Chapter 374 – Hiruzen Sarutobi's Proposal
"So… something like this actually happened?"
As he watched Hiruzen Sarutobi finish recounting the entire incident from the podium, Kei fell into silent contemplation.
It seemed that the changes in this world were far greater than he had anticipated.
That damned Kumogakure ninja—the very one who would later lead a delegation to Konoha—had actually come alone, infiltrated the village, and attempted to exploit Konoha's well-known internal conflicts to trigger internal collapse.
What was more, Kei had to admit one thing.
This man was bold.
He showed no weakness whatsoever.
No false humility, no pretense of goodwill—he confronted the Third Hokage directly, aggressively, and without restraint.
To be honest, if that Kumogakure envoy had adopted a softer, more conciliatory approach, the situation might have become far more dangerous.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was a veteran of political warfare.
The number of schemes and deceptions he had witnessed during his years as Hokage far exceeded that of most others.
If Kumogakure had appeared too friendly, too reasonable, that would have been what truly set off his alarm bells.
In that sense, Kumogakure's leadership was far from foolish.
No great village's upper echelon ever was.
They displayed strength openly, made their stance unmistakably clear, and demonstrated that they fully understood both Konoha's current situation and Sarutobi's personal predicament.
They had accurately identified one key fact:
The Third Hokage did not want another war.
Using that, they attempted to coerce and entice him into cooperation.
From their perspective, it was a win–win arrangement.
Sarutobi desired peace—and Kumogakure's looming military pressure would inevitably stir chaos within Konoha, creating the perfect opportunity for him to reclaim power.
Once he did, shaping policy in Kumogakure's favor would become the simplest and most direct path to their gain.
Kumogakure was confident.
Confident that they could force Konoha into turmoil.
Confident that they could win a war if it came to that.
But war meant casualties.
And if the greatest benefits could be obtained at the lowest possible cost, no sane strategist would refuse such an option.
Unfortunately for them—
They were clever, but not clever enough.
Or rather, their intelligence was incomplete.
Hiruzen Sarutobi did have personal motives.
He truly wished to avoid another war.
He genuinely wanted to reclaim control of Konoha.
But there was a fundamental difference between him and Danzō.
When it came to Konoha's interests, Sarutobi would always make a choice.
Whether that choice was objectively correct—or merely what he believed to be right—he would still choose.
And one thing he absolutely could not accept was allowing the village to be humiliated.
Knowing in advance that Konoha would suffer catastrophic losses, yet pretending ignorance for personal gain—
That was not who he was.
In that moment, it was as if Sarutobi had returned to thirty years ago.
Returned to the young man who could say, without hesitation:
"I'll stay behind."
Though he clashed with the Fourth Hokage.
Though he harbored deep resentment toward Kei for killing Danzō.
When the village faced a threat like this, Konoha came first.
External enemies would be dealt with first.
Only afterward would the internal conflicts be addressed—slowly, carefully, and decisively.
Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi was a confident man.
He truly believed he could resolve Konoha's internal problems.
Granted, Minato currently held the upper hand.
Granted, Hiruzen's own position was delicate.
Even the authority of Root was now being gradually encroached upon by Minato.
Yet Hiruzen was not worried.
Root's very structure doomed it to eventual replacement.
The interests tangled within it were never something that could be dismantled in just a few years—or even a decade.
More importantly, he still controlled crucial departments such as the Medical Division.
He was confident that he could start over.
Confident that the choices he made were the ones that best served Konoha's interests.
"I wonder which bastard came up with this plan," Kei thought to himself.
"To devise something this insidious… If someone else were threatened like this, attacking would trigger a war immediately. But hesitating and considering cooperation? That would tear Konoha apart from the inside."
It truly was dangerous.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi had not made his decision, Konoha would soon have descended into internal sabotage and political infighting.
Of course, Kei couldn't deny that part of him had wanted that to happen.
Because then, he would have had both reason and justification to send the old man straight to the Pure Land.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—the old man made a choice that even Kei had to sigh at.
