That evening, after dinner with Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, Kizaru strolled back to the Shimura Clan's residence.
At Kizaru's knock, the front door of the Shimura residence opened.
Namikaze Minato stood in the doorway. A year earlier, Danzo had taken him in as his adopted son, and he had officially moved into the Shimura residence.
There had been a little incident in the process of Danzo adopting Minato.
After bringing himself and Minato closer, Danzo had sought him out one dark, moonless night and asked to adopt him.
After a moment of hesitation and thought, Minato agreed to Danzo's request.
But he had one condition: he didn't want to change his name.
Minato didn't refuse to take the Shimura surname because he had some ancient family legacy he wanted to revive.
Rather, it was because the name had been given to him by the Third Hokage after Konoha took him in as a war orphan.
That was why Minato dreamed of becoming Hokage one day, but still didn't want to change his name.
Danzo naturally refused at first, and was quite unhappy about it. He couldn't shake the feeling that some old geezer was always making trouble for him!
When Kizaru heard about it, he went to Danzo and changed his mind with just one sentence.
"Uncle, what you want is Minato's heart and loyalty, not his surname!"
Kizaru's words changed Danzo's mind. He let go of his misgivings, accepted Minato's condition, and officially adopted him.
"Big Brother Kizaru, you're back!" Seeing Kizaru at the door, Minato broke into a happy smile.
Then Minato's nose twitched. He caught a whiff of alcohol and frowned.
"You've been drinking again? Father is waiting for you. He'll be angry if he smells the booze!"
"Just a little!" Kizaru smiled and raised a hand, deftly making a C shape with his fingers.
Like a little adult, Minato sighed and said, "I'll ask Keiko to make you some hangover soup. Drink it and let the smell of alcohol wear off before you go see Father!"
Kizaru rested a hand on Minato's head and gently ruffled his hair. "Don't worry. He can't beat me!"
???
Minato's head filled with question marks. He felt like he and Big Brother Kizaru were living in completely different worlds.
Ruffling the blond hair felt pretty good. Satisfied, Kizaru lowered his right hand.
With his hands in his pockets, he ignored Minato fixing his hair and headed toward Danzo's quarters.
"Big Brother Kizaru! You..." Minato finished fixing his hair, then hurried after Kizaru, calling out to him.
"It's late. Go back and get some rest." Kizaru raised his right hand to stop Minato from speaking, his tone lazy.
"...All right." Minato could only stand there and watch Kizaru walk away.
After saying goodbye to Minato, Kizaru crossed the courtyard and unhurriedly made his way to Danzo's quarters.
Danzo sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, resting with his eyes closed. He heard Kizaru's footsteps.
"Uncle, why are you still up this late?" Kizaru leaned against the doorframe at the courtyard entrance, smiling at Danzo.
Though they were dozens of meters apart, Danzo's keen nose still caught the faint smell of alcohol.
He frowned, ready to lecture Kizaru.
"Have you forgotten the Three Prohibitions of Shinobi?"
"Being a shinobi is such a hassle. Why not let me retire?" Kizaru smiled, paying no heed to Danzo's lecture.
"You..." Danzo was left speechless by Kizaru's answer. He was furious, but there was nothing he could do!
With no other choice, Danzo changed the subject.
"The shinobi who attacked you today has confessed. Just as I expected, he was from Kumogakure."
"Kumogakure again?" Kizaru's smile faded slightly. "That's the second time. How frightening."
"What do you think?" Danzo asked calmly, watching Kizaru.
"Getting attacked all the time is such a hassle." Kizaru rubbed the back of his head and gazed up at the moon, looking troubled.
"Why not wipe them all out?"
His tone shifted. Kizaru looked back at Danzo, smiling without a trace of warmth.
Danzo carefully considered the possibilities. After a long pause, he lowered his head in thought, then raised it again.
"Now isn't the right time. Hanzo of the Land of Rain has been too quiet lately. I have a feeling that man is planning something big!"
Compared to their old enemy, Kumogakure, Hanzo of the newly rising Land of Rain was the real thorn in the side of Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi!
It really was something big!
Knowing the events of the Second Shinobi World War from Naruto, Kizaru had guessed what Hanzo was about to do: something that would shock the Shinobi World.
It wasn't that big, but it wasn't small, either. In an extremely short time, Hanzo, representing the Land of Rain, would declare war on the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Iron almost simultaneously, igniting the Second Shinobi World War!
Huh! Why did Hanzo's move feel so familiar to Kizaru? It was like something he'd read about in a history book.
In any case, Hanzo's actions left plenty of people in the Shinobi World dumbfounded.
Even the Raikage, the most reckless of the Five Great Nations, would have to admit Hanzo had him beat!
By declaring war on three countries at once, what confidence or trump card did Hanzo have?
As it turned out, he had neither—or rather, Hanzo's confidence came from his own strength and sheer nerve!
So why did Hanzo start a war? Simple: he was a pacifist with lofty ideals.
At this point, Kizaru couldn't help complaining. Nearly half the villains in Naruto were pacifists! What a joke!
Hanzo's vision of peace was utterly unrealistic!
His idea was simple: he believed the Shinobi World was chaotic and full of bloodshed and war because resources weren't distributed fairly between nations.
Up to that point, there was nothing wrong with Hanzo's thinking.
But when it came to actually solving the problem of war, his proposed solution showed what it meant to demand a handout with a straight face!
Hanzo's solution was brutally simple.
He figured that since war was caused by unfair distribution, the great nations only had to cede territory and resources to the small countries. Then the nations would have equal power and resources, and everything would be fine!
At that proposal, Sarutobi turned into Danzo; Danzo wanted to kill someone; the Second Hokage would have been angered back to life; and the First would have laughed his head off!
Clinging to this unreliable idea, Hanzo had hit one wall after another in his youth and gradually came to a new understanding.
If the great nations wouldn't give him what he wanted, then as a small country, he'd take it himself!
As Hanzo's thinking grew more extreme, he united the shinobi forces of the Land of Rain and became their leader. From then on, he plotted to make his ideal a reality one day.
That day was almost here.
Considering Hanzo's unusual behavior lately, Danzo had no choice but to reject the plan Kizaru had just proposed.
But Kumogakure had tried to assassinate his precious nephew twice in a row. Danzo wasn't the type to put up with that.
"Hiruzen and I think you should lead an elite squad and launch a retaliatory strike!" Danzo told Kizaru.
"Lead a squad? Sounds like a hassle. Why not let me go alone?" Kizaru replied with a frown.
"Don't worry. The members I've chosen for you are the finest shinobi in the village," Danzo explained, knowing what Kizaru was thinking.
"Is that so? Then I'll look forward to it." Kizaru's frown relaxed, and he smiled.