As I read the documents on my desk while Junko organized everything into different categories—these same documents, already approved—a sudden knock came on the door.
"Come in."
At that moment, Riku appeared, opening the office door; it was clear from his expression that this was urgent.
"A personal Anbu of the Hokage has arrived, saying you need to go to the Hokage's office immediately," he informed me.
"Is it time already?" I asked myself and the others in the room. "Well, while I'm gone, it's the usual: only Junko can enter this office."
"Understood," they both said at the same time.
With that, I grabbed a coat that the Senju clan wore as a symbol of their clan and went to the office.
...
After a long walk, I arrived at the Hokage Tower. When I entered, they were already waiting for me and asking me to go straight to the main office.
"I'm here, Uncle Hiruzen. What's the problem? You only need my help and no one else?" I said as I entered the office.
At that moment, everyone in the room turned to look at me. I already knew who was there, which is why I said those words.
The one who looked at me with the most disapproval was the current leader of the Hyuga clan, but I completely ignored him. Whether he liked me or not was none of my business.
The old monkey could only sigh and hit his forehead in resignation.
"We're dealing with a serious matter, Miyu-san. I expect you to come as quickly as possible next time," the Hokage tried to scold me.
"I had a pebble in my shoe, which was slowing me down," I explained, but the truth was I'd bought something to eat along the way and had to walk so I wouldn't arrive with the food in my mouth.
"Didn't it occur to you to take the pebble out of your shoe?" I said listlessly, Nara Shikaku.
"Woof, woof... woof," I said, stopping him and making an X with my arms. "Don't exaggerate."
"Troublesome women," I heard him whisper, but I ignored him since that's just the nature of the Nara.
"Kukuku, the same old Miyu," I heard a pedophile in the room say, but since trash is meant to be ignored, I didn't pay him any mind.
At that moment, I sensed a huge amount of chakra.
I looked in that direction, seeing that it was the old monkey making his presence known, and if I'm honest, I think it's one of the largest amounts of chakra I've ever felt. Not to brag, but I have a lot more.
"Stop playing games; this is serious." Hearing the Hokage's words, I decided to behave myself since I could see from his expressions and his voice that this was no longer a game.
And looking at the people here, I think I know what's going on.
"Not long ago, we received information about an attack on the Takigakure border by Iwa; despite having our forces here, they attacked anyway."
Those words made the situation clear. Iwa had just attacked Konoha, or at least that's what it seemed at first glance, since not everything is as it appears.
"This information arrived not long ago, and the moment other villages find out, they can begin to mobilize in the same way."
The Hokage couldn't finish his sentence as someone entered the office in an erratic and weary manner. Looking at the ninja who had just entered, I saw that he was none other than a chūnin.
"Hokage-sama, information has just arrived that Suna has also moved, launching a massive invasion of the Land of Rivers," said the chūnin, whom I could identify as being part of the Cryptanalysis Squad.
This made the room tense; it wasn't a surprise that they had done it; what was surprising was how quickly they acted.
Something doesn't add up. This smells fishy, and by fishy, I mean it smells like Danzo.
The one who stands to benefit most from all this and who benefits Hiruzen most from being blamed for the entire war is Danzo, so he can become the new Hokage.
The problem is that this is just my hypothesis for now; I need to gather this information later, but it's pretty clear that Danzo is involved in this one way or another. Whether it's by having his ninjas impersonate Konoha ninjas and attack Iwa or vice versa or simply by selling or even giving away Konoha information.
If this is the case, then I have another weapon against Danzo, since I only need to get a Root ninja and remove the seal on their mouth to extract the information.
There, when Danzo goes berserk, I can leak all this to the daimyo and have him execute him. If I show it to the old monkey, maybe he'll pardon him, or if I show it to Minato, they'll manipulate him into saying nothing. I can just imagine the words they'll say to him to keep him quiet.
"You must hide the evidence to prevent a civil war in Konoha; do it for the village and, above all, for the Will of Fire."
I feel like those are the exact words Hiruzen would say; maybe I'm missing something, but the essence is there.
"Hmm," the old monkey said thoughtfully. "That doesn't change my plans. Every commander, except Tsunade, who's being temporarily replaced by Miyu, will go to the borders of the nautical countries to strengthen our borders and begin taking action to effectively prevent the major villages in each of these countries from being invaded."
"The commanders for each border aren't changing, are they? Not to mention that one of them still needs to assign its main commander." Shikaku asked, waiting for confirmation and to see if the Hokage had made any changes to these positions.
