"Kumo shinobi are retreating on all fronts, Lord Commander."
"Retreating huh? Did they catch onto our spies?"
"No my lord, according to our most recent spies, the Raikage himself wishes to join the battlefield."
"Hmm… this will be difficult."
There was a soft pause as Yamato looked on at the latest battle plan proposed by the high command in the village, specifically Shikaku and Tachibana, laid out in front of him.
"Shikaku predicted this… but he said the Raikage would be stepping in from the Sound Village front… why does it look like he'll be attacking the Land of Hot water?"
"Perhaps the Sound Village brokered a deal with them to avoid having war be pushed onto their turf?"
Yamato shook his head, "the Land of Hot Water is more likely to broker such a deal since they depend heavily on tourism to keep their village running… having war on their turf would harm them severely for a long time to come… something's fishy… has high command given us an order about this difference?"
"Not yet Lord Commander."
"Hmm… alright then… order a retreat on our front as well.. But make sure that patrols continue, especially on the Sound Village front… I have a feeling that they're planning something suspicious."
"Inform high command so that they can send in a replacement to handle the southern and western front against Iwa along with Jiraya-sama. After all, there's still Suna in the northwest that might launch an attack against us given our vulnerable two front position."
"Got it my lord.."
"Meanwhile… I shall go to the front lines to intercept the Raikage myself."
The chunin shinobi looked at Yamato with an admiration filled gaze before nodding to himself to do better.
…
"Tachibana-kun can you determine if Suna will attack us during this period?" Shikaku asked Tachibana since he could tailor his strategy accordingly if he knew better.
Tachibana closed his eyes while whispering the divination statement, only almost immediately a blade shot out from the ceiling towards him!
Tachibana ducked to dodge the blade barely before the blade curved in the air with the help of a thin hidden wire that allowed it to form an arc and stab right into his forehead!
Mid air, Tachibana could no longer dodge and was forced to take the blade into his head.
Blood spilled out of his head as his body crumpled to the ground as if its strings were suddenly cut.
However there was only a short silence where Shikaku didn't even react before the ANBU quickly targeted the intruder and captured them, forcing them to kneel on the floor after crashing them through the roof.
The intruder turned out to be a Konoha Jonin, obviously a deeply planted spy.
"And? Who're you? Which shinobi nation do you serve?" Shikaku asked casually as if he hadn't just lost their most important asset to win this war.
Whether it was arrogance or foolishness only Shikaku knew since everyone else was quite spooked.
Even the spy smiled crazily before laughing openly, "Hahahahahah~ I've done it!! I've gotten rid of the obstacle in Raikage-sama's way!! Now no one can stop Kumo from taking over Konoha!"
"Oh, so he's from Kumo." A voice from the side spoke up shocking everyone in the room.
They looked at it and to their surprise found Tachibana standing perfectly alright as if nothing had just happened to him.
The spy froze in his expression, his gaze crumbling into confusion as he mumbled out his question-
"Ho- How!?"
Tachibana looked at the spy with a bored gaze before looking at Shikaku, "How many is it again this week? The third one?"
Tachibana then looked at the Anbu guard keeping him safe and nodded in her direction as thanks before explaining, "Do you really think just any Jonin can enter the Hokage Office so easily?"
The Jonin opened and closed his mouth not particularly understanding.
"It was a trap you idiot!"
"Bu- But I saw you get hit by the kunai! I felt it! I felt the string go slack when it pierced into you! I felt the resistance!" The Jonin rambled.
Tachibana clearly unamused nodded and explained kindly or rather tried to before a mouth opened up on his face and explained for him, "You can't kill the dead you idiot."
The explanation was kept short on purpose so that others in the office would make up their own reasoning, but in reality, Tahcibana had simply escaped the sure hit strike using paper figurines.
And he was simply pretending like the ghost in his body took the hit for him and let him survive instead.
In fact that was what he had told Shikaku when they had come up with the plan to root out spies in their midst so that they could create better and bolder battleplans without letting any of them leak to their enemies.
