Danzo! (At the reader's suggestion, the protagonist's name has been changed to Hyuga Hane)

Kakashi remained silent for a moment, tacitly accepting Rin's presence, before turning his gaze directly toward Kushina.

"Then why does Master Kushina have to come along?"

"Do I need your permission to go where I want?"

Kushina tapped Kakashi on the head lightly, then looked at Hyuga Hane and Uchiha Yakumaru with a wide grin.

"From now on, I am the captain of you three. Make sure you listen to my orders!"

"???"

Uchiha Yakumaru widened his eyes, looking at Minato in confusion.

Minato offered a helpless smile and said, "There are two Jinchuriki on the front lines. Kushina is our insurance; otherwise, the village's ninja would suffer heavy losses against large-scale attacks like the Tailed Beast Bomb. As for her being captain, both Kakashi and she are currently temporary members of the Shadow Guard..."

And why was Kushina the captain?

Minato gave a wry smile; some things were self-evident.

Kushina flashed a victory sign, her face beaming with a radiant smile.

Heading out of the village to fight, and with Minato no less.

Heaven knows how excited she had been these past few days.

"Has the front line turned into a clash of main forces?" Hyuga Hane, thinking more deeply, frowned.

The most effective way for ninja to utilize their strength is through small-unit operations; large-scale army warfare is actually not suitable for them.

After all, the ninja community is renowned for covert operations, espionage, and assassination. In army-scale combat, many of their methods are restricted and cannot be used.

Therefore, even on the battlefield, the number of ninja that can be gathered is limited, and a Tailed Beast Bomb poses little threat unless it lands directly on the front-line headquarters.

But judging by Minato's implication, Konoha's main force had gathered, which could only mean that the Mist Village had made the first move.

"That's right. A main force of one thousand Mist ninja has gathered near the two Jinchuriki, advancing step by step."

Minato nodded, his voice grave. "Other elite ninja are leading squads to conduct harassment raids. To minimize losses, Senior Orochimaru and Master Jiraiya have had to shrink their defensive lines. This is the intelligence that arrived yesterday."

Yakumaru was puzzled upon hearing this. "The Mist Village doesn't have perfect Jinchuriki, do they? How dare they let their ninja gather near them?"

Is it safe to gather around a Jinchuriki?

If the Jinchuriki can control the Tailed Beast, it is indeed safe, as the only powerhouses on the Konoha front who can deal with a Tailed Beast are Orochimaru and Jiraiya. But they also have to keep an eye on other Mist powerhouses to avoid ambushes, preventing them from moving freely.

In that case, a ninja unit led by a Jinchuriki could mow down enemies with ease.

However, a Jinchuriki who cannot perfectly control their Tailed Beast will kill their own people if they go berserk. Furthermore, given the miserable lives most Jinchuriki lead, they would likely kill Mist ninja even more ruthlessly. Have the higher-ups in the Mist Village lost their minds?

Wouldn't it be better to have the Mizukage lead the team himself?!

Minato: "I don't know, but the two Tailed Beasts of the Mist show no signs of going berserk. That is also something we need to investigate."

If the Mist Village had mastered a method to create perfect Jinchuriki, their assessment and vigilance levels would need to be raised further.

"I understand." Glancing at Kushina, Yakumaru nodded, appearing barely convinced.

"Yakumaru, what is that look for?" Kushina said with a smile. "My childhood dream was to be the first woman in Konoha to become Hokage, and I've worked hard for it. As for being a Jonin team leader, I have the foundation for it!"

Even if she had only done it for a while under the surveillance of the Anbu...

"The woman who will become Hokage?"

Yakumaru took those seven words out of context and, along with Hyuga Hane and the others, looked at Minato, as if to say:

Hasn't that already happened?

The group's gazes caused Minato's face to flush. His eyes darted around, subconsciously turning toward Kushina.

He found her cheeks were also stained with a faint blush, like cherry blossoms in early bloom, making one unable to look away.

