Minato Namikaze seemed a little impatient. Li Ke noticed it, and naturally, the perfect ninja that Minato was had noticed it too. So he immediately addressed the people around him.
"However, I'll have to trouble everyone with the next steps. The main camp and the front lines especially need your protection. And whether it's chasing down fleeing shinobi or clearing out enemy strongholds, we'll still need everyone's help."
He put it beautifully. Basically, he was saying that if everyone helped, he would share the credit and acknowledge their contributions, so they could all receive rewards together.
Honestly, that was shameless. He was basically treating the Mist Shinobi as if they weren't even there.
But—
A Minato Namikaze who didn't need to worry about logistics or protecting his own main camp was terrifying.
"No problem. In that case, discuss the details of the battle plan with Qingtan. It would be better to end the war as soon as possible."
Shikaku Nara had no objections either. Before coming, he had already sounded everyone out. No one wanted another large-scale confrontation on the front lines. They were all sick of war and had no desire to keep fighting here. They just wanted to get back to Konoha as soon as possible.
That was also why Minato Namikaze was so busy. Only by staying constantly active could he steady the hearts of the Konoha Ninja, most of whom wanted to return home.
After all, many of the shinobi here had fought in three battles already. There was a rotation system that allowed them to return to the village, but famous shinobi were basically nailed to the battlefield. They weren't going to be rotated out.
So most Konoha Ninja wanted to bring the fighting with Kirigakure to an end as quickly as possible.
Everyone present turned to look at Fugaku Uchiha.
Fugaku Uchiha fell silent. Shikaku Nara's opinion reflected that of most Konoha jonin. At this point, hardly any of them still wanted to fight the Mist Shinobi. The problem was that the Uchiha had only just arrived at the front, and now the war was about to end?
How was he supposed to explain that to his clan?
His clansmen had spent a great deal of effort and time getting themselves sent to the front. He, too, had made plenty of concessions to secure this opportunity. If they handed over the battlefield in less than a month, the little credit they'd earned wouldn't be enough to share with all the shinobi on the Mist Battlefield!
Besides, most of the clan wanted him to become Hokage, and he needed the leadership to take the Uchiha's strength more seriously. If it became clear that the war could be settled without the Uchiha, then the clan would be looked down on. They might not even be able to carry out their ordinary duties in the Military Police Force properly.
Endless rumors would bury the Uchiha Clan.
So the Mist Battlefield had to become even more brutal, and the need for the Uchiha Clan even greater.
But if he refused to go along with this, he would be standing against every shinobi on the Mist Battlefield.
"What should I do?"
A look of hesitation quickly appeared on Fugaku Uchiha's face. Shikaku Nara and Minato Namikaze exchanged a glance at his indecision.
Li Ke saw the problem too and felt a little speechless.
The Uchiha Clan's downfall seemed to have come at the hands of Itachi Uchiha and Danzo, but in truth, it had come at the hands of this Fugaku Uchiha!
But he had no standing to speak up here, so Minato Namikaze spoke instead.
"Qingtan, do you have enough chakra? Can you use the Flying Raijin Jutsu to take someone with you?"
Minato Namikaze wore a warm smile, but Li Ke could see a trace of helplessness.
Minato wanted Fugaku to go along with them and earn credit as the clan head.
"That kid's going to be Hokage in the future... He's not bad."
Senju Tobirama's voice sounded in Li Ke's mind. Li Ke could tell which way Tobirama leaned, but he himself was planning to agree anyway.
Still, he looked over at Fugaku Uchiha, whose face had brightened with joy, and nodded.
Minato's words had two meanings. First, he was offering to let Fugaku join them in earning credit, helping him achieve a major victory to soothe the Uchiha Clan's dissatisfaction and protect its reputation.
Second, he was making Fugaku—and perhaps the entire Uchiha Clan—owe Li Ke a favor.
Seeing the expectant look in Fugaku Uchiha's eyes and his almost excessively guileless expression, Li Ke sighed helplessly.
