Yes, the Hokage

"Promises are easy to make but hard to believe," Feng Lan said, taking a sip of tea. "Besides, it was the Akatsuki who did it. What does that have to do with Konoha or me, Feng Lan?"

“You’re always like this…” Minato sat down helplessly, picked up his teacup, “If you ever get into any trouble, remember to come find me.”

He was, after all, standing on the side of the Hokage. What Feng Lan was doing was beneficial to the village, and he shouldn't stop him no matter what. Even if the Akatsuki really failed, it would greatly deplete the Hidden Mist Village's fighting strength.

As for this guy's constant talk of reaping benefits? Anyway, all the benefits he reaped were used to build up Konoha, so Minato just pretended not to hear it.

“There won’t be any trouble. There’s not much left in Kirigakure now, only the Three-Tails is left and it’s not enough to carry the whole thing alone. This is a good opportunity to hone the Rinnegan.” Feng Lan felt that the temperature was about right, so he drank the tea in one gulp. “Let him get used to all the different abilities, so that it will be easier for him to carry a bag of rice up several floors to the top of any disobedient village in the future.”

"But what if Madara's forces take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack?" Minato frowned. "Those creatures you mentioned called White Zetsu are masters of this kind of opportunistic behavior, aren't they?"

"That's why I released the First and Second Lords," Feng Lan shrugged. "Do you think Prison Squad would dare to defy the odds and let those two Lords discover further evidence?"

Others might not know, but he certainly did. He was in a state of near death, clinging to life only because of the Gedo Mazo. He would have died on the spot if he left those tubes, while Edo Hashirama was at least able to use the Flower Tree Sea.

If Tobirama catches him, he'll tear off his hood and pull out his tubes.

With these two holding Madara back, he didn't even have time to cause trouble in Konoha, let alone Kirigakure, or even to stage the Nine-Tails Night.

"Besides, even if by some unforeseen event that the resistance forces are defeated, I still have a backup plan." Feng Lan put down his teacup and revealed what he hadn't told Terumi Mei: "At that time, we can support Kisame and divide the Land of Water. This is a common tactic of Daiei: divide and rule."

"Divide?" Minato frowned, though he didn't know what "Dai-ei" meant. "Wouldn't that still cause a war?"

“That’s right, but that would keep Kirigakure busy and prevent them from getting involved in the affairs of the ninja world. Instead, they would only fight amongst themselves... However, the benefits we could gain would be much smaller that way, so I won’t make that move until the very last moment.”

"Anyway, these things are for later. What we need to do now is to return to the village as soon as possible and prepare to welcome Naruto's birth."

……

Meanwhile, inside Konoha Village.

Inuzuka Tetsuya has been doing very well lately. As the captain of the Hokage's guard appointed by Feng Lan, even though the guard has not yet recruited any new members, he is already someone that the leaders of small clans have to curry favor with wherever he goes.

However, he wasn't very happy; in fact, he felt quite depressed because he realized he might have... made a mess of things.

After Fenglan's grand banquet, almost everyone thought he was a member of Minato's faction, but the problem is that Inuzuka Tetsuya had previously defected to the Third Hokage's side.

Although the Third Generation himself has been relatively quiet for the time being, his two good bros, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, have been quite active lately.

Taking advantage of the absence of Minato and Furan from the village and the absence of external threats from Kumogakure, the two began to launch a large-scale attack. Although Mr. Shikaku resisted many schemes, he was ultimately unable to completely withstand the two powerful elders.

Yesterday, even Fenglan's advisor's office was moved to a different location, from opposite Minato's Hokage office to a corner.

Today's situation is even worse, as it involves the diplomatic issues of Takigakure. These two actually agreed to it without even going through the Hokage's office. Keep in mind that Takigakure is the only country besides the Five Great Nations that has Jinchuriki.

Therefore, Mr. Shikaku has now dispatched Inuzuka Tetsu to inquire about the matter concerning these two advisors.

