"Something's wrong…"
Just as Tsunade was finally relaxing, a voice quietly slipped into her ears—like a whisper.
And not just hers. Everyone in the room heard it.
What made it strange… was that the one who spoke was Gaara.
Tsunade looked at Gaara, confused. For a moment, she didn't understand what he meant.
Gaara kept his head down, his face hidden. No one seemed to understand what he meant by "this isn't right." Everyone just looked at him, puzzled.
At that moment, Gaara seemed out of place—even among the Kage.
"This isn't right…" Gaara repeated, closing his eyes, his face showing some inner struggle.
Tobirama narrowed his eyes at Gaara, then suddenly smirked. He didn't say anything, but in his eyes, there was a hint of nostalgia… and hope.
A moment later, Gaara looked up—not at the others, but at Naruto behind him. "Naruto, do you really think this is the right thing to do?"
Naruto didn't answer right away. The shy smile on his face slowly faded. He sighed and gently shook his head.
"Then why?" Gaara asked. "Why would you still choose to do it?"
Naruto thought for a bit, then replied, "Actually, before coming here, I talked with Kurama. I didn't agree with what Granny Tsunade planned. If we do this, it'll basically put the Hidden Leaf on the opposite side of the other villages. This alliance might sound nice, but the result will probably be just like the First Great Ninja War decades ago."
He looked down at Gaara, calm as ever. "Once there's no longer a threat that can challenge all five nations, then whichever village is the strongest… will become the next threat in the eyes of the other four."
"Even if everyone acts friendly on the surface, once the danger is gone, no one's going to hold back when it's time to strike," Naruto sighed. "Didn't the First Ninja War start just because my great-grandfather Hashirama died, and the other nations suddenly saw the Leaf as the next big threat?"
Then he held up one finger. "All of this is what Kurama told me. If it were just me, I wouldn't think about it that much. I'd probably just… say no, like you're doing now."
Gaara seemed to understand something—but couldn't fully grasp it. Ignoring everyone else's stares, he asked without hesitation:
"Didn't you tell me peace in the ninja world shouldn't come from fear and power?"
"I did," Naruto said, shaking his head. "But I… am not the Hokage."
Tsunade leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, eyes closed, a small smile on her lips.
The other three Kage seemed deep in thought. They glanced at Tsunade but didn't say anything, just silently watched.
Naruto didn't care about their reactions. He spoke softly, "Kurama said I'm a 'pure' ninja. I see things from a ninja's point of view. But a leader needs to see things that ninjas can't. So no matter how strong I am, I'm still just a ninja—not a Kage."
"I don't really understand what Kurama meant," Naruto added with a shake of his head. "But he asked me a question."
"What was it?" Gaara asked, curious.
"He asked me—if something happened to Granny Tsunade right now, and the Leaf needed someone from the next generation to lead it through this crisis that's affecting the whole ninja world… between me and Kakashi-sensei, who would be the better choice?" Naruto looked up at the ceiling.
There wasn't really anything interesting on the ceiling, but somehow, Naruto seemed to see a lot up there. "My answer was… Kakashi-sensei."
He smiled. "Because I don't know how to rebuild a village. I don't know how to lead people through a crisis. All I know is how to charge forward and beat down whatever stands in my way… but that's not what a leader is supposed to do."
Then Naruto summed it up. "Kurama said if I became Hokage right now, I'd probably end up like Hashirama—losing myself in the role. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 'protecting the village' and 'guiding peace,' even though they're supposed to be the same thing. And once I die, there'd probably be another 'First Great Ninja War.' The chances of a future war might actually be higher if I became Hokage now."
Naruto lowered his head, spread his hands, and shrugged helplessly. "So I took Kurama's advice. If I don't know what to do, then I'll follow the lead of those who do. A real leader isn't stuck on the present. I'll just stay quiet and watch—and smile."
As he finished, that shy smile returned to Naruto's face.
Tsunade opened her eyes and gave a half-annoyed, half-amused laugh. "So that's why you've been so obedient this time."
"So I thought you were finally willing to show me some respect, but turns out Kurama just talked you into it."
Then she shook her head slightly. "But Kurama isn't wrong. Don't be fooled just because I made the other Kage shut up earlier. Believe it or not, even if I hadn't pressured them, they'd still be thinking about joining the alliance behind the scenes. Why else do you think Lord Mifune said one sentence at the beginning and stayed silent the whole time after that?"
Mifune kept his eyes closed and said nothing.
Gaara looked around, confused.
The Tsuchikage turned his head away, completely zoning out. Terumi Mei, at least, gave Gaara a polite smile.
A was more direct. He snorted, "I want to be the commander of the alliance."
"You're dreaming," Tsunade said flatly. "The top Kage won't be leading this battle. We need to deal with the enemy's reanimated ninja. Naruto and Sasuke will be handling the key targets. Our job is to make sure no one gets in their way."
"Then let Mabui be one of the commanders." A didn't really want to say it, but Mabui was one of the few brains in the Hidden Cloud.
Right after he said that, Mabui pushed up her glasses calmly.
"Our Ao is pretty smart too," Terumi Mei said with a smile.
The Tsuchikage opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something, but then glanced at his own people behind him — Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi. They both looked totally lost. He nearly passed out from frustration and gave up on the idea.
Gaara blinked blankly. Compared to the others, he was clearly a bit out of his depth.
Seeing that, the Tsuchikage said, "As expected of the Kazekage — still a bit too young."
That was straight-up sarcasm.
Gaara opened his mouth, about to say something, but Naruto suddenly stepped forward and shouted, "That's a good thing!"
His voice was so loud it made Kurama's ears ring.
Facing the confused Tsuchikage, Naruto kept going: "I wasn't finished before! Right now I'm not a Kage yet, so I have to support Granny Tsunade's decision. But that doesn't mean I agree! I trust Gaara! Whether he's a Kage or just my friend — his reason for choosing something is totally different from yours!"
"Peace will come in our generation!"
"When all of you are gone, the ninja world will belong to us younger folks!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
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