I'm Just as Underhanded—I Just Don't Do It Myself

The Konoha Jonin Squad held a small meeting to discuss who should lead the support shinobi sent to reinforce the ninja army that had already departed.

"Jonin Kushina. Jonin Kushina!" The Jonin Squad Leader was a Sarutobi Clan Jonin. They had been meeting for quite some time, yet Kushina had kept her eyes closed the entire time.

The Jonin Squad Leader could no longer stand it.

If Kushina had closed her eyes for a minute, he could have understood it as deep thought. But she had kept them closed ever since a few minutes into the meeting, without saying a single word.

What the hell was she doing?

He had called her name several times now, and she had ignored him every time. Was that polite?

"Oh, Sarutobi Squad Leader. Is the meeting over?"

Kushina opened her eyes and looked at the Sarutobi Clan Jonin.

"Jonin Kushina, regarding this war, the Jonin Squad needs someone to lead the support shinobi, so we have decided to appoint you."

"I'm not going." Kushina stood up as soon as she finished speaking, intending to leave.

"Wait, Jonin Kushina. This war is different from the previous ones. We don't have enough shinobi to deal with Kumogakure's A-B Combination."

"That isn't my problem. The Hokage should be worrying about something like that."

"The Hokage has already proposed that you serve as the leader of the support shinobi, and the Jonin Squad has approved that proposal."

"So you mean I have to go whether I want to or not?"

Kushina's gaze turned dangerous.

"Jonin Kushina, this war has already begun. For the village's future, we must achieve victory, which means everyone must work together. Otherwise, even three-year-old children will have to go to the battlefield."

As soon as the Sarutobi Clan Jonin finished speaking, two golden chains shot out from Kushina's body.

Clang!

After a metallic clash, the Sarutobi Clan Jonin was bound by Kushina before he could resist for long.

"Tell the Third Hokage that if anything happens to Naruto, he will face the wrath of a perfect Jinchuriki!"

A layer of Tailed Beast Cloak appeared over Kushina's body at the same time.

Then Kushina withdrew the Tailed Beast Cloak and dragged the Sarutobi Clan Jonin out of the meeting room.

The dozen or so Jonin Squad members present remained silent. None of them voiced an opinion on the matter.

They had all seen the Sarutobi Clan Jonin threaten Kushina, and they had all seen Kushina explode in anger. This outcome was something the Sarutobi Clan Jonin had brought upon himself.

They were not idiots. There was no need to offend a perfect Jinchuriki at a time like this.

Hokage Office.

"Hiruzen! Kushina's issue needs to be dealt with. She was far too presumptuous! She openly attacked the Jonin Squad Leader in the Jonin Squad. The impact was terrible!" Danzō said unhappily.

"By the way, when did Kushina become a perfect Jinchuriki?" Mitokado Homura's attention was on the fact that Kushina had become a perfect Jinchuriki capable of freely controlling the Tailed Beast Cloak.

"I had my suspicions before. Now they have merely been confirmed." After exhaling a puff of smoke, Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "We cannot deal with Kushina, at least not before weakening the Uchiha Clan."

"By the way, Hiruzen, why did you agree to send so many Uchiha to the front lines this time? Aren't you afraid the Uchiha Clan will earn major merits?"

"Heh, how many jonin are in the force we deployed this time? Only the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan and the Uchiha Clan have a somewhat larger number of jonin. I have already informed Shikaku. He will use his judgment. Don't worry." Sarutobi Hiruzen tapped his pipe.

"That's true. Hiruzen, you sent fewer than twenty jonin this time. That is far too few jonin for an army of three thousand shinobi. Can they really stand against Kumogakure?" Utatane Koharu said.

"The Uchiha Clan actually has many Special Jonin. They simply have not been promoted to jonin, so the jonin-level combat strength of these three thousand shinobi is sufficient. We just have no good way to deal with Kumogakure's A-B Combination." Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed.

He did not want to face Raikage A. During the last Five Kage Summit, Raikage A's speed had made Sarutobi Hiruzen deeply uneasy. He was not worried about confronting him head-on.

But if Raikage A launched a surprise attack, he might die directly at Raikage A's hands.

It would be even better if the A-B Combination appeared on the main battlefield this time.

That way, the Uchiha Clan would confront them head-on.

Danzō also vaguely knew some intelligence from the front lines. He had learned that the Uchiha Clan was the foremost shinobi unit.

That bunch of Red-Eye Disease sufferers—how could they possibly beat Raikage A? Weren't they just delivering themselves to death? Hahaha!

"So, you had Kushina serve as the leader of the support shinobi?" Danzō looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen once more.

"If Kushina arrives a little later, it will happen to be when most of the Uchiha Clan have died. By then, Shikaku will work with Kushina to withdraw the other shinobi forces from the battlefield." Sarutobi Hiruzen was very direct, openly stating Kushina's purpose.

Kushina was not meant to fight on the front lines. She was meant to cover the retreat of the other shinobi forces who should not be sent to their deaths.

Gasp! *2

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were both somewhat astonished. Sarutobi Hiruzen's move of sending the Uchiha Clan to the front lines as cannon fodder, then having Kushina escort the shinobi forces off the battlefield, made them see him in a new light.

"Danzō, you will need to issue this order, so..." After Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke, his gaze shifted to Danzō.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's inner thoughts: Brat, you're just the white glove. What you can do, I can do too. I just can't dirty my own hands. Do you understand? Stop showing off your petty tricks in front of me, Danzō!

Danzō's inner thoughts: All these dirty ideas come from you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, but you hand every last one of them to me to carry out. Just as expected of you, Hiruzen!

Shimura Danzō turned and left. He needed the Root Ninja to get to work.

He could not stay beside that old scheming bastard, Sarutobi Hiruzen, any longer. Otherwise, his sense of presence would grow weaker and weaker!

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance as well, then both left the Hokage Office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was left alone, puffing on his pipe as smoke filled the Hokage Office.

Kushina angrily tossed the Sarutobi Clan Jonin back at the entrance to the Hokage Building, left behind a remark, and turned to leave.

"Stand guard here!"

When Sarutobi Hiruzen learned of this, he merely had someone send the Sarutobi Clan Jonin back to the hospital to recuperate. He did nothing else.

However, rumors had already begun to spread.

Nine-Tailed Enchantress Kushina had beaten one of the Hokage's clan ninja into the hospital, but out of consideration for her having raised the hero's son, Lord Hokage had chosen not to pursue the matter. Instead, he appointed her to lead a 1,500-strong ninja force carrying additional supplies to reinforce the front lines.

Upon hearing this, many Konoha civilians were so moved by the Third Hokage's magnanimity that they were beyond words.

Of course, those who knew the truth would not correct the rumors. Which ninja clan in Konoha did not know who had spread them? There was no need to offend him for Kushina's sake.

Uchiha Fugaku wanted to rein in the rumors, but the Military Police Force did not have a good reputation either. It was rather awkward.

Anju also heard the rumor within Naruto's Sealing Space.

However, Anju did not care about it in the slightest.

Konoha was a ninja military organization. Though it had civilians, those civilians were not essential to Konoha's survival!

As long as one could stand as the strongest among the ninja, what did it matter whether one was Hokage or not?

It was only a title.

Did Kushina need to care about such a reputation?

Why did she care about being called the Nine-Tailed Enchantress?

It was not because of the civilians, but merely because her friends would tease her about it.