Naruto: From Capturing the Main Clan to Becoming the Mastermind

Chapter 43 Minato: I'm not alone this time.

As the guards watched Hyuga Miyuki and the others leave, one of them suddenly asked, "The Hyuga clan doesn't usually use ninja tools, right? Why bring such a large storage scroll?"

His companion replied, "They might also have missions to deliver supplies to the front lines. What, do you think the Hyuga clan might be in trouble?"

No, it's not.

The puzzled ninja shook his head. No one believed the Hyuga clan would defect; the main family had no reason to, and the branch family had no ability to.

"I just remembered that my friend owns a ninja tool shop. His daughter was born, I think her name is Tenten. Right now, the shop is having a discount on ninja tools, so you can get a discount if you go there."

"You're even saying 'GG' now? That friend isn't yourself, is it?"

The captain patted him on the shoulder speechlessly, looked towards the spot where the live slug had appeared in the village, and said earnestly, "We're just here to guard the gate. Just make sure spies and dangerous rogue ninjas don't come in or out. Don't overthink things."

Having lived for so many years, he knew the importance of self-preservation.

The Anbu had just warned them not to pay attention to the commotion in the village, and then the Hyuga clan left the village with the Third Hokage's transfer order. The situation was clearly very complicated, so it was best not to overthink it.

Hearing their captain's words of experience, the group put aside their worries and decided to continue guarding the gate, but then they saw a blonde woman with a dark expression walking towards them from a distance.

"Tsunade-sama?"

Upon hearing their voices, the other party looked up, his expression growing increasingly grim, and walked out of the village without uttering a word.

The ninjas guarding the gate, sensing the powerful chakra emanating from her, swallowed hard and dared not stop her.

In the distance, figures from the Anbu and Root units could be faintly seen, but they all left once they saw Tsunade leave the village.

"What is this?! I'm being politely escorted out of the village?!"

It wasn't until she was a kilometer away from Konoha that Tsunade angrily punched a tree, her heart filled with resentment.

The princess of the Senju clan, one of the three legendary ninja, was actually "invited" out of the village?

It's ridiculous!

Previously, after discovering that no one was providing support, she wanted to proactively approach some ninja clan territories, but with the appearance of the Anbu, she knew it was useless.

Most ninja clans have probably already reached an agreement, otherwise the two advisors representing the interests of the ninja clans would not have agreed to lend out the Anbu.

There were differing opinions within the ninja clan, with a new generation yearning for the Will of Fire and older members clinging to past glories. Whether they reached a consensus or one side completely overwhelmed the other, the situation was more serious than Tsunade had anticipated.

She didn't know who was trustworthy, nor did she have time to communicate with each member of the ninja clan.

The Hyuga and Uchiha clans could have been helpful allies. The former were because their main clan represented everything and had little internal influence, while the latter were too arrogant and couldn't get along with most ninja clans.

But... now that the technique to break the Caged Bird Seal is one of the triggers, should we go find Hyuga?

You'll only get a cold shoulder.

With the main Uchiha force on the battlefield, the remaining ninjas weren't even enough for the security forces, so it wouldn't work either.

While ninja clans that lean towards the Hokage could provide support, the appearance of that old man, Sarutobi Akira, plunged her plans into despair.

"Princess Tsunade, what good would it do to gather manpower in the current situation? It would only create chaos and make you a laughing stock for spies from other ninja villages."

"The village's defenses are already somewhat lax. If other ninja villages find out about the internal strife in Konoha, they will definitely take the opportunity to attack. In this war, Kumogakure's losses were not that severe."

"The war has dragged on for too long, and the villagers and ninjas are fed up. Don't drag Konoha into this quagmire of war because of a momentary anger. It will discourage the ninjas who are fighting hard on the front lines and want to end the Third Shinobi World War."

Haha, as expected of the older generation, they can spout off words from a moral high ground so easily.

Danzo and you guys were the ones who started it, but in the end, I'm the one who has to back down? What kind of logic is that?

You're not even allowing me to resist?!

But she also has to consider what the other party says.

The Hidden Cloud Village retreated because the Third Raikage suddenly died, and the Fourth Raikage needed to return to assume the position of Kage and stabilize the situation; otherwise, they could have continued fighting.

Among the other ninja villages, Iwagakure suffered heavy losses in its siege of the Third Raikage, coupled with the war with Konoha. Yet Onoki dared to use ten thousand ninjas to besiege the Third Raikage, showing no lack of courage.

If he could get some soup from Yunyin, he wouldn't mind freeloading.

While Sunagakure is an ally, it is still necessary to be wary of it.

After some thought, she could only send the live slug back, and left the village with a feeling of frustration, under the watchful eyes of the Dark Guard and the Root.

Staying there might lead to being ambushed, and you'd have to face those disgusting guys every day, so it's better to come out.

Didn't the old man ever think about what kind of trouble his three friends might cause?

Going to the front lines to provide support is one thing, but not even leaving behind any means to restrict it is truly getting more and more senile with age.

"Lady Tsunade, I'm so sorry."

The last remaining clone of the live slug appeared before Tsunade with Shizune. The 13-year-old Shizune looked at the furious Tsunade and lowered her head, apologizing repeatedly.

"It's all because of me that Lady Tsunade had no choice but to..."

"Stop talking."

As Tsunade watched Shizune apologize repeatedly, she felt her anger gradually dissipate, and her expression softened with a sense of peace and gentleness.

She hugged Jingyin tightly and whispered, "I'm so glad you're alright."

Another reason she left was that she was worried Danzo would threaten her with Shizune again.

Finding and capturing Mute is obviously much easier than dealing with her.

She didn't want to lose any more...

Tsunade's rarely seen gentle demeanor startled Shizune, who smiled softly and hugged her back.

Lady Tsunade must be very worried about me...

The two comforted each other, and Tsunade quickly regained her composure, saying to her:

"We're going to the battlefield. The old man caused this mess, so he has to come up with a solution."

As she spoke, Tsunade subconsciously took out the dice, wanting to roll them to see if her choice was good or bad, but then she stopped, remembering what had happened before.

Using gambling to predict the future is probably unreliable; even if you've already lost, going silent is still the same as dying once.

They had clearly lost...

Tsunade's expression turned strange as she thought of someone who had said before a bet that whether they won or lost depended entirely on their own desires.

That kid Hyuga Yu... he wouldn't cheat, would he?

……

Inside the frontline command center, Jiraiya and Minato had been arguing about one thing for a long time.

"Minato, you are Hokage now, you can't take risks like before."

"Teacher, I know, but this is my way of fighting."

Minato looked at Jiraiya, who disagreed with his decision to go and deal with the Tailed Beasts, and shook his head helplessly. "Don't you trust me? I can retreat anytime I want."

"This isn't a matter of whether I'm reassured or not. Minato, haven't you considered your own situation?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Your presence on the battlefield is more intimidating than the Third Raikage's. Onoki has the guts to send over ten thousand ninja to besiege the Third Raikage. What do you think the Third Mizukage will do?"

The current Third Mizukage of Kirigakure is a member of the First Mizukage's Shadow Guard. If it weren't for the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, being too strong, the position of Second Mizukage should have belonged to him.

Would a Third Mizukage who unleashed the full power of Kirigakure and had likely witnessed the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique not consider dealing with Minato?

"I'm not alone this time."

Minato glanced at Hyuga Yu with trust in his eyes, and smiled at Jiraiya, "I have Kakashi, Yakumaru, Yu, and Kushina by my side, so don't worry."

(End of this chapter)