Yes, the Hokage

"Ah, so it was all an act?" Although Minato was also one of the actors, he was so immersed in the role that he didn't feel like he was acting at all.

Feng Lan remained silent, but opened the box, which contained only ordinary scrolls and documents.

“You…” Minato’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I lied to her,” Feng Lan said frankly. “Actually, I had no idea what kind of dirty deal Koharu-sama had with Takigakure, but I knew she was definitely up to something, so I made up this lie.”

"It's true that they snatched the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, and it's also true that they took things out of context, but it's a lie that they left a message in Koharu Utatane's voice that caused Takigakure to be furious." Feng Lan picked up his water glass and took a sip. "It's obvious that the Uchiha clan ran away as soon as they grabbed the person. They didn't have time to leave any dirty talk. Were they afraid that reinforcements wouldn't come while they were in someone else's village?"

"Then, Lord Koharu of the Tsukai-no-shun..."

"She had something to hide, and she was scared out of her wits, so it's my fault?" Feng Lan said innocently.

"Fenglan." The Third Hokage didn't answer his question, but instead asked in return, "Are you satisfied now?"

"Of course, thank you very much for your great help." Feng Lan bowed slightly. "Three months... no, it's more than two months from now. I will definitely give you a surprise."

“Remember your promise.” The Third Hokage put down his pipe. “Also, Biwako said that Kushina will give birth in three days at most.”

Chapter 149 Let the villagers suffer, I'll bear the blame.

After the Third Hokage left, Minato breathed a sigh of relief: "Phew, although the methods were a bit despicable, at least we got another point. Now the Elders' Council vote is evenly matched with ours... Huh? Why do you look so serious?"

"Minato," Feng Lan said in a deep voice, "For the next three days, I will take complete control of all affairs in Konoha. I will act first and report later in all situations. I'm informing you in advance."

Minato: "...You even told me in advance, as if you've never done things first and then informed me later. What's going on? Is a war about to break out?"

"Pretty much." Feng Lan's expression grew increasingly serious. "The day of the birth will be the day when the Nine-Tails' seal is at its weakest, and someone will definitely cause trouble."

"Probably not." Minato frowned. "The Third Hokage is continuously reinforcing the seal, and Lady Biwako is an authority on obstetrics and gynecology in Konoha. Besides, Kushina's exact delivery date should be top secret information, and only the three of us know it right now. Who else would cause trouble?"

"I don't know exactly who will cause trouble, but someone will definitely cause trouble."

Feng Lan remained vigilant. Logically, Obito, the culprit behind the Nine-Tails' Night, was now an ally. Madara was being pursued by Tobirama, who loved the Uchiha most, and was too busy to take care of himself. Moreover, Madara's fate was unknown. Black Zetsu had been exposed by Feng Lan at the Five Kage Summit and lost the oppressive feeling of being the mastermind. Theoretically, Kushina's childbirth should no longer be affected.

But he had a vague feeling that something was going to happen, and it was a huge crisis, definitely not comparable to capturing Orochimaru or attacking Danzo.

This is not just a matter of intuition; there are also undeniable facts at play. Naruto's birth occurred during the weakest window of opportunity for the Nine-Tails to be sealed. Both Madara and Black Zetsu's plans require the collection of all nine tailed beasts. Given that we have clearly demonstrated our vigilance against these two, it would be extremely dangerous to continue allowing Konoha to control the Nine-Tails.

“Since you put it that way…” Minato shrugged. “Alright, I’ll leave Kushina and I to you from now on.”

"Yes." Feng Lan nodded cautiously. He would never let the Nine-Tails Night repeat itself, and he would definitely protect his best friend and greatest support, Minato Namikaze.

“You’ve left all the village affairs to me, so what am I supposed to do? Eh!” Minato immediately gave me a “I have a plan” look. “How about I go and meet the envoy from Takigakure? Didn’t you say I’ve improved a lot lately? I feel like meeting an envoy from a small country shouldn’t be a problem…”

“No.” But Feng Lan interrupted him without any politeness, “Konoha will be under lockdown for the next three days. People are only allowed to leave, not enter. The village will reopen when Naruto is born.”

