Naruto sent a Shadow Clone to find Shikaku.
Shikaku Nara's temporary office.
Shikaku was buried in a mountain of files, a vein faintly throbbing on his forehead.
His left hand rapidly flipped through Kusagakure's asset and debt statements while his right calculated the budget needed to maintain local order and distribute basic food rations.
A small place like Kusagakure had little to offer. Even Jonin were scarce.
It was a small nation, after all. A lack of resources and powerful traditions was only natural.
Some of its Jonin would barely qualify as Chunin in Konoha.
And Kusagakure's internal administration was an absolute mess!
Deficits, debts, a disaffected populace, lingering pockets of potential resistance, integration with the Land of Fire's institutions...
Countless tangled problems, each requiring him, the "brain," to sort things out, make decisions, and assign tasks.
He had already been working for a long time without a break.
Just then, with a soft pop, Naruto's Shadow Clone appeared directly in front of his desk.
"Uncle Shikaku!"
Shikaku's hand jerked in surprise.
He raised his head and looked at Naruto, a sense of foreboding rising within him.
Without wasting a moment, the Shadow Clone clearly repeated Naruto's orders.
After hearing them, Shikaku's vision went dark, and his head buzzed.
Write a declaration of war today, launch a blitzkrieg against the Land of Earth tomorrow?
And split our forces to take the Land of Rivers and push into the Land of Wind at the same time?
I'm still working myself to death cleaning up this mess in Kusagakure. I don't even have time to sleep.
Shikaku nearly coughed up blood.
He knew Naruto was a man of action, but wasn't this taking it too far?
Yet years of discipline and responsibility as a ninja quickly helped him suppress the urge to