"Don't hesitate, Hiruzen."
Inside the quiet Hokage's Office, Danzo's voice suddenly broke the silence.
"Immediately withdraw shinobi from the Iwa front. Before Suna can fully prepare, Konoha should launch a decisive battle—take down Suna as fast as possible, then move to reinforce the Iwa front."
"No" Hiruzen rejected flatly: "Ōnoki is definitely waiting for us to pull forces away. If we do that, he'll surely strike at Konoha while we're locked in battle with Suna. The consequences would be disastrous."
Hearing Hiruzen's rebuttal, Danzo let out a displeased snort and pressed again.
"Then draw from the Kiri front. During wartime, neither the Uchiha nor Hyūga dare defy the village's orders."
Mitokado Homura frowned, thinking carefully over Danzō's suggestion, then shook his head.
"If we thin out the Mist front, the enemy may launch a massive invasion into the Land of Fire itself. The Daimyō will hold Konoha responsible, and there's a real risk of budget cuts afterward."
Koharu nodded repeatedly.
"Even the smaller raids before this have already shaken the villagers' faith in Konoha. If the Land of Fire's heartland is invaded by Mist shinobi, Konoha's reputation will be in ruins."
Hiruzen, hearing the elders' concerns, also agreed that pulling forces from the Mist front was unwise.
"Danzō, if the people of the Land of Fire lose faith in Konoha, it will directly affect the number of missions we receive once the war ends."
For most hidden villages, revenue came from two sources:
First, direct funding from the Daimyō.
Second, the commission fees from shinobi missions, with a portion always taken by the village.
In Hiruzen's view, Konoha was already bound to be gravely weakened once this war ended.
If thinning out the Mist front led to an invasion of the Land of Fire, the Daimyō would blame Konoha and cut funding. Combined with losing the trust of the people, fewer mission requests would follow. Without money, the village's recovery would slow to a crawl.
That was an outcome Hiruzen could not allow.
Danzō, however, looked at his three old teammates with disappointment. One thought echoed in his mind:
"Fools!"
Yes—Danzō believed the decisive battle with Suna should come sooner, not later.
Rather than sit back and wait for Suna to prepare, Konoha should gather its forces and attack first.
As for Iwa? Even if they ceded the smaller battlefields to minor nations, what did it matter? Defeat Suna first, and once Konoha had its hands free, crushing Iwa would be simple.
And Mist's invasion? Laughable. As long as Konoha won the entire war, some destroyed villages were irrelevant.
So long as Konoha maintained its position as the foremost hidden village, even if missions decreased, it would still be the number one among the five great shinobi nations.
Recovery speed didn't matter—only that Konoha recovered faster than its enemies.
Danzō knew he couldn't sway Hiruzen now. But then his single exposed eye shifted in thought.
Another idea.
"In that case… since we lack manpower, then let the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki—"
"No!"
"Absolutely not!"
"Impossible!"
Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura cut him off before he could finish.
"Ahem—"
Realizing his own loss of composure, Hiruzen coughed awkwardly.
"Danzō, Kushina is Konoha's ultimate safeguard. If she were sent to the battlefield and something happened, Konoha could never bear the consequences."
Danzō lifted his head, silently scanning the room. Koharu and Homura avoided his gaze, turning away.
Finally his eye landed on Hiruzen, who did not avert his eyes.
"Hiruzen… you've grown old."
"Danzō, I am the Hokage!"
Danzō hated that line more than anything. If only he had been chosen back then… No, better not to dwell on it.
Without another word, Danzō turned on his heel and stormed out of the Hokage's Office, slamming the door behind him.
This farce of a meeting—he couldn't stand another second of it.
A few days later.
Battlefield of the Land of Rivers. Konoha's frontline command post.
The place was especially lively today.
Jiraiya, Tsunade, Minato, Shikaku, and Mitsuki — just recently promoted to Special Jōnin — were all gathered.
They were seated around a massive map.
Normally, Mitsuki's qualifications wouldn't earn him a spot at such a high-level strategy meeting.
But exceptions always exist.
As one of Konoha's biggest contributors to gaining the upper hand against Suna, Mitsuki had become the rising star of the new generation — at least in this theater of war.
Even enemy forces on other fronts had already heard rumors of Konoha's prodigy.
With arms crossed, Tsunade spoke up:
"News just arrived from the village."
Everyone's eyes shifted from the map to her.
"Konoha will be dispatching 1,000 shinobi here as reinforcements."
"Only 1,000? That won't close the power gap enough" muttered Shikaku, already calculating how to maximize their use.
"Tch, just 1,000? What the hell, old man — borrow some more from Orochimaru's side!"
Jiraiya grumbled in disappointment.
Minato, however, offered a more balanced view:
"The Sandaime-sama must have his reasons. After all, the other two fronts aren't going well either."
Even stationed here at the Suna front, Minato already thought like a Hokage — his perspective always on the full scope of Konoha's war.
And indeed, this 1,000 was all Hiruzen could scrape together, draining every possible reserve.
Tsunade then turned her gaze toward Mitsuki.
"Mitsuki, what do you think?"
Mitsuki did have an idea. But he didn't want to say it.
To him, the most effective approach would be this:
Konoha should go on the offensive—invade directly into the Land of Wind. Once Suna was forced to respond, Minato could use the Flying Thunder God to teleport him past the main battlefield.
Straight into the heart of Sunagakure.
Once inside, he could unleash his ultimate technique and wipe the entire village off the map.
But the method was cruel—the blade pointed directly at Suna's civilians and children left behind.
Worse, if both he and Minato left the main battlefield, Rin and Kakashi might face grave danger.
And for Mitsuki, Rin's safety mattered far more than winning the war.
So, when asked, he deflected.
"Sorry, Commander. I'm not much for strategy. Better to hear Shikaku-san's opinion."
Seeing him dodge the question, Tsunade stretched out an arm, yanked Mitsuki against her chest, and with her free hand messed up his white hair.
"You brat. What did you just call me?"
"I was wrong, Tsunade-neechan. But… we're in a meeting, so I thought I should use your title."
"Hmph."
Releasing him, Tsunade returned to her seat with a smirk.