Chapter 257: Abundant Resources, Ten Kage-Level Powerhouses
"What? Attack our Konoha Village?" Fugaku's expression became quite strange upon hearing Akira's words.
His look was as if he had heard something unbelievable, and he couldn't help but grumble, "Is there something wrong with this Akatsuki organization?"
Uchiha Akira: "???"
Akira looked at Fugaku with a confused expression, completely baffled by what he meant.
Akatsuki's objective was to gather Tailed Beasts, so attacking Konoha didn't seem particularly unusual. Why did Fugaku look so puzzled?
"Akira, think about it for a moment..."
Seeing Akira's confusion, Fugaku continued, "First, during the Five Kage Summit, I, as Hokage, along with the Mizukage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage, were all attacked by Akatsuki, yet the Raikage wasn't attacked."
Akira nodded in agreement. "Yes, that is true."
"And now?"
Fugaku continued, "Our Konoha Village has been attacked by Akatsuki, the Sand Village was attacked, the Stone Village was attacked, and even the Land of Water had turmoil over the Three-Tails!"
"You even mentioned that the Blood Mist policy in the Mist Village was secretly manipulated by Akatsuki, almost crippling the entire village!"
"Yet, only the Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning hasn't been attacked by Akatsuki."
"And now Konoha is about to be attacked again?"
Clearly, Fugaku found this situation hard to understand and seemed quite indignant.
"What about Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails Jinchūriki?" Seeing Fugaku's displeased look, Akira reminded him.
"That's different!" Fugaku shook his head and replied, "The Two-Tails Jinchūriki was attacked while she was away from the Cloud Village; it wasn't an attack on the entire Cloud Village!"
"Throughout everything, Akatsuki has never attacked the Cloud Village itself. Could it be that their combined strength is so great that even Akatsuki dares not make a move?"
"That possibility seems unlikely," Akira said, chuckling slightly at Fugaku's analysis.
Even though he knew it wasn't true, Fugaku's reasoning made a lot of sense, so much so that Akira found it hard to refute.
Indeed, each major shinobi village had been attacked by Akatsuki. The Mist Village was almost destroyed by the Blood Mist policy, yet Cloud Village had never been attacked—it wasn't normal!
And most importantly?
Konoha's overall strength should be the strongest among the Five Great Shinobi Nations, right?
Yet Akatsuki seemed to have made it their mission to focus on Konoha?
"Alright, let's focus on planning how to deal with Akatsuki's impending attack," Akira said after a moment of inner grumbling, addressing Fugaku again.
"Do you know when and what scale the attack will be?" Fugaku asked, redirecting his focus.
Every time Akatsuki had launched an attack, Akira had been able to get information in advance, so Fugaku assumed this time was no different.
"I do. It will happen in half a month!"
"Moreover, the attack will be on a massive scale—Akatsuki will come out in full force."
"Additionally, Akatsuki has allied with Otsutsuki Urashiki."
"If we don't make targeted preparations, Konoha Village could very well be destroyed," Akira explained, detailing everything he knew to Fugaku.
Upon hearing that Akatsuki had formed an alliance with Urashiki and planned to attack with their full force, Fugaku's face darkened.
"So this really is Konoha's greatest crisis yet?"
"It seems we need to prepare to evacuate the civilians in advance," Fugaku said seriously.
"And we also need to devise specific strategies to counter Akatsuki."
"This battle will clearly be a defensive one. We might not have the upper hand in terms of initiative, but we do have the advantage of home turf!"
"And Konoha has a lot of high-level combat power to mobilize!"
"In a head-on battle, we may still be able to hold them off!" Akira said confidently.
During the first life simulation, they were unprepared, and as a result, Akatsuki's attack inflicted heavy losses, with even the Nine-Tails being taken.
But during the second life simulation?
Since they had made preparations in advance, the losses were minimal, and Akatsuki ended up empty-handed.
With the life simulator providing a trial run, Akira was filled with confidence for the upcoming battle in half a month.
