Becoming Two

"Bee, do you think I should accept Konoha's terms and focus all our efforts on Iwagakure from now on?" the Raikage asked the person beside him after the Konoha delegation left the room where the negotiations had been held.

"Given our current situation, we need to sign an alliance treaty with Konoha no matter what. That's the foundation. As for taking things further, that depends on whether you, as Raikage, have the resolve to restore order in Cloud Village quickly... Konoha's people acted very forcefully today, but I doubt they'd go so far as to make the alliance agreement conditional on us shifting our front lines." After thinking it over, Bee gave this answer.

According to Cloud Village's tradition, which had endured for three generations, the Raikage was always named A, and there was always a partner known as B at his side. From the Raikage's partner's answer, it was clear that he leaned toward accepting Konoha's terms.

At this point, Cloud Village could only cooperate with Konoha. Otherwise, was it supposed to cooperate with Iwagakure?

Compared with the future of the village, the Raikage's personal feelings were insignificant. Taking credit for someone else's achievement had indeed damaged the Raikage's dignity, but did he really think that giving up the credit for killing Kinkaku and Ginkaku wouldn't be humiliating for the Second and Konoha?

Everything had to serve the greater cause.

Meanwhile, the Konoha delegation had hurried all the way to Cloud Village and spent the entire day in negotiations without a break. At last, they had a chance to rest. At their request, Cloud Village had put them all in the same room.

While they were in Cloud Village, the five of them from Konoha had to stay together at all times to prevent the other side from pulling any tricks.

"Will Cloud Village accept our proposal?" In their room, after confirming that Cloud Village hadn't left behind any means of surveillance, Mitokado Homura spoke up.

"For now, I hope they make their decision quickly. The longer they take, the less our leverage is worth... We'll stay in Cloud Village for three days at most. If they still haven't decided by then, we'll seek only an alliance agreement and then withdraw," Sanshao said. As time passed, Cloud Village would eventually put down the rebellion and gradually restore stability. By then, leverage like Kinkaku and Ginkaku would be worthless.

Although the Raikage's attitude had softened somewhat by the end of the negotiations, no one could be sure what decision he would ultimately make.

That was why Sanshao had given them only three days. In fact, even that deadline was rather generous. If the Raikage still hadn't accepted Konoha's terms by tomorrow morning, he never would.

Across the room, Hanyu was explaining Konoha's plan to Hatake Sakumo. Since that afternoon, the boy had realized that he couldn't really follow what the adults were talking about. The deployment of forces, the course of the war, the future situation—these weren't things someone his age could understand just by catching a few snippets of conversation.

Hanyu could only sketch a simple map and point out the positions of the various forces as he explained Konoha's desired strategy and plans to Hatake.

Hatake Sakumo might have been a born ninja, but his experience and understanding of the bigger picture were limited by his age. It wasn't until he saw on the simple map how Cloud Village's front lines surrounded the Land of Fire on three sides that he finally understood why they wanted Cloud Village to move its forces from the Land of Fields to the Land of Grass.

"Hanyu, you know so much." After grasping the general idea and remembering that Hanyu had been the first to come up with the strategy, Hatake couldn't help saying this. It wasn't quite admiration, but he was finally starting to realize that the rookie ninja before him was a little different.

A strategy like this couldn't be devised overnight without a grasp of the situation.

Normally, a homeless child who couldn't get enough to eat or keep warm would have been expected to spend his time hungry in the woods, counting monkeys. Yet Hanyu was concerned with world affairs, and he could even draw a map of the world off the top of his head.

"I do know quite a bit. I've learned a little about everything from DDF to AOA. But it's all too much for a kid. I'll tell you more when we get the chance." After explaining Konoha's intentions to Hatake, Hanyu walked alone to a corner of the room, sat cross-legged, and began refining his chakra.

Once he felt that he had built up a decent amount of chakra, he formed the single "Rooster" hand seal again. Water Release Ninjutsu often ended with this seal; it could be called the hallmark of Water Release.

As he formed the seal, Hanyu's chakra began to change into the water nature, and a veil of mist seemed to gather around him.

After Sanshao had introduced him to the Cloud Village ninja that way, Hanyu had no choice but to hurry up and improve his skills as a ninja, whether he wanted to or not... Even though Sanshao had only mentioned it casually and the Cloud Village ninja had only heard it in passing, Hanyu couldn't afford to be so optimistic. He had to prepare for the worst.

To be honest, if he was going to start with Water Release, the Second was a pretty good goal to aim for... If Hanyu said that to anyone else, they'd surely accuse him of arrogance. The Second had been an exceptionally powerful ninja, yet in Hanyu's mind, he was only a "pretty good" goal.

But given who Hanyu was comparing him to, that wasn't unreasonable. The Second was indeed strong, but he wasn't absurdly overpowered like his older brother or the later generations of Konoha Genin.

If he set aside the forbidden techniques the Second had created and the Space-Time Ninjutsu of unimaginable difficulty, then the Second in his normal state wasn't an utterly unattainable goal, even if he was still a long way off for Hanyu.

Considering that the Shinobi World would remain in turmoil throughout the era Hanyu was about to live in, he needed to become strong, if only to protect himself. But given his active years as a ninja, he didn't need to reach the very peak... He was quite a bit older than the Sannin, after all. By the time the era when gods walked the earth arrived, he'd already be old and frail—or long reduced to a pile of bones.

Uchiha dancing on graves? The White Zetsu's Otsutsuki mother? Those weren't problems Hanyu needed to consider or face. All he needed to do was survive three Shinobi World Wars. The strongest enemy he would face wouldn't be stronger than the Third Raikage he'd seen that day... At least, that was what Hanyu believed for now.

So now that he had become a ninja, the Second was a good, suitable goal for him.

Although he'd seemed to drift along with events these past few days, Hanyu had actually been thinking about how to plan the rest of his life. And after this long march, he hadn't found anything about the life of a ninja that he couldn't handle, so it was time to make up his mind.

From here on, all Hanyu had to do was strive toward a powerful goal like the Second.

As he thought this, his gaze drifted toward Sanshao, who was still talking with the other two. Just as she'd said before, there was a bond between them.

Now, Hanyu had to cherish that bond even more.

Sanshao was a member of the Senju Clan, and her standing within the clan was certainly not low. So if she was willing to teach him ninjutsu, it would be a rare opportunity for an outsider like Hanyu.

At that moment, Hanyu finally realized how fortunate he was to have met Senju Tobirama and to have made it to Konoha in time.

He owed Senju Tobirama a debt of gratitude.