"Lord Jiraiya." A Police Force ninja disguised as a spectator approached Jiraiya from behind and spoke in a low voice.
"Hm? Are you here for my autograph?" Jiraiya turned his head and smiled.
"An order from the Lord Hokage." The Police Force ninja took a scroll from his pocket and handed it over.
"Oh?"
Jiraiya was a bit surprised. He took the paper, confirmed its authenticity, and then read the contents, his expression turning serious.
"Understood. I'll act immediately."
With that, Jiraiya stood up and left using the Body Flicker Technique.
Tsunade also received a notification from a Police Force ninja.
Although Tsunade's hemophobia hadn't been cured, her medical ninjutsu was of great use on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, at the Konoha ANBU base.
Uzuki Yūgao, who had become the captain of the Third Division, knocked on the door of the ANBU Commander's office.
"Ah, Yūgao. What can I do for you?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke said in a friendly tone.
"An order from the Lord Hokage. Immediately assemble all ANBU ninja within the village and move out. These are the specific orders."
Uzuki Yūgao gave a slight bow, her tone serious as she finished speaking. She walked over and handed him a scroll.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke opened the scroll and quickly read it. He looked up and said in a deep voice, "I'll act immediately."
"Good."
A short while later, Jiraiya and the ANBU ninja led by Sarutobi Shinnosuke arrived one after another in the forest south of Konoha's main gate.
By this time, many ninja had already gathered in the forest, primarily from the Police Force and Root, as well as some Otogakure ninja.
Jiraiya was there to act as both muscle and commander. Although Kushina was powerful, she lacked command experience.
Besides Kushina, Kurenai, Anko, and a disguised Rin Nohara were also here.
After arriving, Jiraiya quickly assessed the situation with the Suna ninja outside the village and rapidly deployed his forces.
When the thousand-plus elite Suna ninja of similar rank outside the village received the signal and attacked, Jiraiya and Kushina launched their attack according to the pre-arranged plan.
The Suna ninja were clearly more numerous, but their high-end combat power was lacking. The strongest among them were only Jōnin.
Although the Konoha ninja were fewer, their ranks started with elite Chūnin. One couldn't join the Police Force, ANBU, or Root without being an elite.
Coupled with their absolute advantage in high-end combat power, with Kushina's miniature Tailed Beast Bombs and large-scale ninjutsu from Kage-level experts, it didn't take long for them to be utterly routed.
The casualties among Konoha ninja were minimal because Tsunade summoned Katsuyu, who split herself so that every Konoha ninja could receive timely treatment.
As long as they didn't die instantly, their chances of survival were extremely high.
In truth, Kushina and the other women could also summon Katsuyu for healing, but Kageyama Kogetsu wanted to give Tsunade a sense of participation.
This was to prevent her from complaining afterward that Jiraiya got to participate in such a major event while she did not.
The surviving Suna ninja fled in terror in all directions. Konoha split into several teams to pursue them.
Before long, the Northern Border Force, acting on Kageyama Kogetsu's orders, formed a massive encirclement and surrounded the fleeing Suna ninja.
The Northern Border Force was meant to defend against Kumogakure. Kageyama Kogetsu had mobilized three thousand ninja, and the Suna ninja who had infiltrated mainly from the southwest and west of the Land of Fire were completely unaware.
Attacked from both the front and back and subjected to a carpet search, in the end, not a single Suna ninja escaped. They were either killed or captured.
The escorting of prisoners, cleaning of the battlefield, and transportation of the wounded were all carried out in an orderly manner under the command of Jiraiya and the others...
The mobilized three-thousand-strong ninja force did not return to their posts. Instead, they split into four units.
With the Konoha main gate as the primary focus and the other three directions as secondary, they formed a massive encirclement to prevent the other hidden villages from sending messages back home.
For the villages with better relations, after their intelligence was confiscated, they were not allowed to leave but were treated with good food and drink.
The villages with poor relations did not receive such good treatment after their intelligence was confiscated. As long as they didn't starve, it was fine.
