The Uchiha clan, which was wiped out entirely, lacked vision.

Chapter 41 The Shadow of War

"Danzo..."

Minato, being the Fourth Hokage, knew perfectly well what Danzo was really like.

Looking at the three generations of elderly people, he felt a pang of sadness and suddenly lost interest in continuing to speak.

Suddenly he understood the choice of the three legendary Sannin of Konoha.

He first fought a series of battles, and then used the "Flying Thunder God Technique" to travel. Although his speed was indeed faster, his energy consumption also increased significantly. At this moment, his spirits were dampened, and he was too lazy to continue.

However, he still recounted all the detailed information he knew, and after explaining everything, he bid farewell to the Third Hokage.

"My lord, my time is running out. I plan to spend the rest of my time with my children and have a good chat."

"Is that so..." The Third Hokage didn't have any objections to this. On the contrary, he felt guilty towards Minato. "You've really worked hard! Even though you're already dead, you still have to work so hard for the village."

"It's all for the sake of the village." The Fourth Hokage's smile was still bright and sunny, but there was a hint of dissatisfaction in it. "Um... Kushina asked me to tell the Third Hokage that you dared to bully her son and cause Naruto to be ostracized in the village. She's going to pluck out all your beards."

"Cough cough..." The Third Hokage coughed for a moment. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault for not doing a good enough job..."

However, Minato ignored his apology and immediately retreated back into Naruto's body, leaving Naruto's unconscious body to fall to the ground.

The Third Hokage hurriedly stepped forward to take it and instructed someone to quickly take Naruto away and take good care of him.

"Immediately issue the order to convene a Jonin meeting!"

A short while later, representatives from various clans arrived one after another, and the Jonin Conference officially commenced.

The Third Hokage first gave a brief overview of the information, and then said:

"The Land of Rain and the Land of Fire are adjacent to each other and have always existed as a buffer zone between the two countries. Also, because of the existence of the demigod Hanzo the Salamander, we cannot be too forceful and do not have a deep understanding of the information there."

"If Minato hadn't brought back the intelligence this time, we probably would have remained completely in the dark, unaware that things had changed there."

"This information was obtained by elite ninjas like the Ino-Shika-Cho trio at the cost of their lives. Everyone must not let their guard down. We must come up with a countermeasure today."

"What's there to discuss?" Danzo's face was full of excitement, a sinister glint flashing in his single eye. "This kind of ungrateful little country should be completely wiped out, and the Land of Rain should be brought under the rule of the Land of Fire!"

It's no wonder that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire liked Danzo even more than Hiruzen Sarutobi. Who wouldn't like a guy like Danzo who always wanted to expand his master's territory?

The Third Hokage slammed his fist on the table in anger. "Danzo, this is a Jonin meeting, a discussion of countermeasures. Don't be so quick to suggest starting a war!"

"How long has it been since World War III?"

"Haven't you learned how devastating the war was before?"

"The village has just suffered an accident, and its strength has been greatly weakened. We cannot give other countries an excuse to start a war!"

Danzo was even more excited than the Third Hokage, and he banged his cane on the ground repeatedly.

"It's precisely because the village's strength has been greatly diminished that we need to project an image of strength to the outside world!"

"At a time like this, if we show even the slightest weakness, other villages will think that Konoha's strength has declined and will take the opportunity to pounce on us and devour us!"

"It would be unwise to clash with other major powers, but the Land of Rain happens to be a small country. Even if there are a few powerful ninjas, they can't possibly be stronger than Hanzo."

"We only need to annihilate the Rain Kingdom with overwhelming force, and no one will dare to doubt us again!"

The third generation raised an eyebrow and shouted loudly:

"Did you not take any of the information I just mentioned to heart?"

"Minato himself said that the person behind Amegakure is a powerful ninja who possesses the Rinnegan, just like the Sage of Six Paths!"

"And it wasn't just one person, it was two!"

"If war breaks out, we may very well be facing not an old, dying Hanzo of the Salamander, but two demigods in their prime!"

"There aren't that many demigods in this world!" Danzo didn't believe it at all. He touched his eye under the bandage and said confidently, "Didn't Minato already bring back the weakness of the Rinnegan's eye technique? Can't we just use that to design our tactics?"

"If they are truly as powerful as you say, like Hanzo the Salamander, then they must be eliminated!"

"Their current actions clearly demonstrate their malice towards Konoha Village. Should we wait for them to grow stronger before we eliminate them before they are ready?"

"Hiruzen, you can't be a weakling like you when you're Hokage!"

"If you're so worried about these so-called Rinnegan ninjas, then you might as well leave it to us at Root."

"I will show you that Root is the most important force that allows Konoha to stand at the pinnacle of the Five Great Nations!"

Seeing this, Danzo still couldn't resist finding fault with himself, which made the Third Hokage tremble with anger.

"Is this a question of who will deal with the enemy? This is a question of countless lives in two villages!"

"So what?" Danzo yelled, straining his neck. "Are we just going to let all those village ninjas die in vain?"

"Nara Shikaku and the others died in the battle of Amegakure. Don't you owe the Ino-Shika-Cho trio an explanation?"

Upon hearing this, the Third Hokage's momentum immediately deflated. He scanned the faces of everyone present and saw that they were all indignant, clearly very resentful that a small ninja village like Amegakure dared to provoke Konoha.

The next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio has not yet grown up; those present are Jonin from other clans.

They weren't as agitated, though their faces showed some sadness, they remained calm and restrained.

Among these people, Akimichi Torifu had the highest seniority and experience, so he spoke first:

"Lord Hokage, the matter of starting a war is of great importance. Please act with caution and do not worry about the attitude of our Ino-Shika-Cho clan."

"Whatever choice the Hokage makes, our three clans will resolutely support him without any objection."

But the more he said that, the more the third generation could not ignore their sacrifices.

The Third Generation sighed inwardly and said in a deep voice:

"The Hidden Rain Village dared to harbor a rogue ninja within the village and attempted to kidnap the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, which has violated a taboo in the ninja world."

"I am not against retaliating against Amegakure, but we cannot rashly launch a war. We must gather enough intelligence and concentrate all our forces. We must defeat Amegakure as quickly and decisively as possible."

"Pass on my orders: send people to bring Tsunade and Jiraiya back, recall the Jonin who are on missions outside, and send people to infiltrate Amegakure to gather relevant intelligence."

"Meeting adjourned!"

"Danzo, stay behind. I have something for you to do."