Shikaku Nara: "We've been had!"

Jiraiya had fallen, so in the end, Minato had to step up.

The awkward part was that many of the people who had originally supported Jiraiya chose Orochimaru when it came to deciding who should become Hokage.

They might have been on good terms with Minato.

But when it came to debating the best candidate for Hokage, they still favored Orochimaru.

Whatever infighting was going on in Konoha had nothing to do with Madara.

All he knew was that Obito was almost healed. It was time to make a move!

Kirigakure had launched another attack. The village was discussing how to respond, mainly debating who to send to fight them.

Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally wanted to send Minato. He knew he would have to go up against Orochimaru again before they could decide who would ultimately be sent.

But today, he was surprised.

"Teacher, Kirigakure has attacked. Let Minato deal with it."

Orochimaru had actually taken the initiative to suggest sending Minato to the front lines against Kirigakure.

"Did he take the wrong medicine?" Hiruzen thought to himself during the Jonin meeting.

Could Orochimaru have colluded with Kirigakure, planning to sell Minato out and have him killed?

He had heard that in neighboring Sunagakure, a kunoichi named Pakura had been betrayed to Kirigakure by Rasa because her personal prestige had grown too great. She had died after falling into a Kirigakure ambush.

No...

Minato could use the Flying Thunder God to escape.

But for some reason, he still felt uneasy.

Orochimaru was acting far too strangely today.

This was military credit! He wasn't even trying to claim it—he was handing it to Minato.

After thinking it over again and again, Hiruzen decided to send Minato after all. Orochimaru was surely plotting something, even if Hiruzen didn't know what. But as long as he gave Minato the most powerful team possible, everything would be fine!

Jiraiya had originally been set to continue overseeing the front against Iwagakure until the Third Shinobi World War ended.

Hiruzen made some adjustments, sending Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu to take Jiraiya's place.

Jiraiya would go with Minato to swiftly bring the fighting against Kirigakure to an end.

What's more, Hiruzen assembled an absolutely formidable team for Minato!

Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, Aburame Shibi, Hyuga Hiashi, Hizashi Hyuga, Uchiha Fugaku, Tsume Inuzuka... He even assigned his son, Shinnosuke Sarutobi, the Anbu commander, to protect Minato.

It showed just how much he cared for Minato.

He had sent every one of Konoha's pillars to accompany Minato. That would be enough to crush any scheme Orochimaru and Kirigakure might have cooked up.

With a team like this, they could take on even the First and Second if they were resurrected.

If this team still lost, then it would take Madara Uchiha rising from the dead to take revenge on Konoha.

"Teacher, you really do favor him." Orochimaru's sudden show of weakness left Hiruzen momentarily stunned.

So that was it...

Another test?

Sigh...

If only you'd listened to your teacher, things wouldn't have come to this.

Even after Orochimaru backed down, Hiruzen remained wary. He ordered Minato to set out with the team and be as careful as possible.

He was also worried that Orochimaru might stage a coup while they were away, so he left his daughter-in-law and half of Anbu behind to guard against any move Orochimaru might make.

Hiruzen thought it through carefully and did the math. Then he smiled. Orochimaru had no chance of succeeding with any scheme.

Three days later, someone entirely unexpected arrived in Konoha.

The Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire.

His carriage reached Konoha Gate around noon.

The black lacquered carriage, drawn by six pure white steeds, gleamed with a subdued luster in the sunlight.

The Land of Fire's Gunbai crest was embroidered in exquisite detail on the carriage door.

Orochimaru and Zhengyi had been waiting at the gate for a long time. The Feudal Lord was their guest.

As men of a new era—one a scientist, the other a liberal—they both disliked this imperious Feudal Lord. But they had a use for him.

"Orochimaru, why are you here to greet me? Where's the Third Hokage?"

Attended by his servants, the Feudal Lord stepped down from the carriage with the Twelve Guardian Ninja behind him, looking quite imposing.

Indeed, Orochimaru had invited him in Hiruzen Sarutobi's name.

"The Third Hokage asked me to welcome you and host a reception. We'll discuss matters concerning the Hokage tomorrow."

"Good."

Even in Konoha, Orochimaru had to stand and toast him. He hated alcohol, but dealing with the Feudal Lord was impossible without it.

At the banquet, he and Zhengyi took turns pouring him drink after drink.

Glasses clinked. The mood was neither good nor bad.

Hiruzen heard about the Feudal Lord's arrival as soon as he reached Konoha. He sat smoking in the Hokage Office.

Was Orochimaru trying to win the Feudal Lord over?

Given Zhengyi's actions in the northeast—quietly attacking a group of nobles—did he really think he could win the Feudal Lord over?

After thinking it over, Hiruzen decided to go take a look. What if Orochimaru really had succeeded? He had to be careful.

Seeing Orochimaru and Zhengyi toast him, while the Feudal Lord took the occasional sip, Hiruzen felt reassured.

Minato Namikaze had already engaged the enemy in Kirigakure.

He had taken Hiruzen's warning about Orochimaru's scheme to heart, so he fought with extreme caution.

Only those who were loyal to Minato were allowed into their strategy meetings.

This put Madara in quite a bind.

He wanted to capture Rin, but that damn Minato was just too cautious.

He acted as if he expected someone to ambush the Medical Ninja.

Dozens of checkpoints had been set up around Konoha's Medical Ninja headquarters. Each one was staffed by at least one Jonin, leaving no openings.

Only after making inquiries did Madara learn that Konoha was in complete disarray.

Minato was guarding against Orochimaru selling the rotation schedule for Konoha's Medical Ninja headquarters to Kirigakure.

Then Madara thought, the only thing left was to mobilize Kirigakure's forces and attack the Konoha base with everything they had, forcing Minato to send the Jonin at the checkpoints to fight the Mist Ninja.

This was getting awkward.

He had also discovered the formidable team Konoha had sent.

Madara was dumbfounded.

Wait, what?!

You sent half the village's forces to fight Kirigakure?

Was Kirigakure really that powerful?!

All of Minato's supporters were here! They followed his orders without question, leaving Madara no opportunity to act.

He was beside himself...

And today, as Shikaku Nara looked around at the faces of Minato's supporters, he realized that Minato had somehow gathered so many people behind him.

Hold on!

He'd just realized something!!

"Something's wrong! Minato, hurry back to the village! We've been had!!"