Noticing Minato's gaze, Kushina glared fiercely at Yakumaru and made to leave first.

"Kushina, there's no need."

Pulling Kushina back just in time, Minato shook his head with a smile and looked at Hyuga Hane.

"The front line has already prepared our markers; we can go directly using the Flying Thunder God Technique."

As he finished speaking, Minato flashed behind Kushina and Rin, placing his palms on their backs.

Hyuga Hane performed a similar action, grabbing the shoulders of Kakashi and Uchiha Yakumaru.

In an instant, all six vanished from the spot.

With the Flying Thunder God Technique, they would not move with the main force and could arrive at the battlefield ahead of time to provide support.

Back in the village, a fully armed Sarutobi Hiruzen listened to a report from an Anbu, sighed, and headed toward the battlefield with the support troops.

Tsunade, I am sorry, but I truly hope you can overcome this.

In the chaotic, messy living room, Tsunade suppressed her rage. Her hand gripped a ninja's collar like an iron vice, while her other hand was clenched into a fist, ready to strike.

"Tell me, where is Shizune!"

Behind her, two middle-aged parents wore complex expressions, cautiously observing Tsunade's expression.

They were relatives of Shizune. Because Tsunade's research was highly classified, Shizune, a mere Chunin, could not stay by her side and had been boarding with them instead.

As it turned out, when Tsunade came to visit Shizune today, she discovered that the person was actually a ninja disguised using the Transformation Technique; the real Shizune had been swapped out without anyone noticing!

"Lady Tsunade, Lord Danzo... invites you to pay a visit to Root."

The ninja, having been struck in the abdomen by superhuman strength, spoke with some difficulty, yet his voice remained cold and emotionless. "If you do not go, her corpse will be delivered to you tomorrow."

As he spoke, his eyes shifted for a fleeting moment into a complex pattern, but Tsunade, consumed by fury, clearly failed to notice this as she swung her right fist down with a violent force!

--Bang!

The ninja was launched like a cannonball, slamming heavily into the wall with a dull thud that made the entire building seem to tremble.

His body became one with the wall, embedded into the cold surface, his entire frame drained of strength.

Tsunade, having done all this, did not even spare him a glance and left the house with a frigid expression.

The couple looked at the Root ninja, exchanged a glance, and hurriedly fled the house to find the Military Police Force to handle the situation.

Although the Uchiha clan looked intimidating, they were still better than a dead body.

In a vast and expansive space, countless staircases and corridors hung in the air, crisscrossing one another.

Following these stairs downward led to the darkness that coiled beneath Konoha.

"Danzo, get out here!"

Tsunade, desperate to save someone, walked into the Root base alone.

Her shout still echoed through the space when countless figures instantly appeared on the surrounding walkways, watching her with indifference.

Twenty Chunin, six Jonin... and many more who had yet to emerge.

Tsunade cast a cold glance at the Root ninjas surrounding her, then ignored them, fixing her gaze instead on the depths of the darkness.

There, a one-eyed old man leaning on a cane, accompanied by two Jonin, slowly stood before Tsunade.

Staring intently at his single eye, Tsunade sneered, "You called this medical ninja here—are you looking to install another eye for yourself?"

"I've said it before: there is an optimal window for treatment. I can't do it now, so you might as well live on as a one-eyed freak forever. It suits this gloomy space perfectly."

Ignoring Tsunade's sarcasm, Danzo calmly raised a hand to signal.

A ninja immediately appeared, carrying the unconscious Shizune.

Seeing the mark on Shizune's forehead, Tsunade's pupils constricted. Fury churned within her chest, and her eyes erupted with a chilling, terrifying light.

"Danzo!!!"

Many readers have said the protagonist's name feels out of place, so I'm asking for opinions here: how about Hyuga Ayato? I pulled this directly from a Japanese manga protagonist's name, but if you have better suggestions, feel free to offer them. Once I change it this time, I won't change it again.