Naruto: The Kage of Kages

'It seems I really do have to take matters into my own hands . . .' Mito thought.

'If I don't, either this village will be weakened until the Monkey can control and stabilize it or it will remain strong but inevitably heading towards civil war.' The redhead concluded.

"In regards to war preparations, Uzushio will not directly join the war as per our traditions but we will supply Konoha with our seals at a discount so you can avoid price gouging by merchants at least in that regard." The Uzumaki matriarch declared.

The words that came out of her mouth relieved everyone on the table to an extent. Seals were by far some of the most expensive war materials so having the chief experts of the world in that department supporting them took a big weight off everyone's shoulders.

"In regards to weapons and ores, perhaps the Uchiha can similarly supply the village with their private resources at a discount?" Mito then suggested.

Uchiha Fukutsu's eyes glimmered.

Originally, he would have been pressured to lend the private resources of his clan with no hope of seeing any returns but by following the Uzumaki matriarch's example, the loss would be averted.

Selling at a large discount would mean no profit or even some losses but it would show their loyalty to Konoha without compromising clan interests.

'This woman is helping us. Without her suggestion, I would never be able to put forth such a proposal without being instantly shot down with various accusations thrown my way.'

Thinking that, Fukutsu wasted no time in declaring his agreement with the proposal.

"Very well! As Mito-sama suggests, we Uchiha are willing to provide weapons and ore to the village at a loss though I do not believe we can produce enough to support the war effort by ourselves."

'She gave those damn Uchiha a way out! What is that old woman thinking!?' Danzo internally raged.

With Mito effectively denying them a chance to fleece the Uchiha for benefits with the just cause of protecting Konoha, the Third Hokage and his three advisors were, of course, not pleased but the redhead's suggestion was fair so they could not openly disagree.

Having an established precedent in the Uchiha, the other clan heads that had the capability of being suppliers rushed to assert their loyalty and usefulness.

"The Nara clan will provide concocted medicine as well as raw ingredients at a discount as well." Nara Shikai pledged.

His seemingly always tired and bored eyes flashing towards Akimichi Torifu, a rotund man with sharp eyes enhanced by dark markings surrounding them like eye shadow and the Akimichi's signature cheek markings.

He turned his head of light brown hair, mostly hidden from view by a peculiar beanie with two animal ear-like protrusions, towards the Hokage and his advisors.

Once, Torifu had been part of the Second Hokage's personal guard squad along with them and Uchiha Kagami but his loyalty the Nara and Yamanaka, while great for binding the Hokage faction and Ino-Shika-Cho alliance together, also kept him out of the Third's inner circle of advisors.

And so, following the lead of the smarter Nara Shikai whose judgment he trusted, the Akimichi clan head too, made his pledge of support.

"Our Akimichi clan will provide a supply of Military Ration Pills as well as other supplements and foodstuffs at a premium."

Other clans lacked specialties other than shinobi with specific skills, however, they made smaller but still significant pledges of support by drawing on their stockpiles.

If they were selling instead of giving away, enduring a small loss to protect the village and by extension, themselves, in a time of war seemed like a smart idea to them.

The Hyuga in particular had a lot of surplus they could unhesitantly sell the village at a premium so the current resolution pleased Hyuga Hiroshi to no end as he had all but bitterly accepted his clan's fate of being squeezed out of their resources.

'Although this will strengthen the clans' influence and prevent us from instantly amassing supplies for the village without cost, it is a better long term strategy and with the clan heads being so cooperative, village unity will improve.' Hiruzen thought.

He took a draft out of his pipe no one had noticed him pull out and light up.

'This much is a sacrifice I'm willing to make for Konoha.' The Third mused, accepting this reduction of his authority and influence as a necessary evil to strengthen the village with war being on the horizon.

Coming to this conclusion, he swiftly glanced at Danzo to ensure he did not step out of line.

The one eyed man internally scoffed.

'I'm not a fool Hiruzen. With that old woman here, the original plan cannot be carried out.'

Before Mito's intrusion, the plan was to pressure certain clans into contributing supplies for the cause and then, using that, Danzo planned to request talents from the clans unable to contribute resource wise so as to train more Root operatives.

'Now though, not only will Konoha have to pay for resources that should have been provided for free, trying to recruit at this moment would make me public enemy number one in the eyes of the clan heads.' Danzo internally complained.

'None of these fools have the spirit of sacrifice Konoha shinobi ought to embody. Everything is for the village!' He passionately thought.

The scariest thing was, Danzo believed in his words and that he was in the right. That all his actions, even those that proved to ultimately harm Konoha, were actually for the village's own sake and that alone.

Having made sure Danzo was not going to step out of line, the Third Hokage figured it was time to move on to a different topic of discussion.

'Staying on the topic of war is just giving Mito-sama more opportunities to derail my plans so I best move on for now.' Hiruzen thought.

'The most pessimistic estimates, in other words Danzo's estimates, predict that it will take a minimum of five years for war to break out so there is still time.'

'Originally I intended to pressure the clans into donating for the war effort preparations and then in the second part of the meeting when the clan heads can put forth ideas and request, I would graciously acquiesce to some of their requests to placate them but . . .'

'Since they got much better terms than I was planning to give in regards to their contributions to the village stockpile and war funds, they can forget about any leniency regarding requests and suggestions.' The Third Hokage concluded his thought process.

"Matters regarding the prospect of war are settled for the moment so let us move onto the second part of the conference." Hiruzen declared.

"I will now hear any requests and suggestions from the clans."

'Well, looks like the Monkey has reached his limit for tolerance so I will stop inciting him. No need to antagonise him further and risk a complete breakdown in relations just yet.' Mito thought after Hiruzen's declaration.

But she could still give him a little scare.

"Ah! I do indeed have a request." The Uzumaki matriarch spoke as if just remembered it.

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