Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 417 This is the Will of Fire

The black thunder eagle folded its wings, and the snow on its feathers fluttered down and landed on the bluestone slab.

The ANBU ninjas at the sentry post moved with lightning speed. One of them stepped forward, grabbed the eagle's leg with his palm, and the other drew a kunai and stood guard on the side.

A scroll sealed with fire lacquer was tied to the eagle's leg; the lacquer was imprinted with the totem of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village).

The ninja deftly unrolled the scroll, and without pausing, turned and rushed into the Hokage Building.

The office door was pushed open.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took the scroll, turned his wrist, and tore off the sealing wax.

The sealing technique was not broken, and the internal force suppression was precise.

Hiruzen Sarutobi removed the sealing wax and scanned every word on it.

The brushstrokes were wild and unrestrained, revealing a forced and suppressed anger.

The letter only mentioned three things: the three villages of Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Amegakure have joined forces, and Kumogakure is facing annihilation. It requests Konoha to send troops and form an alliance.

The cost is unlimited.

"Kumakuya Village requests an alliance, with no limit on the price..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at every word on the paper.

He walked to the map, his gaze lingering on the western front.

The forces of the Land of Lightning are being divided and surrounded by the allied ninja forces of three villages. This time, the Hidden Cloud Village is not only losing the war, but also facing complete annihilation.

The Fourth Raikage A's plea for help was a gamble with the future of the entire village.

"Summon all senior executives immediately."

The atmosphere inside the Konoha meeting room was heavy.

The scroll circulated among several high-ranking officials.

After reading the paper, Xiaochun, who had just moved to another room, slapped it on the table.

"Kumakure is our mortal enemy. The Third Raikage died at our hands. Our current plea for help is only a last resort."

Mitomon Homura responded by moving the abacus on the table and fiddling with the wooden beads.

"If Kumogakure is destroyed, the pressure will indeed shift to Konoha, but wouldn't it be better to just stand by and do nothing, and then deal with the aftermath after the forces of Suna, Iwa, and Amegakure are exhausted? Why waste our own strength for the survival of an enemy?"

Menyan raised his hand, indicating that Konoha should adopt a neutral stance.

"Consumption".

Danzo Shimura stood in the center of the conference room, his finger hovering above the map of the ninja world.

He ignored Men Yan, instead swinging his arm down sharply, drawing an arc that passed through the Land of Rain, heading straight for the location of Kumogakure.

"If it's purely about self-interest, I agree with your judgment. But look here."

Danzo pointed to the territory of Kumogakure on the map, then moved his finger to cover the entire northwest.

"If Cloud Village falls, this region will fall into the sphere of influence of those three countries, and their allied forces will span the entire continent. They will be connected through mineral veins and supply lines to form a solid battle line."

"At that time, the Land of Fire will face a complete and unified enemy, confronting the Four Villages Alliance head-on. Is this the situation you want?"

Danzo withdrew his fingers, clenched his fist, and made a dull thud as it struck the corner of the table.

"That wasn't to save Yunyin, but to prevent ourselves from falling into a passive position and turning our buffer zone into an enemy bridgehead."

The room fell silent.

Sakumo Hatake leaned against the wall, his hands crossed over his chest.

He had been resting with his eyes closed, but now he opened them and looked at the stack of densely packed battle reports.

"When the weak band together, the strong only appear more isolated. Konoha's peace should not be built on the ruins of its neighbors."

He took two steps forward, his footsteps clearly audible in the quiet room.

"If we want to establish order, we need rules. If we cause the surrounding area to break down because of indifference, chaos will spread, and eventually the fire will reach the very walls of Konoha."

He didn't look at anyone, he just stared straight ahead.

"If the objective of the mission is peace, then the best approach is to keep this chaos outside the country's borders."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent, his gaze shifting between the map and the group of people.

The air in the meeting room seemed to freeze; everyone was waiting for that decision, for a conclusion that could balance immediate interests with long-term planning.

Koharu Utatane tried to say something again, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she saw Hiruzen Sarutobi raise his hand.

The knocking stopped.

All attention was focused on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He didn't answer Danzo or respond to Koharu, but slowly turned his head to look at the corner of the conference room.

There, Minato Namikaze stood quietly, holding the border patrol briefing that had just been submitted. He did not participate in the discussion, but simply took careful notes of the key points from the previous argument.

"Watergate".

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, his voice calm, yet it drew the attention of everyone in the room.

What's your opinion on this?

All eyes turned to Minato.

Minato Namikaze emerged from the shadows by the wall, his footsteps echoing softly on the terrazzo floor of the conference room. He walked to the center of the long table, not looking at his senior behind him, but staring at the parchment on the table with a map of the ninja world drawn on it.

He stretched out his hand, his fingertips touching the Land of Rain.

"Everyone is thinking about the old grudges between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire, but that's not the key point."

Minato Namikaze paused for a moment, withdrew his finger, and moved it towards the central part of the entire ninja world.

"If we stand by and watch Kumogakure be destroyed because of hatred today, tomorrow, when the allied forces of Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Amegakure completely control these resources, they will not be satisfied with the status quo. Once the war machine is set in motion, the one who stops it must possess absolute power."

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over Koharu Utatane and Homura Mito.

"The deployment of troops is not to save that enemy village, but to establish new rules in this ninja world. If Konoha simply stands by and watches its neighbor be destroyed, then we are condoning chaos."

"Chaos will be like a plague, and one day it will spread to the borders of the Land of Fire. What we need to do is, in the name of maintaining order, suppress these ambitious individuals who want to disrupt peace directly outside the country's borders."

Minato Namikaze's voice wasn't loud, but every word he uttered was delivered with great steadiness.

The meeting room fell into dead silence.

Danzo Shimura crossed his arms, his brow furrowed, watching the young man draw circles on the map with his finger.

This ambition is even greater than he had previously desired.

Minato paused for a moment, then lightly tapped the location of Kumogakure on the map.

"Dear seniors."

"In the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass, I saw many villages. These civilians did not participate in the ninja war. They just wanted to cultivate the land and feed their families. But when the war began, they were among the first to die."

"If it's just to save Yunyin, then there's really no need for us to send troops. Just like Elder Menyan said, it will deplete our strength."

Minato Namikaze looked around, his speech steady and firm.

"But if we watch the ninja world descend into such massive collapse for our own peace, then what difference is there between the Will of Fire that Konoha is protecting and those powerful clans of the Warring States period who only cared about carving out their own territory and would stop at nothing for their own interests?"

Sakumo Hatake turned around and stepped out of the shadows into the light.

He scrutinized the boy, the weariness that had been hidden in his eyes fading away, replaced by a cautious assessment.

"This is tantamount to asking Konoha to directly act as the administrator of this world and decide the life and death of its neighbors."

Minato Namikaze nodded slightly.

"If we have the power, why should we wait for others to challenge us? Instead of waiting for them to bring disaster to our village, let's define what peace is from the beginning."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the main seat.

He looked at Minato Namikaze, at the boy he had personally trained.

At that moment, he felt a sense of relief, a tremor that only a mentor can feel when seeing a seed sprout from the soil.

He had originally considered many ways to handle the situation, such as diplomatic negotiation, defensive standby, or using someone else's strength against them, but Minato Namikaze gave him the answer he most wanted to hear: domineering control of the entire situation.

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly got up, his chair dragging on the ground with a screeching sound.

He walked to the map and covered the area that Minato Namikaze had just pointed out with his heavy palm.

"This is the Will of Fire."