Kurenai's Persuasion

Life in the patrol unit was simple and unadorned, with the same routines repeated every day.

"Lord Yūske, Lord Sakumo wants to see you."

After several days had passed like this, Hiko suddenly came to Team Seven's meeting point today to find Yūske.

Yūske looked at Hiko in confusion, then pointed at his teammates behind him and asked, "Should they wait for me to return before carrying out the mission, or how should things be arranged?"

Hiko answered, "Don't worry, Lord Yūske. I'll take over today's mission!"

"Alright, then I'll head back first. Shiho, Hiroya, Maki—you three will follow Hiko's command today." Yūske immediately turned and instructed the three of them.

"Yes!" None of the three had any objections. After all, Hiko was a Jonin and Lord Sakumo's guard, so his strength was naturally trustworthy.

After arranging everything, Yūske left swiftly.

"Lord Yūske is becoming more and more mature and steady," Hiko could not help remarking.

The three of them nodded as well, expressing their agreement.

Inside the commander's tent.

"Lord Sakumo!"

Led by a guard, Yūske entered Hatake Sakumo's tent. At that moment, several Jonin were also inside, including Kurenai Yūhi and Uchiha En.

After not seeing them for several days, Yūske happily waved to greet them.

"Yūske, Kurenai and the others are actually the ones looking for you today. Hiko has already taken over your duties, so help me see Kurenai off properly. Kurenai, sorry—I still need to hold a camp meeting later."

Hatake Sakumo pointed at the mountain of documents piled on the table and sighed helplessly.

"It's fine. You're the commander. Every matter in the camp, big or small, needs you to handle it."

Kurenai Yūhi gave a cold snort. Hatake Sakumo helplessly waved them away, signaling that they could leave.

After leaving the tent, Kurenai Yūhi led Yūske toward the temporary tent of their camp. Kurenai Yūhi remained silent along the way, and Yūske could tell that he had argued with Hatake Sakumo.

Before they even entered the tent, Yūske smelled the aroma of food. At the entrance, he found that three tables of dishes had already been laid out. The Chunin from the escort squad, along with Might Duy, were already seated. When they saw the Jonin from their own squad arrive, everyone rose and saluted.

"Sit down, everyone. Yūske is here, so we can eat now." Only then did Kurenai Yūhi smile as he spoke to everyone.

"Has everyone recovered from their injuries?" As soon as he sat down, Yūske impatiently asked Kurenai Yūhi.

"Mm. Other than a few people whose injuries are too severe for them to fight yet, everyone else is fine. Otherwise, we wouldn't have delayed our return until now."

As Kurenai Yūhi answered, he stood and served food to everyone. Only after he had put food on every person's plate did he sit back down.

"You're leaving today?" Yūske asked in surprise, then turned to Uchiha En and the others. "Are all of you going back together?"

After seeing the others nod, Kurenai Yūhi put down his chopsticks and said to Yūske, "Yūske, come back to the village with us. You've seen it yourself—there's simply no place for you in the Combat Unit. Rather than serving as the captain of a patrol squad here, it would be better to return to the village with us and carry out missions."

After saying this, Kurenai Yūhi tightly gripped Yūske's shoulders and tried to persuade him with a solemn expression.

Yūske was very surprised, but he still firmly shook his head and refused Kurenai Yūhi's proposal.

"Captain, Lord Sakumo arranged things this way because he wants to transfer me into the Combat Unit after I've adapted to the battlefield. Besides, the patrol squad is very important too. It concerns the camp's safety, after all. I don't think there's anything inappropriate about it," Yūske explained earnestly.

"Bullshit! You believe that? I don't!" Kurenai Yūhi's temper flared instantly, and his voice unconsciously rose.

"He's clearly targeting you on purpose! With your strength, you'd definitely be a core member of the Combat Unit. And Tsunade is here too, yet he still dared to openly assign you to a patrol squad."

Kurenai Yūhi silently muttered to himself that it must have been that damned Luzhen's suggestion. But he did not dare say it aloud, or he would blow the whole matter sky-high.

"Captain, did you argue with Lord Sakumo?" After hearing Kurenai Yūhi's words, Yūske immediately voiced his earlier suspicion.

"That's right!" Kurenai Yūhi answered without hesitation.

Yūske suddenly stood and gave Kurenai Yūhi a deep bow. In Konoha, everyone knew that Kurenai Yūhi and Hatake Mōsō had been on the same team for many years. They had carried out countless missions together and could be said to share a bond where they would take a blade for one another.

Today, Kurenai Yūhi had actually argued with Hatake Sakumo for his sake, something unprecedented. Yūske was deeply moved.

"Rather than returning to the village for a peaceful life of training, I'd rather temper myself on the battlefield now. Even if I don't get much chance to participate before the war ends, I won't regret it."

Though he made it sound noble, Yūske was thinking that if they really intended to keep him in the patrol squad, he would have to coax Tsunade into speaking clearly with his teacher and see whether she could make Hatake Sakumo compromise and let him enter the Combat Unit. After all, he had come here to improve his strength.

"Who told you that going back to the village means peacefully training?" Seeing Yūske being so stubborn, Kurenai Yūhi's anger grew even stronger.

"Do you think the ninja staying in the village have nothing to do? This is wartime. There aren't many ninja left behind in the village, and a huge number of missions have already piled up at the Hokage Building.

There are six of us. You and I can each lead a group, and completing S-rank missions would be no problem. Isn't that better than being excluded here?"

After saying that, Kurenai Yūhi stared fixedly at Yūske and took a deep breath.

"If, in a few years or a decade from now, you want to run for Fourth Hokage, then everyone here will become your solid foundation!"

Everyone gasped when they heard that.

"Fourth Hokage!"