Nawaki's Provocation

Minato regarded this mission as an opportunity. If he merely followed Nawaki's orders, completed the mission, and destroyed Kannabi Bridge, then even if the war was won, he would at most become Nawaki's foil. Everyone would only think Nawaki's strategy was brilliant, not that Minato Namikaze had been the key. So, if he wanted greater achievements, he had to cut off the enemy's supply line while utterly crushing Iwagakure's morale on the front lines and forcing them to withdraw. That way, he would have single-handedly turned the tide of the war and gained immense prestige and merit!

If it had been the original thousand Rock Ninja, Minato would already have succeeded completely. Although Obito had died and Minato was suspected of acting on his own authority, those flaws could not overshadow the achievement. Before such a glorious victory, everyone would consciously overlook one insignificant ninja, as well as Minato's questionable conduct.

But now, Minato faced ten thousand Rock Ninja. His plan had failed completely, which made his actions a grave dereliction of duty—perhaps even defiance of orders!

And Nawaki intended to seize on that point, openly challenging Minato in order to strike at his reputation.

He was not doing this out of jealousy over Kushina, nor was he deliberately driving a wedge between Kakashi and Minato. He was eliminating a rival for the position of Hokage!

Although Nawaki currently held the absolute upper hand and had the strongest support for inheriting the position of Hokage, Minato was, after all, the Hokage of the original story. Moreover, he had shone brilliantly in this war, making him a certain threat to Nawaki.

The position of Hokage was tied to Nawaki's long-standing plans, and he could not afford to lose it. He would not allow anyone to interfere with his plans, so this