Drawing the Line

Kakashi looked at Jiraiya, Jiraiya was sitting on the ground leaning against a tree root, and ultimately didn't say the words he was thinking, "You look terrible."

He had known Jiraiya for many years, and this was the first time he had seen the other man in such a disheveled state.

He still remembers their first meeting.

I remember that day, at his father's request, he gave Kazashiro his sword "White Fang".

What happened next?

It seems Obito misunderstood something, and then, at Kazashiro's insistence, they climbed the mountain closest to Konoha.

There, they encountered Jiraiya was spying on them.

From this perspective, the ill-fated master-disciple relationship between Obito and Jiraiya also originated from that day.

"Heh, Kakashi, you're surprised I'm in such a sorry state, aren't you?"

Jiraiya had his back to Kakashi, suddenly spoke up, revealing his true feelings.

However, when Kakashi heard that Jiraiya still had the energy to make a joke, he managed a knowing smile behind his mask.

"Should I say that he truly Lord Jiraiya?"

The fact that Jiraiya's in pretty good shape.

Kakashi stepped forward and pulled a book from his pocket.

No matter how much you flatter me, I can never forget your betrayal.

The topical medication caused Jiraiya's wound to itch and hurt, making him want to scratch it.

Forcibly suppressing that desire, Jiraiya looked up at Kakashi beside him and discovered that what the other was holding was not one of those erotic books, but his only serious work.

"It's a story about the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi? That's not like you, Kakashi."

Jiraiya's voice was filled with doubt and curiosity.

He had assumed that only serious types like Minato and Nagato would like his work.

"Well, I don't always read your works, Lord Jiraiya." Kakashi blinked and pointed to Naruto and the others not far away.

Following Kakashi's pointing finger, Jiraiya saw Naruto and Sasuke talking, and the corpse of the Mizutora at their feet.

"Moreover, a new generation has already risen, hasn't it? I often feel that those children have the shadow of the characters in the book. Doesn't that mean that they have also inherited the Will of Fire?"

Kakashi's words made Jiraiya observe Naruto and the others even more carefully.

Because of Minato, Jiraiya considered Naruto like his grandson.

He had always treated them as children, not ninjas, and even when attacked, his orders were to protect these subordinates.

It wasn't until he saw the corpse of the Mizutora that Jiraiya realized that Naruto had already become a Chunin.

At this age, the opponent displayed talent almost comparable to Minato.

The word "close to" is used because Naruto's talent is still a step below Minato's.

"The Will of Fire? Hmph, even the Konoha in Hokage doesn't have the Will of Fire. How can the new generation of ninjas possibly be serious?"

A look of relief flashed in Jiraiya's eyes, which he quickly masked as he muttered a complaint about the current Hokage.

"The Fifth Generation..." Kakashi shook his head helplessly.

"Kakashi, have you noticed that their technology has already surpassed ours?"

Just as Kakashi was pondering how to exonerate Kazashiro, Jiraiya, endured the pain and straightened up by leaning on a large tree behind him.

"You mean..." Upon hearing Jiraiya's serious voice, Kakashi immediately understood the meaning behind his words.

"Although I don't visit Orochimaru's Research Bureau often, I know that it contains many inventions far beyond what these guys use. Yet, to date, a large number of scientific inventions in the Research Bureau have not been put into actual combat."

Recalling the multi-barreled machine guns, arm armor, drones, and other Scientific Ninja Tools used by the enemy, Jiraiya's expression Jiraiya serious, somewhat worried about how things would develop. "Even with the support of an entire village, we haven't been able to fully utilize them in combat. How exactly did the Dawn Organization manage to do all this?"

Kakashi understood the meaning behind Jiraiya's words. "You mean, they have undisclosed capital backing them?"

"Capital, state, nobility—all are possible. In any case, these are powerful clues for us to investigate their current location."

Jiraiya plans to use this clue to continue searching for traces of the Dawn Organization.

Kakashi wholeheartedly agreed with his idea, "In that case, let's report this matter to the Lord Hokage."

"The Land of Fire's borders have recently suffered multiple attacks, with five strongholds completely destroyed and a total of twenty-three ninjas killed, including five Jonin."

In Konoha, Sakumo had already received a report from the border.

Uchiha Itachi was no longer by Sakumo's side; instead, Minato, who had been summoned, was there.

After many years of hard work, Itachi finally had the opportunity to say goodbye to his heavy paperwork and start looking for frontline work.

"Furthermore, we just received a message from Jiraiya- sensei that they were attacked by a four-person group from the Dawn Organization on their way to the border, resulting in the deaths of two people."

