"Report!"
"Come in."
The door opened, and the shinobi from the administrative division stepped inside.
The moment he felt the eyes of Konoha's senior officials fall on him, Sarutobi Takuya immediately felt the pressure in the room rise.
"Takuya, what is it?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked from the main seat, noticing that the one delivering the report was a member of his own clan.
"There is a message from Iwagakure," Takuya reported at once. "They intend to go to war against Hanzō of the Land of Rain, and they wish to open talks with Lord Hokage. Tsuchikage Ōnoki wants to meet with you in person and propose an alliance with Konoha."
Talks? An alliance? And the Kage of both villages would need to meet face-to-face?
The moment those words were spoken, the expressions around the conference room shifted.
Only Kizaru remained as relaxed as ever, still wearing that faint, easy smile.
"I understand. You may go."
"Yes, sir!"
After dismissing Takuya, Hiruzen turned slightly and looked at Kizaru, the appreciation in his eyes deepening.
Exceptional talent. Overwhelming strength. Even at only ten years old, he already thought several steps ahead like a true Hokage.
And now he had once again proven that he possessed remarkable strategic foresight.
This student of his truly was the perfect candidate to inherit the Will of Fire.
…If only he talked a little less.
Letting his gaze move away from Kizaru, Hiruzen looked toward Homura Mitokado, whose expression had grown serious.
"Hiruzen," Homura said in a low voice, "Ōnoki is the one requesting talks. There may be a trap behind this. We need to proceed carefully."
The scars left behind by the First Shinobi World War had never truly faded. The lesson Konoha had learned from peace negotiations with Kumogakure back then was far too bitter to forget.
Hiruzen nodded.
After a brief moment of thought, he made his decision.
"Since Iwagakure has proposed an alliance, we will accept the request for talks."
As he spoke, he turned toward Homura and Koharu.
"Homura, Koharu, you two will handle the preparations for the meeting. I'll have Shinnosuke assist you."
"Understood."
"Very well."
The two advisers answered together.
Once that was settled, Hiruzen turned back toward Kizaru.
"Kizaru, during the meeting, you will accompany me as the Hokage's bodyguard."
Kizaru, who had been sitting with his legs crossed and watching the whole thing like it was someone else's problem, blinked.
He clearly hadn't expected the matter to end up landing on his head.
The smile on his face faded just a little.
Touching the side of his head, he said in his usual lazy tone, "How troublesome… Why not take Shinnosuke senpai with you instead?"
The people in the room looked at him differently at those words.
Did this kid even understand what it meant for a young shinobi to stand beside the Hokage as his personal guard during a formal meeting between Kage?
That was no simple assignment.
It was, in effect, the Third Hokage openly signaling that he intended to train Kizaru as a future successor.
Several people in the room immediately looked at Kizaru with renewed attention.
"Kizaru," Hiruzen said, looking at him seriously, "I'm entrusting my safety to you."
Kizaru, of course, understood the deeper meaning behind those words.
And that was exactly why he wanted to avoid it.
A position like Hokage came with endless work, crushing pressure, and all kinds of danger. He had absolutely no interest in that kind of life.
If he really had the freedom to choose, then something like an adviser's seat would be far more appealing.
High status. Plenty of authority. Easy money. Much less risk.
For Kizaru, that was one of the few truly ideal jobs in the shinobi world.
After all, if one looked across the great villages throughout history, the people who seemed to survive the longest were usually the elders.
"What a difficult request, sensei," Kizaru muttered with a helpless sigh.
"Hahaha! The capable always carry the heavier burden, Kizaru," Hiruzen replied with a cheerful laugh when he saw his student finally give in.
As the teacher and student spoke, the Uchiha clan head sitting among the attendees silently furrowed his brow.
The Uchiha had coveted the position of Hokage for years, yet it had always remained beyond their reach.
And now, when the path toward that future was being laid out right in front of him, Kizaru—this brat—was actually trying to push it away.
