"What's with that look? Isn't it only right for Minato-sensei to ask Aoba to keep an eye on you?"
Kakashi folded his arms and sneered. "A chronic latecomer like you needs someone watching over him. I don't want to be stuck waiting around every time we get a mission."
"I'm not late every single time."
Uchiha Obito tried to make excuses. He was strongly opposed to Uchiha Aoba keeping an eye on him, and he looked pleadingly at Namikaze Minato. "Sensei, could you reconsider?"
"Or you could pick someone else. How about having Rin keep an eye on me?"
Namikaze Minato stared at him speechlessly. Obito's intentions were so obvious, Minato could practically hear the abacus beads clacking.
And did Obito really want Nohara Rin to keep an eye on him for no other reason?
Since Obito was his student, Minato didn't want to call him out.
Uchiha Aoba, however, had no such reservations. He sneered coldly. "What are you daydreaming about?"
"Everyone here knows what you're thinking."
"You just want more time alone with Rin, don't you?"
"If you'd just come out and say it, I'd think more highly of you. What's with all the sneaking around? Are you even a man of the Uchiha Clan?"
"Pull yourself together. Don't make us look bad!"
"It's just a matter of saying it."
At that, Uchiha Obito's face turned bright red. Flustered, he waved his hands. "Aoba, you jerk! Don't go saying things like that. When did I ever mean that?"
Then he glanced at Nohara Rin, who had been listening to their conversation. Her little face was flushed too.
Seeing that she didn't seem uncomfortable or say anything to deny it, Obito scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.
Judging by that expression, he'd probably already picked out names for their future children.
Uchiha Aoba, Namikaze Minato, and Kakashi exchanged glances and shook their heads, laughing.
They really didn't know what to make of Uchiha Obito's situation.
Then there was Nohara Rin.
It would have been a lie to say she hadn't noticed Uchiha Obito's feelings for her.
Girls were naturally more perceptive than boys.
In Uchiha Aoba's view, perhaps Nohara Rin was waiting for Uchiha Obito to confess. After all, very few girls were willing to make the first move in such matters.
Of course, that was only one possibility.
Perhaps Nohara Rin had admired Kakashi like a young girl since childhood, and mistook that admiration for love, while seeing Uchiha Obito as a close friend.
That would explain the strange love triangle between the three of them.
In any case,
Uchiha Aoba had always treated the whole thing as a show to watch. And because he never minded stirring up trouble, he kept dropping hints to Uchiha Obito, both directly and indirectly, urging him to take action already.
Then he'd watch Obito cycle through all kinds of emotions: alarm, confusion, excitement, shyness, hesitation, indecision, and worry.
All Uchiha Aoba could say was: Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful!
Just as he was about to say more, a messenger hawk flew overhead. Its urgent cries rang out, and the amusement on Aoba's face instantly gave way to seriousness.
Namikaze Minato reacted the same way. As one of the village's senior officials, he knew exactly what an urgent call from a messenger hawk meant.
There was no time to waste. They had to get to the Hokage Office immediately.
He gave a quick order. "That's enough for today. Kakashi, Obito, and Rin, go home for now. Aoba, you're coming with me."
After saying that, Namikaze Minato used the Body Flicker Technique to leave with Uchiha Aoba. Kakashi frowned. As a jōnin, he knew how important the messenger hawks were.
After thinking it over, he had a good idea of what might have happened.
But he said nothing. Especially since Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin didn't know what was going on, it was better not to tell them until their suspicions were confirmed.
Hokage Office.
After Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Aoba met with Sarutobi Hiruzen, they moved to the conference room next door.
By then, nearly everyone who could be considered a senior official in the village had arrived.
First were the members of the council of elders:
Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Torifu Akimichi.
Next came the heads of the various clans:
Uchiha Fugaku, Hyūga Hiashi, Shibi Aburame, Nara Shikaku, Choza Akimichi, Yamanaka Inoichi, and the others.
As for the Sannin, who were also senior figures in the village, not one of them had come.
After the deaths of Senju Nawaki and Dan Katō, Tsunade had suffered severe psychological trauma. She had temporarily left the village with Shizune and was wandering throughout the Shinobi World.
After Jiraiya and Orochimaru joined forces to defeat Sunagakure, Jiraiya had been sent to command the Iwagakure front.
And then there was Orochimaru.
He was now so absorbed in his research into the mysteries of the human body that he couldn't pull himself away. On top of that, he had already received word that he had no chance of taking the Hokage Position, so he had simply said he wouldn't attend.
Naturally, Sarutobi Hiruzen was deeply displeased and disappointed.
In his view, even if Orochimaru couldn't become Hokage, he was still Hiruzen's student and a member of the village.
Skipping the meeting was far too inconsiderate.
Sarutobi Hiruzen also shot a subtle glare at Shimura Danzō, who was pretending to be oblivious beside him.
As Hokage,
did Danzō really think Hiruzen had no idea what he and Orochimaru were doing behind the scenes?
It was just that the outside threats hadn't been dealt with yet, and the village still needed Danzō's intelligence network. Otherwise, Hiruzen would have given him another memorable "you regret it, I become Hokage" moment long ago.
That was enough of the small talk.
Seeing that everyone was in place, Sarutobi Hiruzen cleared his throat and began. "I imagine you each have some idea why I called you here."
"Now I can tell you clearly: the situation is exactly what you've been thinking."
"After its war with Kumogakure ended, Iwagakure spent this time regrouping. Now they're reinforcing their forces at the front lines against us. It seems that old Ōnoki wants to swallow us in one bite."
Sarutobi Hiruzen got straight to the point without wasting a word.
As soon as he finished, the conference room erupted in discussion.
War.
If they had a choice, no one wanted to experience war.
But Iwagakure wanted to use the same approach against Konoha that it had used against Kumogakure. They had picked the wrong target.
Konoha wasn't a pushover.
Even though fighting two enemies at once in this war had cost them a great deal of manpower and resources,
a lean camel was still bigger than a horse.
If Iwagakure wanted to decide the outcome in a single battle, Konoha would oblige.
As the conference room gradually fell quiet, Uchiha Aoba, standing behind Namikaze Minato, looked straight at Uchiha Fugaku. The moment their eyes met, Aoba gave him a subtle nod.
Uchiha Fugaku paused briefly, then immediately understood what Uchiha Aoba meant.
So before anyone else could speak, he tapped the table to draw everyone's attention and said, "The Uchiha Clan is willing to send fifty of our shinobi to the Iwagakure front."
"They'll take orders from Lord Jiraiya and Lord Minato."
Before you continue