Shin'un walked over to Minato Namikaze, unable to stop marveling inwardly.
As expected of the Fourth Hokage, whose characterization in the original was nearly perfect. He had already shown such impressive powers of observation at just nine years old.
These things were easy for someone like him, who knew how the plot developed, to guess, but difficult for people in the shinobi world. Only someone quick-witted and constantly observant could pick up the clues.
"You're really amazing!"
Looking at Minato Namikaze lying on the ground, Shin'un could not help marveling inwardly.
"What?"
Minato Namikaze looked puzzled, not having caught what Shin'un had said.
Shin'un raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment, then simply got straight to the point.
"Are you afraid war will break out in the shinobi world?"
As though someone had voiced his private thoughts, Minato Namikaze stiffened. Only after a moment did he look at Shin'un.
"You think so too?"
Shin'un walked over beside Minato Namikaze and looked at the fiery red clouds in the sky, then simply lay down on the grass as well.
"Have you ever thought about something?"
"The clash in the Land of Rain was a conflict between missions. Ours was an assassination mission, while the Sand ninja were on a protection mission."
"Normally, the details of an assassination mission like that should be strictly confidential. So why has news of this clash with the Sand ninja spread all over Konoha?"
As though Shin'un's words had reminded him of something, Minato Namikaze immediately looked surprised.
"Are you saying someone in Konoha is deliberately spreading information about this mission?"
Shin'un gazed at the sky, silently calculating how much time remained before the Second Shinobi World War.
"Definitely."
"If someone weren't deliberately steering things, how could a single mission get the whole village so worked up?"
Minato Namikaze sat up, his brows tightly furrowed, and asked uncertainly:
"You mean... Lord Hokage?"
"It isn't necessarily the Hokage."
"Any higher-up in Konoha could do something like this."
As he spoke, Shin'un thought of a man shrouded in Konoha's shadows.
This method of fostering warmongering sentiment by spreading rumors felt very familiar to Shin'un.
It seemed like the sort of tactic that enormous root beneath Konoha's great tree would use.
Given that man's consistently radical approach, he really might do something like this.
"So it isn't Lord Hokage?"
Hearing that it was not necessarily the Third Hokage, Minato Namikaze let out a long breath, seemingly relaxing somewhat.
"You seem very afraid of the Third Hokage starting a war himself."
Noticing Minato Namikaze's attitude, Shin'un felt a little curious.
"Mm... I am."
"Becoming Hokage has been my dream since I was little, so naturally, Lord Hokage is my idol too."
Minato Namikaze turned to look at Shin'un as though he were joking.
Then Minato Namikaze took a deep breath, stood up, and resumed his training.
Shin'un remained lying on the ground, watching Minato Namikaze study the little whirlwind in his palm. In the end, he did not tell him the truth.
Of course, the Hokage could not be the one to do something like spread rumors.
But the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi surely knew about the rumors spreading through Konoha lately and the steadily rising appetite for war.
If he wanted to, the Third Hokage could easily use his authority to stop the rumors from spreading through the village.
Since he knew but did not stop it, that amounted to letting it develop unchecked. In other words, the Third Hokage himself was actually inclined toward starting a war.
"Sigh..."
Shin'un watched Minato Namikaze practice Wind Release a short distance away and sighed deeply.
The future Fourth Hokage was still very immature. Although his naturally keen instincts had alerted him to the strange changes in the village lately, he still could not make sense of the darkness within it.
It's better not to know.
With that thought, Shin'un stood up and resumed his training.
The next day, at the Konoha Ninja Academy.
After another early morning of training alone, Shin'un arrived at the Ninja Academy.
Creak...
Pushing open the door, the first thing Shin'un heard was the chatter inside the classroom.
"Have you heard? Things in the Land of Rain have been getting more and more chaotic lately."
"How so?"
"Latest news! Iwagakure sent a hundred-ninja squad to the Land of Rain!"
"..."
Listening to the increasingly outlandish news circulating through the classroom, Shin'un walked speechlessly toward his seat.
Just as he sat down, Kushina spotted him from the other side of the classroom, where she was talking to Uchiha Mikoto and Shiina Kō.
After saying a word to her friends, Kushina returned to her seat.
She looked at Shin'un with a cheeky grin.
"Hey, Shin'un, take a look at Shiina Kō. What's different about her today?"
Shin'un gave Kushina a surprised look, then turned toward Shiina Kō.
Shiina Kō was also looking back at Shin'un at that moment, and their eyes met before either could react.
Shin'un did not react much.
Caught sneaking a look at Shin'un, Shiina Kō flushed bright red and hurriedly turned back to face the front.
Looking her up and down, Shin'un found nothing different about Shiina Kō.
At most, she had changed her clothes and hairstyle.
Her previously unremarkable tracksuit had been replaced by a tight, midriff-baring ninja outfit and black ninja fishnet stockings, faintly outlining the curves of Shiina Kō's figure, which had nothing to show off.
Her usually loose black hair had been tied into a high ponytail that swung behind her.
"When I said goodbye to Kō-chan last night, I told her you liked girls of this type. Then she came dressed like this today."
"Looks good, right? Before you got here, Mikoto and I put a lot of care into dressing her up."
Kushina waggled her eyebrows at Shin'un, looking like she was asking for a beating.
"Looks good, my ass!"
"Make sure she changes back tomorrow."
Shin'un glared at Kushina in exasperation.
"What? Feeling bad for her?"
Seeing Shin'un's reaction, Kushina grew even more excited, her eyes practically gleaming.
"It's fine if you feel bad for her. From now on, she can wear it just for you..."
"Then every night, the two of you can..."
Hearing Kushina's increasingly outrageous words, Shin'un hurriedly interrupted.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean, feeling bad for her?"
"I'm serious. Does dressing like that at just nine years old really look good?"
Seeing Shin'un's wide-eyed glare, Kushina finally realized he was serious.
Kushina pursed her lips in disappointment and gave Shin'un a sidelong glance.
"I really don't get how someone who's only nine can talk like old man Qin Yi at the village entrance every day."
Shin'un took the books he needed for the day out of his shoulder bag and could not help laughing at Kushina's words.
"Hey! You're right. I'm not old enough to be your grandpa, but being your uncle would be no problem."
Kushina could not be bothered to respond to Shin'un.
Seeing the books Shin'un had placed on his desk, Kushina seemed to remember something.
She took several scrolls out of her schoolbag and tossed them in front of Shin'un.
"Here! The Ninjutsu scrolls you wanted!"
"You ask me for help and can't even say anything nice. I'm telling you, don't come to me next time you need something."
Shin'un picked up a scroll in front of him and unrolled it to read.
"A Lightning Release Ninjutsu scroll?"