How infuriatingly hypocritical.
Thinking that, the Uchiha clan head looked at Kizaru with eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and annoyance.
But no matter how dissatisfied he felt, the matter had already been decided.
By Hiruzen's order, Kizaru would attend the talks as the Hokage's personal guard.
After that, the focus of the meeting returned to the Land of Rain.
Now that Iwagakure had reached out with a proposal for an alliance, the next question was whether Amegakure had supporters backing it from the shadows. And beyond that, how Konoha should respond to Hanzō's declaration of war became the central subject of discussion.
After nearly an hour of debate, Hiruzen gathered the opinions of everyone present and finalized Konoha's course of action.
First, Konoha would not yield in the face of Hanzō of the Salamander's declaration of war. Troops would be deployed, and the village would prepare for open conflict.
Second, Danzō would remain fully responsible for matters related to the war in the Land of Rain.
Third, because the fighting at the front was not expected to escalate beyond control for the time being, Kizaru would not be sent there yet. His three senior disciples would instead serve as the primary combat force in this battle.
At this point, after the battle with Kumogakure, Kizaru had officially become one of Konoha's greatest trump cards—one of the village's strongest pillars alongside the Third Hokage.
Everyone present had fully acknowledged his strength.
After all, the Third Raikage was still wreaking havoc in the Land of Fire, and the Two-Tails was now being kept under the Shimura clan's watch.
Once the meeting finally ended, Kizaru—who had grown sleepy halfway through listening to it all—casually said his farewell to Hiruzen and left the Hokage Building at an unhurried pace.
He glanced up at the sky and saw that it was still fairly early.
Touching his stomach, he decided to head toward the tea district and buy some sweets and snacks for afternoon tea.
"Kizaru! Kizaru!"
As he walked down the street, someone called out to him from behind.
Kizaru stopped and turned around.
There, not far behind him, Senju Nawaki was waving his left hand in the air with a bright grin on his face.
The Senju really were built differently.
Seeing Nawaki already out of bed and moving around after only a little over a month, Kizaru couldn't help muttering that in his heart.
Dressed in a loose hospital gown, with his right arm bandaged and hanging from his neck in a sling, Nawaki hurried over while smiling as if nothing in the world could bother him.
It was Kizaru who had seriously injured him badly enough to send him to the hospital.
And yet, when Nawaki looked at him now, there wasn't the slightest trace of resentment on his face.
Only that same open, straightforward smile.
When Kizaru walked over to him, the older boy—despite being around three years older—somehow still gave off the impression of a kid standing in front of him.
"I really am sorry about what happened before, Nawaki," Kizaru said apologetically once he stopped in front of him.
"Hahaha! Don't worry about it, Kizaru!" Nawaki said with a grin, scratching the back of his head with his good hand. "It just means I wasn't strong enough. I'm the one who got hurt during the match because I couldn't keep up."
Seeing the bright, unguarded smile on Nawaki's face, Kizaru smiled too.
People with a personality like this really were hard to dislike.
"How's the injury?" Kizaru asked.
"It's almost healed. Another week and they'll remove the stitches," Nawaki said as he lifted his injured arm a little.
"That's good to hear."
As he said that, Kizaru suddenly remembered Tsunade's request.
…How exactly was he supposed to keep this kid in the hospital after another week?
"Kizaru," Nawaki said, lowering his voice a little, "my sister didn't cause you any trouble, did she? I tried talking to her a bunch of times, but she got angry every single time."
Then, before Kizaru could answer, Nawaki hurriedly added, "If Sis has been bothering you, then I'll apologize on her behalf! I'm really sorry!"
As soon as he said that, Nawaki started to bow.
Kizaru reached out and stopped him at once.
And in that moment, he suddenly felt like he might not be able to go through with Tsunade's request after all.
"Tsunade-senpai didn't blame me," Kizaru said. "So don't apologize."
"That's a relief!" Nawaki let out a breath and patted his chest, visibly relaxing after hearing that answer.
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