Have Minato assassinate the Kazekage?
Nara Shikaku stared at Minato in disbelief.
Minato had been the brightest student of their class. Back in the Academy, whether in theory lessons or combat training, he had been the undisputed number one.
After graduating from the Ninja Academy, Minato had become Konoha's White Fang's disciple.
After White Fang's sacrifice, he had become an important subordinate of Advisor Tsunade.
Had Minato's strength already reached such a level?
Strong enough that Konoha's ANBU commander believed he could assassinate the Kage of a village?
Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "Namikaze Minato is the village's future. He's only seventeen this year, isn't he?
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, is known for his absolute defense using Gold Dust. Assassinating him is not a good choice."
Yako's tone was firm.
"Rasa has many political enemies.
The secret-art faction and the puppet faction have been fighting inside Sunagakure for decades.
The Third Kazekage and Fourth Kazekage, both from the secret-art faction, have held the Kazekage position for years. The puppet faction led by Chiyo has long been dissatisfied.
Aside from the puppet faction, civilian ninja and bloodline ninja are also not strongly in favor of war.
Rasa wants to use this war to consolidate Sunagakure.
Sunagakure has very few top-level experts. As long as Rasa is assassinated, Sunagakure will naturally withdraw from the war."
Where there were people, there were conflicts.
And ninja solved conflicts in bloody ways, often through violence.
Internal strife in a hidden village easily turned into bloodshed.
Nara Shikakaku said, "Logically, that is true. But we must also consider feasibility.
Fox, if you were going to assassinate Rasa, I would strongly support it.
But Namikaze Minato? It is too risky. If the assassination fails, it may completely enrage Sunagakure."
Yako said, "Minato has mastered the forbidden technique, Flying Thunder God. I believe he can complete the mission."
Tsunade also said, "I believe in Minato too."
Seeing both of them so determined, Nara Shikakaku calculated the timing and said, "The Sand ninja have already begun gathering at the front line.
If the Fourth Kazekage Rasa can be assassinated within one week, then we Konoha will not need to gather forces on the western Land of Rivers front.
At most, we give Minato one week.
If the assassination fails within that time, we must dispatch a commander and troops as quickly as possible."
Namikaze Minato quickly said, "I don't need a week. I—"
"How long do you need?"
Yako turned his head and reminded him, "Think carefully, Minato. How long do you really need?"
Only then did Minato realize that, in his eagerness to gain merit, he had nearly exposed the Calamity Organization's secret technique that allowed rapid movement through divine shrines.
He quickly said, "One week! Give me one week, and I will definitely assassinate the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa!"
Yako nodded.
He thought to himself that if Orochimaru could kill Rasa in his prime, Minato should not have much trouble.
Nara Shikakaku said, "Then we will arrange the western Sunagakure threat this way for now. What about the enemies on the other fronts?
The number of Stone ninja in the Land of Grass will be terrifying. We must prepare to face over ten thousand Stone ninja.
Leaving aside Ōnoki, Iwagakure has Kage-level experts like Kitsuchi and Pokkle, as well as two powerful Jinchūriki, Roshi and Han."
Tsunade said, "Jiraiya has returned to the village.
Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and I can go to the Land of Grass to deal with the Stone ninja.
We will need…"
She frowned and thought for a moment.
"At least five thousand Konoha ninja."
Nara Shikakaku evaluated it internally and accepted the proposal.
The Sannin, plus five thousand ninja.
Even Iwagakure would not be able to win quickly against that.
"Kumogakure will invade the Land of Hot Water. The Third Raikage is very strong, but they have fewer Kage-level ninja."
Nara Shikakaku glanced at Fox and said, "Thanks to Orochimaru killing the previous Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, and Fox killing the previous Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Kumogakure's current Jinchūriki are both young. Their combat strength should not be especially high.
Kumogakure was the first to propose and practice the concept of perfect Jinchūriki. They are skilled at controlling Tailed Beasts, but they rely too much on them.
Against Kumogakure, the only one we truly need to watch out for is the Third Raikage."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Fox and asked, "Fox, will you serve as commander on the Land of Hot Water front?"
In Hiruzen's view, a starving camel was still larger than a horse. Kumogakure was relatively weakened now, but it was still stronger than Kirigakure.
It was most suitable for Konoha's strongest fighter, Fox, to deal with the Third Raikage.
Hanzo called himself the demigod of the shinobi world, but the top figures in the shinobi world knew that the Third Raikage was the true number one.
Yako shook his head.
"I will not go. But I can recommend someone more suitable."
Everyone looked at Fox, unsure who he intended to recommend.
Iwagakure put too much pressure on Konoha. The Sannin had no choice but to join forces, which made manpower tight on the other fronts.
Yako said, "It is time to use the shinobi war to integrate the forces within Konoha.
Uchiha Madara and his subordinates have not only repeatedly massacred the Guardian Ninja of various nations, but also caused the Susanoo Disaster.
Because of the Susanoo Disaster, the Uchiha clan's situation inside the village has been very poor.
I believe Uchiha Kagen can serve as the commander of the Land of Hot Water front.
Let Uchiha Kagen lead the Uchiha clan into battle. I believe they will stake their lives to win this battle for Konoha.
Cloud ninja are known for taijutsu and swordsmanship. The Uchiha clan's Sharingan happens to counter taijutsu-type ninja, giving them a major battlefield advantage.
As for the immature Two-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, they will also be affected by the Sharingan."
Nara Shikakaku quickly interrupted Yako's argument.
"Fox, leaving aside technical issues such as the Sharingan's advantages—
the Uchiha clan does not even have a Kage-level ninja. How can Uchiha Kagen possibly serve as commander of the Land of Hot Water front?
Since Konoha's founding, Uchiha Madara held commander-level authority before he betrayed the village. But ever since Madara defected, the Uchiha clan has been treated as a key target of village vigilance.
Even with such vigilance, the terrifying Susanoo Disaster still occurred.
Fox, I oppose making Uchiha Kagen commander of the Land of Hot Water front!"
Nara Shikaku looked at his father in surprise.
His father had always said they needed to maintain good relations with the Fox–Tsunade group.
That group not only had powerful figures like Wood Release users and the Sannin, but also the Nine-Tails and Namikaze Minato—Konoha's future, and extremely valuable investments.
Yet in this high-level meeting, his father was the first to stand up and oppose Commander Fox.
Had his father forgotten the development direction he had set for the Ino-Shika-Cho clans?
Still, Commander Fox's recommended candidate really was unexpected.
It was hard not to oppose it.
According to Konoha tradition, the Uchiha clan had always been a thorn in the village's side. How could they be given a position like front-line commander?
Even Tsunade glanced over slightly.
Fox had not discussed this with her beforehand.
This seemed to be something Fox had only decided in the past few days.
Tsunade thought to herself that they had been too busy lately.
The two of them hadn't had a deep exchange in some time.