Danzo!

Kakashi was silent for a moment, then tacitly accepted Rin coming along and turned his gaze directly to Kushina.

"Then why is Lady Kushina coming?"

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

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

"From now on, I'll be the captain of the three of you, so make sure you follow my orders!"

"???"

Uchiha Yakumaru's eyes widened as he looked at Minato, bewildered.

Minato smiled helplessly. "There are two Tailed Beasts at the front. Kushina is our insurance. Otherwise, the shinobi in the village would suffer heavy losses trying to counter large-scale attacks like a Tailed Beast Bomb. As for being captain, Kakashi and she are both temporary members of the Shadow Guard right now..."

But why was Kushina the captain?

Minato gave a faint, rueful smile. Some things spoke for themselves.

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

She was going out of the village to fight, and she'd be going with Minato.

Heaven knew how excited she'd been these past few days.

"Has the front turned into a showdown between the main forces?" Hyuga Hane thought further ahead and frowned.

The most effective way for shinobi to fight was in small units. Large-scale battles weren't really suited to them.

After all, shinobi were known for covert operations, espionage, and assassination. In a large formation, many of their methods were restricted or impossible to use.

So even on a battlefield, the number of shinobi who could be gathered in one place was limited. A Tailed Beast Bomb wouldn't pose much of a threat unless it hit the front-line headquarters.

But from what Minato had said, Konoha had gathered its main forces. That could only mean the Mist Village had made the first move.

"That's right. The Mist Village has gathered a thousand shinobi from its main force near the two Jinchuriki and is advancing step by step."

Minato nodded, his voice grave. "The other elite shinobi are leading squads in harassment and raids. Senior Orochimaru and my teacher, Jiraiya, have had to contract the defensive line to reduce casualties. That was the intelligence we received yesterday."

Yakumaru was confused. "The Mist Village doesn't have a Perfect Jinchuriki, does it? How dare they gather shinobi near their Jinchuriki?"

Was it safe to gather around a Jinchuriki?

If a Jinchuriki could control a Tailed Beast, then it really would be safe. After all, the only powerful shinobi at Konoha's front who could deal with a Tailed Beast were Orochimaru and Jiraiya. But they also had to keep an eye on the Mist Village's other powerful shinobi and guard against ambushes, so they couldn't act freely.

That meant a shinobi unit led by a Jinchuriki could mow down its enemies without resistance.

But a Jinchuriki who couldn't fully control a Tailed Beast would attack their own people when they went berserk. And given that most Jinchuriki had suffered miserable lives, they'd be even more vicious toward Mist Village shinobi. Were the Mist Village's leaders out of their minds?

Why not have the Mizukage lead the troops personally?!

Minato said, "I don't know, but there's no sign that the Mist Village's two Tailed Beasts have gone berserk. That's something we need to investigate."

If the Mist Village had found a way to create Perfect Jinchuriki, they would need to raise their assessment of the village and stay even more vigilant.

"I understand." Yakumaru glanced at Kushina and nodded, looking as though he only barely accepted it.

"Yakumaru, what's that look for?" Kushina said with a beaming smile. "My childhood dream was to become the first woman in Konoha to become Hokage. I've worked hard toward it this whole time. I have the experience to lead a team of Jonin!"

Though she'd only done it for a while, under Anbu surveillance...

"A woman who became Hokage?"

Yakumaru seized on those seven words and looked at Minato along with Hyuga Hane and the others, as if to say:

Hasn't that already happened?

Their expressions made Minato blush. His gaze wandered uncertainly before he turned to Kushina.

He found that her cheeks had also taken on a faint blush, like cherry blossoms just beginning to bloom. It was hard not to look at her a little longer.

Kushina noticed Minato's gaze, glared fiercely at Yakumaru, and started to leave ahead of them.

"Kushina, you don't have to."

Minato stopped her in time and smiled as he shook his head, then looked at Hyuga Hane.

"The front line has already prepared markers for us, so we can go straight there with the Flying Thunder God Technique."

As he spoke, Minato appeared behind Kushina and Rin and pressed his palms against their backs.

Hyuga Hane did the same, gripping Kakashi and Uchiha Yakumaru by the shoulders.

In an instant, all six of them vanished from where they stood.

With the Flying Thunder God Technique, they didn't have to travel with the main force. They could reach the battlefield early and provide support.

Back in the village, Sarutobi Hiruzen, fully armed, listened to a report from an Anbu shinobi. With a sigh, he set off toward the battlefield with the support troops.

Tsunade, I'm sorry. I sincerely hope you can get through this.

In the wrecked living room, Tsunade struggled to hold back her anger. One hand clamped around a shinobi's collar like an iron vise, while her other hand balled into a fist, ready to strike.

"Tell me, where's Shizune?!"

Behind her stood a middle-aged couple, their expressions complicated as they cautiously watched Tsunade.

They were Shizune's relatives. Because Tsunade's research was highly confidential, Shizune, a Chunin, couldn't stay by her side, so she'd been living with them.

But today, when Tsunade came to visit Shizune, she discovered that a shinobi had used the Transformation Technique to impersonate her. The real Shizune had already been switched out without anyone noticing!

"Lady Tsunade, Lord Danzo... invites you to come to the Root Base."

The shinobi, who had taken a blow from her monstrous strength to the abdomen, spoke with difficulty, but his voice remained cold and emotionless. "If you don't go, her corpse will be delivered tomorrow."

As he spoke, his eyes changed for an instant, shifting into a complex pattern. But Tsunade, consumed by rage, clearly didn't notice. She swung her right fist down hard!

--Bang!

The shinobi flew like a cannonball and slammed into the wall with a dull crash, as if the whole building were shaking.

His body merged with the wall, embedded in its cold surface. He'd lost all strength.

Tsunade, who had done all this, didn't even look at him. She left the house with a cold expression.

The couple glanced at the Root shinobi, exchanged looks, then hurried out to find the Military Police Force.

Though the Uchiha Clan looked frightening, they were still better than a corpse.

In a vast, spacious area, countless staircases and passageways hung in midair, crisscrossing one another.

Far below, reached by following those stairs, lay the darkness that had taken root in Konoha.

"Danzo, get out here!"

Tsunade had come alone to the Root Base, desperate to rescue Shizune.

Her shout still echoed through the space when countless figures appeared in the surrounding passageways, staring at her impassively.

Twenty Chunin, six Jonin... and many more who hadn't shown themselves.

Tsunade coldly glanced at the Root shinobi surrounding her, then paid them no further attention. She looked only toward the darkness ahead.

There, an elderly, one-eyed man leaned on a cane. With two accompanying Jonin following him, he slowly came to a stop in front of Tsunade.

Staring intently at his single eye, Tsunade sneered. "Did you call me here, a medical ninja, so I could give you another eye?"

"I told you before: there's an optimal time for treatment. I can't do anything for you now. You might as well spend the rest of your life as a one-eyed freak. In a place as dark as this, it suits you."

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

A shinobi immediately appeared with the unconscious Shizune.

Seeing the mark on Shizune's forehead, Tsunade's pupils contracted. Fury churned in her chest, and her eyes blazed with a chilling light.

"Danzo!!!"

Many readers have said the protagonist's name feels out of place, so I'd like to ask for your opinions here. What do you think of Hyuga Ayato? It's borrowed directly from a manga protagonist's name, but feel free to suggest something better. Once we change it this time, we won't change it again.