Chapter 355: Lord Hokage is Right
"Lord Yasushi, unfortunate news. The shinobi alliance has assembled and advances toward Konoha Village. They'll arrive at our perimeter within days."
Zetsu emerged from underground, his dark features seemingly shrouded by storm clouds.
"Let them come!" Yasushi replied dismissively. "Though this time, I won't allow them to reach Konoha's gates."
"Immediately summon all village jonin for a meeting. We'll take the initiative, crushing this so-called alliance in one decisive strike."
Watching Yasushi's face brighten with obvious excitement, Zetsu protested irritably:
"Lord Yasushi, you promised to hunt Jigen with me!"
"You said leaving Madara to defend the village would suffice!"
"Did I say that?" Yasushi feigned shocked surprise.
After deliberately pausing to think, he spread both hands and shamelessly declared:
"Oh well. I changed my mind."
"You know—men are fickle creatures."
"Come on, don't be angry!"
"The alliance will be eliminated quickly anyway. You can confirm Jigen's whereabouts first. Once I've destroyed the alliance, I'll immediately depart with you."
Zetsu stared at Yasushi with ill favor for some time. Yasushi returned the gaze with apparently sincere eyes, playing who-blinks-first-loses.
Finally, Zetsu retreated helplessly before Yasushi's shamelessness.
After Zetsu departed, Yasushi immediately began summoning people to prepare for battle.
Following his exit from the Hokage office, Zetsu hesitated extensively before separating his black-and-white body. Only White Zetsu remained while Black Zetsu prepared to leave Konoha Village.
"You're not continuing to monitor Yasushi?" White Zetsu asked curiously.
Black Zetsu shook his head, speaking irritably:
"My previous thinking was mistaken. All Mangekyou Sharingan Uchiha are madmen. Yasushi especially—completely unreliable and constantly contradictory. I cannot place all hope in him."
"Though I haven't determined why he delays, the current situation is obvious—he has absolutely no intention of hunting Jigen now."
"I finally understand—he's extremely self-centered."
"If he wants something, he'll pursue it without prompting. If he doesn't want something, no amount of urging matters. He always finds various excuses."
"Rather than waste time here, I'll work on Nagato instead, manipulating Akatsuki into action."
"That arrogant Nagato is far easier to control than this boy!"
"You continue monitoring him. If battle proceeds smoothly, urge him to rendezvous with me."
"If he makes various excuses for delay, don't insist. Just respond casually and report the information to me."
"Understood."
Black and White Zetsu separated once more, each pursuing separate objectives.
Black Zetsu's judgment proved absolutely correct.
What exactly was Yasushi delaying?
Naturally, he awaited Obito locating the Shell Organization's dimensional space position. That miniature Ten-Tails made him extremely covetous.
But perhaps Obito pursued too aggressively—Jigen fled throughout the shinobi world without returning to base once, preventing Obito from achieving his mission objective.
If Jigen's current body was destroyed prematurely and Isshiki Ōtsutsuki reincarnated into an unknown stranger, wouldn't all existing leads vanish completely?
However, Yasushi remained unaware that Black Zetsu had seen through his schemes and began targeting Nagato instead.
Currently, Yasushi enthusiastically waved his arms, vigorously motivating the village.
"During the first three Great Ninja Wars, Konoha Village consistently dominated the other four nations. Yet after each victory, the village never demanded territorial concessions or war reparations—accepting absolutely no victor's benefits!"
"What kind of behavior is this?"
"Idiotic behavior!"
"Not mercy—stupidity!"
"Precisely because of such foolish village policies, the other four nations never learned their lessons, launching wars repeatedly!"
"Even last time, the village actually lost—forced to cede territory and pay reparations to others."
"Shameful!"
"What tremendous shame!"
"Fortunately, we now have an opportunity to wash away this humiliation."
"This war, we'll learn from past mistakes. After defeating the so-called alliance, we'll maintain momentum, counterattacking straight to their lairs."
"We'll not only nuke their capitals but capture their emperors and behead—wait, slip of the tongue! I meant bombard capitals and capture Daimyo alive."
"In summary, after this victory, we absolutely cannot release enemies easily like before. They must pay appropriate costs."
"That's all I have to say. Who agrees? Who objects?"
Without Mizuki needing to lead applause, all Uchiha jonin immediately erupted in enthusiastic cheers:
"Lord Hokage is right!"
"Indeed, only our Uchiha clan members are most suitable as Hokage—truly considering the village's interests!"
"Unlike the Third, constantly preaching mercy, mercy—yet never showing mercy toward village people."
"That mercy seemed performed for foreigners, exchanging village ninja lives for good reputation?"
"That's incredibly selfish and shameless!"
"I always said the Third was too hypocritical. The Second choosing him as Hokage was absolutely the worst decision!"
Beyond these fervent Uchiha clan members, other jonin also expressed war support.
"Lord Hokage can rest assured—the Hyūga clan will firmly follow Lord Hokage's banner, restoring our clan's prestige through battle."
Neji's eyes flickered with green chakra, his confidence abundant.
Seimei added agreement:
"Perfect timing—the first scientific ninja tool batch has been completed. We need battlefield testing to provide improvement suggestions."
Orochimaru likewise licked his lips excitedly with his serpentine tongue.
"Ah, new experimental subjects approaching?"
The entire jonin meeting resounded with war enthusiasm. No dissenting opinions appeared.
Only former Konoha Village ninja harbored dissatisfaction about renewed warfare after continuous conflict.
But the problem was—this group returning to Konoha had been demoted one rank. Jonin became chunin, chunin became genin. Currently, they lacked qualification to attend jonin meetings and voice opinions.
Naturally, Yasushi swore on his conscience this absolutely wasn't to create positions for Uchiha clan ninja.
Thus, following unanimous jonin meeting vote, Konoha Village passed the war resolution against the other four nations with complete approval.
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