Escape From Konoha

October.

Kumo in the northeast appears ready to move, showing a desire to restart the war. Although there wasn't enough evidence, the northeast border of the Land Of Fire had indeed been uneasy recently.

With regards to that, Minato only paid attention briefly before setting it aside. It wasn't yet time to deal with Kumo.

In May, Kumo withdrew from the battlefield of the Land Of Tea without signing an armistice agreement. There seem to be many aspects to consider.

Even if Kumo made a comeback, Minato wouldn't be surprised. However, Kumo were still intimidated by his power, persistently harassed them with small movements, testing Konoha's limits.

With his power as the Hokage still unstable, Minato had no choice but to turn a blind eye to Kumo's actions. He couldn't understand the Third Hokage's strategy. Even though he's been removed from the position of Hokage, the Third Hokage still held the most critical power in the hands of the Hokage— The Anbu..This left Minato feeling distressed and helpless. If it weren't for the delay in forming his own Anbu, he could have acted a bit more rougher with Kumo's actions.

Konoha couldn't deal with both internal and external troubles at the moment..

When he was a Konoha Jonin, Minato viewed the village from the perspective of a Jonin. At that time, due to the limitations of his vision, he couldn't see the real situation of the entire Konoha. After becoming Hokage, he realized that the troubles inside Konoha were far more troublesome than he imagined.

The Uchihas' trust crisis has always existed, and due to the defection of the Hyuga clan a few years ago, there may be a hidden rift in the Hyuga clan despite surface-level harmony with the high-level. Especially Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga Clan. He has a calm personality. Minato tried several times but couldn't get any useful information from him. He wanted to win over the clan head, but he had no ideal on how to deal with it.

Except for the head of the Hyuga clan, the rest of the clan elders of the Hyuga clan were very close to the retired Third Hokage and his friends. This unbreakable stalemate had existed since he became Hokage.

Shikaku, who sought refuge, only gave him a suggestion - first, to minimize the impact of Konoha after the war, handle post-war reconstruction and pension as eell, and then gather the power of Anbu to unravel the net laid by the Third.

Because compared to the retired Third Hokage, Minato had a justifiable righteousness. Although he may appear very weak initially, but as long as he moved through this weak period, there will be changes.

This was why, after tripping Danzo, the restrictions imposed on him by the Third Hokage became more severe, as the Third Hokage was also under considerable pressure and didn't seem as comfortable as he was. It depended on which side couldn't hold out.

One thing Minato agreed with Shikahisa's suggestion was that gathering Anbu's power should be his top priority. Only by gathering Anbu could he, as Hokage, avoid being blind and gradually gain power.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Minato picked up the seal and stamped a red seal on a document, then picked up the teacup to sip, only to find that the tea inside had been cold for a while. Not only the tea but also the bento that was put aside was cold, since he didn't take a bite. 'If Kushina knew about it, she would probably complain again.'

Kakashi pushed the door in, closed the door, walked to Minato's desk, and put a stack of mission reports on the desk.

"Hokage-sama, this is the mission report for the Land Of Snow mission."

"Thank you, Kakashi."

Minato nodded. Kakashi has been away from Konoha for a while, counting the time, if everything went well, it was the right time for him to be back. If it weren't for the fact that the rewards for the mission was bibe, Minato wouldn't want to get involved in such a mission involving the politics of another countries.

First, because he had no one available. Secondly, casually intervening in the politics of other countries could easily lead to international disputes. Thirdly, the Land of Snow was too far away from the Land of Fire. Once there was any problem, it would be almost impossible to make fixes.

"Did the mission go well?."

"Yes. Kazahana Koyuki has been successfully rescued, and I placed her in a safe location; she was later adopted by the former daimyo's subordinate. I have no idra about their next actions." Kakashi replied flatly.

"Rescuing her is enough, their whereabouts has nothing to do with Konoha." Minato nodded agreement.

"About the things concerning the Land of Demons, I also made some summaries in the mission, please take a look at it, Hokage-sama."

