Hiruzen Sarutobi trembled with anger.
He just stood there, staring at Shikaku Nara in shock, a murderous gleam flashing constantly in his eyes.
Clearly.
He already had the intent to kill!
But, regrettably.
Across from him Shikaku Nara's face remained calm.
Yes.
Having long since prepared for everything, he didn't want to provoke Hizashi — but he was by no means afraid.
If cooperation was possible, so much the better.
But if he were truly forced into a corner, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio could always, if needed, go straight to the Uchiha.
A Pig-Deer-Butterfly with a fallback plan really wasn't scared of that.
Shikaku Nara understood that.
Hizashi, of course, understood too. So after staring at Shikaku Nara for a long time, his tone finally softened again.
"So that's it, huh."
"Well, you can't blame you, Shikaku — we were the ones being careless."
"If that Nara fellow is that strong, then from now on our opponent needs to be studied carefully."
"How much do you know about him? Can you tell me?"
Hizashi's voice was gentle.
It was almost as if his earlier rage had been an illusion.
On the other side, Shikaku Nara acted as if nothing had happened; relaxed and composed, he began to explain Nara Kōji.
Aside from the truth about the split of the Ino-Shika-Cho, he told the whole truth.
He went into particular detail about Nara Kōji's real strength.
Yes.
Now the two of them were truly enemies.
Shikaku intended to go all-out to eliminate Nara Kōji, and he also knew Kōji's side would think the same.
Being on opposing factions, to really secure their positions both sides had to act.
Hizashi listened carefully.
But the more he heard, the more confused he became!
From his point of view, the Ino-Shika-Cho split had been orchestrated by their own side.
Yet hearing Shikaku's explanation now, it didn't sound like that at all.
All the hidden details were being laid out — this was clearly a plan aimed at taking Nara Kōji down.
Could he have been wrong?
Was this split of the Ino-Shika-Cho really not a conspiracy after all?
His mind went blank.
He grew bewildered and decided he would investigate thoroughly later.
After a long while, once the two of them had exhausted everything about Nara Kōji, Hizashi couldn't help speaking again.
"Shikaku, be honest."
"Is there really no way with Nohara Rin?"
"The Three-Tails is truly important — for the Five Kage Summit, we can't get around this!"
Yes.
If there had been a choice, he wouldn't have wanted to do things this way.
Minato Namikaze was one of his crucial pieces.
Now, over such a small matter, the rift between them had become too wide, and Minato was his only real option.
He really had a headache.
If only the Rin situation could be handled, he wouldn't have had to take this route.
There truly was no other option!
"For the time being, there really isn't any." Shikaku shrugged. "Please understand, Lord Hokage."
"You know the two we're up against this time are Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Kai. The forces behind Uchiha Kai are huge."
"If anything is mishandled, it could be catastrophic."
"Not to mention those people have Nara Kōji advising them behind the scenes."
"Lord Hokage, you must be cautious!"
"We need to scheme and discuss this carefully."
"Hurrying won't solve anything against these people."
Shikaku Nara wasn't lying.
If he had a way, he would have acted already.
The problem was: he simply had no options now!
Otherwise he wouldn't be slacking off, right?
Did he think slacking was a good move?
He almost had a complete fallout with Hizashi over it, didn't he?
Hizashi: "..."
His mouth twitched.
Looking at Shikaku's helpless expression, he was at a loss for words.
After a long, helpless sigh, he finally shook his head bitterly.
"Alright, I get it."
"Let's put this aside for now and discuss it properly later."
"The most important thing now is to kill the Third Raikage as soon as possible!"
"As for Nohara Rin…"
"We'll find a way to deal with it when we open the Five Kage Summit."
Shikaku Nara nodded.
In truth.
Although the split of the Ino-Shika-Cho had indeed been set in motion by them, his loyalty to Hizashi was absolute.
"Lord Hokage, don't worry." Shikaku said softly. "During this time I'll do my best to find a solution."
"I'll try to settle Nohara Rin. If that truly isn't possible, I'll try to negotiate with the Hidden Mist!"
"If that still doesn't work, then we stall."
"As long as we can drag it out until the peace treaty is signed, things will be far easier to manage afterward."
"Even if there's no other way, we can make Nohara Rin defect."
"If we negotiate with Minato and Uchiha Kai, I think they'd accept such a small request."
"What do you think?"
Yes.
Facing Minato Namikaze, Uchiha Kai and Nara Kōji together might still be overwhelming.
But bring the Hidden Mist into play and the possibilities explode.
With Shikaku's schemes and Konoha's absolute strength…
This was just the result of three wars and Hizashi being overly weak and obsessed with hollow peace.
If Hizashi had been firmer in normal times…
…then Shikaku could have crushed the Mist.
On the other side, Hizashi frowned as he considered Shikaku's words.
Before, he hadn't given these matters much thought — for him, forcing a civilian ninja to their death had been the easiest option.
If there's a simple fix, you're naturally lazy to consider anything else.
But now, upon serious thought, he realized Shikaku might be right.
After mulling it over he nodded slowly.
"That's a possible plan."
"In the meantime, I'll leave it to you, Shikaku, to think it through properly."
"Prepare backup plans for both Nohara Rin and for the Mist."
Hizashi spoke earnestly.
Evidently, repeated failures to handle Nohara Rin had given him a splitting headache.
So since there was another option now, his stance softened.
Shikaku had no objections.
Once business was finished, the two of them talked over some village matters.
About two hours later.
Shikaku Nara walked out of the Hokage's office and, upon returning to his own, collapsed into his chair.
He was exhausted.
But thinking of that damned Kōji, he couldn't help grinding his teeth.
"Tired—absolutely exhausted!"
"Nara Kōji, you bastard — you've caused me a lot of trouble."
"When things settle down, I won't let you off!"
"You bastard!" The door —
To read the full FanFic, head over to Patreon:
patreon.com/WhiteDevil7554