Chapter 285: Think More!
The two quickly returned to Shikaku's temporary office.
The door closed behind them, temporarily shutting out the noise from outside.
However, to Shikamaru's surprise, Shikaku did not get straight to the point.
Instead, he walked behind his desk but didn't sit down. He looked at Shikamaru with a calm expression and suddenly spoke about a topic that seemed completely unrelated to the current urgent military affairs:
"The First Hokage, Lord Senju Hashirama, had the Second Hokage, Lord Senju Tobirama, as his Hokage Assistant."
Shikaku's voice was steady.
"During the Second Hokage's reign, the position of 'Hokage Assistant' was not formally established. He decided all important matters himself or directly assigned personnel to execute them."
Shikamaru was slightly taken aback, not understanding why his father was suddenly bringing this up, but he didn't interrupt. He just listened quietly, a faint premonition growing in his heart.
Shikaku continued, "The Third Hokage, Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi, had Utatane Koharu, Homura Mitokado, and... Danzo Shimura as his Hokage Assistants."
When mentioning those three names, Shikaku's tone remained flat, but Shikamaru could hear the complex implications behind them.
That was a microcosm of Hidden Leaf Village's former power core and represented the flaws of a certain model.
"The Fourth Hokage, Lord Minato Namikaze, was in power for too short a time."
Shikaku shook his head slightly.
"At that time, I briefly assisted in the Hokage Office with some paperwork and coordination work.
But strictly speaking, the Fourth never formally appointed a Hokage Assistant, and the actual control of Hidden Leaf Village didn't have time to smoothly transition from the Third's hands to his."
"The Fifth Hokage, Lord Jiraiya, was in power for even less time, but he still formally appointed Tsunade as the Hokage Assistant after she returned."
At this point, Shikaku paused, his gaze falling on Shikamaru's face, his tone becoming solemn and direct:
"Now, Uzumaki Naruto is the Sixth Hokage."
He leaned forward slightly and threw out the core question:
"Who do you think... his Hokage Assistant will be?
Or rather, will one even be established?"
Shikamaru pursed his lips and didn't answer immediately.
His father's words were clearly not without purpose.
Combining Naruto's current status, his style of doing things, and his father suddenly bringing this up at this critical juncture...
The people around Naruto quickly flashed through his mind.
Among the new generation, who could truly shoulder such a heavy responsibility in terms of strategy, the big picture, loyalty, and Naruto's level of trust?
The answer seemed to point in a direction he was reluctant to think too deeply about, yet could not avoid.
Shikamaru looked up into his father's deep eyes, his face showing a rare solemnity, and even a hint of uncertain trepidation:
"Dad, do you mean... I will become Naruto's Hokage Assistant?"
He directly asked the suspicion in his heart.
However, hearing his son's guess, Shikaku let out a slightly helpless dry laugh.
"Heh..."
He shook his head, "I actually think... Naruto is very likely to be like the Second Hokage and not formally establish the title of 'Hokage Assistant'."
Shikamaru's brow twitched.
He had a bad feeling.
Shikaku continued, his tone carrying a precise grasp of Naruto's character: "But he will still dump all the most core, most heavy, and most brain-burning planning and coordination work onto you, calling you to do the work."
Shikamaru: Just as I thought...
Seeing his son like this, Shikaku laughed.
"Alright, alright."
Shikaku restrained his smile, his tone softening with comfort.
"You know Naruto's personality; he's definitely not the type to mistreat his own people or just make them work without giving benefits.
He won't be stingy with trust or practical benefits."
Shikaku's voice lowered slightly, becoming more earnest, and his gaze turned serious:
"Besides, you two have seen with your own eyes the conduct of those three 'Hokage Assistants' during the Third Hokage's time."
His words carried the weight of history: "Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado—their conservatism, their stubbornness regarding existing rules, their hindrance of new things, and even the rigidity and degree of corruption that gradually emerged in the Late Stage...
Danzo Shimura even straight-up defected."
Though it was called defection, Shikaku actually leaned towards the idea that he had been silently executed.
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado had thrown all the dirty water onto Danzo.
Danzo Shimura's death likely had something to do with those two; if the Third had wanted to kill Danzo, he would have done it long ago.
Shikaku looked at his son: "What Naruto wants is someone who can get things done, not an advisor elder who might form a new power center or even hinder him in the future."
After listening, Shikamaru was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"True... that does sound like something Naruto would do."
"So, don't worry about titles or whatever."
Shikaku patted his son's shoulder and turned toward the desk.
"Get to work on that overtime. With that kid Naruto's 'do it as soon as I think of it' and vigorous nature, he might come looking for things from you very soon.
We need to prepare what we can before he asks."
Saying this, Shikaku found the Declaration of War he had previously written to the Grass Ninja Village from the stack of documents on the desk and handed it to Shikamaru.
"Just follow this framework and line of thought.
Finish this one first, then write to the ninja villages of the other Four Great Nations.
After the great nations, write to the small ones.
Amegakure, Takigakure, Yugakure... even small nations might play a key role in specific links; they cannot be ignored.
It's better to be prepared than to be caught off guard."
"Huh?"
Shikamaru's eyes widened involuntarily as he looked at his father, his voice rising slightly.
"This much trouble? The Four Great Nations plus so many small ones, a Declaration of War for each? How long will this take to write?"
He could already imagine the miserable scene of being accompanied by ink and scrolls for a long time to come because of the rush.
Shikaku looked at the familiar expression on his son's face—the one that said he was reluctant to deal with 'troublesome things' but had no choice but to accept them.
Thinking that for many years to come, this kid would likely be dumped in the Hokage Office by Naruto in this 'informal assistant' capacity, handling ten or a hundred times more troublesome things than this.
The smile on his face could no longer be suppressed; it was even brighter than before, carrying a hint of the relief a father feels seeing his child walk the 'Righteous Path' and a little bit of schadenfreude.
"It's fine, look on the bright side."
Shikaku tried to make his tone sound more comforting, though the smile lines at the corners of his eyes betrayed his true feelings.
"That kid Naruto is much more generous than the Third Hokage.
Trust me, he'll definitely give you plenty of overtime pay; he won't let you work for nothing."
He gave Shikamaru one last pat on the back, the force neither light nor heavy: "Begin, future 'Strongest Brain of Konoha'. Start with this draft for the Grass Ninja Village; this is the first lesson of your 'informal assistant' career."
Shikamaru looked down at the scroll in his hand, densely packed with words, then looked up at the still-bright sky outside the window. Finally, all his helpless sighs turned into a resigned mumble.
He pulled over a chair, sat down at the side of his father's large desk, spread out the scroll, and picked up a pen.
The older ginger is indeed spicier.
Just as Shikaku expected, Naruto came over in the evening to ask for the Declarations of War.
"Are the ones for the Land of Wind, Land of Earth, and Land of Rivers finished?"
Shikamaru's body jolted; his old man hadn't told him this.
He had started writing based on the map, beginning with the Land of Lightning, Land of Iron, and Land of Water!
Shikaku, however, very calmly took out the Declarations of War for those three nations.
Only after Naruto left did he earnestly educate Shikamaru.
"We are currently in the Grass Ninja Village, which means the most likely next steps for an attack are the Land of Earth, Land of Rain, Land of Rivers, and Land of Wind."
Saying this, Shikaku placed the Declaration of War written for the Land of Rain in front of his son.
"You, my boy, need to think more!"
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