After a thorough discussion among those closest to him, everyone agreed that Shiba Seika's intelligence had never been in question—but his naming sense left much to be desired.
In the end, Konan suggested a name for his new ninjutsu, and they settled on Wind Rest Three Flash.
Actually, I wanted to call it Gale Slash, Shiba Seika muttered to himself.
Unfortunately, the art of "Wind Release: Hasaki" was still far too ahead of its time for the Shinobi World. After that, everyone agreed to strip him of his naming privileges.
That reminded Shiba Seika of a character from the original story who was also often mocked for his outrageously bad naming sense: Minato Namikaze.
Speaking of Minato Namikaze, his life hadn't exactly been comfortable lately.
The storm kicked up by Yūno Ryōma's death had eventually reached Konoha after a period of calm.
At first, Danzo tried to claim that nothing had happened.
But Yūno Ryōma had been Root's supreme commander, and his disappearance was bound to reduce the efficiency of the entire organization.
As time passed, the front lines began to feel the effects of the intelligence delays, and a growing chorus of complaints reached the village.
So, in the second phase, Danzo tried to convince the village that perhaps something had happened, but they shouldn't take action.
Out of respect for their years as classmates, Sarutobi Hiruzen once again chose to trust his old companion.
"Do your intelligence work properly, Danzo! I don't want any more complaints like this reaching me."
Sarutobi Hiruzen gave him a casual warning and let him off.
But the intelligence gap still wasn't resolved anytime soon!
Worse, rumors that Konoha was weak and its glory had faded began spreading in both Sunagakure and Iwagakure!
Shiba Seika had certainly played no small part in that.
By this point, they had reached the third phase, and Danzo was still insisting: Perhaps we should take action, but the conditions don't allow it. There's nothing we can do.
By then, Minato Namikaze, stationed in the north, could clearly feel the pressure mounting!
He tried to warn the village, but his efforts had little effect.
Then another half month passed. With only three days left in the year, something that caught Konoha completely off guard—and sent a chill through the village—finally happened—
Iwagakure entered the fray and declared war on Konoha!
At that point, the Third Great Ninja War officially descended into full-scale chaos!
With Kirigakure mired in the Bloody Mist and shrouded in mystery, the other four major shinobi villages had all been drawn into the war!
Iwagakure's entry meant that it and Kumogakure were attacking the north of the Land of Fire from east and west, turning Minato Namikaze into a one-man firefighting crew.
He flew everywhere, rushing from one emergency to the next!
Even then, Danzo was still saying, "Perhaps we really should have done something back then, but now it's too late."
His whole approach had a distinctly British prime minister's knack for governing.
Unfortunately, the others in Konoha weren't buying it.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Danzo! Is this how you handle intelligence?! Why did you learn nothing before Iwagakure declared war on us?!"
To be fair, Danzo wasn't entirely to blame. The four great shinobi villages turning on Konoha was practically an inexorable force of history, a fate already written.
Even the Sage of Six Paths probably couldn't have changed the course of events.
But Root had happened to fall apart at precisely this critical moment.
Someone had to take responsibility. Hiruzen Sarutobi thought, I can't be the one to take the fall, can I?
Danzo ground his teeth in fury, instinctively wanting to blurt out, "You'll regret this."
But this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't even give him the chance.
"Danzo, if Yūno Ryōma's disappearance is indeed true, why don't you go to the northern border yourself?"
That instantly froze Danzo in place.
Danzo had certainly considered leaving the village to stir things up. In the original story, he had gone to the Land of Rain himself.
But that had been late in the war!
Given his personality, how could he possibly want to head to the front lines himself when the fighting was at its fiercest?
But Konoha's situation really was dire.
Even in the original story, this was Konoha's darkest and most difficult hour.
It wasn't until Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru each came into their own, winning the Battle of Kannabi Bridge and the Battle of Kikyo Mountain, and then Kirigakure entered the war and Mr. Duy had his final dance after ten years of austerity, that Konoha's situation finally improved.
But no one in Konoha had a vision of the future. They couldn't see the victories that would come next year or the year after.
And with Shiba Seika's interference, like a butterfly from another world, their predicament was worse than in the original story.
So it was an undeniable fact that many of Konoha's civilians and ninja clans lacked confidence in the war and were even filled with pessimism!
Faced with this situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally stopped letting old ties sway him and delivered Danzo an ultimatum.
"Danzo, go north and help Minato stabilize the front against Iwagakure."
"I... I refuse! I need to remain at Root and coordinate intelligence from all directions!"
"Then I'll send the Uchiha Clan to war."
"..."
Danzo could hardly resist the urge to warmly greet Hiruzen Sarutobi's family.
In the original story, the Uchiha Clan had participated almost exclusively in the war against Kirigakure, which had been the last of the Five Great Shinobi Countries to enter the conflict.
That showed how Konoha had kept the Uchiha in reserve until the very end.
Unfortunately, in this Timeline, Shiba Seika's interference had left Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi with far worse strategic restraint than in the original story.
The trial over Kakashi, which had ended without resolution and fizzled out after a clumsy start, had already badly shaken the Konoha High Command's credibility. Now Root's intelligence work had suffered another major failure.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had to find a way to restore the people's confidence!
Lately, he had heard villagers and shinobi discussing more and more often: If the White Fang hadn't died three years ago, would things really be this bad now?
Every time he heard that, he wanted to strangle Danzo.
It had been three years. Everyone was almost ready to forget about the White Fang. Why had Danzo gone and picked a fight with Kakashi?!
Danzo felt wronged too: Kakashi had changed after returning from the Land of Rain. Hadn't he already sent people to investigate?
If I don't investigate, you blame me. If I do investigate and the investigator dies, you blame me again!
Was I just destined to be your scapegoat, Hiruzen Sarutobi?!
After agonizing over it for a long while, Danzo could only force out a sullen, "Then let that evil clan offer up its last strength for Konoha."
He didn't forget to try and save face afterward.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret doing this sooner or later."
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't let him get away with it. This time, he even landed a follow-up.
"Danzo, I'm the Hokage now! Even if I'm gone, I'll leave the Hokage Position to Minato Namikaze!"
Before, he'd only landed one blow. Now he'd leveled up to a one-two combo!
Danzo turned and left, slamming the door much harder than usual. It crashed shut with a deafening bang.
The butterfly effect brought on by Shiba Seika's arrival was growing more and more intense!
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