Chapter 32: Born with a Hokage's Mindset
Early June, Konoha Year 46. Along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, the hired bounty hunters were being dismantled completely.
In under ten days, every supply point had been destroyed. Konoha ninja cut down their enemies without hesitation, once again making the absolute strength of a Great Nation impossible to ignore.
Four in the morning. A forward post closer to the Land of Grass was erased without a sound.
Deep in the dense forest, Hyuga Shuichi held his Byakugan steady, watching the white chakra blade that had extended through the chest of an enemy ninja. He spoke with genuine admiration.
"That's some fast kenjutsu."
"No matter how many times I see it, the concentration of chakra is still something else."
Furukawa Osamu finished the pursuit and drew out his short blade. The edge was clean, not a trace of blood on it. It was the New Year's gift Tsunade had given him, a weapon forged from chakra metal.
The black-market ninja crumpled to the ground with a look of disbelief twisted across his face. He'd run so far, and still been caught. And taken down by a kid, of all things.
"It's just sharper than a regular blade."
"This mission wouldn't have gone half as smoothly without the Byakugan. You'll definitely be recognized when you return to the clan, Shuichi-kun."
Furukawa Osamu, in his grey flak jacket, ignored the blood spreading slowly across the ground and slid the short blade back onto his back without any hurry. Killing had become something close to instinct.
As a branch family member, Hyuga Shuichi was not quite as mild and cheerful as he appeared on the surface. He heard Furukawa Osamu's words and answered with a dry, self-deprecating edge.
"Being recognized just means being a bird in a better cage."
"It might not be the right thing to say, but my end is still a death on some battlefield. Nothing about that changes."
Furukawa Osamu was never good at knowing what to say in moments like this. He shook his head, unable to find the words, and shifted the subject.
"We're almost at the rally point. The last few targets, don't get careless."
"You have to stay alive before anything else can change. I'll leave the pursuit work to you."
The Byakugan settled back to its resting state, the fierceness gone from it. Hyuga Shuichi smiled quietly, watching Furukawa Osamu finish the cremation work, and murmured to himself.
"Stay alive, huh."
Inside the post, the remaining ninja had already been dealt with by Nara Shikaku and Kakashi. The two groups met with a nod, then immediately pushed toward the next target.
The night's work had only just begun.
* * *
Evening. As the three squads arrived one after another, Yamanaka Inoichi stood with a furrowed brow, working through something in his head. Akimichi Choza spoke up beside him to ease the tension.
"Jiraiya-sama's group most likely ran into a minor complication. There's still time."
Nara Shikaku had already settled against a tree trunk the way he always did, the energy thoroughly gone out of him. He rubbed his chin and muttered under his breath.
"Ninja tools, food supplies. What we found at the supply points makes it clear the other side has already started mobilizing for war."
"Jiraiya-sama's target this time is pinning down the status of Stone's weapon. And we still have to pass through the Land of Grass. What a troublesome mission."
Nobody said it out loud, but the mention of Stone's jinchuriki put everyone on edge.
The village's spy had gone completely dark after sending back their report. Yamanaka Inoichi had been anxious for days, worried Stone might have laid traps in advance.
"Inoichi-taichou! Jiraiya-sama's group is nearly here!"
Furukawa Osamu called out after sensing them through a hand seal. Yamanaka Inoichi gave a nod and let himself breathe, a smile finding its way to his face.
"Good work, Osamu."
Inoichi made a point of offering guidance every time they worked together. He had a high opinion of Furukawa Osamu's abilities, sensing talent that held up against even the Yamanaka clan.
Once the direction was confirmed, Hyuga Shuichi activated his Byakugan for a second sweep. When he gave the all-clear, the tension across the group finally broke.
A moment later, the squad of four arrived, and Namikaze Minato immediately apologized with a sheepish look.
"We ran into a Stone squad out of nowhere. It took a little longer than expected. Sorry for the wait."
Jiraiya laughed it off. Seeing no one hurt, he moved straight to the next order of business.
"Looks like everyone pulled through. Good work all around. From here we split into two groups. Inoichi, Choza, I'll need you to go into Grass village and gather intelligence."
"Shikaku, your squad handles the extraction of our embedded contact."
"If anything goes wrong, I'll cover the rear."
Nara Shikaku accepted the scroll, read it through, and scratched the back of his head. Something told him this mission wasn't going to go as smoothly as planned.
Minato's two teammates, a long-haired young man with soft features and a stocky dark-skinned boy with short hair, both dropped onto the ground the moment the assignments were handed out and started venting.
"Stone has lost their mind. Hiring this many black-market bounty hunters?"
"And Grass, too. What a disgrace. Siding with them now, when they were right there protesting Cloud's brutal tactics alongside us during the last Chunin Exams."
Soon everyone was weighing in, swapping thoughts back and forth. On the front lines like this, they all knew war was only a matter of time.
"The core issue is still the commissions. We have compressed the market, there's no denying that. But for the village to develop quickly, it had to be done."
Namikaze Minato's expression turned serious when the conversation turned to the village. He noticed everyone looking at him and kept going.
"The Hokage's approach is the right one. We can't go around invading the way Cloud does."
"The reason more and more trade guilds are choosing Konoha is because we offer the best environment to do business. Peace is what draws in people, and people are the real wealth."
Commerce and population meant tax revenue, and the Land of Fire's growing income was what kept Konoha strong.
Minato was young, but his words earned a quiet nod from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. The three of them were firm supporters of the Third Hokage and had little patience for the hawkish faction's thinking.
On the outer edge of the fire's light, Hyuga Shuichi murmured with something like admiration in his voice.
"Minato-kun is a remarkable ninja. A lot of people back in the village think so too."
Kakashi listened for a moment, then lost interest. How to govern a village was not something he had any desire to spend energy on.
"Not everyone likes him. And you can see how things are standing right now. Ninja tools and food go first. War follows right behind."
"..."
Kakashi was unusually talkative. He actually leaned toward the offensive option himself, but Yamanaka Inoichi had already made his position clear, so he kept quiet most of the time.
Jiraiya moved over and joined the three of them, also in a grey flak jacket, without a trace of the Sannin's usual bearing about him. He sat down beside them and grinned.
"Well? Minato's a ninja born with a Hokage's way of thinking, isn't he?"
"He really is impressive. From what I've seen, most ninja don't bother thinking about any of this."
Furukawa Osamu smiled and offered the honest assessment. Jiraiya laughed, clearly pleased, and continued making the case for his student.
"Kakashi, I know what you're thinking. You should take a page from Osamu's book and think for yourself. Remember, a ninja is someone who endures everything."
"Going to war just because an enemy nation provoked you only breeds more suffering and more hatred."
"Great nations shouldn't play that role. Once you've gone through this infiltration, you'll understand what I mean."
Jiraiya wore a rare gravity in that moment, and there was a certain weight to it. But then the Great Toad Sage changed direction almost immediately.
"Kakashi, so what did you think of my latest manuscript?"
Furukawa Osamu glanced over at Jiraiya and caught the grin spreading across his face. Then he glanced at Kakashi, whose gaze had gone deliberately evasive. He could only groan inwardly.
He wouldn't be letting a kid read that, would he...
***
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