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"Shikaku, what's your take?"
Since everyone was choosing to back Kazuki, Tsunade had no choice but to call on someone directly.
Shikaku, singled out, stood up and said:
"Hokage-sama, my view aligns with Advisor-sama's. Sunagakure wouldn't do something so irrational and foolish, and Rasa isn't that kind of lunatic. There's definitely a conspiracy we don't know about—most likely the Akatsuki's doing. As for their motive, it's probably to deplete the strength of the five great ninja villages. The problem is, we have no evidence to prove this is the Akatsuki's work. The Land of Water's daimyo lost an arm and is currently being escorted to our Daimyo residence by our shinobi. With something like this happening, Kirigakure will demand justice from Sunagakure no matter what. For the sake of justice, for the daimyo, I'm afraid war is almost inevitable."
Konoha received the news so quickly because the Land of Water's daimyo, after the assassination attempt, fled under escort to the Land of Fire's border, seeking help from the border camp.
When the camp's ninjas saw the Land of Water's daimyo—missing an arm, covered in blood, and passed out—their heads were buzzing with shock.
They could only immediately treat him and send word back to the village, while dispatching people to escort the now-stabilized daimyo to the Fire Daimyo residence.
Once he was delivered there, the rest was no longer Konoha's concern.
Kirigakure would either send people to retrieve their daimyo, or he might choose to stay in the Land of Fire's daimyo mansion to recover.
But the likelihood of the Land of Water's daimyo staying in the Land of Fire was slim—Kirigakure would probably send someone to bring him back immediately.
After all, once war broke out, who knew what might happen?
They couldn't just leave their daimyo out in the open.
"Send messages to the other villages directly, including Sunagakure. Rasa probably doesn't even know something this serious happened on his turf."
If the battle's fluctuations were noticed by Sunagakure's ninjas, that'd be one thing. If not, Sunagakure was likely still in the dark.
Konoha couldn't stop a war that might erupt at any moment, nor could it mediate such a major incident.
All Konoha could do was help pass the message along, so the other villages wouldn't be caught off guard.
Kazuki added:
"Oh, no need to notify Kirigakure—they'll hear about it soon enough. Just inform Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure. Send the messages via ninja hawks. Our relations are still decent enough for now. When ninja hawks will do, there's no need to send someone in person. Besides passing on the message, I suggest forming a team to station at the border. We need to prevent the war from dragging the Land of Fire and Konoha into it. Konoha doesn't fear war, but we can't get dragged into it blindly."
"I'll go," Jiraiya volunteered. "I can't help much with other things, so I might as well head to the border and hold the fort."
He also figured it was a good chance to take Naruto out for a trip—perfect for manning the border.
To keep Sunagakure and Kirigakure from getting reckless if things got heated.
"Very well." Tsunade pondered for a moment before making up her mind:
"Shikaku, issue the order. Assemble a team of ninjas to head to the border camp with Jiraiya. We absolutely cannot let hidden enemies drag Konoha into this. Kazuki's right—Konoha doesn't fear war, but we don't want to fight a meaningless one."
"Yes."
As the jonin squad leader, Shikaku was the right man for the job:
"But how many troops should the village deploy?"
Ask that guy!
Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Kazuki.
Kazuki calculated the number and strength of the border camp's ninjas:
"Five hundred elites. Not too many, but not too few—and all elites. As long as the enemy's numbers aren't overwhelming, they'll hold the line at the border. With Jiraiya there, there shouldn't be any major issues."
Sending too many was pointless and wasteful. Konoha wasn't strapped for cash, but it wasn't burning money either.
Unless Konoha got dragged into the war, mobilizing too many ninjas to the border wouldn't mean much.
"Yes."
Shikaku stood and left to make preparations.
After discussing some tedious details, the meeting wrapped up just as dawn broke.
Jiraiya deliberately lingered until everyone else had left, then grinned cheekily and made his request:
"Tsunade, Kazuki, I want to take Naruto to the border with me."
If both Kazuki and Tsunade agreed, it was basically a done deal. As for the Third Hokage…
Jiraiya conveniently ignored him.
That old geezer would 100% say no.
If he wasn't going to agree, why bother asking? Just stay home and enjoy retirement—leave village matters alone.
"You figure it out with Kazuki. I've got a ton on my plate. Barely got any sleep before this blew up."
Jiraiya was tired, but Tsunade was too—she was practically going crazy with work, while Jiraiya was half-dead from carousing.
Watching Tsunade hurry off with Shizune, Jiraiya propped his chin on one hand, sizing up Kazuki with a tsk-tsk:
"Why do I feel like you're more like the village's Hokage than Tsunade?"
"Don't want to take Naruto anymore?"
Kazuki shot back.
"…"
Caught off guard, Jiraiya coughed awkwardly:
"Uh, Kazuki, just pretend I didn't say that—like it was a fart in the wind, okay?"
"Go to hell."
Kazuki didn't feel like dealing with Jiraiya. He stood, stretched lazily, and headed out of the meeting room:
"Naruto's your call. Take him if you want, just bring him back safe. I've got no objections. But you'd better not ask the Third—he'll definitely shut you down."
"I'm not dumb!!"
With the matter settled, Jiraiya seemed in high spirits, trailing behind with his hands behind his back, humming a tune.
Instead of heading to his own office, Kazuki left the Hokage Tower and nodded slightly to Hiashi and Fugaku, who were waiting outside, signaling they could head out.
The two had already hinted at him as they left the meeting room.
"Tch, looks like the Hyuga and Uchiha are really joining forces. Still, that's not a bad thing."
Watching the trio's backs, Jiraiya muttered to himself, shaking his head before heading home.
He needed to drag Naruto out of bed and get ready to depart.
Can we pick a different place?
Watching Kazuki walk into Ichiraku Ramen, Fugaku and Hiashi had the urge to cover their faces and slink away.
We're here to discuss serious matters, and you bring us to a ramen shop?
At least pick a place where you can eat something substantial.
*****
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