Chapter 189: The Five-Tails Meeting!
Inside Konoha Village, at the Hokage Tower.
Nara Keisuke followed the old clan head, Nara Shikano, as they walked toward the Hokage's office on the top floor. For the sake of the Five-Tails he had coveted his entire life, the retired old cadre had unhesitatingly come out of retirement.
"Keisuke, all the hopes for the rest of my life are riding on you!" Nara Shikano said with heartfelt sincerity, stopping at the door. "You just go wild in there. I'll figure out how to clean up the mess afterward."
For the past three days, Shikano had been engaged in a fierce war of words with Hiruzen Sarutobi. But even after talking until his lips were chapped, he couldn't get the Hokage to budge or willingly hand the Five-Tails over to the Nara clan. In the end, it had all come down to this pointless "Five-Tails Disposition Meeting."
Shikano had finally seen the light. In this cold and heartless ninja world, the "Will of Fire" was bullshit. At the end of the day, you had to speak with your fists. If the Nara clan wanted to take the Five-Tails from the Third Hokage, they needed the strength to back it up.
"Clan Head, please don't say things that are so easily misunderstood," Keisuke said with a sigh. His great-uncle had been repeating that same line the entire way here. He was getting tired of hearing it.
"Let's just go in."
Shikano took a deep breath, stepped forward, and knocked on the door. After a voice from within called them in, the two Nara entered the office, one after the other.
The room was already crowded. Besides Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was seated firmly behind his desk, the two village elders, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, stood behind him to his left and right. Minato Namikaze stood to the side with a wooden expression, giving the two Nara a slight nod as they entered. And hidden in the shadows was not the usual Anbu, but the reanimated Uchiha Kagami.
With the arrival of the two Nara, all seven were present. The door closed, and the so-called "Five-Tails Disposition Meeting" officially began.
"Ahem." Hiruzen Sarutobi cleared his throat to preside over the meeting. "We all know why we are here: to decide the disposition of the Iwagakure Jinchuriki, Han, and the Five-Tails within him. Minato, and you, Keisuke, were the main forces in that battle, so you have been specially approved to participate in this meeting."
Hearing this, the corner of Minato's mouth twitched. He was a main force in that battle? By the time he'd arrived, the battle was already over.
"Ahem!" Nara Shikano coughed loudly, shooting a meaningful glance at the "hope of his future."
Receiving his cue, Keisuke spoke up. "Lord Hokage," he began, his tone respectful, his words pure fire, "have you not read the after-action reports from the Iwagakure front? Or, have you already forgotten the title 'Konoha's Shadow of Darkness' that you yourself praised just the other day, and how it was earned? Or perhaps, you are simply unaware of how Iwagakure's entire front line was crushed and annihilated?"
Minato was the main force? The number of Rashōmon gates Orochimaru summoned in that fight put in more sweat than Minato did.
But it was clear that Keisuke's blunt truth was not what the others were prepared for. Even Shikano himself hadn't expected his descendant to be this aggressive. 'Good... this is very good!' he thought, thoroughly pleased. 'The Nara clan has finally produced a true super-ninja, with both the temper and the power to match!'
"Nara Keisuke!" Mitokado Homura, standing behind Hiruzen, snapped, glaring at the Special Jonin. "Is that any way to speak to the Lord Hokage?"
Keisuke's brow furrowed as he shot the elder a sideways glance. "Who are you?"
"I—" The two words made Homura's face flush crimson. His voice rose two octaves. "I am Mitokado Homura! A Konoha Advisor!"
"Who?" Keisuke's reply was even shorter, but the killing power and sarcasm were infinitely stronger.
Homura was so angry his beard trembled. He was speechless. Luckily, he was not alone.
"Nara Keisuke!" The other elder, Utatane Koharu, picked up the thread. "Whether it is the Hokage or the Advisors, we are your experienced elders. It is because of our sacrifices that the village is what it is today. A young man shouldn't think that just because he's earned a little reputation on the battlefield, he can disrespect his seniors!"
"My apologies, old woman," Keisuke said, tilting his head with a look of confusion. "And who are you?"
'This sharp-tongued brat!' Koharu clenched her fists, forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Utatane Koharu. A Konoha Advisor."
"Oh, another advisor," Keisuke drawled, then immediately pressed on. "Then may I ask this 'advisor' old woman, what exactly are these contributions you've made to the village?"
"The duty of an advisor," Koharu said coldly, "is to serve as the Hokage's counsel, to provide opinions on the village's various policies."
"The Hokage's counsel?" Keisuke raised an eyebrow. "How does that compare to, say, the Jonin Class Leader?"
