"The intelligence was brought back by the spy 'A', who had barely evacuated. According to him, he was nearly exposed but managed to escape thanks to someone's help. The scroll has been examined and contains no additional ninjutsu or poison."
A Root ninja roughly summarized what he knew.
"Hmm."
Kei Yamanaka slightly nodded.
He opened the intelligence scroll in his hand with a strange expression.
Looking back, his memory manipulation techniques from back then were still crude and unrefined.
It was pure luck that Pakura avoided mental collapse and insanity.
This...
Has she completely sided with Konoha?
Was it self-preservation that led her to interpret things that way?
Or...
Is there some deception at play?
After reading the intelligence scroll,
Kei Yamanaka's brows furrowed slightly—already 80% convinced of Pakura's account.
Half a month ago, Kiri secretly sent several high-ranking officials to Suna, where they reached an unknown agreement with Chiyo and Ebizō, who were currently handling Sand affairs.
Though Pakura hadn't learned the specifics of this agreement,
She deduced from fragments of conversation between the Sand elites Sa and Fuki that their target was clearly Konoha!
Not long ago, Chiyo even hinted to her about protecting Rasa well during the upcoming major battle, helping him gain more combat achievements to facilitate his nomination as the Fourth Kazekage.
"Kiri first allied with Iwa, then made a deal with Suna. Their war against Kumo is mainly for stalling..."
Rapid thoughts flashed through Kei Yamanaka's mind.
Although he didn't know what Kiri had sacrificed to secure the deal with Suna,
One thing was clear—both Suna and Iwa would declare war on Konoha once they were ready!
As for Kiri and Kumo...
Kumo was relatively predictable; unless something big changed, they'd likely just watch from the sidelines,
Waiting until these three forces wore each other down before deciding whether to act.
But Kiri, due to its agreements with Iwa and Suna, would definitely be required to tie up Konoha's combat strength...
"Fighting on three fronts... Need to think carefully how to send Hiruzen Sarutobi to the battlefield..."
Kei rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
After White Zetsu, impersonating Danzo, exited the Hokage's office building,
He activated the [Mind Transfer Puppet Technique], transferring his consciousness into the Root ninja's body by leveraging the chakra fluctuation generated by that ninja's sudden disappearance technique.
Then, secretly controlling White Zetsu, he carried the intelligence scroll back to the Hokage Tower.
Meanwhile, his original body, after greeting familiar Konoha leadership and core Jonin,
Headed home with Hayato Yamanaka.
——————————
Nothing eventful happened that night.
The next morning early,
Kei Yamanaka felt Kushina stir in his arms and slowly opened his eyes.
The effort of orchestrating White Zetsu's disguise and confronting Hiruzen last night had drained him mentally.
Though he hadn't managed to push Hiruzen into heading to the frontlines in person yet.
But obviously, that old man had already fallen for it!
Once convinced,
how far away could action be?
It was simply a matter of creating a situation where Hiruzen Sarutobi would feel confident of victory, spot an easy chance to earn glory, and reaffirm his reputation as the "Strongest Hokage."
"Why are you getting up so early?"
Kei Yamanaka asked, rubbing his still-sleepy eyes while watching Kushina begin dressing.
His hand couldn't help but reach for the smooth curve of her lower back.
Kushina gave him a cute pout and lightly slapped his hand in response.
"Today's New Year's Eve. I promised Honoka we'd clean the Noodle Shrine together."
"The Noodle Shrine?"
Hearing this familiar name, Kei immediately recalled the scene from the original story: Orochimaru at the Uzumaki clan's Noodle Shrine, summoning the previous Hokages through the Impure World Reincarnation.
And that forbidden technique which required signing a contract with the Shinigami beforehand—
[Dead Demon Consuming Seal]!
Glancing outside at the rising sun, Kei rubbed his face to shake off his sleepiness before sitting up from where he was lying down.
"I'll go with you."
"Really? Yay~ Honey~"
Kushina saw her boyfriend's move, giggled, and leaned over to peck him on the cheek.
