Jiraiya walked over to the three children, dropped into a shallow squat, and looked them over. "How has your training been progressing lately?"
Yahiko proudly puffed out his chest. "I'm doing fantastic! I can already manifest three consecutive water arrows with my Water Style!"
Konan held up an intricate paper flower she had been working on. "My Paper Style has made major strides too!"
Jiraiya nodded with a warm smile before shifting his gaze to Nagato. The boy remained as silent as ever, offering only a subtle, quiet nod. Looking at him, Jiraiya suddenly reached out and affectionately ruffled his vibrant crimson hair.
"Nagato, you need to keep pushing forward too, alright?"
Nagato stiffened slightly in surprise. Then, lowering his gaze, he offered a soft, hushed reply. "Understood."
Jiraiya stood up and cast his eyes toward the distant horizon, looking in the direction of the Leaf Village. He murmured under his breath, "Old man, I ask for your forgiveness, but I cannot obey your mandates this ti. There is absolutely no logical justification to fight this war."
anwhile, sowhere within the capital of the Land of Fire.
Tsunade was uncharacteristically absent from the gambling parlors. Instead, she was holed up inside a makeshift dical laboratory, her workstation entirely buried beneath piles of reference materials and dical drafts she had recently compiled.
Her boyfriend, Dan Katō, was naturally running back and forth around her to provide support, though his features carried a distinctly helpless expression.
Right at that mont, an Anbu operative materialized cleanly behind her back. "Lady Tsunade, the Hokage has issued an ergency summons. He requires you to mobilize an army imdiately to suppress the Land of Grass."
Tsunade remained buried in her research, never even bothering to lift her head. "Not interested."
"Lady Tsunade, this is an official mandate from the Hokage himself..."
"I said I'm not doing it, and that's final." Tsunade reached backward, snagged the operative by his flak jacket collar, and casually hurled the Anbu ninja straight through the open window. "I am currently buried in organizing the entire foundational infrastructure for our dical system.
Where would I find the spare ti to entertain those political sideshows? If he's so desperate to avenge his son, he can march out there and do it himself!"
Perched precariously on a tree branch outside the window, the Anbu operative stared back blankly in utter bewildernt. Ultimately, he had no choice but to slink away in defeat, retreating to report the catastrophic failure to the Third Hokage.
Back inside the lab, Dan walked up to her side. "Perhaps it would be best if I accepted the deploynt in your stead? After all, it is an assignnt directly designated by the Hokage."
"You aren't permitted to go either."
"But he is your ntor, after all," Dan countered gently, trying to appeal to her reasonable side. "Furthermore, he has only just suffered the profound tragedy of losing his child."
Hearing those words, Tsunade's hands froze over her docunts. "So what if he's my ntor? Who in this world hasn't lost blood relatives? Did my younger brother Nawaki not perish on the exact sa battlefields?"
The gentle smile faded from Dan's face. He fell into a prolonged silence, then stepped closer to gently close his hand over Tsunade's.
"Tsunade..."
Tsunade forced a thin, strained smile. "Don't let it bother you. I have an absolute excess of energy to burn through every day right now; I don't have the spare bandwidth to dwell on those miserable thoughts."
She paused for a brief second, then suddenly dragged Dan back toward the secondary desk.
"Co on, help organize these instructional modules. Those new dical students are completely dense; I explained the core concepts as clearly as humanly possible, and they still couldn't grasp the baseline trics. I need to break down the curriculum into even finer detail!"
Dan allowed himself to be hauled away by her grip, a wry smile plastered across his face. The textbooks were already staggeringly thick; if she fragnted the data down any further, how many years would it take to finish writing them?
Yet, looking down at the rare, genuine smile gracing Tsunade's features, he chose to say nothing. He simply tightened his grip on her hand, letting her guide him forward. After all, she was his future wife—he could afford to indulge her a little.
A Void of Loyalty
Back within the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat rigidly behind his desk. Listening to the prompt report delivered by the returning Anbu operative, his expression soured to an absolute nadir.
With this latest rejection, every single one of his personal disciples had actively refused to respond to his mobilization orders.
Was this a coordinated strike against his administrative policies, or were they harboring a profound, deep-seated resentnt toward him as their master?
At this exact mont, he felt like an absolute failure of a ntor. He had never anticipated that every last one of his students would end up completely alienated from his inner circle.
Orochimaru claid to be bedridden with debilitating internal trauma; Jiraiya hadn't even bothered to send a return ssage, and Tsunade outright claid she didn't have the spare ti to waste.
He dragged a deep breath of smoke from his pipe, exhaling it in a slow, heavy cloud.
Right then, the doors swung open as Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado entered the office. Hiruzen raised his gaze to look upon his two oldest contemporaries.
"You've arrived."
"We have received word of the situation," Koharu stated, dropping into a seat directly across from his desk. "Are you truly determined to deploy a military contingent into the Land of Grass?"
Hiruzen nodded grimly. "Shinnosuke's assassination cannot simply be swept under the rug. The Hidden Grass Village had the unmitigated audacity to publicly mock the authority of Konoha; they must be forced to pay an absolute price."