This greatly troubled Inuzuka Tetsuya, because in the eyes of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, he was nothing more than a dog wagging its tail at the Third Hokage. What was there to explain about himself to a dog?

However, due to Feng Lan's actions, he is perceived by most people as a member of the Minato faction, so there is no problem for Shikaku to send him over.

Damn it...

Inuzuka Tetsuya gritted his teeth. Others might not know what was going on, but Shikaku certainly did, yet he still sent him over. It was as if he was being used as a stepping stone.

He mustered his courage and knocked on the door: "My two advisors..."

"Come in."

After receiving permission, Inuzuka Tetsu respectfully pushed open the door and entered, only to find Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu lying on rocking chairs with their eyes closed, completely ignoring him.

He was filled with regret. He had both face and substance with Feng Lan, but with the Third Generation, he was a dog for life. This huge difference made him think – what if I hadn't tried to play both sides that day, but instead firmly followed Lord Feng Lan?

"Ok?"

Inuzuka Tetsuya had been standing there stunned for a few seconds when Mitomon Homura, already sounding impatient, quickly said, "My two advisors, it was Lord Shikaku who sent me."

"What is it now?" Xiaochun, who was turning over, snorted coldly.

"It's about... Takigakure," Inuzuka Tetsu said awkwardly. "The Fourth Hokage seems to know absolutely nothing about it..."

"very good."

"very good."

However, the two consultants' answer was this: "And then?"

Inuzuka Tetsu twitched: "Lord Shikaku wants to know if you two have hidden any information in this diplomatic report that he is unaware of."

“I don’t know how to begin. There’s so much he doesn’t know,” Mitokado Homura said casually. “Konoha’s diplomacy with small countries has always been handled by us old guys. We don’t need to trouble outsiders.”

Because small countries have to pay tribute to large countries in order to survive, and you can profit from that.

With Inuzuka Tetsu's shrewdness, he could see through this, but he only dared to think to himself, "No, what Lord Shikaku means is... perhaps there is some important information that he doesn't know."

"You mean..." Koharu Utatane glanced at him, "Nara Shikaku, or the Fourth Hokage, should know what happened?"

“Well… he is, after all, the Hokage,” Inuzuka Tetsu explained softly.

“It’s too dangerous to let such a naive guy get involved in diplomacy.” Koharu Utatane scoffed. “Diplomacy is a long-term plan. We’re looking a hundred years into the future, while that lazy kid Shikaku Nara is only thinking about living until Friday’s end of the workday.”

“The ninja world isn’t just comprised of the five great nations; there are nearly a hundred smaller countries and powers as well,” Mitokado Homura chimed in. “We’ve dealt with them for many years. If you give Minato or Shikaku a map of the ninja world, they can’t even find the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.”

Seeing the two of them so brazenly making fun of Minato's wife's homeland, Inuzuka Tetsuya couldn't help but feel annoyed: "My lords... the Fourth Hokage and Mr. Shikaku... surely they wouldn't be so ignorant?"

"You don't know?" The two old men exchanged a glance and chuckled.

“Let me ask you.” Minato sat up straight in his rocking chair. “Where exactly is the Grass Village in the Land of Grass located?”

"Well……"

"What is the current stance of the Prajna disciples of the Forest Kingdom?"

"Um……"

"What are the preferences of the daimyo of the Bird Country?"

"This one……"

What are the doctrines of the heretical cult within the Land of Hot Springs?

"I……"

“Inuzuka Tetsu.” Koharu Utatane revealed an undisguised mocking smile. “You really should hang out with Minato Namikaze.”

Inuzuka Tetsu lowered his head. The two of them had shut him down with a series of questions about small countries, demonstrating not only an information gap but also a powerful stance of "I have access to knowledge you can't." He couldn't answer them not because he was stupid, but because this kind of knowledge had never been made available to the younger generation.

"I... I mean," he tried one last time, "My two advisors, shouldn't you two discuss this matter with the Hokage?"

"Of course, we will have a full discussion."

"Then...don't they need to know the truth?"

