Star Ninja's Plea for Help

Konoha

Aside from a small number who could not extricate themselves from their missions, nearly all ninja carrying out tasks abroad had returned to the village.

At Konoha's gates, returning ninja could occasionally be seen with excited expressions.

War was about to begin!

Hokage's Office

Tobirama Senju frowned as he considered how Konoha could win the war at the smallest possible cost.

Thanks to Shimura Danzō's Root, Konoha had informants within Sunagakure as well.

Thus, Tobirama Senju knew that Sunagakure was carrying out a large-scale internal relocation. The destination was extremely well concealed, and even the informants could not obtain any information.

The movements of all the ninja along Sunagakure's borders naturally could not escape the shinobi world's notice. They were rapidly withdrawing into the Land of Wind.

This allowed Tobirama Senju to see through Sunagakure's strategy. They wanted to pull the front lines into the Land of Wind and wage guerrilla warfare on their home turf.

It had to be said that Sunagakure did have some clever people.

Because even if he acted personally, he could not wipe out the scattered Sunagakure forces throughout the Land of Wind in one fell swoop. The Sand ninja were not fools either. Lacking top-tier combat power, the moment Tobirama Senju appeared, they would immediately scatter and retreat.

Even so, Tobirama Senju was not flustered. Victory in the war was inevitable; he merely wanted to keep the losses to a minimum.

As Tobirama Senju pondered, a knock sounded outside the door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in."

"Lord Hokage, envoys from Hoshigakure wish to see you," Shikaku Nara's voice came from outside.

"Oh?" A trace of curiosity flashed across Tobirama's face.

The Star ninja wanted to see him?

"Do you know why they have come?" Tobirama Senju asked.

"Not yet, but the lead Star ninja looks extremely panicked. They are likely asking Konoha for help," Shikaku Nara replied.

Tobirama Senju recalled the events of the original story and immediately understood why the Star ninja had come.

It seemed that Hoshigakure, in the Land of Bears, possessed a meteorite containing a small portion of the Ten-Tails' power. It allowed Star ninja who absorbed its power to use the secret technique, the Mysterious Peacock Method.

If he remembered correctly, Akahoshi, who called himself the Star Shadow, had absorbed that meteorite into his body and been irradiated into a monster, hadn't he?

In the original story, Naruto Uzumaki had defeated Akahoshi.

But now, Naruto had been assigned to the ANBU by him, and Jiraiya had not taken Naruto as his disciple. Naturally, Hoshigakure's ninja could not stand against Akahoshi after he became a monster.

Having understood everything, Tobirama Senju nodded. "Let them come in and see me."

A few minutes later

Three ninja from Hoshigakure entered. They bore serious injuries and looked utterly bedraggled.

"Lord Hokage!"

The moment they entered, the three Star ninja knelt on one knee in unison, as though they had rehearsed it beforehand.

The lead Star ninja looked at Tobirama Senju with tears in his eyes, his voice trembling as he spoke.

"Lord Hokage, please, save Hoshigakure!"

"Our Hoshigakure is suffering through a terrible calamity. If you do not save us, then we are finished!"

Tobirama Senju was briefly taken aback by the Star ninja's attitude, but he quickly composed himself and asked calmly.

"I can help you, but what price can you pay?"

The lead Star ninja froze. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth.

"If Lord Hokage can save Hoshigakure, we are willing to offer up the secret technique, the Mysterious Peacock Method, and have our entire village join Konoha, following the Hokage's command in all things!"

Tobirama Senju fell silent...

After a long while, he asked, "How many ninja are left in your village?"

The Star ninja was stunned, seemingly not expecting Tobirama Senju to ask that question. After thinking for a moment, he answered, "My lord, Hoshigakure has roughly over a thousand ninja, but many have been killed by that monster Akahoshi. As for how many remain now, we do not know..."

"How many of your Star ninja have trained the Mysterious Peacock Method to the point where they can fly?"

At that question, the Star ninja shook his head. Instead, the young ninja behind him answered.

"In reply to the Hokage, training the Mysterious Peacock Method to the point of flight requires at least Jonin-level strength. Our village has around forty such people."

As he mentioned Jonin, the young man revealed a trace of longing.

Tobirama Senju curled his lip. The Jonin of such a small ninja village were greatly inflated in title. Otherwise, over forty Jonin would not have failed to deal with a mere Akahoshi.

Still, over forty Star ninja capable of flight, if they joined Konoha...

A smile appeared on Tobirama Senju's face. He had already thought of a way to counter Sunagakure.

He finally said to the three Star ninja.

"You will remain in Konoha for now. I will handle Hoshigakure's problem."

After saying that, Tobirama Senju vanished in a flash before the three Star ninja's astonished eyes.

"Is this the Hokage? He was so fast that our eyes could not even follow him!"

They marveled.