"I should be able to. I'm not very practiced at taking people with me, but it shouldn't be a problem."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the tent smiled. Senju Tobirama spoke in Li Ke's mind as well.
He hadn't specified how many people he could take or what exactly he could manage. That was a very tactful way to put it.
"Nicely said, kid."
Minato Namikaze looked at Li Ke in surprise, realizing that he had helped smooth things over. He gave Li Ke a genuine smile and patted him on the shoulder.
"Good. That's a relief, Qingtan."
Then Minato Namikaze immediately held out his hand to Fugaku Uchiha.
"In that case, I believe I'll need the Uchiha Clan's strength—and your help, Jonin Fugaku."
Another textbook bit of official talk. Listening to him, Li Ke felt Minato Namikaze really was suited to be Hokage. He spoke in a grand and inclusive way, took everyone's interests into account, and did it all so smoothly. It was hard to imagine anyone better.
Fugaku Uchiha quickly took Minato Namikaze's hand and nodded.
"Not at all. The Uchiha Clan is willing to contribute its strength to Konoha. I'll just need to discuss it with my clansmen first."
Hearing that, Li Ke couldn't help grumbling inwardly.
"That's such a politically clueless thing to say... He's basically admitting that, as clan head, he can't keep his own people in line, and that the Uchiha Clan is deeply divided!"
Senju Tobirama couldn't resist voicing his own opinion either.
"They've always been like this... That's why I suspect there's something wrong with the Uchiha Clan's brains."
What followed was the rather ugly business of dividing up the credit for their achievements. Minato Namikaze and Shikaku Nara did most of the negotiating. Li Ke watched as Minato got the lion's share, but thanks to the two of them, most of what remained went to the clan-affiliated shinobi, while there was still enough to feed all the civilian shinobi. Those civilian shinobi who had earned decent credit could even gorge themselves on it.
Even the remaining Uchiha could get a share of the spoils on the scattered battlefields.
Put simply, Minato Namikaze and Shikaku Nara were using the advantage of the Flying Raijin Jutsu to make the pie bigger, ensuring that everyone who got a piece could eat their fill.
Li Ke didn't think much of it. It wasn't a problem if powerful people took the biggest share, so long as those below them could eat too and had room to advance. Then a faction built around shared interests wasn't much of a problem.
Who wouldn't like someone like Minato Namikaze? He was willing to lead and take on the most dangerous jobs himself, while giving everyone else easier work that still earned them plenty of credit. On top of that, he considered every side, looking out for Konoha's development and the interests of civilian shinobi while preserving as much of their fighting strength as possible...
If he wasn't Hokage, who should be?
"No wonder no one else from that generation could measure up to Minato Namikaze..."
Li Ke couldn't help grumbling inwardly, but he was also feeling increasingly speechless.
Because everything Minato Namikaze was doing was to keep Kushina from going to the front.
The Hokage decided whether a Jinchuriki could be sent into battle. And Konoha had been pushed to this point. If the fighting with the Mist Shinobi turned into a prolonged stalemate and supplies from the Daimyo still failed to arrive, Kushina would inevitably have to go to the front.
And if Kirigakure couldn't endure a drawn-out stalemate and deployed a Tailed Beast on the front lines, Kushina would have to go to battle too!
Once Konoha sent the Nine-Tails into battle, the other villages would realize that Konoha was at the end of its rope. The battlefields that had already settled down would flare up again.
So Minato must have been frantic earlier. No wonder he'd been charging around everywhere like a madman, without even having time for Kakashi and Rin Nohara.
And Konoha was so exhausted for a very simple reason.
The Daimyo had cut off their supplies at a critical moment.
"Sure enough, the Ninja System is garbage."
Li Ke grumbled inwardly, but no matter what he thought, at this moment he was just a nobody standing there.
In fact, he really was a nobody. If he hadn't decisively demonstrated his strength and mastered the Flying Raijin Jutsu, he truly would have been a nobody.
At last, the meeting—which looked like a discussion of how to deal with Kirigakure but was really a gathering to divide up the spoils—came to an end. Minato Namikaze called out to Li Ke.