Though Kei disliked him intensely, and though their positions made him want Hiruzen dead, at this moment he had to admit—
He respected the choice.
What Kei failed to realize, however, was that Atsubi's actions were not the result of meticulous planning or deep political calculation.
The truth was far simpler.
That bastard just found it troublesome.
Whether due to temperament or sheer laziness, he had no interest in polite verbal fencing with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
So he chose to face him directly—without disguise, without diplomacy, without patience.
Sometimes, fate really was decided by coincidence and luck.
---
"Kei, what do you think?"
Kenta suddenly asked.
"Looks like this time… we're definitely going to fight."
"Yes," Kei nodded calmly.
"A clash is inevitable. Calling us here is already confirmation enough. As for the finer deployment plans, they won't go into too much detail today."
Kenta nodded in agreement.
The purpose of this meeting was obvious.
Everyone present belonged to Konoha's core power circle—clan heads and department chiefs alike. Each of them commanded frightening amounts of manpower.
Quiet mobilization was only natural.
And that responsibility fell squarely on them.
Strictly speaking, the Mission Department was a logistical body, so Kenta's mobilization would be relatively light.
Kei's situation was very different.
Although the Military Police Force was officially tasked with maintaining internal stability, they were still combat ninjas.
No matter how he redefined the department, war meant deployment.
In fact, units that maintained constant combat readiness were always the first choice during wartime.
Kei had no grounds to refuse—especially when many mission-focused squads would also be deployed.
The one advantage was that the Police Force had to retain sufficient personnel to maintain internal order.
And this "war," if it could even be called that, was clearly a controlled conflict, carefully planned to limit its spread.
---
"Captain Kei," Minato suddenly spoke,
"During this period, I'll need you and Kakashi to keep a close watch on the village."
"Hm?"
Kei had been momentarily distracted, but the moment he heard Kakashi's name, he understood.
"Understood, Fourth Hokage. Leave it to us."
Even without explanation, he knew what this meant.
Internal security—and Kumogakure spies.
During wartime, espionage was inevitable.
The fact that Atsubi had exploited Konoha's internal contradictions so precisely proved how effective their intelligence network already was.
They might not be able to eliminate all spies, but uprooting some—and forcing the deeper ones into silence—was well within Kei's capabilities.
After all, he and the ANBU had already done this once before.
Back when they purged Kirigakure spies from within Konoha, Kakashi wasn't even a department head yet—and still, the operation had gone smoothly.
Now, with Kakashi acting as a proxy chief, coordination would only be better.
"Good," Minato nodded.
"I'll be relying on you."
"It's my duty, Hokage-sama," Kei replied with a faint smile.
Then he added, "What about ninjas currently on external missions?"
"They'll all be recalled," Nara Shikaku answered.
"Task accumulation will cause trust issues and economic strain, but that's preferable to casualties. Daimyō funding will cover us for now."
"But what if Kumogakure stops acting and simply drags things out?"
This time, surprisingly, it was Hiruzen Sarutobi who spoke.
"Our mission volume far exceeds theirs. Prolonged stalling favors them, not us."
Kei glanced at him in surprise.
He hadn't expected Hiruzen to oppose Shikaku's conservative approach.
Opposing caution meant he had a more aggressive alternative—something Kei found unexpected.
It seemed Kumogakure had truly angered him.
Shikaku paused, then nodded.
"You're right. That was an oversight. In that case, we'll deploy shadow units—test their depth, probe their limits, and if possible…"
"Exactly," Hiruzen agreed, his gaze briefly flicking toward Kei.
"Our ninjas need training, but some are already battle-ready. And when it comes to coordination, no unit compares to the Military Police Force."
Kei frowned.
So that was his angle.
Shaking his head, he responded immediately:
"Third Hokage-sama, the Police Force has manpower—but we're already coordinating with ANBU."
"I can deploy Root," Hiruzen said calmly, smiling gently.
"That should ease your manpower concerns."
"The Police Force will be a core combat unit in the future. This is a perfect opportunity to temper them—don't you agree?"