She clearly felt genuinely rewarded—her busy boyfriend carving out time to accompany her was definitely worth celebrating!
After waking up and washing up and getting ready,
they left hand in hand, bought several breakfasts from their family's breakfast shop, and made their way toward the Noodle Shrine.
Although last night's top-level meeting had placed the matter of war openly on the table, Konoha's strategies had only been shared with the top leadership.
But for the sake of stability, Third Hokage had issued strict orders not to discuss anything from the meeting outside.
This might not completely stop intelligence leaks to other hidden villages,
but for now, the people of Konoha remained unaware of the impending war.
They were still caught up in preparations for the coming New Year.
The festive atmosphere of the approaching New Year swept through most of the village, filling every street with people full of genuine hopes and expectations for a better life.
"How have things been going with you and the Nine-Tails lately?"
Walking down the path toward the Noodle Shrine, Kei asked Kushina casually as they walked side by side.
"A-Actually pretty well, I guess."
Kushina nervously rubbed her cheek.
"Hmm? Tell me more."
"With Mito Grandma's sealing method and transformation ability, it can't beat me anymore. We can actually talk normally now, though it's recently started being sarcastic and sullen."
"...So you hit it again?"
"No, no, no~ Haha~ I just keep making faces at it when it smiles like that."
"Pfft~ You..." Kei chuckled, tapping lightly on Kushina's little head before raising one hand in front of him and miming a grabbing motion. "Next time it acts snarky, just say: 'Nine-Tails, your power is too strong!' and do this."
"Hmm? Let me try?"
Kushina allowed her boyfriend to lead her forward,
her consciousness drifting into the seal.
A moment later, she was clutching her stomach, laughing uncontrollably. Clearly, the Nine-Tails' reaction had been quite intense.
"Hehehe~ Kei, the stinky fox says he wants to see you. Do you want to meet him?"
"Hmm, why not?"
Kei Yamanaka nodded slightly and was about to perform his clan's secret technique, projecting his consciousness into the seal space.
But Kushina grabbed his hand.
After closing her eyes briefly to sense the surroundings and confirming there were no other presences nearby, she finally spoke.
"Don't be scared, okay?!"
Orange-red chakra began radiating from Kushina's body.
Soon, it enveloped her entire form in a golden-red glow.
Jet-black vortex-like sealing characters appeared.
As her golden-red hair flew in the wind, what stood before Kei Yamanaka was none other than the Perfect Jinchuriki Mode!
"Is... Is this what you meant by your invincible golden armor earlier?"
"Mm-hmm~ Hehe~ But now I've got an even more powerful golden armor! Nine-Tails Chakra Mode combined with Magical Girl Transformation. Hmm, but I can't control it very well yet. If I get the chance, I'll show you again later, okay!"
Kushina's face lit up with a smug grin.
Upon hearing her words, Kei felt a slight tingling on his scalp.
He silently wondered—does using something like this really *not* shorten your lifespan?
Buzzzz~
Golden-red chakra gathered on Kushina's left shoulder, quickly forming into a miniature Nine-Tails no bigger than her palm. It bared its teeth, trying hard to look fierce.
"Kid! How did you know that?!"
"I've been talking with Hashirama Senju quite a bit recently."
Kei arched an eyebrow. Seeing the facial expressions flickering uncontrollably across the fox's face, his mood actually improved somewhat.
Smiling little fox companion really was just too cute!
"Tch! So you came back after getting beaten to death and sent to the Pure Land for a spin? Then you recovered pretty fast!"
The Nine-Tails sneered, clearly not buying such an absurd excuse at all.
"Heh! Got something in your mouth, kid? Let me show you something fun."
Kei formed a single-handed seal, channeling his Wood Release chakra to sense the plant life hidden beneath the ground.
[Wood Release: Grass and Trees Sprout Wildly!]
Flower after flower burst into bloom out of season in the snowy winter forest.
Kei picked the most beautiful one and handed it to a completely bewildered Kushina.
The Nine-Tails glanced at the surrounding flowers, then at Kei, before vanishing right in front of them.
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