Third Great Ninja Wars that dragged on for over twenty years. The general mood in Konoha wasn't one of war-weariness at all; it leaned toward decisive and aggressive retaliation—striking back with equal force. Therefore, the Hokage wouldn't be overwhelmed by grassroots opposition among the lower ranks of ninja. This point was especially crucial.
Haseo himself was tied directly to Konoha's core secrets—secrets that not even the two elders knew. Giving him to the enemy would mean surrendering those secrets as well. So even if they decided to hand him away, they'd first need to kill him before doing so. However, how exactly to kill Haseo posed a major problem—first, he absolutely wouldn't accept death willingly; second, he would certainly resist.
So regardless of Haseo's combat abilities, usefulness, or contributions, based purely on the four points above, the Third Hokage would never consider giving him up. In a certain sense, Haseo represented Konoha's fundamental interests, making him an element that couldn't be compromised or sacrificed.
Given all these circumstances, although the current situation might resemble what happened with the Hyūga Clan previously—or even seem like the "Hinata Incident" repeating itself as the "Kushina Incident"—Haseo would certainly not suffer the same fate as Hizashi.
Therefore, Haseo's earlier test had been not only clumsy but extremely amateur. It wasn't about testing their political instincts at all—it was more like checking how low their intelligence could go. Was anyone here actually dumb enough to bite? Who among them had truly lost their mind?
Thankfully, the Third Hokage hadn't lost his mind.
"The attempt by Kumo to obtain the power of the Uzumaki clan should be considered merely a coincidental event. Its motivation stemmed from concerns regarding the uncontrollability of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, rather than representing an overall intent for war. Essentially, this was a single-point incident transferring from one matter to another—not something serving broader trends toward all-out conflict.
In other words, this hostile act by Kumo against Konoha doesn't mean that they have designated us as their target for full-scale war."
After refuting Haseo's foolish joke, the Third Hokage remained silent briefly before continuing,
"Based upon historical enmities and the spread of mutual hatred, according to our original consensus reached at the very beginning of this great war, if Cloud were to initiate another full-scale war, then their primary opponent would logically be Iwa—the same as those messengers claimed. That much is likely true."
"But now the question is, will this incident cause Kumo to shift their operational plans? Would they prioritize Konoha as their main target?" said Homura Mitokado.
At first, he'd almost instinctively thought about handing Haseo over, driven by a sense of distaste, but as soon as his rationality returned, he realized some things were just impossible. So now, he had begun speaking like a proper Elder—analyzing both internal and external intel about Konoha, offering opinions, suggestions, and strategies for the Hokage to consider—that was his core job.
But an Elder's work often gets confused with mere lip service. For example, Haseo sometimes couldn't tell whether this man was actually strategizing or just running his mouth.
"They'll probably still focus on Iwagakure," Haseo remarked.
"Why?" Homura Mitokado asked.
"Intuition."
"..."
Well, most of the time "intuition" could be translated as "just taking a wild guess."
"Kumo has always been aggressive—would they ignore the deaths of their own people in Konoha without clarification?" Koharu Utatane interjected. Obviously, Haseo's 'intuition' wasn't convincing anyone.
"If Kumo has made extensive preparations against Iwa, abruptly shifting their operational plans would be difficult. That would mean all their prior efforts were wasted, and they'd have to start new preparations against Konoha… It would entail extremely high costs. Waging war relies on full support from the entire Land of Lightning; even the Raikage cannot make unilateral decisions at times," Haseo continued, offering something more reasonable this time.
"First, the alliance between Konoha and Kumo will likely break again. Second, it's quite possible that Kumo and Konoha will openly enter a state of hostility and warfare. Third, judging the scale of this conflict at this point, it should be relatively small… It definitely won't exceed the scale of our previous wars with Mist, maybe even significantly smaller.
War creates a ripple effect. If Kumo launches a large-scale offensive against the Land of Fire, we'd pull back forces from the Land of Rain and might even negotiate peace with Iwa. Once Iwa's pressure greatly decreases and Konoha and Kumo are locked in chaos, would Iwa then launch its own attack on Kumo?
The feud between Iwa and Kumo runs deeper than most… From Kumo's perspective, it's better if we keep Iwa occupied." The Third Hokage supplemented and summarized.
The other three exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.
"In that case, while the news of the Kumo Envoy Team's destruction remains temporarily confined within Konoha, we must take preemptive measures. We can't afford to remain passive every time… I propose stationing small elite units along the borders of the Land of Rice Fields.
The Eastern Front against Mist has completely quieted down, allowing us to further reduce troop numbers there. We can redeploy forces internally or from the Eastern Front to deal with Kumo," Haseo offered this suggestion.
Based on the current analysis of the situation and impressions in his mind, Haseo agreed with the Third Hokage's assessment. If limited to the timeframe of the Second Great Ninja War, the conflict between Konoha and Kumo hadn't been particularly intense.
At this time, Kumo still wanted to punch Iwagakure even more. After all, it seemed like they hadn't finished their last battle properly… Even the Tsuchikage had been taken down by the Mizukage, which meant Kumo hadn't even gotten a piece of the action.
The real reason was simple—Kumo wasn't afraid of today's Konoha. Mist, on the other hand, was still looking for ways to weaken Konoha further.
"I think this plan works," said the Third Hokage eventually, issuing orders accordingly. "On one hand, the village should actively search for spies and locate the missing Uzumaki clan members to ensure that Kumo doesn't gain access to the Uzumaki power. On the other hand, we need to mobilize forces along the border of the Land of Rice Fields to prepare for any potential war efforts from Kumo."
The Land of Rice Fields no longer housed any ninja villages at this point, so acting there would cause no major conflict… Although in the past when there was a hidden village there, ninjas from the great villages could already move freely anyway.
Considering effectiveness, it would actually be most suitable to station Haseo on the border lines there—he could deter Kumo, particularly their Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki. However, the problem, though, was that Haseo needed to stay in Konoha for now.
Who knows? Sending Haseo over there might only make Kumo even angrier—and end up backfiring completely… What if Kumo became determined to kill him?
Thankfully, Konoha still had other elite fighters at its disposal.
They'd just send the legendary White Fang to the Land of Rice Fields as Haseo's stand-in—the effect would probably be about the same anyway.
(By the way)
Now that I'm on the recommendation list, I'd really appreciate it if you could spare some monthly tickets and recommendation votes for me.
Even though it's Lunar New Year season and traffic is low… but…
It's not healthy to stay cooped up at home all day with no movement. Voting can actually burn some calories—good for your health too!
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