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Chapter 193: If Everyone is Unlucky, No One is Unlucky
Danzo saw the reaction and frowned. "What happened? Did those sand rats from the Land of Wind attack?"
Hiruzen ignored Danzo. He continued reading, his expression becoming increasingly strange. It was a mix of shock, astonishment, and a trace of... indescribable relief.
"Anbu, besides this one, are there others?" Hiruzen asked suddenly.
The Anbu ninja nodded and pulled out three more scrolls. "These are intelligence reports from Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure. They arrived almost one after another."
Hiruzen snatched all the scrolls, moving so fast it looked like he was seizing a rare treasure. He spread them out quickly, scanning ten lines at a glance.
The office was dead silent, save for the rustling of paper.
Danzo watched Hiruzen's shifting expression, the ominous feeling in his heart growing stronger. Did the four great nations unite to attack Konoha? If so, that would truly be an apocalyptic disaster.
Finally, Hiruzen put down the scrolls.
He slumped into his chair as if his bones had been removed, letting out a long breath of turbid air.
"Hoo..."
The exhalation was incredibly long, seemingly expelling the depression of the last few days. Then, he reached for the pipe on the table, refilled it with tobacco, and with a steady hand—even striking a spark with his fingertip—lit it.
Puff, puff.
The rich smell of tobacco filled the office.
Danzo couldn't take it anymore. "Hiruzen! What the hell happened? Speak!"
Hiruzen lifted his eyelids, glanced at his grumpy old friend, and the corners of his mouth actually curled up, revealing a smile uglier than crying.
"Danzo..." He pushed the scrolls forward. "See for yourself."
Danzo stepped forward suspiciously and picked up the reports.
The first was from Sunagakure.
The Wind Daimyo's palace was raided by an unknown force last night. The Daimyo and his relatives are all missing. A red cloud mark was left at the scene. The Kazekage is furious and has ordered frontline troops to cease all attacks and return to search for the Daimyo.
Danzo's pupil contracted sharply. The Wind Daimyo was also captured?
He immediately picked up the second one, from Iwagakure.
The Earth Daimyo was hijacked while hunting. The guards were wiped out. Ohnoki received a ransom letter demanding immediate withdrawal from the Land of Rain. The Iwa front line is in chaos.
The third, Kumogakure.
The Lightning Daimyo was hijacked in his sleeping quarters...
The fourth, Kirigakure.
The Water Daimyo is missing...
Clatter.
The scrolls slipped from his hand and fell onto the table. Even on Danzo's perpetually gloomy face, there was now a blank expression.
Five.
The Daimyos of the Five Great Nations.
In one night, all of them were captured?!
How is this possible? What kind of god-like means is this? How many troops does this "Akatsuki" organization actually have?
"This... This is simply absurd!" Danzo held it in for a long time before squeezing that sentence out through his teeth.
"Yes, absurd."
Hiruzen blew out a smoke ring. The haze on his face was swept away, replaced by a strange lightness.
Just minutes ago, he felt like the most incompetent Hokage in history, unable to protect even his own Daimyo, getting scolded by Danzo. The feeling of isolation and taking the blame alone had nearly broken him.
But now?
Everyone lost theirs.
Since no one protected their Daimyo, it wasn't that he, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was incompetent, but that the enemy was too cunning! It was the typical mentality of "As long as everyone fails the exam, I don't have to worry about getting beaten when I get home."
"It seems our previous judgment was wrong." Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, his tone steady and composed. "This isn't just an action against Konoha; it's a challenge to the entire ninja world order. The 'Akatsuki' organization's plot is much bigger than we imagined. This is definitely not a vision that Hanzo possesses."
Danzo nodded, agreeing with this point. Hanzo was just a watchdog.
It was undeniable that the mountain originally pressing solely on Konoha's head was suddenly distributed among the other four villages. This feeling... really wasn't so bad anymore.
