Fleeing from Konoha-Chapter 566 - 78: Hidden Cloud’s Dan Scheme (Part 4)
"At present, we have no way to deal with the Yellow Flash, so a ceasefire is the best option."
"..." The Fourth Raikage couldn’t contain himself and asked Dodai, "Dodai, just tell me what the second option is, what’s the second option?"
Dodai, knowing the Fourth Raikage would say this, coughed once and continued, "The second option is still to ceasefire with Konoha."
"?"
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
Dodai calmly met their gaze, speaking with composure, "It’s not a true ceasefire, but a strategic preparation."
"But if we miss this opportunity, it will be even harder to find one in the future."
A Hidden Cloud Jonin remarked.
Dodai disagreed, responding to the Jonin, "No, now is when there truly is no opportunity. I’ve already confirmed it."
"Confirmed?"
"Konoha is rife with internal conflicts. Currently, because of the external pressure we’re exerting, these contradictions haven’t erupted. The fact that Konoha didn’t send Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, against us actually indicates a problem."
"It is a bit strange. After Orochimaru concluded the Land of Rain battlefield, when we attacked the Land of Fire, Konoha left Orochimaru idle and sent Akimichi Torifu instead. Normally, they should have sent Orochimaru."
Konoha’s unexpected action even led Hidden Cloud to suspect some sort of conspiracy at the time.
"Moreover, during his engagements with us, Akimichi Torifu essentially didn’t win, and Konoha was consistently suppressed by us. Only when the Yellow Flash ended the Hidden Rock’s threat and was immediately dispatched by Konoha’s higher-ups did the situation turn around, making it clear that the Third Hokage is paving the way for the Yellow Flash."
Dodai said sternly.
The Hidden Cloud Jonin whispered among themselves.
"If that’s the case, then we definitely shouldn’t withdraw our forces."
"Yeah, once the Yellow Flash becomes Hokage, dealing with Konoha will be even harder."
"We should keep fighting."
....
The Fourth Raikage ignored them and instead turned to Dodai, indicating for him to explain more clearly.
Dodai also knew these people had been frightened by the Yellow Flash’s power, so he said nothing more, as he was also surprised by the Yellow Flash’s strength.
Since brute force wouldn’t work, they had to use strategy.
Dodai handed out the prepared materials, one copy per person.
The discussion stopped as everyone began reviewing the summary of information Dodai had compiled.
The contents were all about Konoha.
The initial assessment started with Orochimaru’s conclusion of the Land of Rain battlefield, leading to an analysis.
The contributions of spies who infiltrated Konoha played a part in this.
Although they couldn’t access Konoha’s core, long-term observation and public investigations yielded much seemingly useless information that could nevertheless be analyzed for significant insights.
After the conclusion of the Land of Rain war and Hidden Cloud’s provocations, with Orochimaru idle and Konoha on the defensive against Hidden Cloud until the Yellow Flash resolved the Hidden Rock battlefield and shifted the tide...
Dodai meticulously recorded and analyzed this series of events.
"Based on my investigation, many of the Yellow Flash’s missions are completed solo. Although he’s famous and strong enough, he’s never held a battlefield command position. Is it reasonable for such a person to be promoted to Hokage?"
"..."
The Hidden Cloud Jonin pondered.
The answer was that it wasn’t reasonable.
If they were Konoha ninja, they would more willingly promote Orochimaru to the position of Hokage.
The Five Kage positions are not simply about strength alone.
Ninja represent a nation’s military power.
The Kage is the core figure of this army and must possess strong command capabilities.
As for the Yellow Flash...although he is very powerful in combat, he’s never led a significant battle.
Simply put, the Yellow Flash becoming Hokage has serious drawbacks.
He’s never shown any considerable command capability.
The Hidden Cloud Jonin were not fools, and adding to that, Konoha’s higher-ups left Orochimaru idle during Hidden Cloud’s attack, and immediately after the Yellow Flash ended the Hidden Rock battlefield, he was sent over...
They could only think of one possibility—Konoha’s Third Hokage needed a puppet.
The Yellow Flash was his choice.
"So, are we pretending to ceasefire to let Konoha’s high-ups fall into internal conflict?"
A Hidden Cloud Jonin speculated on Dodai’s plan.
"That’s right. We can’t deal with the Yellow Flash now, and this kind of attrition is extremely unfavorable for Hidden Cloud’s development. Personally, I lean towards a ceasefire, allowing the Yellow Flash to return and inherit the position of Fourth Hokage. Once he becomes Hokage, he would inevitably clash with the Third Hokage. That would be our opportunity."
"But all of this is just speculation. We can’t be certain that this is the situation within Konoha."
A Hidden Cloud Jonin voiced his opposition.
"The speculation is based on the analysis of confirmed intelligence," Dodai said confidently. "To be on the safe side, we should indeed prepare for both outcomes. If Konoha’s situation isn’t as we think, we can still confront them later."
"The timeframe? We can’t wait indefinitely."
"Let’s set December of this year as the deadline." Dodai thought carefully and continued, "We’ll ceasefire now; by December, Konoha should have decided on a Fourth Hokage candidate. If the Yellow Flash ascends to Fourth Hokage by then, it doesn’t matter whether the Third Hokage intends to use him as a puppet; having him as Hokage means he won’t easily return to the battlefield."
As long as it’s not the Yellow Flash, any other Konoha ninja, even if that Third Hokage personally comes, Hidden Cloud won’t fear.
"Is that when we’ll settle things?"
Some Hidden Cloud Jonin opposed the idea, but the majority of participants were swayed.
For Hidden Cloud, delaying a few months wouldn’t be a problem at all.
Konoha, having fought both Hidden Sand and Hidden Rock, inevitably suffered more losses than Hidden Cloud.
Plus, with ample military resources and logistics support, the only obstacle on the road ahead was the Yellow Flash.
If the Yellow Flash ascended to Fourth Hokage and found his authority overreached, conflict with the Third Hokage would be inevitable, leading to chaos within Konoha.
Even if the Third Hokage truly intended to make the Yellow Flash his successor and handed over full power to him, it wouldn’t matter. Burdened by Konoha’s complex internal affairs, no matter how capable the Yellow Flash is, he couldn’t attend to both maintaining Konoha’s stability and directly combating Hidden Cloud.
After all, the tangled relations among Konoha’s Ninja Race were well known to Hidden Cloud.
"Indeed. Next, we must prepare to build up the Yellow Flash’s reputation so he can smoothly become the Fourth Hokage. It’s best to hype him as the number one ninja in the Ninja Realm."
Dodai’s eyes gleamed.
Undermining Konoha’s prestige from within was another viable approach, beyond external dismantling.
After hearing Dodai’s plan, even the Fourth Raikage nodded slightly.
Though this approach was not entirely to his liking, as a Kage, there was no room for narrow-mindedness, solving problems solely with brute force.
"Dodai, can you ensure success?"
It was the only question the Fourth Raikage asked.
Dodai smiled helplessly.
"No, I can’t; it’s just a reasonable deduction based on collected intelligence. In any case, we are unable to restrain the Yellow Flash, aren’t we?"
The Fourth Raikage fell silent.
Indeed, they had no means to restrain the Yellow Flash, which was the biggest problem.
"Humph, then let’s go with this plan."
