章 89: Chapter 89 Sandaime's Decision

Meanwhile, in Hokage's Office.

Sandaime is holding his smoking pipe with one hand and held his forehead with the other. "You mean, originally, most of Kusagakure has been infiltrated by Iwagakure. Then, you not only found out who betrayed Konoha, but also killed two Iwagakure's Jōnin in the end?"

Inoichi nodded obediently, and then added, "There are also five Chunin, and twenty-seven Genin."

Sandaime only felt that his blood pressure rose a little, so he took a breath and calmed down.

After a long while, Sandaime exclaimed in astonishment, "You guys really gave me a big surprise, so much so that I wonder if I was still dreaming."

Inoichi hurriedly said, "It's actually Sōseki's credit for achieving such a gain this time."

Sandaime nodded slightly and said, "Planning an internal conflict, changing bodies, these operations really make an old man like me dazzled, but what amazes me the most is that he can even convince someone who hates Konoha from the bottom of his heart. This kind of personality charm... I have only seen it in Shōdaime-sama!"

After saying that, he sighed again, "I was worried that this mission would be dangerous, but I didn't expect that you would increase the difficulty of the mission by two Ranks, and there was no danger in the whole process!"

"I can now imagine how Asuma would show off to me when he goes back!"

Inoichi couldn't help but smiled upon hearing this. According to his understanding of Asuma, this kind of thing is indeed very possible.

After all, this is an achievement that even Sandaime could not achieve.

Sandaime laughed for a while, and his face became solemn again, "As for the information about Kazekage's disappearance you just mentioned, in fact, the village has already received the news. What do you think about this?"

Inoichi then said hesitantly, "Shikaku should know about this kind of thing better than me, right?"

Sandaime smiled and said, "I have also discussed it with him, and now, I would like to hear your opinion as the persons involved in this mission."

As Sandaime has said so, Inoichi had no choice but to tell him the speculation that he had "discussed" with Sōseki.

"War! It really is the eternal theme of this world!" Sandaime let out a long sigh, took out a few documents from the drawer and put them in front of Inoichi, "Look at this, these are some changes in other villages."

Inoichi read it carefully. At first, he could still treat it calmly, but when he saw the last document, his pupils shrank instantly.

"Kumogakure's army has begun to be dispatched frequently?" Inoichi's expression turned ugly. "The closest great village to Kumogakure is our Konoha and Kirigakure. However, Kirigakure is far away from the mainland, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The only one that can be the target is... our Konoha!"

Sandaime smiled bitterly and shook his head, "It can't be said that Kumogakure is targeting Iwagakure or Sunagakure, right?"

At this moment, Inoichi hurriedly asked, "Hokage-sama, where are we in the current war preparations?"

"We're still in the first stage!" Sandaime looked sad, and then he frowned. "Whether it is weapons or military drills, we are far behind Kumogakure."

"Alas! What we need the most now is time, but the enemy will not give us time!"

Hearing this, Inoichi asked hesitantly, "Hokage-sama, what if we hold a Chunin Exams that invites all Shinobi Village?"

"Chunin Exams?" Sandaime's eyebrows twitched.

"In addition to attracting the attention of all parties and delaying the outbreak of the war, we can also use this Chunin Exams to test the positions of the various countries, and at the same time, show our military force to win other small Shinobi Villages as much as possible." Inoichi added.

Sandaime did not immediately express his answer, but said, "Suddenly proposing to hold a Chunin Exams at this juncture will likely alert the other villages, and they are most likely will not agree to our invitation."

Inoichi nodded slightly and said, "So, this matter cannot be proposed by us."

Hearing this, Sandaime finally got some interest, "Then, who do you think should propose it?"

Inoichi smiled and said, "Hokage-sama, have you heard about the changes in Kirigakure's graduation examination this year?"

Sandaime took a puff from his pipe and said, "You mean, the young man who killed all the candidates and forced Kirigakure to reform?"

"Yes, I heard that he is called Momochi Zabuza." Inoichi showed an "evil" smile and continued, "We can make the spy placed in Kirigakure to instigate Kirigakure's higher-ups to hold the Chunin Exams. The reason is that Kirigakure's talents may have declined after such incident, so in order to balance the strength of the villages, they should let that Momochi Zabuza to kill all the exam candidates of other villages in the Chunin Exams!"

Sandaime's eyes brightened, and he understood what Inoichi meant, "Kirigakure is far overseas and cannot be used as the venue for the Chunin Exams, and they should also understand this truth. As long as they can "balance" the strength of each village, most of them will probably not insist on this issue."

Inoichi nodded and then said, "If this happens then, Kirigakure is just a pioneer and we can take it over and take the initiative to ask to be the host."

Sandaime pondered for a moment and then said, "It is impossible for the other three Great Shinobi Villages to sit back and watch Konoha expand its influence."

Inoichi solemnly said, "So, we may have to pay a little price."

"Little price?" Sandaime quickly figured it out, and then spit out a smoke ring, "The only thing that can attract other villages is the precious legacy left by the previous generation, right? Do you want to say that Forbidden Technique, which is a part of Scroll of Seals, is used as a reward for Chunin Exams? "

Inoichi added, "It has to be a reward that they can bring back without putting a seal. Otherwise, other villages will not give in because of the benefits that the young Shinobi in their village may get. "

Sandaime smiled bitterly and said, "Inoichi, you have given me a big problem. If you let them to take away the Forbidden Technique, I won't have the face to meet the previous generation!"

Sandaime is indeed feeling a headache. Even if he excludes the super dangerous Forbidden Technique like Impure World Reincarnation, it is still very troublesome to spread those relatively common Forbidden Techniques.

Not to mention, Danzo will definitely use this to attack him and force him to step down.

"According to the information we have obtained, there have been indeed several very powerful newcomers in other villages in the past few years, but... …" Inoichi shrugged, "Compared with them, our Konoha is cheating!"

Sandaime smiled knowingly as he knew that Inoichi is right, 'Letting Sōseki to participate in Chunin Exams is indeed cheating.'

'It's a shame!'

Thinking of this, Sandaime couldn't help but sighed, "It's a pity that boy Kakashi has been promoted to Chunin at the age of six, otherwise, other villages can also feel the enthusiasm of our Konoha!"

Hearing this, Inoichi's eyes jumped wildly, 'Hokage-sama, don't you want to be a human anymore?'

Seeing that Sandaime has a tendency to let go of himself, Inoichi hurriedly added, "Actually, our main purpose is to postpone the war. Even if we can't be the host, it will only have some influence on winning over those small Shinobi Villages. "

Sandaime waved his hand indifferently, "I still have the courage to use the Scroll of Seals, and I also believe that Sōseki will not let me down."

"Right now, the biggest question is...how to convince Kirigakure to believe that their Zabuza is capable of killing all of the exam candidates?"

"Why don't we just exaggerate that Zabuza's ability? If it doesn't work, we can also work together with Sunagakure to start the Chunin Exams. They should also need time just like us now."