"Third Hokage."
Just as Hiruzen was deep in thought, the mostly recovered Todo spoke in a hoarse voice, "Is war… coming?"
Hiruzen's thoughts were interrupted. Hearing the question, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Yes," he replied. "At least… for now, that's how it looks."
"We… cough! Cough!"
Todo suddenly felt a heaviness in his chest. He opened his mouth to say something, but was seized by a violent coughing fit, speckling the white bedsheets with blood.
"Senpai, don't speak!"
Arata hurried forward, wiping the saliva and blood from his lips with a tissue and gently helping him lie back down.
Then Arata turned to the silent Hiruzen, anger appearing on his face as he spoke:
"Third Hokage-sama, Kumotagakure and Iwagakure have pushed us again and again, we can't hesitate anymore!"
Hiruzen froze for a moment, then lowered his head and gave a bitter smile.
"You're still young. You don't understand what war means…"
"No, I understand."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted. Hiruzen instinctively looked up, meeting a pair of clear eyes filled with determination.
"No one wants to face the cruelty of war. My parents both died on the battlefield."
The two locked eyes as Arata spoke in a steady voice:
"But we've already retreated again and again. There's nowhere left to retreat!"
Hiruzen's gaze paused slightly.
"Why…?"
"Because behind us is Konoha, our family and our friends!" Arata said firmly, word by word.
"Third Hokage-sama, please give the order. Even if I'm the only one, I'm willing to stand on the front lines."
"If they want war, then we'll give them war!"
The moment those words fell, the entire hospital room went silent.
Hiruzen, Koharu, and Todo all stared at Arata, their expressions frozen. Something stirred in their hearts.
They could hardly believe that such words came from a fifteen-year-old boy.
These adults, these veterans, felt, for a moment, that they weren't even as resolute as a child.
"…Arata."
After a long silence, Hiruzen seemed to reach a decision. His eyes glinted faintly as he looked at the boy.
"Would you dare say those words again… in front of everyone else?"
"I would," Arata nodded without hesitation.
Koharu, standing to the side, seemed to realize something.
"Hiruzen, you don't mean to…"
"Yes." Hiruzen nodded. "I'm taking this child to the Jonin meeting."
"Third Hokage, that's impossible!"
Todo's expression changed as he blurted out instinctively.
As someone from a ninja clan, he knew those people all too well.
Even within the Akimichi clan, loyal supporters of the Hokage, there were many who only cared about their own families and had no intention of risking their lives for Konoha as a whole.
To put it bluntly, this was the inherent flaw of ninja clans.
Their power didn't just come from wealth or military strength; it came from monopolizing knowledge: ninjutsu, secret techniques, and inherited teachings.
Ninjutsu was precious. Civilian-born ninja rarely had access to it. Only clans could preserve and pass it down internally.
Combined with their tight-knit trust and mutual support, clans formed powerful social networks. These networks secured their political influence and maintained a fragile balance with the Hokage.
But that was all.
"Senpai," Arata said calmly, "I'm going."
Seeing his calm yet resolute expression, Todo and Koharu felt a deep sense of emotion.
"Who would've thought," Todo murmured, "that the traditionally rigid Hyuga clan could produce someone willing to cast aside clan bias?"
Todo had once been a comrade of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and under his influence, his loyalty to Konoha surpassed that to his clan. Koharu, shaped by the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, was the same.
That's why they understood exactly what Arata's choice meant.
Hiruzen understood as well, and his gaze toward Arata grew even gentler.
"Then let's go."
He patted Arata's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.
"You're not alone."
He was still the Third Hokage. He hadn't fallen into complete decay yet.
Arata was right; if war was unavoidable, then hesitation was no longer an option.
He needed to act before Kumogakure did, frame them as the aggressor, rally the anger of Konoha's ninja and the Land of Fire's daimyo, and mobilize forces from the clans.
But extracting manpower from those clans wouldn't be easy.
Even as Hokage, he couldn't simply force them to send their members to die. That would only cause dissent, obedience in name, resistance in action.
However, if a young ninja from a clan like Hyuga Arata stepped forward voluntarily…
That would change everything.
But it also meant Arata would become the one standing in the spotlight.
It meant betraying not just the Hyuga clan, but potentially all ninja clans.
It meant cutting himself off from his lineage, abandoning the very resources and support his surname provided.
After all, before his death, Hizashi had entrusted Arata to Hiashi. The future resources available to him would have far surpassed those of an ordinary ninja.
This was not a decision one could make lightly.
That was why Hiruzen, Todo, and Koharu were so shocked and so moved.
But was Hyuga Arata truly that selfless?
Click.
Hiruzen pushed open the meeting room door.
The light cast his shadow onto the wall, along with another figure behind him.
Under the bright lights, countless shadows flickered along both sides of the walls, old and young, cautious and ambitious.
The moment Hiruzen stepped in, everyone present stood up in unison.
"Third Hokage."
Voices rang out together, some anxious, some solemn, some confused.
Though not everyone knew the reason for this meeting, those with intelligence networks had already guessed.
So this unified greeting felt less like respect…and more like pressure.
A silent, collective pressure directed at Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage.