Inside the dungeon, Yashamaru's hands were bound tightly behind his back, his eyes covered by a thick blindfold. His lips were swollen and bruised — clearly, he'd been beaten.
Outside, one of the Internal Affairs shinobi responsible for capturing him grumbled irritably to his comrade,
"Don't let that soft skin fool you — he looks like a delicate girl, but when he fights, he's brutal. I almost lost my arm because of him."
His teammate glanced at the blood-soaked bandage wrapped around the man's arm and chuckled, shaking his head.
"Guess you've only got yourself to blame for not training harder. If the captain heard that, you'd be running drills for a week."
Several corridors away, Yashamaru, of course, couldn't hear their conversation. He was seething with regret — he never thought that a single mistake on his part would result in all of his sister's children falling into Konoha's hands.
Years ago, after realizing that Sunagakure would target Temari and the others, Yashamaru had fled with the three little ones to the Land of Fire.
Not long after, Konoha began its expansion project. Knowing that infiltrating Konoha at that time wouldn't raise suspicion, Yashamaru bought an identity from a black market broker and joined the village under a fake name.
The first time he heard that the "Research Exchange Program" would take place near his area, he grew anxious and locked the children inside the house.
But as time went on, the program repeated again and again, and his identity was never exposed. Eventually, Yashamaru relaxed, convinced that Konoha had never seen through his disguise. He began allowing the kids to move around within a small area.
Yet, the moment the children stepped out, Internal Affairs shinobi swooped in and captured him.
Damn it, Konoha… was this a trap all along?
Yashamaru thought in despair.
But reality was a little different from what he imagined.
His fake identity truly had been flawless — the fact that several rounds of investigation failed to expose him proved that.
Unfortunately, this time the Research Exchange list happened to include Karin. Fearing that the consultant might try to abduct his daughter, Minato personally reviewed the local resident registry — and that's when he discovered Yashamaru.
At the moment, Minato stood before the three children, feeling helpless.
They weren't criminals or monsters — they were only labeled as rogue ninja because of the Fourth Kazekage's actions.
But what to do with them now — that was Minato's real dilemma.
Yashamaru alone was a rogue ninja. Execution or imprisonment would both be justifiable.
But these three children?
Sensing Minato's gaze, Temari gripped her two younger brothers' hands tightly, silently praying that Konoha wouldn't decide to kill them on the spot.
...
Though he didn't like Takeshi's attitude, Ōnoki eventually agreed to the formation of the Shinobi Alliance and even accepted the role of Supreme Commander.
After the Kage finished their discussions — without any unexpected incidents — they parted ways, each preparing to inform their respective daimyō.
"This is unacceptable!"
The first to object during the remote conference was the Daimyō of the Land of Lightning.
"If we allow these shinobi to unite, they'll overthrow all of us!"
The Daimyō of the Land of Wind, who still hadn't recovered from his last humiliation at Rasa's hands, waved his arms angrily.
"That's right! I agree with the Daimyō of Lightning. Those ninja can't be trusted!"
The Daimyō of the Land of Earth, on the other hand, had a better relationship with Iwagakure and tried to reason.
"But those so-called Ōtsutsuki and Uchiha Madara are terrifying. If the ninja don't unite, they'll be crushed one by one."
"That's still their problem."
"But if all the ninja fall, won't we be next?"
Just as their pointless arguing was draining the last bit of battery power from the communication device, the Daimyō of the Land of Fire — his face half hidden behind a folding fan — finally spoke.
"Whether we approve or not… will it change how the shinobi act?"
His words silenced them all.
He was right — even if they disapproved, would the ninja still obey their will?
"In that case," said the Daimyō of Fire, "the Land of Fire approves the formation of the Alliance."
Seeing that no one else spoke, he cast the first vote of approval.
"Sigh… I just hope this isn't the beginning of our downfall. The Land of Water agrees."
"...Damn it. The Land of Lightning agrees."
"The Land of Wind agrees."
