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Hearing this, Kazuki smiled and asked in return:
"Then, do you think the village would fear such minor trouble?"
"....."
Shisui was stunned for a few seconds.
"It seems not. Because given Kirigakure's current situation, even if they found out we sold a large quantity of supplies to Sunagakure, they could only choose to intercept Sunagakure's people. They couldn't come after us directly. Perhaps they'd lodge a diplomatic protest."
It wasn't that Shisui was overly confident, but rather that the current Konoha had the ability to ignore Kirigakure's threats.
So what if I sell supplies to Sunagakure? If you have the ability, come and bite me.
The reasoning was clear, but given the current situation, how many people would actually dare to do business with Sunagakure?
Throughout Konoha, probably only Kazuki would have the idea of making a huge profit. If it were Tsunade, her first reaction would definitely be to play it safe.
"Since we aren't afraid of Kirigakure, and our relations with them are already somewhat strained, what's there to hesitate about? Sometimes, people need to have a bit more courage. Otherwise, being timid and hesitant won't accomplish great things."
Shisui fell silent. After hearing Kazuki's words, Itachi seemed lost in thought.
Kazuki had expected him to say something too, but Itachi remained silent the whole time.
"Take this scroll back to the village."
"Yes, sir."
Regarding the trade with Sunagakure, Kazuki had recorded it in a scroll. He sent it back to the village as quickly as possible via the camp's messenger hawks.
In just two or three hours, the hawks could fly to Konoha.
Apart from being difficult and expensive to train, these birds were fairly good as communication tools.
Moreover, very few ninja in the shinobi world could fly, so the probability of messenger hawks being intercepted was low.
In contrast, having a ninja deliver the message was more prone to accidents.
By the time the messenger hawks reached Konoha, it was already 5 a.m. Because it was an urgent scroll, the Intelligence Division had no choice but to disturb Tsunade's pleasant dreams and wake her.
"....."
Good grief. I'd just barely gotten to sleep. Can't I sleep a little longer?
She had a serious case of "get out of bed" grumpiness, but Tsunade could only accept her fate and crawl out of bed obediently.
Watching the fuming, visibly annoyed Tsunade, Shizune struggled not to laugh.
"Lady Hokage, don't be angry. This is an urgent scroll sent back by the Lord Advisor from the front lines. If it weren't for this, the Intelligence Division wouldn't dare to wake you up."
"I know. I just haven't had a good night's sleep in too long. It's all Kazuki's fault. He ran off to the border camp so early and dumped all this work on me."
Tsunade couldn't help but let out a wail.
I miss it so much when Kazuki was in the village. The work was divided, and the two of us handled things so fast there was rarely even overtime.
Now that Kazuki wasn't in the village, she had to handle everything personally. Overtime had become routine, and sometimes she couldn't even clock off to rest until one or two in the morning.
Shizune barely managed to suppress her laughter, afraid that if she laughed out loud, she might get a beating.
"Fine, give me the scroll. I want to see what stunt that guy is pulling this time."
Taking the scroll Shizune handed over, Tsunade rubbed her eyes and let out a big yawn.
She opened the scroll. Her vision still blurry, she forced herself to focus on the contents.
"Mmm..."
She glanced at it and hummed. A few seconds later, her eyes suddenly widened, and all drowsiness vanished instantly.
"Huh?!!!"
Good grief!!!
You kid really went and pulled a big one on me!!
Tsunade quickly put down the scroll and rubbed her eyes vigorously, afraid she was seeing things. But after checking several times, it was true!
Kazuki had indeed sent her a major development.
"This guy really like to act recklessly..."
Just as Kazuki had guessed, if it were up to Tsunade, she would definitely choose to play it safe, not engage in any trade deals with Sunagakure, even if the village could profit massively.
Once such a thing was discovered, a series of troubles would land on Konoha.
Unfortunately, playing it safe wasn't an option anymore, because Kazuki had already agreed with Sunagakure. This deal had to go through, whether Konoha liked it or not.
That brat!
Acting without consulting me!
Muttering and cursing a few times under her breath, she considered the matter settled.
"Shizune, notify Homura and have him come to the Hokage's office as soon as possible."
"Yes, Lady Hokage."
Shizune hurried out of the Hokage's office. At the entrance, she instructed the Anbu personnel to go immediately and fetch Homura, whether he was sleeping or doing something else, he had to come.
The Anbu accepted the order and left.
And so, Homura, who had been enjoying pleasant dreams at home, was suddenly startled awake.
Because he noticed someone had infiltrated his room and was now standing right beside his bed.
You scared the life out of me!
Opening his eyes and recognizing the person, Homura sighed in relief. It was an Anbu ninja, not an enemy.
"Elder, the Lady Hokage requests your immediate presence at the Hokage's office. There are important matters to discuss."
After delivering the message, the Anbu ninja promptly left.
No longer sleepy, Homura rubbed his temples. Getting older, busy with work, being woken up—his head felt foggy, and most of all, he'd gotten a fright.
But this was the Anbu's standard operating procedure. Homura couldn't really complain.
This was also why Kazuki disliked having Anbu personnel come to his house looking for him.
You come to find me, but you have to infiltrate my home, and what's worse, stand right in my bedroom.
It's fine when I'm alone, but what if I'm sleeping with someone else?
What if I'm not wearing any clothes?
Fortunately, after several such incidents, the Anbu learned that Kazuki didn't appreciate people sneaking into his house, let alone his bedroom, while he was sleeping. So the Anbu would only stay outside, just releasing a hint of chakra presence for Kazuki to notice.
A summons from the Hokage wasn't something Homura could refuse.
He dressed and made his way to the Hokage's administrative building under the cover of night.
"Lady Hokage."
"Elder Mitokado, please have a seat."
Tsunade signaled for Shizune to bring hot tea. After Homura had a cup, she handed him a document.
"This is a batch of supplies needed by the front-line camp. Please expedite their collection and select ninja teams to transport the supplies to the camp. All supplies must be delivered within ten days."
Has something happened at the front line?
Why the sudden need for a considerable quantity of supplies?
Homura wondered internally. Seeing Tsunade had no intention of explaining, he felt it inappropriate to ask. So he took the document and assured her:
"Lady Hokage, rest assured. This batch of supplies will definitely reach the front-line camp within ten days."
Whenever matters involved Kazuki, Homura preferred not to get too entangled, fearing he might get caught in the crossfire.