The Blitz.

Shikaku looked at me with wide eyes. As he tried to calm himself down, he looked at me once again and spoke.

"Hokage-sama, I originally sided with you, because I believed you would do everything in your power to protect the Hidden Leaf. How is…" – Shikaku spoke as I raised my hand and interrupted him.

"Don't worry Shikaku, no genin is going to partake in the operation." – I said as Shikaku visibly relaxed.

"But without genin, I highly doubt we will be able to match Iwa's fighting force."

"We won't need to. We have me. I do not trust our Sanin's to make the right judgment call on what is best for Konoha and what their moral code allows. The anbu have improved substantially so I will task them with drawing out Onoki. I will also send Kakashi with them. He should be able to keep Onoki busy for a few minutes while."

"How exactly do you expect them to draw out Onoki?"

A smile crept into my lips at that question.

"His granddaughter of course. In these times, the last thing Iwagakure needs are more chaos. Onoki will try to keep the matter quiet and send out only a few elite shinobi to track them. All the while, the Anbu will leave instructions for Onoki to follow. I have instructed the Anbu to recon the area, get the lay of the land and have some earth users simulate it in the training grounds. This time, there is no room for mistake."

"Do you think Onoki will fall for it? Do you think he will personally go out?" – Shikaku asked as he mulled over the details of the invasion

"At first I didn't. My original plan included having Jiraya figure a way to lure Onoki out… but after the latest developments… he will definitely come out. He has no choice, more so now than ever, if he wants to see his great-grandchild be born that is." – I said as a twisted smile appeared on my face.

Stopping for a moment I spoke again, my finger tapping the table as the Hyugas in the room started sweating cold sweat. All of them taking a step away from me. I eyed all of them as they all avoided eye contact, prompting them to look anywhere but at me…

"You like chess Shikaku, don't you. The King… is subjective, at least to people. Events… change your king. Realization changes your king. For Onoki, even if it's for a limited time, that unborn child will become the king among kings. It will create a weak point that I will exploit to the maximum."

I never expected this kind of development. Onoki's heart would be heard screaming all the way to Konoha once he heard of his granddaughter's kidnapping. My grin kept getting wider and wider. I was learning so much lately, a decision that I made out of convenience proved to be a critical help to me.

I thought back to the spy I had sent to Iwa… he was a normal civilian, one who had no talent for ninjutsu or taijutsu, he was worse off than rock lee… but currently, he proved to be much more important. His parents were genin shinobi, they had been lost in the war with Iwa, when he was only 10 years old, 14 years ago.

After we had spread the news a few months ago, that Iwa wanted to launch an attack on us, he had barged in front of me, restrained under the Hyuga's swords, and begged me to be of use. He reeked of desperation and hatred, reduced to a little bit more than a beggar… but no one was useless in this world.

It was difficult to find good spies, but the ones drowned by hatred were usually the best… and sometimes the worst.

He ended up being the former. Not only was he an eager and effective spy, he actually managed to seduce that headstrong woman and not only that. He created the perfect weak point for me to take advantage of. I would have to prepare appropriate rewards… if he didn't die in all the confusion.

"So... Hokage-sama, what other preparations do we need? What are we going to do about the protective barrier around Iwa? Jiraya is the only seal master that can take it down in a short time."

"Let me worry about the barrier, the anbu's numbers have almost tripled recently, due to some… volunteers. We have also been informed of some rather intricate set of tunnels that can safely move our troops inside Iwa territory. Granted, too many people setting up camp in enemy territory will alert them, so this operation will be concluded in one night."

As I spoke I threw a folder to Shikaku, who caught it and started turning the files one by one.

"And who exactly are these… volunteers?"

"Let's just say the Warhawk had a change of heart. The logistic supplies are being moved as we speak, enough for 4 battalions to survive one week, in case we need more. If everything goes as planned, we burn the leftover supplies and retreat in time for the enemy to not even get close to us."

"You convinced Danzo to hand over his Root? How?"

"I can be very persuasive." – I said as I smiled lightly. Danzo was under my influence when he made the decision. He required some dosage of genjutsu every few days, to keep being cooperative, but being locked in the lowest level of the prison by Anbu and with no one being the wiser, it was not that big of a problem. Turned out he still had a Sharingan, but with how powerful mine had become, it couldn't save him. He was reduced to a puppet and would soon become useless. People would soon notice his absence so I was prepping a life sentence for him. I might even run out of paper before finishing writing down all the sentences. It was a loooooong list.

"I have already notified Hiashi, who will be sending the Hyuga's to help with recon and with the Anbu operations. Weapons are being moved first, kunai, shurikens as well as explosive tags. The food will be moved at a later date as to not let it spoil. Soldier pills are a matter of course, they will be moved the last. One for each to make our retreat swift and uninterrupted by fatigue. They can rest once we are back into our own territory." – I quickly said as I changed the topic.

"And about the border squads of Iwa?"

"Page 20. That is where the clan heads, Jiraya, and 3 battalions of genin come into play. The moment we attack Iwa, they will attack the border. Hiashi is in charge and we will leave 100 Jonin behind on the border to help him with the attack. On our return, we will attack them from the back, hopefully still retaining the element of surprise. It shouldn't be that hard given the relative closeness of the village with the border."

"You are putting Jiraya in the loop? And does this mean you will reject his request for training Naruto?"

"We only need him for a few days. He can leave Naruto with the toads. As for keeping him in the loop, we won't, it will be a separate operation for them. Except for Hiashi, no one else will know of our operation. It will make it harder for the enemy to realize what is going on. Shinobi can be very talkative sometimes."

Shikaku closed his eyes as he played the scenario on his mind.

"It could be said to be an attack on two fronts… while somehow still being only on one front." – He said as he tilted his head, trying to wrap his head around it. Opening his eyes he closed the folder and looked at the writing on the top.

"The Blitz."

(A/N: I really didn't expect that Japanese had a word for blitz, I though I would have to ditch my idea of including this operation Title as part of the novel, but apparently Dengeki mans Blitz. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you in the next one. 😊)