burningvegeta

Well you know when they say "Konoha was still comparable to the other nations?" they had the legendary Sannin (and others), even though one has officially left; they had the other two even if they weren't based specifically in Konoha they would still be associated as Konoha's allies and being highly skilled ninja:

-Jiraiya: S-Rank.
-Tsunade: S-Rank.
-Sarutobi (Sandaime) is stated to know every Jutsu or something like that in Konoha. If so that would add strength to Konoha, besides in the data-book he is said to be the strongest Hokage.
-Then theres Danzo, said to have very highly skilled ninja loyal to him who were apart root, ANBU. His unit must have powerful ninjas; if Tsunade has suspicions and fears him being able to take over Konoha.
-Just to support the what I've said even further Kakashi Hatake's father: "The White Flash" is a well known ninja in terms of his skill. Kakashi himself is a well known ninja throughout the Naruto universe "Copy-Cat Ninja" once again another highly skilled ninja. Compared to other villages within the Naruto universe how many of them have ninja with these levels of ability or famously known for their ability? Not many if any at all.
-The Niju Shotai the Twenty Platoons is a task force created by Tsunade for the purpose of tracking down, attempting to capture, and, if necessary, eliminating Akatsuki members in the Fire Country. This force consists of twenty four-man teams (80 ninja). Tsunade has high hopes that if these four-man team encounted an Akatsuki member they could capture, and then even eliminate them.


I know this doesn't support the confusion with numbers and basic army but does help tip the scale in terms of power for Konoha. Even though Konoha has such a small amount of ninja, the vast majority of these ninjas are highly skilled. Where Konoha may lack in numbers it's obvious they make up for it, with skill and ability.

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