"Are you serious?" Minato asked in astonishment. "Even though it's only for three days, it will cause great inconvenience to merchants and villagers."

I wouldn't even care if those troublemakers died.

Feng Lan rolled her eyes and uttered a classic line: "Let the villagers suffer, I'll bear the blame."

"No, this..." Minato said awkwardly, "Fenglan, although I know you did this for me and Kushina, isn't this a bit too much?"

"Really?" Feng Lan stroked his chin and said seriously, "I was originally thinking of waiting until Kushina finished her postpartum confinement before opening it up."

"Cough cough!" Minato choked on his own saliva. "I think you're going a bit too far. Let's go for three days."

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony." After easily subduing the golden retriever, Feng Lan suddenly stood up. "Immediately seal off the village, and then adopt a multi-layered, nested barrier structure for preservation."

"Within the village's protective barrier, sensory ninjas from the Yamanaka, Aburame, and Hyuga branch families will monitor the area around the clock. If any unidentified chakra intrusion is detected, they will be killed on the spot!"

"The delivery room will be located on my personal property. The third lord's Dark Guard sealing barrier team will set up a second barrier, and both of us will leave Flying Thunder God marks around it to ensure that we can teleport in at any time and any location."

"Actually, I initially considered having the birth in Obito's Kamui dimension, but considering the lack of complete medical equipment, I could only have him serve as a bodyguard throughout the process... This time, the bodyguard team is of the highest quality rather than the largest. Besides Obito, I plan to choose Jiraiya and Tsunade as the other two."

Feng Lan had clearly planned this out long ago, and spoke eloquently: "Lord Jiraiya has set up the Heavenly Canopy Formation, which covers the area within the village's protective barrier and outside the sealing barrier. As long as the opponent ventures in, they can sense it, and the caster can monitor all of the opponent's movements. Lady Tsunade will serve as a medical ninja in case of an accident... But I need to ask her if her hemophobia has been cured yet."

"And you, kid, don't just sit around doing nothing. Prepare a few shadow clones to absorb natural energy. Although you don't usually use Sage Mode in actual combat, you should still prepare just in case. Shikaku will be stationed in the office for the next few days."

"Oh..." Minato hesitated, but eventually obeyed.

Feng Lan directly used his shadow clones to issue commands to the patriarchs of the major families. Afterwards, he did not dispel the shadow clones, but instead began to absorb natural energy. Of course, he did not expect to enter immortal mode, but it was still necessary to regain his strength at the critical moment.

Soon, the gates of Konoha slowly closed, the barrier activated at full power, and heavily armed ninjas began patrolling the streets. Feng Lan even anticipated that there would be troublemakers and those who expressed dissatisfaction, so he reassembled the young people from the "Village Self-Defense Supervision Committee" who had previously dealt with the rumors about Danzo. Anyone who dared to say a bad word or complain was immediately labeled and bullied.

"I have high expectations for you all!" He even took time out of his schedule to give a public address. "I know that you all have a burning flame of (the will of dominance) within you. For the sake of protecting public safety, for the sake of cracking down on those who spread rumors, and for the sake of Konoha's safety, I need your strength!"

“Now, I authorize you as a federal law enforcement agency under the formal security force, under the name…ICE!”

"Oh oh oh oh oh!" A group of youths, their will to dominate burning brightly, raised their arms in unison. "Loyalty! Integrity!"

The village of Konoha was under a strict martial law, unlike anything seen even in the Third World War. As expected, this triggered small-scale panic. Some merchants, sensing something was wrong, tried to bribe the guards to escape, but were unsurprisingly refused. They then began to incite the villagers to stage public protests.

But under the relentless onslaught of ICE, soon neither ordinary citizens nor traveling merchants could utter a single word.

It's just that Feng Lan is kind-hearted and only gave ICE the power to strike six times per second. If he had given these guys the new scientific ninja tools that arrived a few days ago, the shooting incident on the streets of Laomei would probably have happened again.

Konoha's move has truly frightened many small countries!

