Chapter 93: Prelude to War
Masahiko had originally planned to return to Konoha to gather reinforcements for a brawl. Unexpectedly, as soon as he flew to the border of the Land of Fire, he sensed a large number of familiar chakra fluctuations.
"Right, those two brothers declared war. Konoha would definitely send people to defend... However, I didn't expect Tobirama to come personally. This saves me some trouble."
"Transformation Jutsu!" Masahiko reverted to the appearance he had before leaving Konoha and flew toward the Konoha camp. The Namikaze Minato arc was officially over.
"Who goes there? Come down!" A shout from the Konoha camp made Masahiko's face darken in mid-air.
He cursed inwardly: "Is my presence in Konoha that low? These people don't even recognize their Ancestor..."
He was about to respond when other voices rang out. "Don't stop him! That's Lord Masahiko!"
"Lord Masahiko? Isn't he dead?"
"Yeah, I heard that too."
"Who dares impersonate Lord Masahiko?"
"Wait... a ninja who can fly. It really is Lord Masahiko."
...
Masahiko's face grew darker with every word he heard. Taking a deep breath, he shouted, "Tobirama! Get out here!"
Ten minutes later.
Masahiko looked at the apologetic Tobirama and sighed helplessly.
"So, because I said I'd be traveling under an alias, you decided that declaring Uzumaki Masahiko dead was the best way to keep my cover... and it turned into this?"
Tobirama looked miserable. "I thought that since you were traveling incognito, even if you came back, you wouldn't use your original identity, because your age is really..."
Masahiko glared at him. "I'm only 81! Even if I live to be 100, people will just marvel at my longevity! Besides, there are no people of my generation left in Konoha. How many people even know my real age?"
Thinking of this, Masahiko remembered something else. "When I turned 80, no one remembered to throw me an 80th birthday party! It proves that unless I say it, neither you nor Mito remember how old I am, right?"
Tobirama froze, shook his head with a bitter smile, and apologized again.
"Enough." Masahiko interrupted, feeling a bit melancholy. "While I was out this time, it seems an disciple-in-law died... I came back to ask for your help in destroying the enemy!"
"Disciple-in-law?" Tobirama paused, then quickly realized what Masahiko meant.
"Your enemy? You couldn't take revenge with your own strength?"
Masahiko sighed. "Originally, it was just the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers. Then the Second Raikage showed up, plus dozens of Elite Jonin, hundreds of Average Jonin, Chunin, and Genin. It wouldn't be worth it if I accidentally died with them..."
"People from the Land of Rivers side? The Second Raikage came too?" Tobirama muttered. "It's a good thing you came back. Otherwise, things would have been tight on my end."
Masahiko frowned. "I wanted to ask earlier. Why do you only have these few stragglers here?"
As soon as Masahiko arrived, he sensed that there weren't many people in the camp, and based on chakra levels, there were basically no strong fighters.
Tobirama sighed. "Konoha has been peaceful for thirteen years. The clans have gotten used to comfort. For this war, none of them are willing to send their true elites. Some are okay, but others refuse to send a single person. For example, the Uchiha only sent Kagami." He paused and looked at Masahiko. "And the Uzumaki only sent your disciple, Kento. Luckily, Kento and the Anbu elites are here. Otherwise, we could have just surrendered..."
Masahiko's face darkened. Only Kento came from the Uzumaki clan. Should he be gratified or angry?
"This war came too suddenly. Once this is over, Konoha needs a thorough reorganization!" Tobirama declared.
Masahiko was silent for a moment and didn't stop him. "Kento is here? Where is he?"
"I sent him out to scout for intelligence... He should be back soon."
"He's back." Masahiko sensed the familiar chakra approaching rapidly.
"Lord Hokage!" Kento burst in. With his familiar personality, he froze for a moment, then whispered, "Sensei?"
"Sensei! I thought you..." Tears welled up in Kento's eyes, and he rushed over to hug Masahiko.
Masahiko's face was covered in black lines. Another one who thought he was dead... even though he had said goodbye to Kento before leaving.
After a long while, Kento calmed down, remembered his business, and turned to Tobirama.
"Lord Hokage! The Kumogakure ninjas in the Land of Rivers have withdrawn!"
"Withdrawn?" Masahiko's mouth twitched. What was going on?
