Upon learning that the army of the Land of Wind had retreated and vacated all their strongholds within the Land of Rivers, Tobirama understood that the Land of Wind had abandoned the idea of continuing the war; out of pride, they might not explicitly state it, but it was clear they intended to seek peace.
In the current Ninja World, the Land of Lightning had withdrawn from the war, and the conflict with the Land of Wind was nearing its end; other nations were also happy to see peace arrive. The only ones still engaged in intense fighting were the Land of Earth and the Land of Water. Due to the feud between their leaders, Konohagakure did not need to bear too much pressure. In other words, Konohagakure could finally withdraw from the Ninja World War.
It's finally over.
Tobirama thought silently. Since the outbreak of the Ninja World War, nearly three years had passed. Konohagakure had suffered extremely heavy losses; it was time to take a breath and recover its strength.
Subsequently, at the operation meeting, Tobirama commended the Ninjas who had made significant contributions under emergency circumstances, and Fūmori Masaki was the one with the greatest merit because he had eliminated the enemy Ninja using Magnet Release, brought back the body, and blocked the regular army of the Land of Wind for a period of time.
Fūmori Masaki accepted it calmly. To him, military merit was the most necessary thing; for combat personnel like Ninjas, nothing served as better political capital than military merit.
After the end of the Third Ninja World War, the reason why Minato Namikaze was able to surpass the highly accomplished Orochimaru—besides the fact that Orochimaru's crooked mindset displeased Hiruzen Sarutobi—was that he led the disadvantaged Konohagakure toward victory, a reason that convinced everyone.
There were two conditions for the succession of the Hokage. One was appointment by the Daimyo, which was basically discussed between the First Generation Hokage and the Daimyo; therefore, having a good relationship with the First Generation Hokage could fulfill this condition. The other was a vote of confidence from the active Jonin, which the Hokage could not fully interfere with. Military merit was an important standard for gaining the trust of the Jonin, especially in the future when Civilian Ninjas rose to prominence and the influence of clans gradually declined; military merit became a standard that left people with nothing to say.
Fūmori Masaki had calculated it himself. In terms of military merit, he estimated he was the highest among his peers. He had lived up to the many times he risked his life to carry out missions and specifically chose those powerful enemies. As for his relationship with the Hokage and Ninja clans, he had also inherited a part of it from Hashirama. Although he had no clan power behind him, his distance from Hiruzen Sarutobi was already very close.
While Tobirama was still in office, Fūmori Masaki still had a certain amount of room to operate and continue to enhance his influence. By then, the possibility of succeeding as the Sandaime would be very high.
Fūmori Masaki felt the next step was to make a showing during the peace talks with the Land of Wind and fight for more benefits for the Village, especially the chakra metal mines, which the Village must obtain. In his envisioned Chakra science and technology system, this chakra metal was an important resource.
Therefore, while others felt they should wait for the Land of Wind's logistics to fail and for them to voluntarily come out for peace talks, Fūmori Masaki suggested further striking the Land of Wind instead of just waiting.
"As I said before, the Land of Wind's demands for land cannot be satisfied; this is out of a need for living space, nothing else." Fūmori Masaki said at the operation meeting. "If we don't weaken the Land of Wind to the point where they cannot pose a threat—at least for a long time—they will soon harbor ulterior motives again. Indeed, defense is the safest method, but it also gives the Land of Wind a chance to quickly restore their vitality."
"But if we keep fighting like this, we ourselves will also suffer a major blow. Moreover, we don't have the ability to severely damage the Land of Wind. If we persist, the price we pay will also be high," Homura Mitokado said seriously.
"That is correct. Relying solely on military strikes won't work, but we can start from other aspects," Fūmori Masaki said.
"Other aspects?" Tobirama had been listening to the Jonin's discussion in silence and interjected at this point.
Fūmori Masaki nodded and said, "The purpose of military strikes is to put them in a passive position during the peace talks. Even if we cannot weaken them in one fell swoop, we can slowly bleed the Land of Wind from a long-term perspective."
"Then what is your idea?" Tobirama continued to ask.
"First is to reclaim the land ceded when the Tailed Beasts were distributed. Second is to force the Land of Wind to cede a portion of the chakra metal mines. The method is yet to be determined, but this goal must be achieved. The reason is simple: to fundamentally reduce the production of puppets in Sunagakure. I believe everyone here knows that the Land of Wind conflict lasted so long not only because of the elite Sunagakure Ninjas but also because of the emergence of the Puppet Technique, which made up for the lack of combat power with tools. By reducing the weapons of Sunagakure, we can obtain chakra metal to make our own weapons."