After publicly speaking out, the envoys from the small country who had come all this way found no one responding. They were also worried because Konoha was under martial law after they arrived, and they couldn't even enter the village. They wandered around the village every day, releasing ninja hawks to beg for an audience with the Hokage, but Shikaku simply dismissed them with a wave of his hand and told them to go back and wait for further instructions.

Among the many small countries that were frightened, the most panicked was undoubtedly Takigakure. They had previously relied on Koharu Utatane to feign compliance, but now that Konoha had directly taken away the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki and was acting this way, they thought Konoha was preparing to destroy them.

After hastily seeking help from the other four major nations and finding no one to help, the leader of Takigakure gritted his teeth and decided to personally bring gifts to apologize. Having to apologize for his own village being attacked by the enemy only shows that small countries have no human rights.

……

Among the many delegations that were stopped outside the village and had to rest in the nearest town, the most inconspicuous one, the Grass Ninja Village delegation, had been replaced without anyone noticing.

From envoys to their attendants, everyone was absorbed and replaced by White Zetsu.

"No, even as an envoy, one cannot enter Konoha."

Black Zetsu was standing in a room that had been booked out, and said in a hoarse voice with resentment, "That Feng Lan is so well-prepared, he actually sealed off the entire Hidden Leaf Village."

"So what if it's sealed off? I know the pass code for the Konoha barrier. That old man, the Third Hokage, never changes it even once in years." The envoy-like person said calmly, "Besides, the barrier only serves to detect intruders; it doesn't have any direct defensive capabilities. You can have the White Zetsu sneak in from underground to distract the guarding ninjas, and I'll take action myself. It'll be a piece of cake."

"Don't be careless," Black Zetsu said coldly. "Even if Madara helped you perfect the Oni-Garra Technique before he died, the outcome against the Yellow Flash is still uncertain."

"Hard to say?" Upon closer inspection, the envoy turned out to be a white-haired young boy. "I have fused five mutually reinforcing and restraining bloodline limits, making me a perfect and invincible being!"

He spread his arms wide: "Seizing the Nine-Tails is only the first step. Next... is to declare war on the Five Great Nations!"

Black Zetsu didn't say anything, but inwardly he scoffed: [Idiot.]

Declaring war on the Five Great Nations? Do you think your knock-off version of Oni-Garaku Technique is the Otsutsuki?!

Clearly, after Obito was rescued by Feng Lan, Madara had no choice but to find someone else. Ultimately, due to the butterfly effect, he ended up finding Hiruko.

This guy is the main villain in the movie The Will of Fire. He was a friend of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, but because he lacked talent, he developed the forbidden technique Oni-Garaku and became a rogue ninja. Originally, he was after Kakashi's Sharingan transplanted from Obito, but as you know, that didn't happen in this timeline.

So Hiruko, who had temporarily lost his goal, was found by Black Zetsu, seduced by Madara, helped him improve the Oni-Garaku technique and gave him a pair of Sharingan eyes.

Therefore, although Hiruko has not yet gathered the three elements of immortality of heaven, earth, and man, he has already acquired the five bloodline limits, which naturally makes him extremely arrogant. In the original work, he even dared to declare war on the five great nations before he even got his Sharingan. Now that he has gathered them all, he must be even more ambitious.

Black Zetsu saw this ambition and planned to use him to collect the nine tailed beasts, since Obito and the Akatsuki had already been poached by Feng Lan.

"Since you're so confident, I won't say anything more." Black Zetsu never really took Hiruko seriously. Let this kid go ahead and send him away if he wants, as long as it allows him to fish in troubled waters and release the Nine-Tails.

Of course, Hiruko was just arrogant; he wasn't completely ignorant about war: "Didn't you also contact the Sky Ninja to launch a surprise attack? Where are they?"

"Don't worry." Black Zetsu chuckled sinisterly, "The Sky Ninja's surprise attack force is ready, and the Zero-Tails' release technique is also complete. On the day the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki gives birth, we'll definitely give Konoha a surprise."

Chapter 150 Sword in Hand, Horse in Charge!

"Fenglan, you're really not being polite."

