"What are you thinking... you think graduating means you can go straight to the battlefield?"
Shikaku's mouth twitched as he listened to Shikamaru.
He thought his son was certainly precocious, but there were still some things he simply could not figure out.
Perhaps, looking at things from Shikamaru's perspective,
he was not wrong.
After all, hadn't there been a precedent?!
Back during the Third Shinobi World War, under the Third Hokage,
that had admittedly happened because they really had been short on fighting strength.
After all, Konoha had been fighting the other four villages at the time.
Some smaller villages had also been watching hungrily from the sidelines.
So yes, they really had been short on manpower.
But it also had to be said that the main issue was the gap between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Bai Ye.
Anyone who truly understood Bai Ye's strength would know why that could not happen now.
When the battle report from Kirigakure had arrived, Shikaku had only had one thought.
If Bai Ye had truly intended to attack Kirigakure back then,
he would not have needed any elaborate plans.
Bai Ye had had plenty of ways to deal with Kirigakure.
Perhaps he had simply had his own considerations.
That was why he had not attacked those major ninja villages at the time.
With small ninja villages like these, there was even less reason to worry.
Even if they fought Kumogakure later,
if Kumogakure was the only village joining the war, Konoha would not really need these students to take part.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, these students would not contribute much.
"Maybe we won't necessarily go to the battlefield, but our early graduation has to have something to do with this, right?!"
Shikamaru thought for a moment, then offered his