"But Ōnoki is preparing to instigate a war."
"…What did you say?"
Naruto's expression shifted slightly in surprise as he turned his attention back to Muō.
The Monkey King lowered his head again and lifted one of his front limbs. Naruto raised his fist and tapped it, syncing up—and immediately understood the situation.
So that old fox Ōnoki really was plotting an attack on Konoha.
To think, this geezer became the Third Tsuchikage after the death of the Second Tsuchikage, who died during the First Great Ninja War. Meaning, under Ōnoki's leadership, Iwagakure went through the Second, Third, and even—according to the original timeline—the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Ōnoki was always the type to act on his own whims when it came to warfare.
For example, during the Third Great Ninja War, shortly after the conflict began, he secretly mobilized over a thousand ninja to invade Kusa no Kuni (the Land of Grass) from the border. From there, they marched straight into Hi no Kuni (the Land of Fire).
At the time, Konoha's main forces were watching the borders it shared with the other major nations. Since the Land of Earth didn't border the Land of Fire directly, Konoha had ignored the threat from Iwagakure. So when the Stone ninja struck, it was already too late to send reinforcements.
If it hadn't been for Minato Namikaze—Naruto's own father—leading a team to destroy the Kannabi Bridge and sever the enemy's supply lines, the Land of Fire might have truly fallen.
What's more, even though Iwagakure's primary goal was to invade the Land of Fire, they didn't spare the Grass Village either. While fighting Konoha, Ōnoki still split off forces to attack the local Grass ninja.
As the supreme commander, Ōnoki's strategy of launching a surprise invasion into a major power's territory—and having enough troops to spare for annexing a minor nation—was beyond what most leaders would dare.
And that wasn't even the full extent of Iwagakure's aggression.
During that same war, they also sent a 10,000-strong army to fight Kumogakure, which led to the now-legendary event where the Third Raikage held off the entire army by himself for several days and nights.
Let's not forget—Kumo and Konoha were widely considered the strongest among the Five Great Villages. For Ōnoki to pick fights with both of them? That's not bold—it's reckless.
Compare that to the Third Hokage, who, despite initiating the Second Ninja War, barely left the village. He and his two advisors stayed safely in the office, while he sent his three disciples to Rain Country to fight Hanzo.
The ones who actually faced Ōnoki on the battlefield were Danzo and Uchiha Kagami.
Danzo came back crippled, and the Shimura Clan was nearly wiped out. Kagami didn't make it back at all.
Naruto guessed that it all went back to the trauma Ōnoki suffered from Uchiha Madara.
That iconic line—"So… you still want to dance?"—probably haunted Ōnoki for years. He wanted to use the stage of the ninja world to prove his strength and maybe even take Konoha as payback for the scorn Madara once showed to him and his mentor.
And from the intel Muō had just relayed, it was clear: Ōnoki had already wanted to start a war last year.
After learning about the Uchiha Clan Massacre and the explosion that killed and wounded many in Konoha, he assumed the village was strong on the outside but hollow within.
He immediately began rallying troops. If it hadn't been for Iwa's other advisors urging him to wait and observe, the Fourth Great Ninja War might have already started.
Later, news came in that someone in Konoha had once again awakened the Wood Release.
This raised alarm bells in Iwagakure—was a secret Senju survivor still alive? Or worse, had the Senju Clan never gone extinct?
Out of caution, Ōnoki suspended his plans for war.
But after a full year of intelligence-gathering, Iwa finally confirmed: Konoha had only one known user of Wood Release, and there was no sign that the Senju Clan had returned.
And now, both of Iwa's Jinchūriki had returned and pledged loyalty to the village. Ōnoki explained to them the situation with Akatsuki, resolving internal mistrust. He believed Iwagakure had achieved an unprecedented level of unity.
From his perspective, this was the perfect opportunity to strike.
After all, Kumo and Konoha were no longer allies. Kirigakure was practically disconnected from the ninja world and could be ignored. Konoha had only one possible backup: Sunagakure, the weakest of the Five Great Villages.
But Ōnoki's intel suggested that Suna was just waiting for the chance to stab Konoha in the back.
On top of that, with Akatsuki operating in the shadows as a mercenary group, he now had a tool he could manipulate from behind the scenes.
In fact, in the original anime, during the Five Kage Summit leading up to the Fourth Ninja War, it was revealed that Iwagakure had once hired Akatsuki. Yet Ōnoki had the audacity to claim that it was part of "normal ninja village operations," and that it was only because the Raikage's collection of forbidden jutsu posed a threat to Iwa that they resorted to it.
As the leader of a major village, Ōnoki didn't even bother with diplomatic doublespeak. His shamelessness was off the charts.
In comparison, Hiruzen—the Third Hokage—seemed overly cautious and passive. Say what you want about Ōnoki's tactics, but the man at least had guts.
He truly fit the title of "Shinobi Hero."
"…Is this the legendary butterfly effect? Is the Fourth Great Ninja War really going to happen early?"
Ding-ding-ding!
The dismissal bell rang.
Naruto had been planning to check the Mirror World to see if the Third Hokage had caught wind of any of this… but snapped out of it as the bell echoed.
Then he noticed something else.
He sensed Kabuto Yakushi had already infiltrated Sasuke's home.
Hokage's Office
A masked ANBU knocked on the door.
Seated at his desk, the Third Hokage said in a deep voice, "Enter."
The ANBU stepped in quickly, stopping before the desk and handing over a scroll.
"Hokage-sama! Aburame Torune and Yamanaka Fū are outside. They say they've brought urgent intel concerning the safety of the village!"
"Urgent intel?" Hiruzen's eyes narrowed as he unrolled the scroll.
His expression darkened immediately.
"Bring Torune and Fū in. Also—send for Shikaku Nara and the two advisors immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
Just as the ANBU turned to leave—
"Wait!" Hiruzen stood up suddenly. "Send someone to summon Advisor Danzo as well!"
After parting ways with Hinata, Naruto walked out of the village's commercial district.
Sasuke appeared not long after and followed behind him. As they reached a fork in the road, Naruto stopped.
"For the next month… we're going to have to attend classes properly."
"Huh?"
Sasuke was about to ignore him and keep walking home, but Naruto's words made him pause.
"What do you mean?"
"Someone's watching you," Naruto said plainly. "They'll be observing you for at least a month. Even if you use Shadow Clones, they'll still be able to track your real body. Also… the Fourth Ninja War might break out soon. We might even graduate ahead of schedule."
Sasuke froze.
"…What?"
I'm under surveillance? The ninja world's going to war? And we might… graduate early?
"I get it, but what does war have to do with our graduation? Are you saying the village would send us to the battlefield?"
Naruto gave him a calm look.
"Be prepared. You and I are in special circumstances, so the odds of being deployed are low. But war is unpredictable—anything could happen."
"Besides, it wouldn't be the first time Konoha sent children into battle. Uchiha Itachi participated in the Third Great Ninja War when he was only four years old."
Sasuke's expression turned serious. He gave a small nod.
"You said our situations are 'special.' What did you mean by that? And the person watching me… is it…"
Naruto turned to walk away, speaking in a flat voice:
"My situation is obvious to everyone. As for yours… don't you already have a good idea?"
"As for the one keeping tabs on you… in a way, they count as a Leaf shinobi too."
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