Konoha, Hokage's Office.
A sharp, decisive shout rejected Koharu Utatane's suggestion.
It wasn't Hiruzen who spoke, but Homura Mitokado.
His face was twisted with a hint of ferocity, completely unlike the slight kindness he had shown before taking over Root.
"Why? The village doesn't have any more personnel it can transfer. If we don't send Taiichi, what are we supposed to do about Jiraiya's request for help?"
This really was a difficult problem. Even Homura had no solution. They couldn't ask the major clans to send more shinobi again.
If the Hokage dared to issue such an order, the clans below would dare to unite and rebel.
Hiruzen watched the two of them arguing and felt another headache coming on.
At this moment, he missed Danzo terribly. Even though that guy always liked to go against him and often acted on his own, at least he could see the bigger picture.
Was the key issue right now whether Taiichi should go to the front lines or not? Shouldn't they be considering why Sand was fighting Konoha so desperately?
Watching the two of them look like they were about to keep arguing, Hiruzen suddenly slammed his hand on the desk.
"Enough!"
The office fell into sudden silence. The only sound left was the faint whistling of wind outside.
Koharu and Homura both blinked and turned to look at Hiruzen, confusion and bewilderment in their old eyes.
"Whether Taiichi goes to the front lines or not is no longer important. What matters now is whether we should keep fighting Sand."
One sentence woke them up. The two advisors finally understood. Taiichi was powerful. If he went to the front lines, he could quickly stabilize the situation and even slowly defeat Sand.
But Konoha truly didn't have the energy right now to fight a prolonged war against Sand.
It had already been nearly two years since the official start of the war. If you counted the small-scale conflicts before the war officially began, some shinobi on various fronts had already been carrying out war missions for almost three years.
This wasn't sightseeing. It was constant, life-or-death fighting.
They had already received multiple reports from the front lines that a large portion of the shinobi had developed war-weariness.
That was a terrifying thing. If they weren't careful, or if the battle went badly, that war-weariness could turn into the spark for a total collapse. At that point, Konoha's losses would be something no one could take responsibility for.
"Sand is gambling. They're betting that they can outlast us."
The two advisors were old foxes after all. After thinking it through, they immediately understood Sand's intention.
"But… do we really have to gamble with them?" Homura asked the soul-searching question.
Sand had nothing left to lose. They were barefoot and unafraid of those wearing shoes. At worst, they could start over from scratch. If they won, they could gain even more war resources.
Konoha was the exact opposite. They had deep foundations. Even if they won, they wouldn't get much benefit from Sand. But if they lost, the damage wouldn't stop at just the Sand front.
Mist might come back for revenge. Rock and Cloud would only become even more aggressive.
They didn't even want to imagine the consequences.
Hiruzen took a hard puff from his pipe. This was already the third bowl of tobacco since the conversation started. The entire room was now filled with thick smoke.
He was genuinely conflicted about what to choose.
One option was to swallow their pride and negotiate peace, ending the war as quickly as possible.
The other was to fight on in an extremely dangerous situation that could cost them everything.
The puffing sounds continued. A fourth bowl of tobacco had already been lit. Koharu and Homura didn't say another word. They simply watched the Third Hokage in silence.
Soon, the fourth bowl was finished. Hiruzen slowly stood up, opened the balcony doors, and a cool breeze swept into the office, clearing away the thick smoke.
The Hokage stepped onto the balcony and looked down at the prosperous village of Konoha. He truly couldn't imagine what it would look like if one day this place was engulfed in war.
A sudden chill ran down his spine. That would be a complete failure of his teacher's teachings. How would he have the face to meet the First and Second Hokage in the afterlife?
He took one last deep look at the thriving village, then turned sharply. His gaze locked onto Koharu.
"Koharu, get ready. Go to Jiraiya's location and negotiate a ceasefire with Sand."
Taiichi had no idea what decision the village leadership had made. These days, his schedule was completely packed.
Taijutsu, meditation, kenjutsu, ninjutsu, Sage Art, research… Only because Taiichi had so many shadow clones could they each take on a portion of the work. Otherwise, even if he worked twenty-four hours a day without sleep, he still wouldn't be able to finish everything.
Whenever training left him exhausted, he would go to the orphanage to see Grandma Keiko and play with the children there to relax and clear his mind.
But right now, there weren't many familiar faces left in Konoha Village.
Yohei and Saki were on the northern front facing Cloud. Minato and Kakashi's team were on the western front fighting Rock. Nono was also on the western front, dedicating herself at the medical camp.
Even Asuma and Kurenai had reportedly been sent to the eastern front just two days before Taiichi returned—perfectly missing each other.