Minato produced the information about Jiraiya's team.

"Yamanaka Santen and Ikki Yamanaka, what a pity. Santen was promoted to Jonin less than a month ago."

Seeing yet another promising talent sacrificed before his eyes, Sakumo felt a pang of heartache.

"Furthermore, according to the Ministry of the Internal Affairs Department, many villages around Konoha have been attacked by ninjas of unknown origin. In Iwagakure, the Tsuchikage Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi, perished along with one of the enemies. We have already sent envoys to offer condolences."

"Even the Kitsuchi has been sacrificed?"

Sakumo was somewhat surprised. As Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi's strength was evident to all. He had also made outstanding contributions in the Shinobi World War and was known as the "Commander" in the village.

"Yes, I didn't expect it either. It's said that Huang Tu's strength is enough to contend with the tailed beasts. He participated in suppressing the tailed beasts' several uprisings in Iwagakure."

Minato also felt a little regretful.

If Kitsuchi were an enemy, he would indeed be a troublesome opponent; but if he were an ally, he would undoubtedly be a very reliable choice.

"Something's also happening in Kumogakure's Daimyo's Mansion of the Land of Lightning and Kumogakure are accusing each other of violating the peace agreement, and the two sides are now at loggerheads."

The Internal Affairs Department has prepared detailed reports on all the matters that Minato just mentioned.

Upon seeing the report handed to him by Minato, Sakumo gained a new understanding of the Internal Affairs Department's intelligence capabilities.

"As expected of an organization formed with former Root members as its Root, this information is extremely detailed. I've heard that Root has a Wandering Miko, so this intelligence must have come from her."

Yakushi Nonō was peacefully looking after the children at the orphanage, sneezed.

"They say it's a child who's even more outstanding than her."

Minato was unaware of the Internal Affairs Department's situation and could only rely on rumors to make his judgments.

This organization, established by the Fifth Generation to consolidate his power, was too independent, and its head, Aburame Ryoma, served only Shimura Danzō Kazashiro.

This feeling is just like the Root back then...

Of course, although everyone felt this way, no one expressed their opinion.

Unlike the Third Hokage's cover-ups, the Fifth Generation openly displayed the organization, with a clear objective: it didn't matter whether people had opinions or not, he was just going to do it anyway.

This attitude reminded many elderly people of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

The other party did the same, establishing various organizations and creating a one-man show in Konoha, accepting both positive and negative evaluations with equanimity.

This also led to him becoming the Hokage with the most complex reputation in Konoha's history.

Who knows how the Konoha Ninja will view the current Fifth Hokage in the distant future?

Just as Minato was pondering what kind of evaluation Kazashiro would receive in the future, Sakumo's voice pulled him back to reality from the future.

"Minato, have you noticed a problem?"

What do you mean?

"These villages, regardless of size, that have encountered all sorts of things, are all villages that have joined the Shinobi Alliance." Sakumo pointed to the names of Amegakure, Kusagakure, Land of Spiders Village, and others on the report. Without exception, these villages had all been reviewed by the Shinobi Alliance and agreed to work together to deal with the crisis posed by the Ōtsutsuki.

You mean...?

Minato immediately understood.

Seeing Minato's expression, Sakumo felt both relieved and regretful.

He would have been a perfect candidate to become Hokage, but unfortunately, the Third Hokage chose to do so because of his age.

"It seems our recent actions have caught their attention, and some people are starting to get restless."

Clearing his mind of distractions, Sakumo voiced his guess.

"In that case, we should immediately stop the conflict between the Land of Lightning and the Kumogakure."

Realizing that he and Sakumo had the same idea, Minato quickly spoke up.

"It's too late." Sakumo shook his head.

"While the Fifth Generation made outstanding contributions to the development of the village, he also caused new turmoil, namely the distrust between the ninjas and the powerful."

He didn't mean to criticize Kazashiro, but he felt that the timing of Feng Bai's falling out with the Daimyo's Mansion was inappropriate.

"The fact that the previous daimyo colluded with the Dawn Organization has already proven the growing alienation between the nobles and us. With the precedent set by the Land of Fire, even if the Land of Lightning realizes that they have been deceived, they will still willingly wage war against the Kumogakure."

Sakumo's expression hardened.

"It's time. It's time for ninjas to step into the limelight and distance themselves from the so-called nobles."

Hesitation leads to trouble. Having experienced countless wars, Sakumo may appear gentle, but his heart is filled with ruthless decisiveness.

Rather than letting those guys cause trouble behind the scenes, it's better to formally distance ourselves from them and use them as bait to lure out the manipulators hiding behind the scenes.