"I'll take a look at it later." Minato put Kakashi's mission report aside. He had too many things to do at the moment, and the Land of Demons was far away from the Land of Fire, so it didn't matter if he put the report aside for the time being.

"I'll give you a week's vacation, and you can return to the Anbu after your break."

"Yes." Kakashi walked out of Hokage's office in a happy mood. After being busy for a long time, he could finally have a few days of rest. Even as a ninja, under the pressure of the continuous heavy missions, he was almost exhausted.

Minato watched Kakashi leaving, silently regretting the absence of available resources. He wished he could somehow divide Kakashi to use multiple versions of him.

This notion, however, remains a mere thought, as Minato wasn't short-sighted. His current responsibility was to disregard external disturbances and focus solely on looking for suitable allies.

And when the time was right, Kakashi should have fully matured. At that time, whether he would assign Kakashi to the position of vice-minister or minister of Anbu, Minato needed to think carefully about it.

.....

As dusk approached, the sun's intensity waned.

Itachi once again found himself at the cemetery where ninjas were buried, pondering about the meaning of life.

Even though Orochimaru, provided an answer that day, it was only Orochimaru's own answer, and not the answer Itachi wanted.

Standing there for a long period, Itachi took a breath, shook his head, and left. On his way back, Itachi watched the riverbank, where a group of children were carried way playing ninja games.

"Hey bey you're Itachi, do you want to come and play with us?"

The one talking him was a blacklong-haired girl of the same age, a tear mole in the corner of her eye. Itachi recognized her, Uchiha Izumi. "No, I'm going home."

Itachi replied calmly but declined. It wasn't like that he was cold or hated them, he simply had extremely important matters to attend to. He has long realized that he could not connect with these people. His peers don't think about the same problem he did. While he thought about life, death, war, and peace, they only focus on what games to play.

Even though the Elder advised him to pay more attention to those around him to achieve his dream of world peace, Itachi felt that spending time with these people was only a waste of time. He couldn't learn anything valuable from them.

Perhaps, geniuses were destined to be lonely.

These people hold no value worth observing, Itachi concluded. Just as he prepared to leave, a few boys approached, one of them pointed at him angrily

"Hey, you're too arrogant."

Their anger stemmed not from Itachi's rejection but from the arrogant expression which made them disgusted.

"I'm going home to eat and then practice shuriken throwing."

Itachi didn't get angry, replying calmly. Yet, his posture appeared cold to the kids.

"Then practice shuriken with us. We want too!"

The children picked up stones from the roadside, throwing them at Itachi.

Despite his reluctance, Itachi skillfully avoided the stones. Looking at their childish and ridiculous behavior, Itachi looked on calmly.

"Ahh!!!"

This further aggravated them, they picked up more stones and threw them at Itachi.

Not wishing to waste anymore of his time here , Itachi caught one of the flying stone, turned around, and threw it back. The stone flew at odd angles, hitting one child on the back of the hand, causing him to scream in pain. Then they looked at Itachi with eyes like those seeing a monster. They all ran away..

Only Uchiha Izumi stared at Itachi's leaving figure in daze.

Itachi thought about the everything that just happened. In his view, his peers' behavior was utterly ridiculous. They showed no consideration for the value and meaning of their lives, engaging in unnecessary fights due to stupid emotions.

So, watching these people was pointless. He had to work hatd to become stronger, take the position of Hokage, and then bring peace to the world. There was no time to waste on something so useless.

.....

"I'm back."

Itachi removed his shoes at the door, walking down the corridor.

"Welcome back, Itachi; dinner will be ready soon," His mother, Mikoto, said as he passed by the kitchen.

Seeing his mother's growing stomach, Itachi couldn't help but think about the life growing inside. 'Will it be a younger brother or a younger sister?'

In addition to his pursuit of getting more strength, the coming addition to the family was his current focal point and anticipation.

"Did you go out to train alone today?"

"Um."

Mikoto's eyes showed concern. However, she refrained from further conversation. Honestly, she hoped Itachi would play with children of his age instead of spending his time with his lonely and boring training.

