Is Nawaki joining?

"Nawaki has been assigned to the squad of Orochimaru, the Third Hokage's direct disciple?"

Senju Tokuma set down his teacup, his voice heavy as he asked the question.

Across from him, Senju Kenji, who was in charge of intelligence, nodded immediately to confirm: "Yes, Lord Tokuma. But this is only natural. After all, Jiraiya already has a disciple, and Orochimaru is the only one Tsunade trusts."

"This is forcing our hand." Senju Ryosuke, sitting beside Tokuma, let out a cold snort. He was hot-tempered and made no effort to hide his dissatisfaction. "If a future Daimyo with the blood of the First Hokage flowing through his veins is allowed to grow into an elite Jonin, then our position... no, the position of the young lord we support, will have no chance at all."

"If he were to become Hokage as well, wouldn't the title of Daimyo become a mere shell? We ministers might as well all just go die."

Tokuma took a deep breath and waved his hand, signaling him to calm down: "We all know the reason, no need to repeat it. What we need to discuss now is how to solve this problem."

His gaze swept over the two men: "Since he has joined Orochimaru's squad, we must consider the people around him."

Kenji immediately interjected: "His teammates are two people. One is an orphan of the Uzumaki Clan named Uzumaki Kushina. The other is Sawada Hiroki, about whom there have been some rumors in the village lately."

"Uzumaki Kushina..." A look of disdain crossed Ryosuke's lips. "An outsider from the Land of Whirlpools. Aside from her eye-catching hair color, what else is there? She's loud and boisterous all day long, just a Genin-level girl used to fill the numbers. Not worth worrying about."

They were members of a branch family of the Senju Clan. Although they were not ninjas, they had relied on the family's foundation to operate within the political circles of the Land of Fire for many years, and they had their own standards for judging people.

In their eyes, ninjas without prominent backgrounds or overwhelming strength were merely pawns and tools on a chessboard that could be easily discarded.

Kenji's expression was slightly more serious as he added: "Lord Tokuma, regarding that Sawada Hiroki, I have heard some unusual rumors. It is said that during the kidnapping incident involving Kumogakure a while ago, he single-handedly..."

"Just rumors." Ryosuke interrupted him rudely, his tone filled with contempt. "Kenji, since when did you start believing those stories the village makes up to build heroes? A child who just graduated from the Ninja Academy, single-handedly taking out a squad of Cloud Ninja, including a Jonin? That kind of talk is fine for fooling commoners."

"Think about it, how could a squad of Cloud Ninja Jonin bypass the barriers of Konoha and enter the village just to kidnap two perfectly ordinary children?"

"It's a joke!"

Tokuma nodded, clearly agreeing with Ryosuke's analysis.

They were not ninjas and did not understand the ever-changing nature of the battlefield, but they had brains; they weren't fools.

Konoha was one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, after all. Was it really some amateur outfit? Could it be infiltrated by Kumogakure so easily? Wouldn't that mean Konoha had been riddled with holes like a sieve?

In their view, so-called rumors were nothing more than merit records that could be embellished at will.

This was also a trick they were most adept at using—publicizing how smart a certain child of the Daimyo was, when in reality, they might be a complete idiot.

But it didn't matter. Even if people saw through it, so what?

As long as the public believed it, that was enough.

"Ryosuke makes sense." Tokuma made the final judgment. "That Sawada Hiroki, even if he has some small cleverness, is ultimately just a child, a Genin. In the face of absolute strength, any luck is useless. Our goal, from beginning to end, is only one: Nawaki."

He paused, a flash of cold calculation in his eyes.

"Although Orochimaru is their instructor, he cannot be by the side of three Genin at all times. Sooner or later, they will have to carry out missions alone, and that is our opportunity. If it comes to it, we'll find a way to lure that guy Orochimaru away!"

Kenji frowned: "But Nawaki is the grandson of the First Hokage, after all; his talent cannot be underestimated. Creating a 'foolproof' accident will likely not be easy."

"What's not easy about it?" Ryosuke sneered, as if he had heard a ridiculous joke. "Kenji, you've been in the ninja village for too long and are overthinking things. We aren't ninjas, we don't need to do it ourselves, and we have plenty of money."

"Having money means we can hire ninjas from other villages. Besides, things haven't been stable lately. If someone dies, who is he going to hold accountable?"

He held up three fingers, his face wearing an arrogant look that looked down on everything.

"If one Jonin isn't enough, we'll hire two."

"If two aren't enough, we'll hire three! And we'll add a few Chunin specifically to hold back those two tag-along teammates. With three elite Jonin, plus the ninjas in the village who support us working from the inside, we'll set a trap on the path they must take for their mission. Tell me, how is a Nawaki with no real combat experience supposed to survive?"

"That may be so, but we shouldn't underestimate Nawaki's two companions too much." Kenji took a deep breath. He accepted the other's argument—no matter how strong a child was, even with all the rumors, how strong could they really be?

"What if the rumors are true?"

At most, they were just Genin.

It wasn't as if they hadn't practiced chakra and ninjutsu themselves; they knew very well how difficult it was to learn ninjutsu.

"Then it's decided! We'll hire one more Jonin. Four Jonin in total! That many ninjas would be enough to topple a small country; what kind of waves could they possibly make!?"

Sawada Hiroki and Uzumaki Kushina would be no different from pebbles on the side of the road in front of four Jonin.

Kenji nodded slowly, a look of satisfaction appearing on his face.

"It seems you agree! Then, Kenji, your task is to find a way to figure out the specific intelligence regarding their squad's first C-rank mission outside the village—the route, the time, the target. I want it all."

"Ryosuke," he turned to his other confidant, "you go to the Underground Exchange and use gold bars to contact the top bounty hunters. Tell them the target is the future of the Senju Clan, and as for the reward... let them name their price. After it's done, I want all traces wiped clean."

"Don't worry, Lord Tokuma." Ryosuke laughed confidently. "In the face of absolute money and strength, any genius is just a joke. As for those two teammates... perhaps they will be glad they died quickly and didn't have to see how their companion was torn apart in despair."

The three of them looked at each other and laughed.

After all, they were just three Genin; what could they possibly do to turn the world upside down?