When a shinobi first stepped onto the battlefield, their initial perception of time was usually best described by four words—
Every day felt like a year.
The constant presence of death created an unrelenting terror. Life was measured in seconds. Every moment was agony.
And there was no escaping that fear.
So shinobi endured it.
Over time, endurance dulled fear into numbness.
The sense of time shifted as well—
from days crawling by to years flashing past.
A single year was actually very short. In numbness, even years repeating themselves no longer felt significant.
Kirigakure.
Iwagakure.
And then Kumogakure.
The early illusion that wars could be ended quickly, contrasted with the endlessly prolonged present, created a profound sense of dislocation among Konoha's shinobi.
This war, it seemed, would go on for a long time yet.
During this period, Minato—and by extension his entire squad—saw their movement patterns change significantly.
Compared to the earlier phase of intense frontline combat, Minato now had to travel far more frequently between Konoha and the front lines.
This wasn't because of Kushina.
Even if someone cut half of Minato's brain out and sold it for spare change, he still wouldn't become a love-struck idiot who neglected duty for romance.
As the designated future Fourth Hokage, Minato had many responsibilities in the village. There was much he still needed to learn, and he had already begun gradually taking over some of the Hokage's workload.
For example—
He had started exercising direct authority over the Hokage's ANBU.
In terms of strength, Minato was more than qualified to be Hokage. But raw combat ability alone never made a perfect Hokage. Power was merely the baseline requirement—arguably just the qualification to enter consideration.
Once someone actually became Hokage, strength became secondary.
After all, aside from the era of the First Hokage, the Hokage's primary duty was never to personally fight on the battlefield.
As Minato's guard, Hagoromo naturally traveled with him.
But returning to Konoha didn't mean rest.
If anything, it was more exhausting.
On the battlefield, enemies were simple—you fought shinobi wearing different forehead protectors.
In Konoha, even shinobi wearing the same headband might target Minato.
An enemy hidden among allies was far more troublesome for a bodyguard.
So far, no Konoha shinobi had openly moved against Minato—but covert surveillance and probing were things Hagoromo noticed frequently.
Some people clearly had plans.
This wasn't tragic.
It was simply reality.
In fact, there had been a period lasting several months where Hagoromo felt Minato was actually safer on the battlefield than inside Konoha itself.
Later, those problems vanished without a sound.
Based on Hagoromo's judgment, the Third Hokage had likely stepped in and dealt with it personally.
The choice of the Fourth Hokage was his prerogative.
No one else had the right to interfere.
One day in the future, the Third Hokage would personally sign Minato's appointment and send it to the Fire Daimyō for formal approval.
That would be that.
As for the possibility of the Daimyō refusing?
That simply wouldn't happen.
Put bluntly—
In the shinobi world, who had more power: political leaders, or military leaders?
The Daimyō still wanted to live a few more years.
And yet, even with such a clear transition ahead, there were still people making small, irritating moves behind the scenes.
Peaceful transfer of power was never easy.
Hagoromo, Akimichi Chōza, and Aburame Shibi were all trusted insiders, so Jiraiya didn't bother avoiding them while explaining.
"Danzō?" Minato asked, puzzled.
He knew Danzō coveted the Hokage position—but Danzō was of the same generation as the Third Hokage and inferior to him in every respect. He had long passed the age where becoming Hokage was realistic.
If anything, it would make more sense for the Third Hokage to serve until death.
So why was Danzō still stirring trouble now?
"Yes," Jiraiya confirmed.
"According to recent intelligence, Danzō has led a contingent of ANBU and Root operatives into the Land of Rain. Their numbers and combat strength are not insignificant."
"The Land of Rain?" Minato frowned.
"Amegakure has a treaty with us—on the condition that Konoha does not enter their territory again. Sending a large force there now…"
"At the final stage of the war, that could easily reignite conflict between Konoha and Amegakure."
Danzō shouldn't be someone who failed to understand the stakes.
So what was his objective?
"You don't need to worry about that," Jiraiya said.
"This move was coordinated with Hanzō of the Salamander. Konoha received formal permission to enter the Land of Rain."
Minato realized he'd misunderstood.
"Then what's the purpose?" he asked.
"What are they planning?"
"The stated goal is to mediate the conflict between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, using Amegakure as neutral ground—formally proposing peace talks to both sides."
"…That's Danzō's explanation."
Jiraiya's distrust was unmistakable.
"It sounds nice," Minato said slowly, not finishing his sentence.
Nice words didn't make them true.
After all, among those who knew him, Danzō's credibility ranked somewhere near the bottom.
The moment Amegakure, Hanzō, and Danzō were mentioned together, Hagoromo immediately understood.
He remembered a surveillance mission from years earlier—
when he had followed Danzō and ended up being led into Amegakure instead.
As for the so-called alliance—
Back then, Amegakure's condition for peace with Konoha had been that Konoha assist in suppressing internal rebel forces if necessary.
Danzō had agreed—without the Hokage's approval.
Now Danzō was leading a sizable force into the Land of Rain.
Was this connected?
Suppressing rebels?
The more Hagoromo thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
This hadn't been something Amegakure demanded immediately, and Hagoromo hadn't heard any recent intelligence about it—
But he had heard that Hanzō's perception of a new domestic faction in Amegakure had shifted. At one point, Hanzō no longer considered them rebels.
Had he changed his mind again?
Lost in thought, Hagoromo glanced up at Jiraiya—
And met his gaze.
They were probably thinking the same thing.
Still, this didn't seem directly harmful to Minato.
But then again—
Amegakure's "rebels" were Akatsuki.
Hanzō and Danzō teaming up against Nagato?
That sounded like a recipe for being slaughtered.
Easily.
Of course, Hagoromo didn't know the full web of causality, nor the extent of behind-the-scenes manipulation.
And even a reincarnator couldn't blindly trust power scaling.
Nagato at this point couldn't simply sweep everything aside.
Danzō aside, Amegakure was also underestimating Hanzō.
The title "Demigod" wasn't for show.
Still—
Regardless of what Hagoromo knew or suspected, it was already too late.
The intelligence he'd received was secondhand, delayed, passed along who knows how many times.
By now, Danzō was already in the Land of Rain.
And if he had intended to act—
He had certainly already made his move.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789