War Preparations

Only three people remained in the high-level conference room.

Following the departure of Minato Namikaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly removed the red conical hat emblazoned with the character for "Fire" from his head.

This hat was the symbol of his tenure as the Third Hokage.

Yet now, due to the wear and tear of his long journey, the white portions of the hat were stained with noticeable dust.

He sat down across the long table, looking weary, facing Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu from across the divide.

Mitokado Homura asked impatiently, "How is the situation?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not answer immediately.

The vigor he had displayed in front of Minato had already dissipated from his face.

In its place was an unprecedented gravity and exhaustion.

Hiruzen Sarutobi set down his pipe, his face appearing exceptionally aged amidst the swirling smoke.

"It is very bad..."

He let out a long sigh, his voice heavy with a profound sense of helplessness.

"Worse than I had imagined."

Utatane Koharu's heart tightened: "What did the Daimyo say?"

"The village..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, then continued, "I am afraid we must prepare for war."

Upon hearing the word "war,"

both Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu felt a tremor in their hearts.

After handing over the position of Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been summoned by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

He had only just finished the meeting and rushed back to the village without a moment's rest.

As it turned out, such things had occurred while Hiruzen Sarutobi was away from the village for only a short time.

Before he could even catch his breath, he had to urgently deal with the conflict between Danzo and the Fourth Hokage.

Only now was he finally able to sit in his chair and recover for a moment.

Feeling the fatigue in his body, Hiruzen Sarutobi silently set down his pipe, forcing him to acknowledge a single fact.

He was truly getting old.

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a bitter smile, "Not only does the Daimyo have no intention of disbanding the Guardian Shinobi, he even plans to expand them; this summons was to announce that very decision to me."

The Land of Fire was going to expand the Guardian Shinobi.

The Guardian Shinobi were elite ninja selected from across the Land of Fire, independent of the village.

On the surface, they were responsible for protecting the safety of the Daimyo, but in reality, they were a private, independent force that answered directly to the Daimyo, serving as his personal armed power.

One must understand that the reason the village was so special

was because of Konoha's uniqueness within the Land of Fire.

As the sole provider of ninja for the Land of Fire, it shouldered the responsibility of being the Daimyo's defense and security advisor.

However, the Daimyo was privately raising this army known as the "Guardian Shinobi,"

and now, he was even willing to divert the military budget originally paid to the village

in order to expand them.

This caused Konoha to lose its unique status within the Land of Fire.

It also naturally created an opposition between the village and the Guardian Shinobi.

As for the background of the Guardian Shinobi's original formation, This stemmed from the power vacuum between the Second Hokage and the Third Hokage.

Back then, the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama died in battle, and the rebellion of Kinkaku and Ginkaku left the village without its supreme leader.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was appointed in a time of crisis, but at that time, he did not have the full support of the major clans within the village.

Even more fatal was the fact that powerful enemies like Cloud Village and Stone Village were watching like tigers eyeing their prey.

To stabilize the situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to make some political concessions to the Daimyo.

The Daimyo recognized his right to inherit the position of Hokage and provided economic support to the village, but in exchange, the Daimyo gained the power to form the "Guardian Shinobi," and the future appointment of the Hokage would also require the Daimyo's approval.

The village only retained the right to recommend candidates for Hokage.

This was the origin of the Guardian Shinobi, born from a naked political transaction.

"Expansion?" Mitokado Homura stood up abruptly, "Has the Daimyo gone mad?"

Utatane Koharu said with a trembling voice, "This... how can this be!"

"If the Daimyo lets the Guardian Shinobi expand, what will happen to the village?"

Mitokado Homura's face turned livid, "This is a blatant provocation to the authority of the village!"

Originally, over these years, as Konoha gradually stabilized, the village had begun discussing matters related to the disbandment of the Guardian Shinobi with the Daimyo.

But they never expected that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire not only had no intention of disbanding the Guardian Shinobi, but was even planning to expand them.

Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes wearily, his mind echoing with the Daimyo's smug and complacent words.

"Hiruzen," Utatane Koharu asked with a trembling voice, "what should we do now?"

If they indulged the expansion of the Guardian Shinobi like this, there was a possibility that they might replace the village in the future.

This was an extremely serious matter, far more severe than the petty squabbles between Minato Namikaze and Danzo.

"Prepare to notify the other major clans in the village."

Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his eyes again, "In case the subsequent negotiations with the Daimyo break down, the village must prepare for the worst."

After bidding farewell to Gota and the others, Uchiha Yatsuhashi made some inquiries in the village.

Only then did he learn that for ninjas in the village, whether they wanted to learn B-rank or higher A-rank ninjutsu, they all needed to apply to the Hokage, and only after receiving approval could they go to the Core Secret Archives to study.

This was common knowledge in the village, but Uchiha Yatsuhashi was the only one who was not very clear about it.

This was mainly because his aptitude had been too poor before, and his chakra reserves were insufficient to support the learning of ninjutsu.

Therefore, he had never applied to the village to learn ninjutsu, so naturally, he was unaware of this process.

As the sun set, Uchiha Yatsuhashi stood in the Hokage Office and submitted his application to Minato Namikaze.

"Lord Hokage, I would like to apply to learn ninjutsu."

Minato Namikaze was reviewing documents, and upon hearing this, he looked up, gazing gently at Uchiha Yatsuhashi before him.

As a newly promoted member of the Anbu directly under the Hokage, he indeed had the qualifications to apply to him for learning ninjutsu.

He took a plain blue Ninjutsu Scroll from his drawer and asked casually, "What kind of ninjutsu do you want to learn?"

