Recently, Naruto Higashihiko had been having a very hard time.
The reason was simple: not all of his clansmen agreed with giving up the fight.
The two sides had fought for years, and the seeds of hatred had long since taken root. It wasn't something they could simply let go of.
Now that he was saying they should stop fighting, the clansmen who had been sharpening their blades in preparation for revenge naturally turned their anger toward him.
Worse still, even the minority who supported a truce were bitterly criticizing Naruto Higashihiko.
They blamed his poor judgment, saying he shouldn't have allowed such terrible losses.
Yesterday, someone had even suggested that he atone for his crimes with his life.
Knowing things were going badly, Naruto Higashihiko did his best to salvage his reputation. Yet even his two closest friends were keeping their distance from him.
"They're obviously trying to make me the scapegoat."
"Hahahaha! Is this what I worked half my life for?"
Naruto Higashihiko had been drinking. Before he even reached the tent, the overwhelming stench of alcohol hit him.
When he lifted the tent flap and saw the masked ninja inside, most of the drunkenness instantly left him.
"Who are you?" he asked.
He still held the title of commander, after all. His subordinates wouldn't be so lacking in manners.
This was the main army camp. There was no way an enemy could have infiltrated it.
If this really were an Uchiha assassin, he would have struck the moment Naruto Higashihiko lifted the flap.
Compared with the idea of an enemy assassin, he was more inclined to believe the Masked Man was a product of infighting within his clan.
But in the end, he was still disappointed.
As he looked at the handsome face beneath the mask and the three slowly rotating tomoe, Naruto Higashihiko quietly reached for the weapon at his waist.
He could accept losing a political struggle and face his clansmen's anger with dignity, but he absolutely would not die at the hands of an enemy.
Especially not at the hands of the person he hated most.
"Uchiha Kyosuke!" the Nara Clan Head said, recognizing the Masked Man.
"That's me." Kyosuke slowly lowered the mask over his face and smiled. "Come to think of it, this is our first time meeting."
"Don't worry. We'll be seeing a lot more of each other." The man's words were full of menace.
It looked as though he was about to call his subordinates in to capture him.
But for some reason, Naruto Higashihiko made no move.
As his opponent, he knew all too well how cunning the boy was.
If Kyosuke dared to show up so openly, he must have been sure he could get away, even if Naruto Higashihiko couldn't begin to guess the truth.
Besides, Naruto Higashihiko was curious about why the boy had come.
Seeing this, Kyosuke gestured toward the jug in his hand and smiled. "I can tell things aren't going well for you, Clan Head Higashihiko."
"Thanks to you," the man replied with a quiet jab.
"The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance is about to relocate on a large scale. To calm the clansmen, they'll need to find an outlet for their anger."
"Clan Head Higashihiko, who do you think is qualified to be that lucky person?"
That would be me. Naruto Higashihiko furrowed his brows, his face full of irritation. "Did you come here just to tell me that? Get to the point."
Kyosuke didn't let the man's impatience disrupt his pace. The more impatient his opponent became, the better the conversation was going.
Why was he impatient?
Because he was afraid. It didn't matter if Naruto Higashihiko himself suffered, but he had a wife and children.
Having lost the struggle, he was afraid his family would be dragged down with him.
How to deal with this had become a problem that tormented him day and night.
"Joining the Senju would certainly be good, but in the end, you'd still have to fight the Uchiha head-on."
"Even if your family escaped the slaughter, they'd have to face us again one day."
"That's the fate of a ninja," Naruto Higashihiko said in a low voice.
"Mr. Higashihiko, I have an idea that I believe can help you." Kyosuke's voice was enticing, like a wicked wolf coaxing Little Red Riding Hood to open the door.
First he had raised a problem there was no way to avoid, then he quietly offered a solution.
He laid out the pros and cons, acting as though he had the other man's best interests at heart.
His work experience in a previous life had given him some very good negotiation skills.
Kyosuke then explained his plan in detail.
All the while, he still revealed nothing of what he wanted, leaving his opponent unable to guess at his intentions.
"Flee to the Land of Lightning?" Naruto Higashihiko asked, his voice full of doubt.
In Kyosuke's explanation, one point had been made perfectly clear.
The Senju really were the best option, one that could ensure the Three Clans continued to thrive for generations.
He hadn't lied about that, nor had he tried to sway the man's judgment.
He had only reminded him, subtly, of one thing at the crucial moment.
No matter what the Senju decided, your fate wouldn't change.
If you truly cared about your clansmen, then choose to die a hero's death.
But if you had even the slightest selfish motive, then fine—I'd show you another option.
Silence. A deathly silence.
For a full ten minutes, Naruto Higashihiko didn't say a word. Kyosuke could only watch his face shift through a kaleidoscope of expressions.
"What do I have to do?"
In the end, his will to survive won out.
"Most of your clansmen's resentment toward you comes from the losses in several battles."
"If you can wipe out a unit of Uchiha before you leave, that should be enough to quell their anger."
"At the very least, it could save your life."
Naruto Higashihiko raised his head and stared at the boy. Suddenly, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "So you came to make a deal."
He was clever. From a single sentence, he had already figured out many things.
If they played their cards right, they might even settle the problem of fleeing to the Land of Lightning at the same time.
As for whether to agree, Naruto Higashihiko couldn't think of any reason to refuse.
The two then discussed the entire plan in detail, even openly talking about how to scheme against Uchiha Hikari.
Watching the man throw himself into the discussion, Kyosuke smiled inwardly. Looks like I haven't lost my touch.
If he had started by saying he wanted to harm a fellow clansman, Naruto Higashihiko would most likely have rejected him outright.
Even the incentives he'd offered afterward wouldn't have helped.
The hatred in his heart would have clouded Naruto Higashihiko's judgment.
You've brought me to this point, and now you expect me to help you? Not a chance—even if I die! That was probably what he would have thought.
Instead, Kyosuke had considered the problem from the other man's perspective from beginning to end.
He had also slipped his own request into the conversation without drawing attention to it.
Naruto Higashihiko would think, I want to live. Helping him along the way won't hurt.
The outcome was the same, and the motive unchanged, but the results were worlds apart.
That was the importance of rhetoric.
Even the clever Clan Head of the Nara Clan had been unable to resist the machinations of another civilization.
"Good. Then it's settled." Naruto Higashihiko had completely taken control of the conversation.
Of course, that was only an illusion.
He committed the written plan firmly to memory. With a tremor of his hand, the paper immediately burst into flames.
"What do you plan to do next—" Naruto Higashihiko began, ready to ask another question, but when he turned around, Kyosuke was nowhere to be seen in the tent.
He stood there for a long time, then silently sighed.
Only he knew what that sigh meant.
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