...
Konoha, Hokage's Office. After receiving permission, the three elders entered one after another, none of them looking pleased.
"Come, have a seat, Elders." Kageyama Kogetsu, sitting on the sofa in the guest area, beckoned with a smile.
Seeing Kageyama Kogetsu's relaxed and cheerful demeanor, the three elders became even more irritated.
"Kogetsu, to not even discuss such a major matter with us is one thing, but you didn't even notify us?"
"That's right. Although you handled it beautifully, you should have at least informed us."
"Kogetsu, you hid this very well indeed."
Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Sarutobi Hiruzen complained one after another.
Kageyama Kogetsu didn't respond with "I am the Hokage," but instead smiled and handed them three cups of tea.
"Have some tea, cool down, cool down."
"It's not that I intentionally kept it from you, but with your style of doing things, you wouldn't have allowed me to take such a risk, even with a high degree of certainty."
"Telling you would have just created a disagreement, wouldn't it?"
"We've always worked well together. I didn't want to cause any unpleasantness."
"Isn't this much better? The matter has been resolved beautifully, and our relationship won't be affected."
Hearing this, the three of them softened...
Thinking about it, what he said did make sense.
Luring the snake out of its hole, using Konoha as the battlefield—even with a high chance of success, they would have indeed found it difficult to agree to such a risky method.
With this thought, the three of them picked up their teacups and took a sip, their anger subsiding.
"Kogetsu, this matter will have far-reaching consequences. How do you plan to handle what comes next?"
"You can hide the news for a while, but not forever. We can't just keep everyone confined to Konoha, can we?" Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a grave expression.
"The later the other villages find out, the better it is for Konoha. In any case, they cannot know before the Chūnin Exams are over."
"Of course, we will severely punish Sunagakure. Not only did they betray the alliance, but they also caused trouble in Konoha. If we don't punish them harshly, what will the world think of Konoha?" Kageyama Kogetsu said with a cold expression.
"A severe punishment is appropriate. We have no objection," Mitokado Homura said sternly.
"We just need to handle it with the right measure. It's best not to provoke a war," Utatane Koharu said with a serious face.
"I agree. Although Konoha's losses were minimal, it's better not to start a war if we can avoid it."
"Once a war starts, the other villages won't just stand by. It could lead to the outbreak of the Fourth Great Ninja War. The variables are too great, and the risks are too high," Sarutobi Hiruzen said earnestly.
In the original story, the Konoha Crush Plan was the most devastating of Konoha's three great calamities, surpassing even the Nine-Tails Attack and Pain's Invasion.
Pain had sacrificed his own life to revive the dead of Konoha using the Rinne Tensei no Jutsu, so Konoha's main losses were infrastructural.
The losses during the Nine-Tails Attack were significant, but Minato Namikaze turned the tide. The attack didn't last long, and while most of the Konoha ninja who died were elites, their numbers weren't excessively high.
If Konoha hadn't been so severely weakened, why would they have swallowed their pride, not held Sunagakure accountable, and continued to maintain the alliance?
With so many economic and personnel losses, the accumulation of hatred, and even the death of the Hokage, it would not have been easy to suppress.
Although it was frustrating and humiliating, the decision made by Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu was the correct one.
Given Konoha's strength at that time in the original story, if they had dared to retaliate against Sunagakure, the other villages, especially Kumogakure and Iwagakure, would have been overjoyed.
Once they retaliated against Sunagakure, the Fourth Great Ninja War would have certainly broken out ahead of schedule. With Konoha's shortage of new talent, they would have most likely lost the war, and might have even been destroyed.
Conversely, by not holding Sunagakure's betrayal against them and continuing the alliance, they were able to deter the other villages from acting rashly, thus buying enough time to develop.
But this world was different. Konoha had more than enough power to retaliate against Sunagakure!
Kageyama Kogetsu smiled. "Rest assured, I know what I'm doing."
"What do you think about turning Sunagakure into a vassal of Konoha?"
"For example, the new Kazekage will require Konoha's approval to take office..."
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