- In Marvel: I Start by Marrying Scarlett Witch [Complete]
- MWM Chapter 400
“My proposal is to kill them all. Given the current situation, it’s unwise to keep so many Mist ninjas in the village. Killing them will erase the Mist Village from history, and in the future, that island in the Land of Water can be incorporated into the Land of Fire.”
In the Hokage’s office, Danzo made a proposal that nearly caused Mei Terumi to lose her temper.
However, the Third Hokage quickly rejected Danzo’s suggestion.
“Right now, the Mist ninjas are prisoners of war. Killing POWs is an atrocity that, once exposed, would turn Konoha into a pariah in the entire ninja world.
I propose we form an alliance with the Mist Village, similar to the one we made with the Sand Village. The Mist ninjas could help us bring an end to this Fourth Great Ninja War and restore peace to the ninja world.”
“I second that.”
“I second that.”
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane nodded in agreement.
While the two advisors often vied for power within the village, on broader issues, they leaned toward the Third Hokage’s peaceful stance.
Konoha already occupied the most fertile land in the world, and in nearly every respect, they were better off than the other villages. They believed that continuing in peace would be the best way to further develop and strengthen the village.
War carried significant risks, causing countless deaths and destroying many families. In the end, the spoils of war—land like the Sand Village’s vast desert, the Mist Village’s distant islands, the barren rock cliffs of the Stone Village, and the Cloud Village’s mountain ranges—were hardly worth it compared to the prosperity of Konoha.
Even after the Sand ninjas had teamed up with Orochimaru to attack Konoha, Konoha hadn’t waged war when the Sand Village was left without a Kazekage; instead, they had formed an alliance.
“You’re short-sighted!”
Danzo, seeing the three opposing him, stood up angrily from his chair.
With the Fifth Hokage’s immense power, they should seize this chaotic time to expand their borders and eliminate the other major villages once and for all.
Otherwise, it would be just like after the First Hokage’s time—when he was alive, no one dared act, but as soon as he died, unrest began.
If, after founding Konoha, the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha had not stopped at dividing the tailed beasts and instead continued expanding the Land of Fire’s territory, they might have solved the problem of war permanently.
Yes, many would have died, but it would have ended future conflicts and prevented the Second, Third, and now Fourth Great Ninja Wars, sparing many more lives in the long run.
So in Danzo’s mind, he did not agree with the First Hokage’s approach.
“Enough, stop arguing!”
Seeing Danzo and the Third Hokage locked in a heated debate, Leo tapped the table, asserting his authority as Hokage.
“First, we will not kill prisoners of war. All the Mist ninjas will be properly housed, given basic medical treatment by the medical corps, and have their chakra sealed by the sealing corps.
Teacher, I’ll need you to handle their relocation.”
“Second, I’ll leave a shadow clone here in the village, so there’s no need to worry about the Mist ninjas causing any problems. I trust Lady Mizukage will also keep her people in line, so I won’t have any reason to go on a killing spree.
Isn’t that right, Lady Mizukage?”
Leo turned to Mei Terumi, who raised her eyebrows slightly and flashed a charming smile.
“Of course, I will make sure they behave.”
She was well aware of how terrifying Leo’s strength was. It was clear that the peace faction was currently dominant in Konoha, but if something went wrong and gave Danzo, who was in favor of slaughtering them, an excuse, Leo might very well kill all the Mist ninjas.
The power gap was simply too large for them to engage in any underhanded tactics.
Leo nodded and continued:
“Lastly, I’ll head to the northeastern front and deal with the Cloud ninjas as quickly as possible. There will be no need to ally with the Mist to help us fight.
As for the disposition of the Mist ninjas and whether or not we should occupy the Land of Water, we can discuss that after the war is over. Let’s not forget there’s still the Rain Village, which has already absorbed the Sand Village.”
Killing all the Mist ninjas was out of the question. These were, after all, his future subjects. Likewise, returning to the previous five-nation balance of power wasn’t an option either.
Next, he would handle the Cloud ninjas, and Nagato would deal with the Stone ninjas. After staging one final battle, the entire ninja world would be unified.
With the meeting concluded, Leo’s shadow clone teleported back to the village with Kakashi and the bound Mist ninjas.
The villagers soon learned that their Hokage had, in just over an hour, completely defeated the invading Mist ninjas and captured all of them, including their Mizukage.
“Teacher, here is a special ninja tool I created using space-time jutsu. The space inside has been expanded and should be enough to house all the Mist ninjas. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
After handing a small box with expanded space to the Third Hokage and teaching him how to use it, Leo activated his Flying Thunder God Technique and headed for the northeastern front at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water.
Several smaller countries separated the Land of Fire from the Land of Lightning, the largest and most famous being the Land of Hot Water.
The Land of Hot Water was known as “the nation that has forgotten war.” After the Third Great Ninja War, the Hot Water Village, once known as a “battle ninja village,” had turned to peace, no longer developing ninjutsu and instead focusing on tourism and natural beauty to generate wealth.
Unfortunately, the village produced Hidan, a follower of a dark religion, who slaughtered all the villagers.
As a result, the Land of Hot Water no longer had a ninja village and had become the battleground for the Fourth Great Ninja War between Konoha and the Cloud Village.
In the absence of military power, the Land of Hot Water had no means to refuse being used as the stage for the clash of two great nations.
At the First Unit’s main base in the Land of Hot Water…
“The situation doesn’t look good right now. The Rain ninjas have nearly completely occupied the Stone Village’s forces, so the Cloud ninjas have shifted all their forces to this front.
They outnumber us, and they have many powerful ninjas. The Fourth Raikage has personally brought the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails to the battlefield.
It seems they’re determined to defeat Konoha and become the largest ninja village in the world.”
Jiraiya reported in detail to Leo after he arrived to reinforce the front lines.
By nature, Jiraiya didn’t want to get involved in war. His travels across the ninja world were an effort to find the “Child of Prophecy” who could end all wars, as foretold by the Great Toad Sage.
But as one of the Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha, he couldn’t stand by and watch Konoha be overrun by the Cloud Village.
So, after much persuasion from the Third Hokage, Jiraiya took command of the First Unit, tasked with holding off the powerful Cloud forces.
However, in the past two days of battle, they had mostly been on the defensive.
The Cloud ninjas not only outnumbered them by half, but the Fourth Raikage’s synergy with the Eight-Tails jinchuriki made them nearly impossible to suppress, even for Jiraiya.
(End of Chapter)