They had loosened the ANBU detail on purpose so that enemies would think that they had a chance at getting rid of the greatest obstacle in their way, Tachibana, before they would be caught and have their memories extracted for all it was worth by the I.T department.
"Take him away." Shikaku ordered, allowing the ANBU to take their captive away for interrogation.
Tachibana felt his faceless potion digest some more as more people grew shocked by the mouth sprouting up on his face and speaking on his behalf before they shivered involuntarily.
Only then did Tachibana clamp down on the mouth and speak up, "I'm sorry, he does that sometimes… he's only a spirit living inside me… don't worry about it… think of it as a jinchuriki for a human being instead of a tailed beast."
Everyone gulped audibly at those words before they nodded quickly.
Tachibana felt his potion digest some more and reach its peak.
When the new prisoner was carried away, Tachibana sat down back in his couch before speaking to Shikaku among all the people present.
"It looks like Suna will be attacking, along with their Jinchuriki. And Oto will be attacking too… however they will be turning on Kumo."
"Turning on Kumo?! That's great news!? Do you know why!?"
Tachibana frowned for a second before pretending to recollect his faint visions and explaining to his audience, "It seems like a guy who likes snakes very much holds a grudge against our Ex-Hokage-sama? So they'll duke it out?"
Suddenly there was pin drop silence in the Hokage office until someone mumbled out, "Orichimaru?"
The silence continued before Tachibana broke it with a sudden request, "Let me go onto this battlefield. I promise I'll capture their Jinchuriki again and help this Orochimaru in his mission to kill the Third Hokage."
"What!? No way!" Shikaku argued but Tachibana gave him a hard look as he explained, "I can feel it, this is the precipice of the battle that will wash over Konoha right now. And I want it to end perfectly without any errors. I've already fought a Tailed Beast before and that was the eight tails. Give me team seven and I'll capture the One tails again. I promise."
Shikaku sighed and closed his eyes for a while.
This war had been strange from the beginning for him.
It had broken out so suddenly and so many people had already lost their lives that they were now running low on Jonin and Chunin in the village and on the battlefronts.
Yamato was holding up the Kumo battlefield while Jiraya was holding up the Iwa battle field since he had already fought them in the Third Shinobi war.
There truly was not another capable shinobi left in the village that had also fought a tailed beast and returned alive before.
The only option by all logic should've been Tachibana.
'But he's still just a child…'
Looking at Tachibana Shikaku was reminded constantly of his lazy ass son.
Even he had been sent to the Kumo battlefront even if it was simply to help in moving battle supplies. It was still a risky job nonetheless.
But Tachibana had had it the worst among everyone.
Tachibana had made several decisions throughout the month long war that would've sent shivers down any vetran Jonin's spine, from deciding which chunin team lives to use as bait to which Jonins to completely disregard protecting on the front line, it was all a big game of chance that Tachibana had been playing.
And it wasn't as if even using his strange Divination Tachibana was always right.
Things went wrong. More than once.
He had seen the haunted look on Tachibana's face when that had happened.
And yet the young man had borne the burden and forged ahead.
Under such pressure was it truly right to thrust him into another war front? As the head of the spear at that?
Shikaku opened his eyes with the full intention of refusing Tachibana, however he finally looked at his resolute gaze and then at the gazes of all those present in the office and sighed since he felt heartbroken.
After all, there truly weren't enough shinobi to go around.
Could he logically risk the lives of the many for the lives of one crazy shinobi who was sure he could take on a tailed beast?
And so Shikaku acquiesced with much regret.
"Alright…"
"...but Shikamaru will go with you and team seven." Shikaku said finally in a twist.
Shikaku trusted that Shikamaru had matured through war.
If he hadn't then it was time for him to see just where people in his own age group had already reached.
After all, whoever the next Hokage was going to be, Shikaku was sure he was going to retire soon. It would be the next generation carrying the torch forwards in a few more years. And the Nara clan had to continue their eternal servitude as the Hokage's aide.
…