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's mansion, the Third Hokage looked at Kaze, who had come to ask for people and things, with a helpless expression.

"What are you saying? We're all doing this for the village." Feng Lan said with a grin, not taking the other person's sarcasm seriously at all.

"For the sake of the village..." The Third Hokage looked at the tightly closed gate, his unspoken message being, "Is this all you've done for the village?"

"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, sir." Feng Lan looked like a gangster. "If the Nine-Tails were to be unleashed in Konoha, the consequences would be far more serious than they are now."

"In my opinion, it would be better to do it within the barrier outside the village..."

Before the Third Generation could finish speaking, Feng Lan interrupted him: "Impossible, that would be too dangerous."

"You keep talking about danger, but who exactly is the enemy?" The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe. "Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu?"

"To be honest, I'm so cautious precisely because I don't know who the enemy is. If I knew the specifics of the enemy, I wouldn't be so worried." Feng Lan was telling the truth. With Konoha's current strength, they could even put up a fight against the full-fledged Akatsuki. The real problem is that the enemy's situation is completely unknown.

However, his experience as a transmigrator could still come in handy. Currently, there are only a handful of skilled individuals capable of threatening Konoha and being tempted by Black Zetsu, including those from original works and the movies. He had even prepared for Onoki and Black Zetsu to join forces and for the entire Hidden Stone Village to come and attack.

Of course, that was the worst-case scenario. But even the worst-case scenario that Feng Lan made did not include how to deal with the Nine-Tails after it was released, because from the beginning he did not allow anyone with ill intentions to get close to Kushina. This was the bottom line, and there was absolutely no room for compromise.

"It's only natural that Biwa Lake helped deliver Kushina's baby, and you can also lend us the sealing barrier team, but what's the meaning of you going there for all the new ninja tools?" The Third Hokage finally spoke up, "Those tools were purchased from Takumi Village at a high price, even though you were the developer..."

"The developer can't really be considered me, he's your beloved disciple," Feng Lan said with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm only borrowing this time. I'll definitely return everything after Naruto is born... After all, my subordinates still need to get familiar with it, right?"

"Tell me first who you're targeting with these ninja tools." The Third Hokage took another puff of his pipe.

"A possible aerial attack." Of course, Feng Lan couldn't tell the truth, since someone her age shouldn't theoretically know such things.

“An aerial attack…” The Third Hokage frowned slightly. “There are indeed such people, but the Sky Village was destroyed during the Second Shinobi World War, so there should be no need to worry.”

[If I hadn't seen the movie, I would have believed it.]

Feng Lan thought to himself, but said aloud, "Third Hokage, you know me. I always make thorough preparations before doing anything, especially when it comes to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? Minato's wife, isn't she?" The Third Hokage sneered. "I'll lend you these few days, and because this stuff consumes iron sand, all the iron sand and gold sand from the next Sand Village trade will belong to me."

"Deal." Feng Lan didn't hesitate at all. He didn't care about those material possessions. As long as he could ensure Naruto's successful birth, they were all trivial matters.

Soon, he arrived at the Hyuga branch family's base with several ninja tool scrolls: "Select the most elite members of the clan, those with long-range shooting talent, distribute the scrolls, and make sure they are familiar with how to use these items within three days."

"Yes!" Seeing Feng Lan's extremely serious expression, Rishima immediately accepted the order and left.

Feng Lan took a deep breath, left the Hyuga branch family's residence, and headed straight for Jiraiya.

……

Three busy days passed in this way, and finally the night of Kushina's childbirth arrived.

The entire Hidden Leaf Village was silent. A curfew had been in effect since sunset, and the streets were filled with patrol teams of five. Each team consisted of one elite member from the Uchiha, Hyuga, Yamanaka, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans. Before their mission, each member had demonstrated their bloodline limit and secret techniques to prove they had not been replaced by White Zetsu. They used their sensory abilities, Byakugan, Sharingan, and parasitic insect ninja dogs to guard against any potential enemies from any angle.

Besides these small teams, countless hidden ninjas were silently monitoring the village. It could be said that Konoha had never been so strictly guarded since its founding. After all, even during the most intense periods of the Three Shinobi World Wars, the enemy had never reached the village entrance.

