Senju Haruto took a moment to mentally piece together the current timeline.
Uchiha Itachi's very first mission after joining the Akatsuki had been alongside Jūzō to capture the Three-Tails' jinchūriki — the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
In other words, at this point in time, Yagura had not yet fallen under the control of Uchiha Obito's Sharingan.
Kirigakure had not yet entered its period of isolation.
"So the Village of the Bloody Mist hasn't come to be yet…" Haruto's gaze sharpened as he tried to recall the finer details.
And the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
Due to various complications, Itachi and Jūzō had failed to capture Yagura — even leaving behind the Kubikiribōchō, the Executioner's Blade.
It was only after that incident that Yagura was placed under Obito's control, ushering in the Bloody Mist era.
That was also when Zabuza acquired the Executioner's Blade and attempted to assassinate Yagura, hoping to end the village's bloody reign.
This lined up perfectly with the Kirigakure timeline.
"So right now, Yagura isn't under Obito's influence at all… He's acting on his own judgment — and has formed an alliance with the Raikage?"
The realization clicked into place.
At this point in history, Yagura wasn't a puppet. As Mizukage, he would naturally want a better life for the people of his village.
And as an island nation, Kirigakure would naturally covet the fertile lands of the Land of Fire.
If the Raikage's offer was tempting enough, it wasn't strange that Yagura would agree.
As for Sunagakure…
They were always short on water and resources.
Seeing such an opportunity, they wouldn't simply let it pass them by.
Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, on the other hand, was still quiet — no intelligence had leaked from their side yet.
But if Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure all bit into Konoha at once, Iwagakure likely wouldn't ignore such a rare opening.
"So, what's your plan?" Haruto asked directly, turning the question back on Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"While the conflict with Kumogakure can't be avoided, we should make every effort to prevent a Fourth Great Ninja War," Hiruzen replied.
"It's only been a little over ten years since the last one — and that war brought the village deep pain and left us economically crippled."
Hiruzen sighed heavily. He had expected this to be a dispute between only two villages… not a situation that could change so drastically in such a short time.
"At the very least, we can't allow Sunagakure to make any moves right now," Hiruzen said firmly.
If Sunagakure stayed out of it, Iwagakure would most likely remain uninvolved.
In other words, Hiruzen wanted someone to meet with the Kazekage personally and secure an unshakable alliance.
"Haruto, who do you think would be the right person for the job?"
But before Haruto could answer, the familiar voice rang out in his mind once more:
Host, please proceed to Sunagakure to complete the sign-in mission. Reward will be granted upon completion.
"So it's here again…" Haruto couldn't help but smile inwardly.
He had already been planning to go to Sunagakure himself — to intimidate the Kazekage and make sure they didn't get any foolish ideas about moving against Konoha.
Even without this "sign-in system" assigning him the task, he would have gone. Now it was simply killing two birds with one stone.
In fact, Haruto already knew Hiruzen's so-called question was just formality.
If the Hokage had someone else in mind, he wouldn't have called Haruto all the way back from Mount Myōboku for this.
"If possible, Haruto, I'd like to entrust this mission to you," Hiruzen said, meeting Haruto's eyes.
After a moment of silence, he exhaled and continued:
"Since long ago, Konoha and Sunagakure have been close allies. They need our resources, and we need their gold dust.
Even if one day I'm no longer here, I hope our two villages will remain at peace."
Haruto nodded — he understood exactly what Hiruzen meant.
The truth was simple: Sunagakure's land was barren. Aside from gold dust, they had nothing Konoha truly needed.
Even if Konoha conquered them, the territory would be of little value.
From the very founding of the village, Sunagakure had been both poor and cursed with a harsh environment.
Haruto remembered clearly that Senju Hashirama had originally wanted to distribute tailed beasts to maintain balance between villages.
But Senju Tobirama had insisted otherwise — if they wanted a tailed beast, they'd have to pay.
The stronger the beast, the higher the price.
Sunagakure had ended up with the weakest of all — the One-Tail. That alone spoke volumes about their poverty.
And Haruto had always thought…
When the Five Great Nations sat down to sign the peace treaty, was it really because of the tailed beasts?
Honestly, each tailed beast wasn't even as strong as a village's Kage.
The real reason for peace had been Hashirama's overwhelming strength.
Once Hashirama died, the First Great Ninja War broke out almost immediately — and even Tobirama lost his life during that period.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say…
Hashirama alone had kept the ninja world stable.
The tailed beasts were almost irrelevant.
But idle thoughts aside, Haruto quickly returned to the matter at hand.
"In any case, leave this to me," he told Hiruzen. "I'll make sure Sunagakure doesn't start entertaining dangerous ideas."
"In addition," Hiruzen said, "I'd like you to take them with you."
He clapped his hands, and the doors to the Hokage's office swung open.
Haruto turned to look — and saw two familiar ANBU step inside.
Kakashi and Yamato.
Although Haruto had placed them under a genjutsu before, it hadn't been of Mangekyō-level potency. After so much time, it was only natural they had broken free of it.
"No matter what, you once served as their captain," Hiruzen reminded him.
The Hokage was assigning them in the hope they could assist Haruto — and in Kakashi's case, perhaps help pull him out of the darkness he'd been living in.
That darkness had its roots in the deaths of his comrades: Obito, Rin… even Namikaze Minato.
Every person Kakashi had once cherished had died before his eyes.
But Haruto…
Hiruzen believed Haruto was the one ninja strong enough that Kakashi would never have to watch him fall.
As for Yamato — his skills in greenery and construction were unmatched.
During the recent Nine-Tails rampage, the village's swift repairs had been largely thanks to Yamato's Wood Release.
Haruto glanced between Kakashi and Yamato, then nodded.
"In that case, let's make preparations and head out as soon as possible."