"You also want to research puppets? In the battle with Monzaemon, three precious puppets were left behind. They should be top-tier in Sunagakure, but I'm afraid they won't be easily researched. Even if successful, compared to the Sunagakure Ninjas who have already mastered the usage of puppets, aren't we using our weaknesses to fight the enemy's strengths? We might end up making a fool of ourselves!" Danzo Shimura pointed out.
"I don't intend to research puppets. Although there is no detailed plan yet, I have a general idea. This chakra metal should be used in more critical places," Fūmori Masaki said.
Seeing Danzo Shimura about to ask more, Tobirama waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about the usage of chakra metal for now. At least the point about weakening the military power of Sunagakure is reasonable. Continue."
"Finally, we must win over the peace faction in the capital of the Land of Wind and suppress Sunagakure from the national level. The samurai are nothing to worry about; the only problem is Sunagakure. However, a Ninja Village still has to obey the orders of the country's Daimyo. As long as the Daimyo does not want to start a war, no matter how much Sunagakure wants revenge, they cannot act," Fūmori Masaki continued.
"Then what method should be used to win them over?"
"We must start from the other party's interests. The purpose of the Land of Wind launching the war is to hope to improve the adverse effects brought by the barren land in their country. Although we cannot give up our land, we can use trade as a means to help them. As long as reasonable conditions are given, compared to spending a huge amount of military expenses to try to win land that one might not even get, obtaining stable trade with low costs—I believe they will make a wise choice," Fūmori Masaki said.
Other Jonin could not help but ponder upon hearing this. If it were them facing these two choices, they would basically choose the latter. After all, without having to die or pay a large amount of military expenses, they could obtain benefits. Although it might not be as good as directly obtaining land, no matter how one calculates it, it is still more cost-effective.
"At the same time, we must show sincerity and let them believe that the Land of Fire has no interest in the land of the Land of Wind—actually, I think this doesn't even need to be said. Who would think that the Land of Fire, sitting on fertile land, would be interested in the barren Land of Wind?" Fūmori Masaki said with a smile.
Others laughed knowingly. Indeed, this was something that didn't even need consideration. Although the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had thoughts of invading the Land of Wind, it was not out of a desire for land, but for his own reputation. Fūmori Masaki suggested that Tobirama should persuade the Daimyo with the argument of zero benefit. In Fūmori Masaki's view, attacking a land with barren soil that yields no benefits after occupation, and requires one to worry about taking care of the land, just for the sake of leaving a name in history, is a deal that cannot be more of a loss.
"If we can make the monarchs and ministers of the Land of Wind believe this, we can use this to make them reduce the military expenses of Sunagakure. Originally, due to the land issue, Sunagakure was difficult to develop, and it would be even worse after military expenses are reduced." This situation mentioned by Fūmori Masaki had clues in the original work. The reason why Sunagakure was willing to cooperate with Orochimaru in the Konoha Crush plan was because the Daimyo reduced military expenses. In order to attract the Daimyo's attention, they took the risk. That is to say, the contradiction between the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and Sunagakure already had this example; Fūmori Masaki only needed to make it appear earlier.
"As long as we can maintain this situation and operate properly, over time, the trade of the Land of Fire can gradually influence the economy of the Land of Wind, increasing the difficulty of hostilities between the two countries. And because of the peaceful environment, the military preparations within the Land of Wind will slacken, making it impossible to pose a threat militarily," Fūmori Masaki said. "These are my general ideas. They might be a bit immature, please forgive me."
"No, you stated it very well." Tobirama smiled slightly and applauded. "Good, the direction of the peace talks will proceed according to the strategy proposed by Masaki. Does anyone else have any opinions?"
Everyone shook their heads. Due to the limitations of being Ninjas, their thinking could not rise above Fūmori Masaki's, so naturally, they could not offer better suggestions. Thus, this method was finalized.
And next, Fūmori Masaki, Danzo Shimura, and Uchiha Kagami would command the troops to threaten the Land of Wind, while Tobirama, Homura Mitokado, Mitokado Haru, and others would contact the Daimyo. Through discussions, they would send envoys to the Land of Wind to start winning over the domestic peace faction. Everything was proceeding.
the new third hokage of konoha