But the eastern front didn't need any more people right now. There wouldn't be any fighting there for the foreseeable future.
The Third Hokage's arrangement was clearly meant to give Asuma some experience while also not wanting him to take on too much risk. A father's deep concern was obvious.
After all, Asuma was now the Third's only son. He had once had an older brother, but he had died during the Second Great Ninja War.
Because of that, the Third's affection for Asuma—the late-born, only son—had naturally become even stronger.
Whether Asuma understood this unique kind of love from his father was another matter. In the original timeline, their relationship hadn't been great. It had even reached the point where Asuma ran away to the Daimyo's court and became a Guardian Ninja.
Taiichi shook his head and pushed those random thoughts aside. He strolled through Konoha's bustling streets, looking left and right. In his left hand was a skewer of tempura. In his right hand was a skewer of three-colored dango.
He walked five steps, took a bite. Before he had even finished walking down one street, he had already changed his snacks seven or eight times.
This was his lunch today. Eating his own cooking every day, no matter how delicious, eventually got boring. Today he was in a good mood, so he decided to go out to the market and treat himself.
He arrived at a takoyaki stall. Taiichi watched the owner skillfully flip the balls on the iron plate, add ingredients, and within moments, perfectly golden, crispy octopus balls were ready.
After drizzling on the sauce and sprinkling bonito flakes and nori powder, a delicious serving of takoyaki was complete.
Taiichi held the freshly made takoyaki in his left hand while using a bamboo skewer in his right to pick up a steaming hot ball and pop it into his mouth.
The crispy outer layer and the fresh, chewy octopus leg inside gave him a rare treat. Street food really did have its own special flavor when you ate it once in a while.
At that moment, several figures flashed across the rooftops on both sides of the street. Even though it was only for an instant, Taiichi clearly saw they were wearing ANBU uniforms.
Taiichi's brows furrowed slightly. Things really weren't peaceful. ANBU moving so openly in broad daylight… Had they caught the trail of a spy again?
Sure enough, after Taiichi had switched to three more different snacks, the sounds of intense fighting suddenly erupted not far ahead.
The street instantly erupted with noise.
The civilians in front surged toward Taiichi like a tidal wave, as if they would die if they were even a second too late.
That feeling wasn't wrong. The next moment, flames swept toward the crowd from ahead, swallowing up all the civilians who hadn't managed to run far enough.
Taiichi's eyebrows twitched. What the hell were ANBU doing? Not only were they trying to arrest someone in broad daylight, but they had also let the enemy release ninjutsu at civilians in such a crowded area. This was incompetence at its peak.
He quickly stuffed the remaining taiyaki into his mouth and pushed through the crowd, heading toward the scene of the battle.
Up ahead, a middle-aged man and woman were struggling to resist the combined assault of four ANBU. Outside their circle, another four ANBU members were patrolling the perimeter.
But their defensive focus didn't seem to be inward. Instead, they looked like they were keeping watch outward.
Taiichi's arrival quickly drew the attention of those four outer ANBU. Probably because Taiichi wasn't wearing a forehead protector and was dressed casually, they didn't immediately recognize who he was.
"Hey, you over there! We're capturing a spy. Stay back."
As the ANBU spoke, he threw a kunai. Based on its trajectory, if Taiichi didn't stop, the kunai would hit him right in the foot.
Just as Taiichi was about to explain, someone suddenly burst out from the crowd on the other side, taking advantage of the outer ANBU being distracted by Taiichi.
The man had blue hair. His strength was clearly higher than the middle-aged couple. In just one exchange, he took down the ANBU blocking his path.
He used Body Flicker to close in on the middle-aged man and, with nothing but his bare hands, forced back the two ANBU who had been fighting the man.
The two of them bumped into each other. From Taiichi's angle, he could clearly see the middle-aged man passing a small scroll the size of a finger to the blue-haired shinobi.
They separated immediately after contact. Before leaving, the blue-haired shinobi deliberately made a few strange hand signs toward Taiichi's direction. This was clearly an attempt to frame him and shift attention.
But surprisingly, someone actually believed it.
"Damn it! There really is an accomplice! Everyone, stop him!"
The horse-faced ANBU who had thrown the kunai at Taiichi earlier roared in anger. After shouting, he pulled out another kunai and charged straight at Taiichi.
This guy had clearly decided Taiichi was also part of the enemy group.
Taiichi rolled his eyes in speechless frustration. The quality of ANBU these days was really going downhill. They couldn't even tell when someone was deliberately creating confusion.