And so, with the daimyōs' approval, the Shinobi Alliance was officially born.
...
The road back to the village, unsurprisingly, was filled with ambushes and traps.
But to Takeshi, those were just minor distractions.
Between assassination attempts and bickering, Takeshi finally returned to his beloved Konoha.
"The Daimyō of Fire knows how to read the room," said Nara Shikaku as soon as Takeshi entered the village, updating him on everything that had happened in his absence.
That included the incident where two of the village advisors had gathered a few elders to meddle in the Jinchūriki issue.
"The Jinchūriki, huh…" Takeshi muttered, acknowledging the daimyo's political sense while turning his thoughts to the next host candidate.
By bloodline, Uzumaki Karin was the perfect choice to become the host of the Seven-Tails.
She had Uzumaki blood and could also learn Kushina's sealing techniques.
And the Uzumaki clan's fūinjutsu was something invaluable.
"Right, Internal Affairs also captured the Sunagakure defector Yashamaru — and the Fourth Kazekage's three children."
Shikaku's next words immediately caught Takeshi's attention.
"The Kazekage's three kids? Temari, Kankurō, and Gaara?"
Seeing the Hokage name them so easily, Shikaku was mildly surprised.
...
Konoha didn't mistreat the three children.
But they didn't have it easy either.
For convenience and supervision, Aburame Tatsuma had them relocated to the Uchiha compound — to be placed under Fugaku's care.
This arrangement caused quite a disturbance in Fugaku's peaceful retirement life.
At the very least, his daily evening walks were now out of the question.
Fortunately, because of the advisors' constant scheming, Kushina had grown increasingly anxious and rarely left the house. As a result, Mikoto stayed home more often, taking care of the three kids herself.
When Takeshi arrived at Fugaku's home, Mikoto was cheerfully tidying up dishes in the kitchen while Temari stood beside her, helping with small chores.
"Oh, Fifth-sama! Please, come in."
Fugaku's slightly awkward voice came from the living room. On the tatami floor, Kankurō was fiddling with his puppet toys when he quickly tugged at Gaara's sleeve, urging his quiet brother to stand. The two of them rose from the tatami at once.
Temari curiously peeked out from the kitchen, eager to see what the Fifth Hokage looked like.
Then they saw two people enter — a boy and a girl, roughly the same height.
The girl, however, looked quite displeased with Fugaku, greeting him with nothing but a sharp "Hmph."
And just like that, Fugaku's long-dormant stomach condition threatened to relapse.
"That short guy is the Hokage?" Kankurō thought, inwardly skeptical.
As he studied Takeshi's refined face, he realized the Hokage monument's stone carving hardly did him justice.
Takeshi looked over the three kids carefully before his gaze finally rested on Temari.
Making her the host of the Seven-Tails… that might not be a bad idea.
Her Wind Release abilities, second only to Danzō and Naruto in the original records, would likely synchronize well with the beast.
Still… he wasn't sure what kind of feelings these three harbored toward Konoha.
"So beautiful…"
Temari, unaware she'd just been added to the Jinchūriki candidate list, found herself comparing her looks to the Hokage's — just like any girl her age would.
Maybe it was because she'd grown up in Sunagakure's dry, sandy climate, but she always felt her skin was too rough. Compared to the Hokage's flawless complexion, she felt hopelessly plain.
And her skin tone was noticeably darker, too.
"Mikoto-san, I'll have to trouble you to look after them for a few more days."
After confirming that these were indeed Rasa's children, Takeshi left Fugaku's home, trailed by the still-irritated Uchiha Hikari.
"Where to next?" Hikari asked coldly, stomach grumbling. Her irritation had only worsened since stepping into the Uchiha compound.
"Let's eat first. There's a good dango shop nearby."
Takeshi could read her mood instantly. If he didn't get her food soon, she'd definitely make a scene — and though he wasn't afraid of her, he didn't exactly want the villagers to witness their esteemed Hokage being chased down by a teenage girl.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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