"Hmph." Danzo picked up his cane, his expression softening slightly. "Since the Daimyos of the Five Great Nations are in their hands, the situation has changed. We aren't the only ones anxious now."
"Exactly," Hiruzen nodded, the sharp gleam returning to his eyes. He envisioned the other Kages in that moment—flustered, exasperated, tearing their hair out—and a wave of indescribable pleasure surged within him.
It truly is better to share the misery than to suffer alone. The ancients spoke the truth.
"So what now?" Danzo asked, his tone less aggressive and more consultative.
Hiruzen clamped the pipe in his teeth, his gaze shifting from shock to a calculating depth. He blew out smoke, and amidst the swirling gray, his aged face relaxed, the brow that had been furrowed for days completely smoothing out.
He leaned back and even crossed his legs.
"Hiruzen, have you gone mad?" Danzo slammed his cane down again with a heavy thud, his single eye filled with unreasonable anger. "The Daimyos of the Five Great Nations have been captured. This is an unprecedented humiliation for the ninja world! And you're smiling?"
"Humiliation? Perhaps."
Hiruzen tapped the pipe, emptying the burnt ash into the ashtray on the corner of the table with slow, deliberate movements. "But Danzo, you and I both know that so-called humiliation is worthless compared to the survival of the village."
He looked up, his cloudy old eyes shining with shrewd light. "Think carefully. This war... did Konoha really want to fight it?"
Danzo frowned and scoffed. "War is for profit, for expansion. The Land of Rain is at the junction of three great nations. If we take it, we have a strategic buffer zone."
"That is your thought, not Konoha's, and certainly not the thought of the Fire Nation's civilians." Hiruzen shook his head and refilled the tobacco. "The Land of Fire possesses the most fertile land, the most pleasant climate, and the most prosperous economy in the ninja world. We occupy the center of the world, like a rich man sitting on a mountain of gold."
"Now look at our neighbors."
Hiruzen held up three fingers. "The Land of Wind is all sand; even drinking water is a problem. The Land of Earth is all rocks; they can't grow a few grains of food. The Land of Lightning is a bunch of barbarians who only know how to fight all day."
"Why do they fight? Because they are poor, they are hungry, and they are jealous of the land beneath our feet."
The Hokage's office fell silent, with only the sound of rain outside continuing to patter.
Hiruzen lit his pipe and took a deep drag. The spicy smoke circulated in his lungs, taking away the pent-up frustration of many days.
"This war was provoked by them from the very beginning. Suna wants our water sources, Iwa wants our granaries, Kumo wants our technology and Bloodline Limits."
"We were forced to respond."
"If we win, what do we get? Sand from the Land of Wind? Or rocks from the Land of Earth? Those barren lands would be a burden even if we conquered them; we'd have to spend money to govern and garrison them."
Hiruzen let out a scoff. "And if we lose? We have to cede territory, pay reparations, and give up this fertile soil left by our ancestors."
"This is a business where we are guaranteed to lose money."
Danzo fell silent. Although he was radical in his political stance, he had to admit that Hiruzen was speaking the truth. Konoha was the beneficiary of the status quo; maintaining it was the optimal solution. Any form of war was a drain on Konoha's family fortune.
"So..."
Hiruzen pointed to the pile of intelligence scrolls on the table, the corner of his mouth hooking into a playful arc. "Amegakure has done us a huge favor."
"A huge favor?" Danzo narrowed his eyes. "You're thanking kidnappers?"
"Why not?"
Hiruzen turned his chair to face Danzo, spreading his hands. "Everyone has hostages in the other party's hands. This creates a delicate balance."
"No one dares to move first. No one dares to continue fighting."
"The war is over."
No bloodshed, no sacrifice, Konoha didn't even need to pay a price. A Great Ninja War that could have dragged down Konoha's finances and broken countless families was paused by a few crazy kidnappers just like that.
For Konoha, this was simply joyous news from the heavens.
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