Homura frowned slightly. "Hiruzen, why would an insignificant dispute like this require our high-tier assets to move out? Simply select a standard Jonin and deploy them to handle the campaign.
The war has only just drawn to a close, and both our respective clans and the wider village infrastructure have an imnse backlog of administrative matters to process."
"Exactly," Koharu agreed smoothly. "Has Danzō not been exceptionally idle of late? Why not delegate the deploynt to him? He has always harbored an intense fondness for military campaigns."
Delegate the campaign to Danzō? That would be no different than handing a massive political and military achievent directly to Root on a silver platter.
Hiruzen offered a slow shake of his head. "Leave us. I will resolve this through my own avenues."
Koharu and Homura exchanged a brief, knowing glance. Choosing not to press the issue any further, they turned on their heels and exited the chamber.
As the office settled back into a heavy silence, Hiruzen stared out the window, his brow locked in a tight scowl.
He had never imagined that within the grand expanse of the mighty Hidden Leaf Village, he would find himself looking at a complete lack of viable commanders.
Did the situation truly demand that he personally step onto the front lines to lead the vanguard?
But he was the sitting Hokage! If he marched onto the battlefield over this, it would format an absolute confirmation of the international rumors—that Konoha was acting purely out of unhinged personal vengeance.
The Grand Families Step Forward
Right at that critical juncture, a firm knock resonated through the door.
The heavy wood swung open, and two distinct figures stepped into the light of the office.
Leading the march was a serious, rigid young man clad in the traditional high-collared attire of the Uchiha, the iconic paper-fan crest ticulously embroidered across his back: Uchiha Fugaku.
Walking directly behind him was an older, seasoned veteran, his long black hair cascading loosely over his shoulders.
His pale, featureless eyes radiated a faint, innate pressure—the definitive signature of the Hyūga clan's Byakugan: Hyūga Tennin, the father of Hiashi and the reigning Patriarch of the Hyūga clan.
"Lord Hokage," both n offered a synchronized, formal bow.
Hiruzen was caught completely off guard. Reseating himself behind the desk, he kept his tone perfectly neutral. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a joint visit from the two of you?"
Fugaku took a decisive step forward. "We have received the intelligence regarding the developnts within the Land of Grass. The Uchiha clan formally requests to deploy our forces on behalf of Konoha."
The Uchiha... Hiruzen's brow twitched imperceptibly.
Naturally, his core political instincts rebelled against granting a massive military achievent to the Uchiha.
Over the recent years, the Uchiha clan had grown increasingly restless and dissatisfied with their administrative marginalization; if he allowed them to secure a major victory on the international stage, it would only serve to inflate their political leverage.
He shifted his gaze toward the elder Patriarch. "Am I to assu the Hyūga house has manifested here for the exact sa purpose?"
Hyūga Tennin offered a asured, elegant inclination of his head. "The Hyūga clan stands entirely ready to execute whatever deploynts the Lord Hokage deems necessary."
Hiruzen fell into a deep, prolonged silence. With the two most powerful military dynasties in the village simultaneously volunteering for the vanguard, he possessed zero administrative grounds to issue a flat refusal.
But... a sudden spark of political calculation flared within his mind. Forcing the two premier rival clans to deploy as a joint task force, allowing them to naturally check and balance each other's influence on the field, might actually yield an ideal outco.
The Uchiha wanted to secure military prestige? Then let them march. With the Hyūga deployed alongside them, the village could simultaneously divide the credit while ensuring a direct, flawless surveillance network to monitor the Uchiha's actions.
As for the final distribution of military achievents—that could be retroactively managed once the dust settled.
"Very well," Hiruzen spoke slowly, his voice carrying the full weight of his office. "Then it shall be settled. Your two clans shall form a joint coalition to deploy into the Land of Grass."
He rose to his feet, walking around the desk to stand directly before the two leaders. "Keep this absolute tric in mind: the core directive of this deploynt is to suppress the foreign instigators and preserve international stability.
The Hidden Grass Village has openly compromised the established order of the Great Nations and actively sought to ignite a global conflict; they must receive a severe, definitive punishnt.
Furthermore... ensure they surrender the captured Sarutobi bloodline."
Both n bowed smoothly. "Understood."
Hiruzen watched their retreating silhouettes until the doors clicked shut, before slumping back into his leather chair.
Suppressing instigators and preserving peace... It was an incredibly flimsy, transparent justification, and anyone with a baseline understanding of global politics could see through the mask—he was mobilizing the village's elite forces to exact a personal vendetta for his slain son.
But not a single soul would dare to voice that reality out loud. The Hidden Grass Village had simply overplayed its hand far too aggressively, stepping so far out of line that they practically begged to be crushed out of existence.
He retrieved his pipe, drawing another long, heavy breath of tobacco. Amidst the swirling, dense clouds of gray smoke, his features morphed into a complex tapestry of grief and political exhaustion.
"Shinnosuke... this is the absolute limit of what your father can do for you now."
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