Tch, why is he personally coming here?
Casually tossing the scroll over to Nara Shikashige, Takuya rubbed his temples and cleared his throat, saying, "Senior, get ready. The Hokage should arrive by this afternoon."
The fact that the Third Hokage had personally co to negotiate with Sunagakure was sothing no one could have expected. Takuya figured they would just send one of the elders from the council and that would be it. Who knew that the head of Konoha would actually show up in person?
This is bad, really bad. If the Hokage himself shows up at the front lines, what am I supposed to do?
Kushina's face went pale. She knew the Third Hokage was very much a proponent of stability, soone who had always insisted that she should never leave the village. If it were soone else, Kushina could just ignore them and let Tsunade deal with the aftermath. But with the Hokage himself coming, Kushina felt completely paralyzed.
"Well, since the Hokage is coming, let's just prepare to receive him properly," Nara Shikashige sighed. Even though having the Hokage co personally might seem like an overreaction, since he was already on his way, there wasn't much else to do. All they could do was prepare to welco him.
Shikashige glanced at Kushina, who seed genuinely scared, and shook his head. She had talked big about running away, but now she was afraid the Hokage might use the opportunity to question her presence on the front lines. If things got awkward, the fallout wouldn't be good.
It was better to handle things peacefully at a crucial ti like this.
Sakumo Hatake, on the other hand, seed indifferent. Ever since the defamation incident, the Third Hokage's stature in his eyes had fallen. Nowadays, Sakumo focused on doing his job well, leaving everything else to others. It didn't matter to him who handled what.
"I'll have to leave this to you, senior. I'm planning to take Kushina for a walk, let her relax a bit," Takuya said.
Kushina wasn't in a good ntal state, and besides, there was still Pakura. The Hokage could very well use the chance to brainwash her and recruit her to his side, sothing Takuya wouldn't allow. Plus, Takuya wasn't exactly fond of the Hokage. Whatever negotiations he wanted to conduct, let him handle it himself. He could discuss it with Tsunade if needed.
"Uh..." Nara Shikashige was stunned for a mont before a wry smile appeared on his face. "Is this really okay?"
Shikashige wanted to object. As a mber of the Nara clan, he knew about so things that weren't made public. He knew that Takuya held a significant grudge against the Third Hokage, and with Kushina here, avoiding the Hokage seed like a reasonable decision.
It sounded nice to say,Let's go for a walk.But in truth, it was more like,I just don't want to deal with you.
"What's wrong with it?" Takuya didn't care. His relationship with the Third Hokage was strained to the point of almost breaking. "Besides, I received secret orders from Tsunade to bring Kushina and Pakura back as soon as possible, just in case anything unexpected happens. Now that the Hokage is here, I think I can leave the camp in capable hands and head back."
You expect to believe that?Shikashige felt speechless, and Sakumo couldn't help but laugh out loud. Secret orders? There were none, just a convenient excuse to prevent things from getting too awkward.
"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and pack your things so we can leave," Takuya nudged Kushina. She snapped out of her daze, her face brightening as she eagerly ran off to get her things. Pakura rolled her eyes and followed.
She was getting used to it—Konoha's internal struggles seed even worse than Sunagakure's. Pakura had heard rumors before, but she never imagined the reality would be this extre.
Pakura had decided to fully align herself with Konoha. After all, she'd already secured Rasa's survival. She felt she no longer owed anything to Sunagakure. Given the choice, why choose the worse path? Why not just live well?
With Takuya, once a decision was made, there was no hesitation. They packed up and left, even choosing a detour to avoid running into the Hokage on the way back to Konoha.
But while Takuya could just pat his back and leave, soone had to deal with the ss he left behind. Nara Shikashige instinctively looked at Sakumo Hatake, who promptly stood up and said, "I'll go keep an eye on Rasa, just to make sure nothing happens."
Don't expect to clean up your ss. You can handle it on your own.
Shikashige was left in a dilemma. Helping ant outright deceiving the Third Hokage, and although it was clear to everyone why they were doing this, lending a hand would make him complicit.
If he didn't help, he'd make a bigger enemy out of Takuya—and by extension, Kushina, Tsunade, Minato, and even Nawaki. They were all tightly connected. The Nara clan wouldn't survive alienating them.
Shikashige was already an old man, well past retirent age. He wouldn't have even been here if he hadn't been pulled back into service. But he was retired—his clan wasn't. If they crossed those who were destined to hold power, life for the Nara clan would beco significantly harder.
Not to ntion, once Tsunade took power, if she decided she couldn't trust the Nara clan, it would be a disaster.
"That damn brat has cornered," Shikashige muttered, finally slapping his hand down on the desk. Takuya had clearly anticipated all this when he had decided to leave, knowing Shikashige would have no choice but to help. Shikashige grumbled, but he knew what he had to do.
"Are we really just leaving like this? Won't Nara-senpai be held accountable?" Kushina looked worried as they walked. Leaving the camp so abruptly might cause issues for Nara Shikashige if the Hokage decided to pursue the matter. Tsunade could cover for her decision to co to the frontlines, but the Third Hokage was a stubborn man, firmly believing a Jinchuriki should never leave the village.
"He won't," Takuya reassured her, smiling as he ruffled her fiery red hair. "If Shikashige-senpai was really going to be in trouble, he wouldn't have let us leave so easily. Besides, upsetting us doesn't do him any good."
"As for the Hokage? What's he going to do? As long as we don't flaunt our presence in front of him, there won't be an issue. And if there is, well—we'll just show him the aftermath of a few more blown-up mountains. That old man doesn't have the backbone to stand up to it."
You two are unbelievable!Pakura gave Takuya a wide-eyed stare as if she were looking at a madman. Who would dare slander their own village leader like that? Not only was Takuya slandering him, but he was also practically telling Kushina to threaten the Hokage if it ca down to it.
In Sunagakure, soone acting like this would be torn to pieces. It seed Konoha's internal politics were far more entertaining than she'd ever imagined.
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