However, her husband rejected such suggestions. Fugaku believed Itachi to be a special child, and using ordinary methods for his education would waste Itachi's inherent talent.

Itachi headed toward his room, passing the study where a loud voice resonated:

"Why isn't the captain the Fourth Hokage, but Minato? During the war, our clan made significant contributions. The enemies claimed by the captain's hands are no less than those taken by the Sannin!"

The disgruntled and dissatisfied voice stopped Itachi in his tracks.

'Fourth Hokage?' Namikaze Minato had assumed the role several months ago, yet someone was still expressing their discontent.

"Even though the incident has passed, the election of the Fourth Hokage a few months ago was infuriating. Apart from Minato, the only other candidate was Orochimaru. Are they looking down on us Uchiha?"

As an Uchiha, who played a vital role in the Third Ninja World War, Fugaku, the clan head, was a powerful ninja in Konoha. In terms of strength, he rivaled the Sannin, with the entire clan supporting him. Despite this, there was no nomination for him during the Fourth Hokage election. This incident has continued to annoy the Uchiha.

"It's no wonder Ruri left early, those people.....really..."

"Stop! Ruri's situation isn't related to the higher-ups. She had a conflict with Elder Sora. Don't attribute this to them. Moreover, leaving the clan was her own choice." Fugaku's calm voice intervened.

'Ruri? Uchiha Ruri?' Itachi had heard this name from his father and the retired Elder Sora, and now other clan members were mentioning the name. 'But what does leaving mean?' He sensed that significant events within the Uchiha had been deliberately concealed in the past. Moreover, was the clan dissatisfied with the village?

Through the wall, Itachi could distinctly perceive the room's charged atmosphere.

"Since this is the case, they should also show favorable terms to us. Why did we sacrifice so many clansmen, only to gain comfort in return? Look at the InoShikaCho and Aburame Clan—they received real rewards, not to mention Anbu quotas and land resources. Why are we left with nothing? Did our fallen clansmen sacrifice their lives in vain?"

Such questioning made Fugaku speechless.

"The village hasn't forgotten the Uchiha, but still recovering from the war. The Third promised to grant us sufficient land once the village is restored, and the police force building will be relocated to the center of the village."

"Really?".

"This is the Third's promise to me, and it's absolutely true. Please ba patient for a little longer. The clan's current situation in the village is delicate. Only by being patient will there be a way forward." Fugaku said firmly.

"Okay, then we'll trust them again. However, don't put all our eggs in one basket. After all, the Third is old. We should establish contact with the Fourth and place our bets on both sides to prevent nothing from going wrong."

"I'm well aware of this matter. As the head, I understand the implications. Leave that to me." Fugaku spoke eith confidence. He didn't take the Third's promise seriously. Placing bets on both Hokages was the most correct path for the Uchiha.

With the Fourth Hokage already decided and irreversible, the Uchiha could contend for the position of Fifth Hokage.

Itachi left the corridor. Although those inside might not have detected him eavesdropping, his father surely did. Even if Itachi suppressed his breath, he wouldn't presume to deceive his father. However, allowing him to eavesdrop might be a test from his father.His father had told him multiple times that he wanted to bring honor to the clan.

Returning to his room, Itachi kept thinking about what he overheard, considering how he could appease the clan if he was in his father's position.

...

Late November.

Just as Konoha found itself embroiled in a new round of internal strife, the Land Of Demons quietly gathered their forces in an undisclosed dark location.

One hundred people were gathered, consisting of three Jonins and the remainder being Chunins and Genins. These peoples' identities remained absent from the records of the five major countries, allowing them to move unnoticed, even if they were stationed in the Land Of Snow.

Shiraishi and Ayane led the group of 102 people to confront Kazahana Doto, who had taken over the Land Of Snow, after efficiently managing the affairs of the Land Of Demons over two months.

"Well... will this small number of people really enough? Although the Land Of Snow is a small country, there are hundreds of ninjas."Sandaya Asama, once Sosetsu's attendant and now Koyuki's, expressed concern about the modest size of Shiraishi's ninja force given the hundreds of ninjas in the Land Of Snow.