In a detached building in the central area of ​​Konoha, in a room that no sensory ninja could find, was where Kushina gave birth. All kinds of the latest medical equipment had been checked in advance. Kushina was lying on the hospital bed, and Sarutobi Biwako, who was in charge of the delivery, along with the medical ninja Shizune and two elite ANBU members, were already in place.

Outside the gate stood the four guards who had just given birth: Minato Namikaze, Obito Uchiha, Jiraiya, and Tsunade.

Tsunade's hemophobia has been somewhat alleviated with Jiraiya's comfort and care, and she is now able to fight with blood on her hands, but she still cannot perform delicate surgery with blood on her hands, so her assistant has been replaced by Shizune.

Jiraiya's Heavenly Canopy Formation has been activated, covering the entire space within a hundred meters of the building, including the underground area. Any chakra that enters will be immediately locked in.

Opposite the operating room were the elite members of the sealing barrier team. Their barrier could serve as a warning and a way to drive away enemies, but it could also strengthen the Nine-Tails seal on Kushina. If anything went wrong with the seal, they and Jiraiya would be the first to act.

The barrier of the barrier class doesn't need to be that big; it only needs to cover the entire small building. Moreover, Fenglan designed a total of four such small building strongholds. Without detailed information, it would take the other side a long time to find them.

Meanwhile, Feng Lan herself was stationed at the Barrier Team's base in the heart of Konoha, with Yamanaka Inoichi by her side, who was wearing a diffusion device that allowed him to contact and receive information from the entire village at any time.

The clan leaders, including Hizashi, Shiki, Fugaku, and Inuzuka Tsuru, were waiting in the Hokage Building, under the command of Konoha's top strategist, Nara Shikaku.

Inside the tea room, the Third Hokage appeared to be leisurely smoking, but upon closer inspection, one could see that he was wearing black armor under his wide robe, clearly indicating that he was ready for battle. After all, he and Minato Furan were only on different sides, but anyone who dared to harm the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was tantamount to striking a blow to the back of Konoha.

Right now, everything is ready except for the final push.

"I...I'm so nervous." Kushina was already anxious because of her impending childbirth and the struggle of the Nine-Tails, and Feng Lan's big fuss only made her more nervous.

“Don’t be afraid, every woman goes through this.” Biwako lovingly stroked Kushina’s red hair. “The seal has been continuously reinforced and is now very stable. You don’t need to worry, I’m here.”

"Yes, please..." Kushina was still smiling as she answered, but her expression suddenly changed the next second. "It seems, it seems like it's starting!"

"Calm down, take a deep breath, and push to expand. Childbirth is a long process, so don't be nervous or anxious..." Sarutobi Biwako's composure and experience reassured Kushina. "Come on, hold my hand. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Hearing the commotion inside, Minato outside the door clenched his fists anxiously. Although he knew that rushing in would only cause trouble, he couldn't help but want to stay by his wife's side.

"Don't worry." Since Feng Lan wasn't around, Jiraiya, as his master, comforted him. "Lord Biwako is the best obstetrician in Konoha. There will definitely be no problems. On the contrary, we should do everything we can to keep anyone away from here."

"Yes, you're right." With Jiraiya's encouragement, Minato gradually calmed down. Anyway, there were several Flying Thunder God seals in the house, so if anything unexpected happened, he could just go in with a thought.

Outside the delivery room, in the utterly silent village, a dark cloud suddenly obscured the bright moon in the sky. The Third Hokage narrowed his eyes and stared at it, his expression suddenly becoming sharp.

Those weren't dark clouds at all, but huge numbers of ninjas equipped with mechanical wings!

The Sky Ninja, a village once destroyed by Konoha, actually still has remnants, and today, when Konoha is at its weakest, they launched an attack.

"Fortunately, Fenglan really did prepare in advance." The Third Hokage sighed, then suddenly lifted his robe to reveal the black and gold armor underneath.

"Hiruzen, are you going to attack?" His two old teammates, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, were also ready to go.