"Hiruzen Sarutobi, that stubborn fool!"
Koharu Utatane's usually composed face twisted in fury, her refined brows shooting upward as she slammed her palm onto the table. The solid wood cracked and collapsed under her blow, leaving Inoichi Yamanaka staring in shock.
He'd always heard Koharu was a true disciple of the Second Hokage, Tobirama—almost Kage-level in strength. But he'd never seen it firsthand, and now the rumors felt very real.
Faced with Koharu's rage, Inoichi went silent, barely daring to breathe.
Fugaku Uchiha, by contrast, remained perfectly calm, unruffled by the storm.
Neither of them dared poke the bear.
After venting for a while, Koharu finally sat down, cheeks puffed with anger.
Only then did Inoichi dare to speak, his tone gentle and diplomatic.
"Elder Utatane, I hope you understand… No matter what, orders have to be followed. At least Kakashi hasn't acted yet, right?"
He shouldn't have said it—Koharu's temper flared again.
"Follow orders? How? Am I supposed to march up to Master Genshi and say, 'Hey, your Mist army just got crushed on Yuexi Peninsula, so we're calling off the deal—hand over the Three-Tails'? Are you out of your mind? You think he won't beat you senseless? Go tell your brother right now—this order is impossible!"
She was venting, but she wasn't wrong. The Three-Tails jinchūriki was currently under Master Genshi's watch, personally tutored, and getting him out now was next to impossible.
"Elder Utatane, please calm down. The situation is already dire—Mist's defeat, the Nine-Tails missing, the fighting on Tsūtatsu Road not going well. If things keep going this way, just like Hokage-sama said, we might not even qualify to negotiate. For Konoha's sake, please set aside these grievances for now."
Inoichi kept his voice soothing, trying to bring Koharu back to reason.
Koharu wasn't blind to the bigger picture—she knew what Inoichi was saying.
"It's not that I don't get it. But look at us—how are we supposed to bring the Three-Tails back with just this handful?" Koharu gestured at the few people in the room.
Konoha was busy fighting for survival across the sea—there was no help coming for the diplomatic team.
"I think… there's still a chance," Fugaku Uchiha said, finally breaking his silence.
Koharu turned to him. "Go on."
"Hokage-sama only cares about the end result—the Three-Tails returning to Konoha. He doesn't care how it happens, right?"
Inoichi nodded after a moment's thought. "That's right."
Fugaku smiled. "Then it's simple. We stick to Plan Three."
Plan Three was straightforward: have Rin swallow the genjutsu pill, trigger a Three-Tails rampage, and throw Mist Village into chaos. The whole point was to tie Mist's hands. Konoha's strategists had predicted that if Mist occupied Yuexi Peninsula, they might not push north. Then, after Konoha's battle with the Wind-Lightning Alliance, whoever won would be battered and weak, leaving Mist as the dominant power.
Konoha couldn't let that happen. So they set up a plan to ignite Mist's backyard—if trouble erupted on the home island, Mist would have no choice but to retreat, restoring balance to the ninja world.
The theory was sound, but Sand's gambit was bigger—they wiped out Mist's main force in a single night. On the Tsūtatsu front, the fighting was brutal and even. Konoha's resources were running dry, and now the Nine-Tails was missing. Without a Tailed Beast as "guardian," Konoha was on the brink.
Seeing Koharu and Inoichi deep in thought, Fugaku pressed on:
"Our only advantage is that Mist Village still doesn't know their fleet was crushed. While the defeated army hasn't returned, there aren't many ninja left in the village. If the Three-Tails rampages now and causes chaos, that's our chance to snatch victory from the fire."
Just as he finished, a loud bell rang outside.
"What's that?" Koharu asked.
"That's Mist's alarm bell—means all ninja are to assemble," Inoichi explained.
A glimmer of hope flashed across Koharu's face. "Could something have gone wrong in Mist Village?"
Urgent footsteps sounded outside the guesthouse—soft, but impossible to miss for ninja of Koharu and Fugaku's caliber.
"We're surrounded," Fugaku said.
Koharu's brows knitted. She thought for a moment, then spoke quickly:
"Fugaku, go find out what's happening in Mist Village. Your identity's still secret—don't get caught."
"Understood."
Fugaku leapt out the window, vanishing into the night.
"This could be our chance," Koharu murmured.
A knock came at the door.
Koharu shot Inoichi a meaningful look.
He understood, moving to open the door.
Standing outside was a masked ninja with a sword on his back—Mist ANBU, no doubt.
"Is something wrong?" Inoichi asked, as Koharu turned to the door.
"Honored envoys, there's been a disturbance in the village. To avoid any trouble, Captain Ao has assigned us to protect the Konoha delegation."
"A disturbance? What kind?" Koharu pressed.
"I'm not sure. My orders are only to keep you safe. Until I get new instructions, please don't leave this building."
The ANBU's tone was polite but firm.
"How dare you! Are you locking us up?" Inoichi snapped.
"I hope you'll cooperate," the ANBU replied coolly.
"You—" Inoichi started, but Koharu stepped forward, cutting him off.
"If it's for our safety, then we'll cooperate. We just can't leave this building, correct?"
"Correct."
The ANBU nodded.
"We have two other ninja with us. May I call them here? More people
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