"Of course, there's no need to know; the facts will only complicate things."

Mitokado Homura said calmly, "Minato only cares about who is good and who is bad. The problem is that when it comes to the protection of the village's interests, we always have to deal with people he thinks are bad. So... Hmph, let's just let the Fourth Hokage stand there in his radiant glory."

"As for the diplomatic strategies of these small countries, we'll handle that ourselves," Koharu Utatane lay back down and fanned herself. "Tetsu Inuzuka, and your task is to represent us and convey the well-considered views we've reached after our discussions."

Inuzuka Tetsuya's lips twitched. After all that talk, isn't this just—I'll take the blame, and you go die?

“What if…” he began to change his words, “Lord Fenglan is not satisfied with all of this?”

The two advisors stopped fanning themselves, and the room fell into an eerie silence: "Then show him an impeccable report. It only has three options. The first two are essentially the same, while the third will trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War tomorrow."

"No matter how clever that kid is, he'll be helpless after seeing a report like this!"

“I… understand.” Inuzuka Tetsuya could only take his leave. “I’m very sorry for being so foolish as to waste your precious time.”

"It's nothing," Mitokado Yan grinned. "At least you're much smarter than Minato."

Chapter 130: Lord Fenglan's kindness is never-ending!

After several days of continuous travel, Feng Lan and his group had arrived at a small village near Konoha. To be honest, they could go home and sleep tonight if they just put in a little more effort, but Feng Lan insisted on resting there and returning to Konoha the next morning.

Left with no other choice, the group had to listen to him and stay temporarily in a hotel in the town.

"Tori, Inuzuka Hana, come with me. The rest of you, get some rest," Fenglan instructed before heading out.

"Wait a minute, are you plotting something sinister again?" Minato immediately put on a stern face and stopped him.

"What are you saying? Do you think the only impression I leave on people when I'm plotting something is that I'm treacherous?" Feng Lan was immediately displeased.

“And there’s something incredibly insidious.” Minato wouldn’t let his guard down. “So you’d better explain your destination to me before you leave the team.”

"Alright, alright, I'm just going to gather some recent intelligence from the village so I can respond promptly." Feng Lan shrugged.

"Information about the village? Why don't we just go back to the village and ask?" Minato asked in astonishment.

"Since we're going back to the village tonight and everyone's already off work, there's nothing we can do but sleep. Are you going to drag people out of bed in the middle of the night to question them? You're the real devil."

Feng Lan rolled her eyes: "If we give those old guys a night to react, it will be too late for us to do anything by dawn."

"No way." Minato frowned. "The elders were quite cooperative during the meeting earlier, weren't they?"

"They cooperated back then because you were embarrassing Konoha when you went out. Now they're causing trouble in the village because they want to take advantage of your absence to solidify many things and control the situation. Although Shikaku is holding things up, he can't do it all alone. I need to know the situation in advance and plan ahead."

"Then I want to go too."

“No, this is a test for you.” Feng Lan yawned. “Didn’t you think you could sit at the table after you defeated the Raikage with what I taught you? If you perform well this time, I’ll consider letting you sit at the table in the future.”

"real?!"

Minato's eyes lit up. It can only be said that everyone has a bit of a show-off mentality. Feng Lan envied him for being able to command the Flying Thunder God Technique to pass through thousands of troops without getting a single leaf on him. How could he not envy Feng Lan for being able to use a series of long and difficult sentences without repeating himself to break through the opponent's defenses and demonstrate the difference in intelligence? What one does not have is the best, after all.

"So this is an exam, and we can't leak the questions beforehand. You just need to wait here quietly." Feng Lan waved her finger.

"I understand, Fenglan-sensei!" As expected, Minato sat down in the room like a big golden retriever, his face full of excitement and anticipation.

In response, Obito gave Kakashi a look that said, "What did I tell you?"

"Minato-sensei has been completely tamed, just like my Pakkun (ninja dog)." Even the usually aloof Kakashi couldn't help but think to himself.