"That's right, the commanders already assigned aren't changing; they're still the same: Orochimaru in the Land of Hot Springs; Tsunade, who can't go immediately because she's the director of Konoha's hospital, in the Land of Rivers; and you in Takigakure." The old monkey clarified. "Finally, I've decided that Hiashi Hyuga will be the commander in charge of the Land of Waves. The Sharingan is very effective against head-on combat or swordsmen, but there aren't many of them; moreover, they're at a disadvantage against fire elements. Hence, my decision to appoint the Hyuga clan leader as commander. I hope you understand, Fugaku."
He said this last part while looking at the Uchiha clan leader.
"I understand perfectly, Hokage-sama."
Hiashi's voice said this, but he was a little tense and clenched his fists tightly, not to mention that Hiashi was smiling somewhat mockingly, as if this proved that the Hyuga were superior to the Uchiha.
Am I witnessing the beginning of what will later become the attempted coup and massacre of the Uchiha clan?
The question here is whether I'll intervene, because, if I'm honest, I like Kosuke a lot, and he's always been my training ground and source of new techniques. If I could, I would prevent her death and perhaps Mikoto's as well; the rest can go underground.
"I'll give you today to prepare and say goodbye to your families so you can leave tomorrow, since Suna and Iwa are already on the move and Kumo and Kiri could follow at any moment. You may leave; I'll be busy managing the ninja who will go to the front and those who will remain in the village as future replacements."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
With that, everyone left except me, who stayed in the office.
"What do you need, Miyu-san? We're a bit busy right now."
I stared at him for a few seconds.
"I just wanted to tell you not to let yourself be swayed by those mangy rats they call former teammates; don't let them manipulate you."
"Don't worry about that, Miyu-san; just focus on your own affairs, since you'll have to replace your mother as commander for the first few days."
With that, the old monkey got back to his paperwork.
Hearing that, I narrowed my eyes. Clearly, he didn't take my words seriously.
I quickly stood in front of his desk and slammed both hands on it, sending the papers flying.
"Sarutobi, you know perfectly well the things I dislike, and you've disappointed me on several occasions, but I've always ignored it since it's not something that affects me or matters to me. But with this war, it's different. I know that at some point, troops will be lacking, and if you did it in the previous war, then you can do it again in this one. So think carefully about the actions you're going to take if you don't want me to start manipulating things and interfering, because you won't like how things turn out for you."
With that said, I left the office, slamming the door behind me.
As I left the Hokage Tower, I remembered the old monkey's expression, going from surprise to horror and then to uncertainty.
"A place where children don't have to fight and can live in peace? What a joke. Hashirama must be turning in his grave."
...
The next day, as soon as dawn broke, I immediately departed for the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. That's where our current forces and the base of our ninja troops are temporarily stationed.
In the absence of a commander for the war, the message was sent that they should only protect the border and strategic points until I arrived.
When I reached the village gates, I submitted a request for permission to leave immediately due to political and military matters.
The gatekeeper, who wasn't one of the eternal chūnin—they're still at the academy—gave me a report on sixteen people who, over the course of the following days, would be sent out in platoons to support the unit at the border.
He hasn't yet informed the civilians about the village's situation; he's probably preparing what to say to portray himself as a savior and persuade the fools to join the final ninja forces and die.
The brats don't know either, and since I'll probably be away from the village for months, I asked Ruki to replace me as squad leader for the time being until I return or the war ends, one of the two, since they'll have to keep doing missions even if I'm not around, and I've already taught them how to train independently.
Heh, it won't do him much good since he doesn't have much time left in his term, and when Minato becomes Hokage—since I have little interest in the position—I'll be his right-hand man so those four prehistoric lords aren't manipulating him.
Minato isn't foolish or stupid, but when Hiruzen speaks, he has the ability to make characters' IQs drop.
Look at the road from here to the Land of Rivers; it's about a day's journey, and if I don't rest, I could arrive well into the night.
This is my chance to leave my mark on this world.
My plan is to create an image of myself that would make anyone want to challenge me and to humiliate Suna in various ways so that they fear, respect, and worship me.
I will win the hearts of the ninjas, and then I will have the lawless zone as secret subordinates, control of the civilians and the commercial zone, and finally, the support of the village's ninjas.
This is my scenario. I don't intend to overshadow Minato too much, because if he doesn't achieve these goals, Orochimaru will become Hokage; well, it's a very low possibility, but not zero.
With this, I'll have control of Konoha without being Hokage. I'll have the village in the palm of my hand, and with that, I can do whatever I want, basically, since I'll have Konoha as the base for my plan to dominate the world.
Now, all joking aside, I can continue my expansion into other villages and thus achieve something better than a false peace.
World peace? That thing doesn't exist, not now, not ever. I seek something else.
A real world where children aren't kidnapped, exploited, or used as weapons by people. The true path to a better world.