In fact, Akira felt that having half a month to prepare gave him ample time to set up an effective battlefield with traps, making sure Akatsuki fell right into them when they attacked.
Evaluating the situation carefully, Konoha was not afraid of Akatsuki at all!
Looking at Akatsuki's members, it was true that they were all Kage-level or above, with Nagato being the peak of Kage-level.
And then there was Urashiki, a Super Kage-level existence, possessing the Byakugan along with red and blue Rinnegan!
But at the same time, Konoha had grown incredibly strong as well!
First of all, both he and the thirty-something-year-old Sasuke were Super Kage-level.
Even though neither of them could take on Urashiki alone, together they could definitely stand up to him!
And looking at the current Kage-level powerhouses in Konoha?
Hokage Fugaku, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Naruto, Roshi, Han, Kakashi, and a Might Guy who could rival Kage-level when using the Eight Gates.
Counting them all, Konoha had ten Kage-level combatants!
Such a lineup could shake the entire shinobi world!
Additionally, if you consider the summoning beasts,
Akira, Hinata, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Naruto all had access to Kage-level summoning beasts from the Three Great Sage Regions!
That made the number of Kage-level entities even greater!
So, saying Konoha currently possessed the greatest comprehensive strength among the Five Great Nations was no exaggeration!
They were now strong enough that even if faced with all four other great villages as they had during the First Great Shinobi War, Konoha would be unfazed.
"This is the current Konoha. Truly powerful, and compared to eight years ago, the growth has been incredible!" Akira reflected silently after listing Konoha's ten Kage-level combatants.
Back when the coup had just been carried out, Konoha only had Akira and the Hokage as Kage-level fighters.
At that time, they feared an attack from the other four great nations and even made a show of force at the borders to deter them!
Now, there was no longer any need for such caution!
In just eight years, Konoha's strength had grown to this extent. Honestly, even Akira was quite satisfied.
After all, achieving this wasn't easy.
After hearing Akira list Konoha's Kage-level combat power, Fugaku's face also showed a hint of pride.
Being able to develop Konoha to such a degree in just eight years made him, as the Fifth Hokage, feel a great sense of accomplishment.
Now, Konoha's overall power was almost on par with its founding days, wasn't it?
Of course, despite the pride, considering Akatsuki's upcoming attack in half a month, Fugaku dared not relax his vigilance.
With a serious expression, Akira and Fugaku began discussing strategies to counter Akatsuki's attack.
The strength of Akatsuki couldn't be underestimated. Even though having advance knowledge of their attack was valuable, the goal of the war was not only to win but to minimize losses.
For example, Konoha currently had ten Kage-level powerhouses—this was their substantial asset!
But what if six or seven of them were lost during the battle against Akatsuki? Even if Akatsuki was completely wiped out, it wouldn't be a true victory, would it?
This would be akin to "inflicting a thousand wounds, while suffering eight hundred losses."
Could that even be called a victory?
In war, if one were to fight recklessly without concern for the cost, no matter how great their resources, it would eventually lead to destruction.
Therefore, losing Kage-level fighters on the battlefield was always a tragic outcome.
It was painful enough to have lost Kage-level warriors like Konoha's White Fang and Shisui Uchiha during peaceful times.
This was the most unforgivable failure of the Third Hokage's administration and the higher-ups of Konoha!
After Akira and Fugaku discussed their strategy, they had a clear idea of what needed to be done next, and thus began making the necessary arrangements.
Following that, Fugaku issued orders, summoning all the Kage-level powerhouses to join in discussing their battle plan.
Upon learning that Akatsuki, along with the newly infamous Urashiki, would be attacking in half a month, the expressions of the Kage-level fighters turned grave.
Afterward, everyone pooled their wisdom and ideas, and soon, a well-formed battle plan began to take shape.
At this point, the shinobi of Konoha had a deep understanding of the Akatsuki members and their abilities, allowing them to devise effective counter-strategies.
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POWER STONE!!!
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