Facing the charging ANBU, Taiichi didn't have time to explain.
He used Body Flicker to rush forward.
One step landed exactly where the ANBU was about to step, restricting his movement.
His right hand deflected the kunai thrust at him, then smoothly slid in. An elbow strike landed squarely in the center of the ANBU's chest.
If Taiichi hadn't held back, that single strike would have been enough to shatter every bone in the man's chest and kill him on the spot.
Taiichi extended his arm, grabbed the ANBU by the collar as he was lifted off his feet, and yanked him back in front of him. He stared directly into the man's eyes and shouted.
"Idiot. I'm Matsushita Taiichi."
The horse-faced ANBU's hands, which had been forming seals under his sleeves, froze. After taking a closer look, his entire body went rigid.
Wasn't this the "White Death God," one of the "Twin Calamities of Konoha"—Matsushita Taiichi? How had he not recognized him just now?
Ordinary people might not recognize Taiichi because of his changed appearance, but they were ANBU. They had special training. Besides, Taiichi wasn't some unknown nobody. As one of the village's top experts, if they couldn't recognize him, that was a serious failure on their part.
Seeing the ANBU's reaction, Taiichi knew he had understood. He let go of the man's collar and gave him a light push to move him away.
By now, the blue-haired shinobi had already fled more than twenty meters away. He was about to disappear back into the crowd. If that happened, it would become much harder for ANBU to capture him.
Taiichi activated Body Flicker. The blue bricks beneath his feet cracked like a spiderweb from the force of his push-off.
In two flashes, he covered more than twenty meters. With the sound of tearing air, he appeared right behind the blue-haired shinobi in the space of a single breath.
He raised his fist. There was no fancy technique—just a simple forward lunge punch that struck the blue-haired shinobi squarely in the back.
The force exploded inside the man's body. Instead of sending him flying, it made him freeze in place.
"Puh!"
A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from the blue-haired shinobi's mouth, turning into a mist of blood that splattered across the faces and bodies of the civilians in front of him.
With just one punch, the blue-haired shinobi died on the spot. This not only shocked all the civilians present, but even caused the two spies to hesitate for a moment.
Fortunately, Konoha's ANBU weren't completely useless. They immediately seized the brief opening and launched a fierce attack. After suffering two minor injuries, they finally managed to take both spies down and capture them.
Although it sounded long when described, the entire process—from the moment Taiichi heard the commotion and walked over to the end of the capture—took less than five minutes.
The horse-faced ANBU ordered his subordinates to seal the spies' chakra and dislocate their limbs before leading his team toward Taiichi.
At that moment, several Uchiha shinobi from the Police Force appeared on the surrounding rooftops with a series of whooshes. At both ends of the street, squads of Uchiha Police Force members were also dispersing the crowd and closing in.
As expected, no matter where you were, the police were always the last to arrive. Even in the shinobi world, it was the same.
However, judging by the timing, the fact that the Police Force had been able to assemble personnel and complete the encirclement within five minutes was much better than ANBU's performance.
Taiichi looked at the ANBU around him, each of them looking like they were facing a mortal enemy—more tense than they had been when actually capturing the spies. It was as if the people in front of them weren't fellow Konoha shinobi, but enemies on the battlefield.
His expression immediately turned cold. What the hell was wrong with these ANBU? Hadn't the Third Hokage's relationship with the Uchiha improved recently? Why did they look even more hostile now?
The change in Taiichi's aura was immediately noticed by the ANBU beside him. But he didn't realize it was because of his own attitude. He simply assumed Taiichi was reacting normally to being surrounded by the Police Force.
This time, the Police Force was led by Uchiha Inaho, a newly promoted jonin from the younger generation of the Uchiha clan.
Taiichi didn't recognize him, but Inaho recognized Taiichi at a glance.
At least when it came to recognizing people, he did a much better job than the ANBU had earlier.
"Taiichi jonin, I'm Uchiha Inaho. I didn't expect to see you here!"
Upon seeing Taiichi, Uchiha Inaho immediately dropped his guarded posture. At the same time, he raised his hand and made several hand signs. The Uchiha on the surrounding rooftops immediately sheathed their weapons and jumped down.
Taiichi nodded in acknowledgment, then looked at the group of ANBU beside him, who were still acting like they were facing mortal enemies. He couldn't help but feel his face burn with embarrassment.
After all, ANBU was directly under the Hokage—just like him, they were part of the Hokage's direct faction. But comparing the two sides now made even Taiichi feel ashamed.
"You people… Is this how the Third Hokage taught you? To keep your weapons pointed at fellow Konoha shinobi at all times?"