"Uh."
"You little brat, I told you to learn from the spirit of a stone, not to crush stones."
"Let me tell you, I'm not afraid of the First."
"Not even if both Hokage came at me together."
"Even if I lost, they'd only have won unfairly."
Hearing Ōnoki say this, Ishikawa quickly turned around and scolded him.
"That joke was so bad...!"
Ōnoki pursed his lips and turned away. A hint of disdain flashed in his eyes, and the four black dots on his nose stood out.
"Hahaha...!"
"Ōnoki, make the arrangements at once. Find out what's happening in the other ninja villages. There are Tailed Beasts near every country, so we need to know how theirs are doing."
"If the others are willing to join forces, we might be able to stand up to Konoha."
Ishikawa was already over sixty, and naturally knew more secrets than Hashirama Senju and the others.
He didn't think he could really defeat Konoha, either. If they wanted the Four-Tails back, they would have to ally with the other villages.
There was no way he'd take on Konoha alone. He knew his own strength, and at his age, it had already begun to decline.
Even if he'd once been as strong as them, he had no chance of winning now.
"So you know you can't beat them yourself. Tch."
"Then it's only natural that I was scared—uh, that I was worried, isn't it?"
"Other people dare to laugh at me. If you were my age and saw that giant, you'd be scared too."
Hearing Ishikawa say that, Ōnoki pursed his lips and muttered to himself.
Ōnoki was only twelve years old at the time, about the same age Naruto had been.
When Naruto and Sasuke encountered Zabuza, they were both so overwhelmed by