Tobirama was also stunned. They declared war, then withdrew. What were they trying to do? Make Konoha attack them?
"Are you sure?" Tobirama asked doubtfully after a moment.
Just as he asked, a ninja reported from outside that a letter had arrived from Yugakure.
Tobirama took the letter, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. Masahiko took it and was equally confused.
The gist was: The previous declaration of war was the private act of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. After persuasion by the Second Raikage, Kumogakure has decided to withdraw and hopes to maintain good relations with Konoha.
"Kinkaku and Ginkaku were persuaded by the Second Raikage? What's going on?" Masahiko muttered inwardly, confused.
"Tobirama, let's pursue them! Just the two of us... let's bring Kento too... we can wipe them out!" Masahiko still intended to destroy Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
Tobirama was silent for a moment. Just as he was about to nod in agreement, an Anbu burst in.
"Lord Hokage! Urgent report from Konoha! Sunagakure forces from the Land of Wind have gathered and intend to march on the Land of Fire!"
"Understood!" Tobirama responded, and the Anbu vanished.
Tobirama looked at Masahiko. Masahiko frowned and nodded. "Let's go back first. Deal with the Land of Wind quickly, then the three of us will go straight to Kumogakure... We'll call Yiko too. I don't believe we can't kill those two brothers."
Things hadn't been going smoothly recently, and Masahiko was running out of patience...
If it were Hashirama, he definitely wouldn't have agreed to launch an offensive on Kumogakure. But Tobirama, after a slight hesitation, agreed. Clearly, Kumogakure's hit-and-run declaration of war had annoyed him greatly as well.
Leaving some elites to guard the post, Masahiko and Tobirama led the remaining troops back to Konoha.
Tobirama busied himself reorganizing Konoha's forces, while Masahiko waited anxiously for news from the Land of Wind.
Two days passed. There was still no news from the Land of Wind, but another piece of news arrived.
Kumogakure suddenly declared war on Iwagakure. The two villages engaged in battle in the Land of Rain. Upon hearing the news, Kirigakure also declared war on their old enemy, Iwagakure, preparing to pincer attack Iwa with Kumo.
Hearing this news, Masahiko was dumbfounded.
"No way... Is Kumogakure that stupid? I clearly used Lightning Release there. Did they really mistake me for the Second Tsuchikage, Mū? Mū's personality is very different from mine. That Second Raikage guy didn't seem like an idiot..." Masahiko still had some self-awareness.
At the same time, the envoy from Sunagakure arrived in Konoha...
"Sunagakure means that Konoha needs to cede 50% of the land in the western Land of Fire to the Land of Wind. Then you will form an alliance with us. Otherwise, we will join Kumogakure to besiege you?" Tobirama looked at the Sunagakure envoy before him with an expression somewhere between laughter and tears.
The envoy didn't understand Tobirama's expression, but he straightened his face and said forcefully, "That's right!"
Tobirama looked at the three Konoha Elders behind him, all of whom looked like they were suppressing laughter. He sighed and turned back to the envoy.
"Envoy, you must have had a hard journey. It took quite a while to get to the Land of Fire, didn't it?"
The envoy was stunned. "Not long. Only three days."
"Then please go rest at the Konoha Inn. We need to discuss the matter of ceding land." Tobirama said calmly.
The envoy smiled disdainfully, nodded in agreement, and was escorted to the inn by an Anbu.
"Nidaime, are we really going to cede land? Hasn't Kumogakure already withdrawn?" As soon as the envoy left, Uchiha Izuya asked in surprise.
Tobirama glanced at him but didn't speak. His inner monologue was probably: I just love this stupidly cute Uchiha Elder.
Beside him, the Hyuga Clan Head snorted with disdain. The two looked like they were about to fight again.
Seeing this, the Nara Clan Head quickly interrupted.
"Elder Uchiha, Lord Hokage likely means to stall the Land of Wind temporarily until we have verified the situation in the ninja world before responding."
"Is that so, Nidaime?" Uchiha Izuya looked at Tobirama.
Tobirama sighed. "That is correct. I have already sent people to verify the true situation in Kumogakure. Furthermore, recently, the small ninja villages around Konoha also seem restless."
The three Elders exchanged glances and fell silent.
Tobirama frowned, his expression becoming stern. "War is imminent! Do not harbor any illusions! Let us discuss the formation of the Konoha forces."
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