Uchiha Yatsuhashi hesitated for a moment, "I want to learn Sealing Technique."

"Oh?"

Minato raised an eyebrow slightly, a flicker of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Sealing Technique is obscure and profound, demanding extremely high control over chakra and innate talent; it is not something just anyone can learn.

But looking at Yatsuhashi, who wore an expression of absolute confidence before him, Minato found it difficult to dampen his enthusiasm.

Thus, the corners of Minato's mouth curled upward.

He opened his drawer, and beneath a stack of ordinary blue Ninjutsu Scroll, there were actually purple and gold ones, which were of a much higher grade.

After a moment of hesitation, he pulled out a golden Ninjutsu Scroll that shimmered with flowing light.

After all, Sealing Technique is a classified matter within the village.

Only the highest-grade golden Ninjutsu Scroll, can be used to apply for the opportunity to study it.

Normally, when a ninja learns ninjutsu, they can only apply for one Ninjutsu Scroll at a time.

But considering the difficulty of learning Sealing Technique, and to ensure Yatsuhashi didn't make a wasted trip, Minato made an exception this time and gave him two.

"Since you want to learn, then go and give it a try."

He picked up his pen and, on both the blue and golden Ninjutsu Scroll, signed his own name and Yatsuhashi's respectively.

"It has been approved. Go find Inuzuka Yuka; she will take you to the Core Secret Archives."

Beneath the Hokage Building, at the entrance to the Core Secret Archives.

A cold wind blew continuously from the deep, dark passage, and the air carried the scent of aged scrolls.

"You are Yatsuhashi?"

Her voice was cold and detached, carrying a hint of wildness that did not belong to a human.

Yatsuhashi looked up to see a girl standing on the steps, dressed in a white lab coat.

Wearing rimless glasses, her temperament was rational and distant.

But what was most eye-catching, were the pair of furry dog ears atop her head, and the white tail swaying incessantly behind her.

This was Inuzuka Yuka.

Because she had practiced "Inuzuka Style: Human-Beast Hybrid Transformation" when she was young, she had failed to merge with her ninja dog, Sumaru.

Although she retained her human appearance, she was permanently left with the features of beast ears and a tail.

It was precisely because of this failure that she turned to scientific research, attempting to unravel the human-beast fusion on her body and reclaim her former self.

"Follow me."

After confirming Yatsuhashi's identity, Yuka turned to lead the way.

Unlike her cold and aloof voice, that white tail swayed left and right continuously behind her.

The gate to the archives was cast from several layers of heavy alloy, and two Anbu members stood guard at the entrance.

"The Barrier Squad has set up seven layers of sealing barriers here."

Yuka introduced without looking back, "Coupled with the rotating Anbu guards, let alone a person, even a fly wouldn't be able to sneak inside."

She signaled for Yatsuhashi to place the Ninjutsu Scroll into the grooves on the gate.

Those two Ninjutsu Scroll were not just passes; they were the keys to opening the gate.

When the golden Ninjutsu Scroll was placed into the identification slot, Inuzuka Yuka was visibly stunned.

"Gold... it's actually the highest-grade advanced Ninjutsu Scroll?"

It had been a long time since she had seen authorization of this level.

One must understand that the Ninjutsu Scroll has a strict hierarchy:

Common (Blue): Corresponds to B-rank and below standard ninjutsu.

Advanced (Purple): Corresponds to A-rank advanced ninjutsu.

Advanced (Gold): Corresponds to S-rank forbidden jutsu.

Possessing this golden Ninjutsu Scroll means that Uchiha Yatsuhashi is qualified to learn every S-rank ninjutsu or forbidden jutsu contained within.

"Creak—"

After another round of rigorous identity verification inside the main gate, the heavy alloy doors slowly creaked open.

The moment Uchiha Yatsuhashi stepped through the threshold, he felt as if he were passing through a layer of viscous water.

This was likely the Seven-Layer Barrier that Inuzuka Yuka had mentioned.

Behind the door, there were no rows of dense bookshelves as Uchiha Yatsuhashi had imagined, only a narrow, long corridor.

On both sides of the corridor stood three platforms of different colors, corresponding to the blue, purple, and gold ranks of ninjutsu.

"Choose." Inuzuka Yuka led Uchiha Yatsuhashi to the golden platform first.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi's gaze swept rapidly across the catalog scroll before finally settling on a single name.

"Four Symbols Seal." Uchiha Yatsuhashi read the name aloud.

Inuzuka Yuka pushed up her glasses, and even the wagging of her tail paused for a fleeting moment.

"Four Symbols Seal? You should know that Sealing Technique is extremely difficult to learn without a foundation."

"Are you sure you want to choose this?" She confirmed once more.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi nodded.

Seeing this, Inuzuka Yuka stopped wasting words.

She wrote "Four Symbols Seal" and the "Summoning Technique" that Uchiha Yatsuhashi had also selected onto the golden and blue Ninjutsu Scroll respectively, then stated the price: "Four Symbols Seal, five million ryo for a single rental. Summoning Technique, two hundred thousand ryo for a single rental."

"..."

The air suddenly turned deathly quiet.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi stood rooted to the spot, his expression stiffening.

Having already exhausted his fortune to lease land and settle the Iburi Clan, he didn't have a single coin left to his name.

"...I have no money."

Uchiha Yatsuhashi said honestly.

"No money?" Inuzuka Yuka stared at him in disbelief, and even the tail that had been wagging incessantly now stood as straight and rigid as a stick.

"No money? If you have no money, why did you come here to learn ninjutsu?!"