"Whoever disagreed could come tell me to my face!"
Uzumaki Kuming spoke loudly enough for even the people in the corridor to hear. Once his voice fell silent, the Hokage's office went quiet. After a long while, Nara Shikaku, seated behind the desk on Minato's other side, burst into laughter.
"HAHAHA!"
"Minato, I told you—if it were Kuming, he definitely wouldn't agree to those terms."
"See? Just as I expected."
"I told you there was no need to wait for Uzumaki Kuming to return and discuss it. You should've just refused outright!"
As his laughter subsided, Nara Shikaku looked at Minato with amusement. Minato smiled and shook his head. "I couldn't make a decision so lightly without personally confirming Kuming's opinion."
Seeing Minato and Nara Shikaku talking, Uzumaki Kuming came to his senses as well. Raising a brow, he said, "You two..."
"Actually, I never intended to agree to any of the conditions proposed by the Stone Ninja, the Cloud Ninja, or Takigakure."
"It isn't because Naruto is my son. It's because I understand how important a Jinchuriki is to Konoha."
"I only let that sort of message out in order to placate the envoys for the time being."
"Of course, more importantly, I still hoped to seek your opinion. If you didn't support me, then I would decide to hand over the Jinchuriki."
"On my own, I'm afraid I have no way to lead Konoha to victory. Even if we really could suppress the Stone Ninja and Cloud Ninja, Konoha would have to pay a price it couldn't bear."
"That was something I didn't want to see. But if you support me, then everything changes."
Minato spoke with a smile, his tone unhurried, looking as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"That sounds nice. You're using