After leaving the town, Feng Lan concealed her route with her perception abilities and soon arrived at the Leaf Forest outside the village.

This area is actually within the vicinity of Konoha Village's security perimeter, and ninja squads patrol here regularly every day. However, the two ninjas that Fenglan specially brought along came here to be of use.

"Let's begin," he instructed Qu Gen.

"Yes."

Qu Gen immediately began using the Aburame clan's unique insect-repelling technique to attract nearby insects. Before setting off, Feng Lan had already instructed Aburame Shiki to arrange for members of the Aburame clan who went out on patrol every day to secretly leave some parasitic insects in the forest to transmit intelligence.

When Torune was attracting insects and extracting information, he naturally had to rely on his own senses and the sense of smell of Inuzuka Hana and the ninja dogs to ensure that no patrol team was approaching. So the team he brought out was not brought out for nothing. Not only was it very effective in tracking, but it was also useful when he returned to the village to collect information.

To be honest, Inuzuka Hana has been staying in the space all this time and hasn't even seen Feng Lan's face many times. She originally thought she was just here to make up the numbers.

But now, her gaze towards Feng Lan was filled with awe: [Is this the foresight of Advisor Feng Lan...? No wonder my mother acted like a schoolchild in his presence.]

"Lord Fenglan, the intelligence has been gathered."

After a while, Qu Gen came to Feng Lan and whispered the message conveyed by the parasitic insect.

"Hooho~"

Feng Lan narrowed his eyes slightly. He had expected that Mitokado Yan and Utatane Koharu would be restless, but he did not expect that the Third Hokage would remain completely still during this period. Did he really want to retire, or was he just pretending to be Sima Yi?

[However, precisely because the third generation didn't make any changes, Shikaku could handle most of the village's affairs. The two old guys were already in control within their own sphere of authority, and only a few things went beyond their bounds... Perfectly, this level of difficulty was just right for Minato—a challenge that wouldn't make him lose confidence.]

Feng Lan has really gone to great lengths to cultivate Minato's dark mindset. If the opponent is too strong, he's afraid Minato will be instantly defeated and then give up. If the opponent is too weak, it won't have any effect. A combination like the Raikage dragging down the Tsuchikage during the Five Kage Summit is truly a rare find.

"Since that's the case, let you two old guys give Minato a run for his money." Feng Lan put on his signature squinty-eyed smile. "And Inuzuka Tetsu, my debt of gratitude... isn't so easy to repay~"

……

The next morning, Inuzuka Tetsu rubbed his eyes and came to the Hokage's office. As the captain of the guard, he was supposed to stand at the top of the stairs all day, but before Fenglan left, he specially arranged a table and a chair for him.

"Aha……"

Because he was exhausted from being tormented by the two old guys yesterday and still had to rush to finish a report, Inuzuka Tetsuya came this morning with dark circles under his eyes. He had just yawned and slumped into a chair, but the next second he suddenly jumped up.

"Lord Hokage! Lord Fenglan! You two are back!"

"Ah, you're back, you're back." Feng Lan said with a smile, "How have you been lately?"

Inuzuka Tetsu knew, of course, that he wasn't just saying hello. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had warned him yesterday. He instinctively knelt on one knee, but he couldn't manage to squeeze out the words "all is well."

Fenglan didn't take it seriously and went into the office with Shuimen. Inuzuka Tetsu felt his heart start racing, and all his sleepiness was gone.

Lord Fenglan's return means the Water Gate faction is preparing for a counterattack. At this time, which side should I stand on? Speaking of which, they returned so early in the morning. Has the Elder Council received any information? Should I, as their loyal dog, pass it on?

He hesitated for a moment, then quickly tore off a piece of paper, wrote down a message, and patted the iron ball's head to let it sneak out.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Feng Lan, who was monitoring everything with his sensory abilities, opened his eyes and smiled slightly: "Minato, Feng Lan-sensei's assessment is about to begin."

"Come on, I can't wait!" Because he slept soundly last night, Minato was full of energy and confidence.