Koharu was speechless. Even if her intelligence was doubled, she would never dare compare her strategic mind to Nara Shikano's.
"Furthermore," Keisuke continued, "the Hokage's counsel, by definition, exists to advise the Hokage. So why is it that before Lord Third has even spoken, you two have already jumped out? Oh... I see. It's because you two simply have no respect for the Third Hokage."
You bastard! Both Homura and Koharu cursed him in their minds.
After Keisuke's words, the office became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The old clan head stood there looking at his nose, his nose looking at the floor, leaving the entire stage to his descendant. Minato frowned slightly; while he disliked Keisuke's sharp tone, he also disliked the elders' condescending, "pulling rank" style. As for the man hidden in the shadows, Kagami was as still as a statue.
Under the circumstances, only Hiruzen could take back control.
"Enough." He tapped the desk lightly, his expression calm. "Nara Keisuke, this is the Hokage's office, not a marketplace. If you want to play word games, you can go elsewhere."
"Lord Hokage," Keisuke said, not yielding an inch. "You and I both know what this meeting is about. If we are here to discuss the Five-Tails, then let's stick to the facts and logic. My first question: is there anyone here who is unclear on how the Five-Tails Jinchuriki was captured?"
"The Five-Tails Jinchuriki..." Hiruzen said evenly, "...was captured through the combined efforts of Konoha's shinobi."
"Fine." Keisuke had no desire to split hairs on that point. "Second question: why did we bring him back to the village?"
"To increase our village's strength," Hiruzen replied.
Keisuke pressed on. "And how do we use him to increase Konoha's strength?"
"The Five-Tails can be deployed on the battlefield," Hiruzen answered quickly. "And as for the Jinchuriki, Han, we can study his Kekkei Genkai and add Boil Release to the village's assets."
"Then we have a problem. The village wants the beast and the man," Keisuke said, spreading his hands. "Does the village have a way to turn an Iwagakure Jinchuriki into a Konoha Jinchuriki?"
Hiruzen was silent for a moment before answering heavily. "No."
"Since we cannot turn Han into an asset, we must choose between the Five-Tails and the Jinchuriki. I think any normal person would choose the Tailed Beast," Keisuke said, finishing the train of logic for him. "And only by acquiring the Five-Tails' power as quickly as possible can we end this war as quickly as possible. In other words, we need to extract the Five-Tails from Han immediately, correct?"
Hiruzen was silent again, before finally, with great difficulty, replying, "Yes, but..."
"And once the Tailed Beast is extracted, according to standard procedure, we must seal it into a new Jinchuriki," Keisuke said, cutting him off. "Finding a candidate, training the Jinchuriki, letting them adapt to the Tailed Beast... has anyone here calculated the time and energy that would require?"
"Do you think we are just young men who only know how to run our mouths?" Homura, having revived, interjected, inadvertently leaking a piece of information. "What do you think the village has been doing for the past three days?"
"Looking for a new candidate for the Five-Tails?" Keisuke sneered. "Advisor, how much longer do you think this war is going to last? Sunagakure is at a disadvantage because their Puppet Brigade was crippled at Kikyo Castle and I captured Ebizō. Iwagakure is at a disadvantage because their entire front line was annihilated in the Land of Grass, I repelled Ōnoki, and I captured the Five-Tails Jinchuriki! As for Kumogakure, the only reason we are at a stalemate is because Minato-san is holding them off, while the Third Raikage has been busy fighting Iwagakure, and none of you has any way to deal with their AB Combo."
"Three fronts: two won, one stalled. The entire strategic situation of this war has already been reversed by us! Under these circumstances, you are pinning your hopes on slowly training a new Jinchuriki to help the village achieve victory? I am seriously starting to doubt how you ever sat in that advisor's chair!"
Facts, logic, and a full display of his own contributions. Keisuke laid out his undeniable war record, silencing the entire room. Only then did everyone present fully realize: this quiet, unassuming "Shadow of Darkness" was the central figure who had turned the tide of the entire Third Great Ninja War.
"Keisuke." Hiruzen sighed, his mode of address changing again as he finally conceded. "What do you propose we do?"
"We want to quickly turn the Five-Tails into an asset for the village, and we also want Han's Kekkei Genkai ability," Keisuke replied calmly. "What if I can solve both of these problems at the same time? Then would anyone here still have any objections?"
"You can solve both problems?" Koharu scoffed. "Do you think the Five-Tails is one of your family's pet deer?"
"If you can do it, then go ahead," Keisuke shot back, his patience gone. "If not, then shut up!"
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