301. Danzo: I’m Still in My Prime!

With Danzo's triumphant return, the morale of Konoha soared to an astonishing level.

Some people even began discussing when Konoha, under Lord Danzo's leadership, could unify the ninja world...

This kind of talk might have sounded perfectly normal in Danzo's past life.

After all, unifying standards for vehicles, writing, and measurements was something ingrained in people's DNA.

No one could accept the idea that such a small ninja world was divided into so many countries.

It felt like a betrayal of the ancestors who had crossed over!

But such an idea was still a bit too ahead of its time for the ninja world.

This could be seen in the actions of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the founders of Konoha.

As reincarnations of Indra and Asura, they were practically invincible in their era.

Madara alone could have parked his Susanoo at the gates of every hidden village, let alone with Hashirama, the so-called "God of Shinobi," by his side.

That year, even someone like Onoki stood as a mere underling.

In fact, all the other Kage were little more than underlings compared to them.

The tailed beasts? They were just small pets that Hashirama could easily handle with one hand.

Back then, Hashirama and Madara could have conquered the entire ninja world with ease!

But what did Hashirama do? He took a completely different approach by establishing the one-nation, one-village system, deferring to the daimyo and nobility, and handing over political and financial power.

He also distributed the nine tailed beasts among the major nations, attempting to use their power to maintain balance in the ninja world.

As it turned out, this idea was completely useless.

Once Madara disappeared and the God of Shinobi died, Konoha was immediately besieged by the other four great nations!

No one wanted Konoha to produce another God of Shinobi!

If it weren't for the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, having some tricks up his sleeve, Konoha might have been wiped out back then.

So, when the idea of "unifying the ninja world" was first proposed, the villagers of Konoha were a bit confused.

But after constant propaganda and discussion, many quickly saw the light.

It seemed... unifying the ninja world wasn’t such a bad idea!

It was better to unify the ninja world now than to be unified by others when weakened in the future!

Thus, under this subtle influence, the temperament of Konoha's villagers began to grow increasingly fierce.

Of course, to completely change the villagers' long-held conservative mindset, this alone was far from enough.

More in-depth and widespread education was needed!

Thinking this, Danzo retracted his gaze and, leaning on his cane, slowly walked into the Hokage's office.

It was the second day since his return to the village.

Originally, Minato Namikaze, the Hokage, had planned to hold a victory celebration for Danzo.

However, Danzo declined, citing the ongoing village reconstruction and the busy workload.

Instead, he convened a high-level meeting early the next morning to discuss Konoha's future direction.

"Now that a large number of Konoha's ninja are ready and the logistical supplies are in place, what are your thoughts?" Nara Shikaku, sitting to Minato's right, scanned the room.

After officially declaring war on Kumo, all battlefield preparations had been led by him.

To ensure the secrecy of Danzo's mission, all the preparations he oversaw were geared toward a real war—mobilization, personnel arrangements, and resource allocation.

In other words, Konoha was now fully prepared for all-out war. With a single order from Danzo, they could indeed ignite a new war!

At this question, everyone unanimously turned their eyes to Danzo.

Since this war had been won by Danzo leading the Root alone, he held absolute authority over whether to continue fighting or seek peace.

Feeling the collective gaze, Danzo didn’t hesitate and said directly, "If I recall correctly, Kumo hasn’t sent any envoys to sue for peace yet, right?" Hearing this, everyone exchanged glances and nodded.

"Since Kumo isn’t ready to surrender, why should we indulge them? They started this war, but when it ends is up to us!" Danzo slammed his palm on the table, and a powerful aura burst forth from him.

"Now that the Third Raikage is dead and Kumo's elite forces have suffered heavy casualties, I propose sending a unit directly across the Land of Rice's border and straight into the Land of Lightning. This time, let those mountain barbarians feel what it’s like to have their city under siege!" The Land of Lightning, situated on a plateau, had always relied on its strong military power to treat the Land of Rice, located at the junction of the plateau and plains, as its own private domain—a crucial passage for invading the Land of Fire.

This time, Konoha was planning to send troops directly into the Land of Rice.

This was undoubtedly a message to Kumo: Come, let’s settle this in the Land of Rice!

Surprisingly, Danzo's aggressive proposal was met with unanimous support this time, without any opposition!


After all, the people and ninja of Konoha weren’t made of clay!

Even clay has some temper, and after being repeatedly taken advantage of by Kumo, Konoha had long been on the verge of eruption.

Danzo's great victory had injected a strong dose of confidence into the village's militant faction, finally allowing them to take full control of the village!

Thus, in an extremely short time, Konoha's war machine began operating with astonishing efficiency once again.

That very day, the Shinobi World United News published an article titled *"Hope Kumo Recognizes the Inevitable, Admits Its Mistakes, and Surrenders to Konoha."*

The next day, the Konoha army, led by Danzo, set out once more, heading straight for Kumo!

It’s likely that no one in the ninja world could have predicted that Danzo's resolve for this war would be so firm.

Having just won a war and returned to the village less than three days ago, he was already leading another campaign!

Such a staggering frequency of deployment made people wonder: Was this guy really from the same generation as the other Third Kage?

After all, Onoki, also of the Third Generation, was already suffering from severe back pain.


As for the other villages, they were even worse off—the Third Kage of Suna, Kiri, and Kumo were all dead.

Only Sarutobi Hiruzen of Konoha was still alive and well. And here was Danzo, still in his prime! It really goes to show that comparisons can be infuriating!

Just as Danzo, leading Fugaku, Shisui, Ryoma, and others, crossed the border with a vanguard of 2,000 Konoha ninja into the Land of Rice, and everyone thought the flames of war were about to ignite once more, news quickly spread from Kumo: Kumo would send Dodai as an envoy, leading a delegation to Konoha for peace negotiations!