"Qingtan, let's talk about the Flying Raijin Jutsu."
The other shinobi tactfully left, leaving Minato Namikaze and Li Ke alone in the tent.
Once everyone else was gone, Minato Namikaze spoke to Li Ke with complete sincerity.
"Thank you so much, Qingtan. You've helped me enormously."
He meant it. He even bowed slightly to show his gratitude.
Li Ke was surprised. At this point, everyone except Fugaku Uchiha could see that Minato Namikaze was already Hokage! For a Hokage to bow and thank a shinobi was an extraordinarily sincere gesture.
And Minato's next words left Li Ke utterly stunned.
"This may be selfish, but I really need to earn credit. I don't want my wife, Kushina, to go to the front lines. So, Qingtan, you really have helped me enormously! When the war is over, we have to get together at my place. I'm sure Kushina, my teacher Jiraiya, and Lady Tsunade would all be glad to meet you... And if I remember correctly, you're actually related to Lady Tsunade."
Li Ke quickly parsed what Minato Namikaze was saying:
I need enough credit, and I'll be taking the biggest share this time. So I'm sorry if you end up with less, but I'm doing it to keep my wife from going to the front, not to target or suppress you. From now on, you're a friend who can come over to my house. I'll also recommend you to Jiraiya and Tsunade as a student, and help you gain Tsunade's support.
Li Ke really hadn't expected Minato Namikaze to be so thorough. It meant Minato had looked over all his information—even his family tree, something Li Ke himself barely cared about.
At its core, Minato's invitation was an invitation to join Konoha's power center.
But Li Ke hadn't expected Minato to speak from the heart.
To everyone else, Minato's claim that he was doing this for Kushina was probably an excuse, just another step toward becoming Hokage. But to Li Ke, who knew that Minato would die alongside Kushina, it was clear that he really was working so hard for her.
"No problem. We're all doing this for Konoha. Shinobi should serve the interests of everyone. But Minato, you really have been working hard..."
Li Ke's words held several layers of meaning too.
The first sentence meant he would follow the arrangements, had no objections, wouldn't cause trouble, and wouldn't spread what had happened. The second showed that he was willing to grow closer to Minato and join his faction. It also showed that he understood Minato's desire to protect his wife.
Calling Minato Namikaze by his given name meant Li Ke accepted his terms.
Minato Namikaze paused, then broke into an even brighter smile.
"You really are a genius, Qingtan."
"It's all for the village, isn't it? Besides, when I get married, I'd like to ask you to be my witness, Minato."
They looked at each other and smiled, and Minato Namikaze finally relaxed.
"Of course, Qingtan. Leave that to me. But we're short on time, so we should head out as soon as possible, before word of your abilities gets out. Here, let's exchange Flying Thunder God coordinates."
Minato Namikaze held out his hand. A Flying Thunder God Kunai, unencrypted with Fuinjutsu, appeared in it. Li Ke took out one of his own, likewise unencrypted, and they exchanged their Flying Thunder God Mark seals.
Once Li Ke understood Minato Namikaze's Fuinjutsu code, he could use the Flying Thunder God Marks that had seemed indistinct to him before, along with Senju Tobirama.
But that wasn't all. Minato Namikaze brought out another scroll and placed it in front of Li Ke.
"Oh, right. These are some of my notes. Take a look so we can coordinate. All right, Qingtan, go rest for three hours. We leave as soon as they're up!"
Li Ke nodded and left at once, but he didn't really need to rest. His enhanced physique could handle this level of fighting. Minato Namikaze, on the other hand, didn't rest at all. He went to negotiate exchanges of favors with the others.
But when Li Ke opened the scroll, he raised an eyebrow at what he saw.
"Notes on the development and use of Flying Raijin: Guiding Thunder, along with the development and use of the Rasengan... He really is laying everything on the table."
This wasn't some collection of so-called notes. It was Minato Namikaze's ninjutsu development journal!
"So that's what I'm saying..."
If Minato Namikaze wasn't the Fourth Hokage, then who could be?
But—
"He's also the least suited for it."
Before you continue