Half an hour later.
Minato left Fugaku's room, thoroughly satisfied.
In a flash, he returned to his own living room.
"How did it go? Smoothly?"
Kushina hurried over, anxiously pressing him for an answer.
She supported Minato in standing up to those old men. But now that he'd actually put the plan into motion, she couldn't help worrying.
"It should've gone smoothly. I'm not sure, but Lord Danzo and the others didn't suspect a thing. If anything, they seemed excited."
"Hmph! Of course that old guy's happy. He's probably dreamed of grabbing the Hokage's power for years."
Kushina muttered. She knew those old men's characters all too well.
"Did they start arguing?"
"They did."
"Minato, who do you think will take over your duties?"
"Probably the Third Hokage. It could also be Lord Danzo... The other two advisors are unlikely..."
"Teacher, what do you think?"
Minato looked at Natsu Yuu, who couldn't be sure who would take the position either.
"It doesn't matter who takes over your Hokage powers. What matters is that you can step away for a while under the pretext of caring for Kushina."
"That way, whatever happens in the village next, you won't have to take the blame."
"To wear the crown, you must bear its weight!"
"The Hokage Position isn't easy to hold. When Kumogakure starts another war, whoever is wielding the Hokage's authority will have to shoulder the responsibility."
That was Natsu Yuu's proposal.
Minato would use Kushina as a pretext to retreat for now, yielding the Hokage's power as a way to advance.
He'd let the Konoha F4 fight over it and face Kumogakure themselves.
Whether they were ordinary people or shinobi, they only learned to cherish something after losing it. That was just human nature.
Once they realized that without the Yellow Flash, anyone would dare step on Konoha, and that those old men were powerless to lead them to victory, they would truly miss the Fourth Hokage, Minato.
Then, at the critical moment, Minato could make a powerful return and turn the tide.
He would be able to take control of all Konoha with ease, sweeping the Konoha F4, relics of a bygone era, straight into the trash.
That was how to borrow a knife to kill.
Borrow Kumogakure's blade to get rid of those old men.
"Teacher, but will Kumogakure really attack?"
"They will. They're bound to."
Even though the story had changed and Minato and Kushina hadn't died on the Night of the Nine-Tails, if Minato stayed out of sight for long enough and a little rumor-spreading followed, the other great Ninja Villages would assume the Fourth Hokage had been seriously injured and could no longer wield the Hokage's authority.
They would inevitably start making moves.
The other villages might not attack right away.
But Kumogakure, the most aggressive and the village that looked down on Konoha the most, would probably be the first to make a move.
That was exactly what had happened along the original storyline.
As soon as Kumogakure heard that the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, had died, it immediately attacked Konoha.
That led to another three full years of limited war between Konoha and Kumogakure. Only then were they forced to stop fighting and sign an alliance agreement.
What's more, Konoha had been the one to beg for peace.
Not long after the alliance was formed, Kumogakure sent a leader into Konoha, intending to abduct three-year-old Hinata Hyuga. They treated the agreement as worthless and would have been more than happy if Konoha broke it and resumed the war.
That made it clear that Konoha had been at a disadvantage throughout those three years of limited war.
"I see!"
"Hahaha! Once those old men can't beat Kumogakure, everyone in the village will realize how formidable my husband is!"
Kushina exclaimed excitedly. She could hardly wait to see it happen.
"War always costs lives. If it weren't absolutely necessary..."
Minato shook his head with a sigh. If he had a choice, he truly didn't want to see another war.
"Then find a way to Unify the Ninja World. There won't be any wars after that."
Minato froze, then chuckled.
"Teacher, you're joking. I'm not capable of that! Protecting Konoha is already my greatest wish."
Natsu Yuu didn't press him.
He knew Minato was simply that kind of person, just like Hashirama. You couldn't force him.
All he had to do was guide him little by little. If the time came when the Ninja World could truly be unified, Minato would make the right choice himself.
"By the way, Teacher, how do you know Konoha won't be able to beat Kumogakure?"
Kushina suddenly asked, curious.
"Have you forgotten who killed the Second Hokage?"
"Do you think those old men have the guts to fight Kumogakure to the death?"
The Konoha F4 might have the courage to fight other villages.
But when it came to Kumogakure, they had none at all.
In this World 4, Tobirama Senju hadn't survived. Hiruzen and the others had lost their nerve the night Kumogakure struck.
How could they possibly have the courage to fight Kumogakure to the death now?
That was also why, after Konoha had finally begged Kumogakure to stop the war, Hiruzen had forced the Hyuga Clan to send Hizashi Hyuga to Kumogakure as a suicide offering rather than risk fighting on.
Would the Hyuga Clan still support the Konoha F4 then?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
"But what if..."
Kushina was still worried. What if Konoha really did defeat Kumogakure under those old men's rule?
Wouldn't that make Minato look like a fool?
How could he return to the Hokage Position then?
"There's no 'what if.' Besides Kumogakure, Madara and Obito will also make a move against Konoha."
"Huh?"
"Obito...?"
Minato sounded distressed. Obito was a painful subject he didn't want to talk about.
"Minato, Kushina, why do you think Obito attacked the two of you?"
"Or rather, why did he choose this moment to take the Nine-Tails?"
Faced with the question, Minato and Kushina both froze.
Then Minato ventured a guess.
"Was he forced to by Madara Uchiha?"
"What happened to Rin and Kakashi must have affected him deeply. Did Madara take advantage of that to manipulate him?"
It was clear Minato still didn't want to believe that his kind, shy student had truly become a monster who murdered his teacher and the teacher's wife.
He wanted to believe all the evil had come from Madara Uchiha.
"Madara was indeed responsible for Obito's transformation."
"But his decision to control the Nine-Tails and attack Konoha wasn't on Madara's orders."
Natsu Yuu knew that very well.
In fact, Madara had already died before Sasuke was born.
No one was giving Obito orders now, so why had he gone out of his way to attack Konoha?
For revenge?
Then he should have killed the Kirigakure Shinobi who had killed Rin, not attacked Konoha.
To capture the Nine-Tails?
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path wasn't ready, and the other Tailed Beasts hadn't been captured. Why go after the Nine-Tails so soon?
Did he want the other Ninja Villages to find out that an extremist group was targeting their Tailed Beasts?
Tailed Beasts were like "strategic nuclear weapons." If a force outside the Five Great Villages and Takigakure got its hands on one, the entire Ninja World would panic.
It was like a terrorist organization suddenly getting its hands on a stockpile of nuclear weapons. The five most powerful countries would be so worried they wouldn't be able to sleep!
So Obito's deliberate attack on Konoha couldn't have been just for revenge or to vent his anger.
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