"Don't worry too much, Asama-san. You might question my strength, but Ayane's reputation is well known. She's able to contend with the Fourth Raikage, who with Kumo can single-handedly handle a thousand ninjas without an issue," Shiraishi reassured, signaling Asama not to be too anxious.

Asama remained with doubts, believing Shiraishi to be too optimistic and underestimating the enemy. However, Shiraishi paid little attention to him, knowing the difficulty of ordinary people assessing a ninja's strength. Therefore, he didn't bother responding to him. Anyway, when the time comes, he would understand. No matter how he tried to explain now, he won't be able to dispel all the doubts within the man.

"Okay, Asama-san, I believe my father. He won't joke with something like this."

Koyuki was also a little nervous, but she still had to show composure on her face. What she received from an early age was wasn't an ordinary education. As a future ruler,her method of education was different from that of ordinary people.

At any time, she had to maintain elegance and composure as a ruler. Even in death.

Asama didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that the princess continued getting proficient in calling the rogue ninja 'Father'. He felt that the princess's integrity was gone. Initially, she was a little shy and embarrassed, but now she can say such words without blushing or embarrassed. In a sense, the princess had grown a lot.

"So, just treat it like an outing." Shiraishi also came over and patted Asama on the shoulder.

Asama thought Shiraishi was being too optimistic and he was still underestimating the enemy. No matter what, this time when he goes to the Land Of Snow, what he had to deal with is the extremely powerful Doto, which wasn't going to be as easy as an outing.

It was a battle that determined the fate of a country, not a child's play.

...

Marching towards the of Land Of Snow, it was impossible to make a noise and notifying other countries about their movement against the Land Of Snow. In that case, they would be getting nothing but unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, the ninjas accompanying them also changed their outfits to not leave any traces. Even Shiraishi and Ayane covered themselves with hooded black coats. Their' mission this time to reclaim the Land Of Snow required discretion, with their objective being to secretly exert influence over the Land Of Snow.

Despite his reservations about determining a country's fate with such a small force, Shiraishi had extensively investigated the Land Of Snow for two months, thoroughly examining Doto's capabilities before deciding to mobilize.

Defeating Doto would pave the way for Koyuki to inherit the position of the daimyo, with officials aligning with the prevailing power.

With the Land Of Demons being adjacent to the Land Of Snow, they followed the official road to the capital of the Land Of Snow—Yuki City.

They chose midnight for the time of attack. During that time the city's households had turned off their lights, making their movements easier. The target was clear—the castle in Yuki City where Doto resided.

The castle was guarded by both regular soldiers and Yuki ninjas wearing chakra armors.

Under the cover of night, Shiraishi and Ayane led the group to the huge gate of the castle.

"Shiraishi-sama, let's find a place to discuss our strategy first. This city gate weighs at least a thousand kilograms and it's constructed with special materials. Even explosives won't be able to blow it up."

Asama carefully cautioned Shiraishi. Finding a safe place to discuss their strategy would prevent them from falling into the enemy's siege, which would be very unfavorable to the battle.

"No need, we dug up a secret passage here in advance."

"Secret passage?" Asama was surprised, realizing ttheir thorough preparation.

"Ayane, do it."

Ayane stepped out, pressed her palm on the cold heavy gate. A large amount of chakra accumulated in her palm, and then it was instantly released.

Boom!

The gigantic city gate suddenly looked like tattered rags; none of it fell to the ground completely, and there was no obstacle in front of it, revealing a wide road leading to the interior of the castle.

"It's a convenient secret passage, Asama-san. The enemy won't discover it before our people arrive," Shiraishi assured.

Asama admitted he had underestimated the ninja's power. He felt he needed a reassessment of his understanding of their capabilities in this era.

"Besides as the true ruler of the Land Of Snow, there's no reason to sneak into your own country. Don't you think so, Koyuki?" Shiraishi smiled, touching Koyuki's head.

"Um.."

Koyuki nodded heavily, feeling the warmth in Shiraishi's palm.

---

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