8th September, 8am. Council Meeting Hall.
The Third Hokage stood by the window, gazing out over the village, lost in thought.
Behind him, the council was already seated — the Advisory Board, the Sannin, the Clan Heads, and every shinobi who held a Gold Scroll of Elite Jōnin.
Everyone was present…
except three.
Three seats of the massive circular table remained empty.
Then the door creaked open as Minato and Fugaku stepped in, both with their heads lowered in embarrassment. Hiruzen shot them a tired look of disappointment, then sighed. They took their seats and placed their Gold Scrolls on the table like everyone else.
Finally, after a long breath, Hiruzen began the roll call. With each name, the respective person bowed slightly.
"My Board of Advisors: Anbu Chief Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, Nara Shikayoshi, Uchiha Shoka, and Yamanaka Inoarashi.
The Legendary Sannin: Senju Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya."
He continued:
"The respected Clan Heads of Konohagakure:
Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, Inuzuka Moroha, Aburame Shibi, Senju Shinji, Sarutobi Shippu, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza.
And:
Namikaze Minato, Yamanaka Naoki, Hyuga Hizashi, Uchiha Keigo, Uchiha Raiko, and Nara Shinki."
Then he straightened, resting both hands on the table.
"I am… as you know… the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The people of the village call me 'Professor.'
For the young ones… the 'Grandpa who happened to be a professor.'
But only my veterans here… truly know what I am a professor of."
He paused.
"When I was thirty-one, the First Great War began. I served as commander of the southern front.
It was then that Lord Second gave me the epithet… 'Professor of War.'"
The room was silent.
"In my forties, the bloody Second Great War broke out.
And afterward, I prayed… that I might die before a third ever came."
He exhaled — a long, defeated breath.
"But it seems Buddha truly wishes to punish me…"
The council fell silent — no words, but tension rippled across the room.
Jaws clenched.
Hands tightened.
Postures stiffened.
Eyes sharpened.
Hiruzen gestured to one of the empty seats.
"This seat… the empty one… belonged to Uchiha Enji.
One of us.
Our pride — the Hakaikaen.
Though his status may have turned rogue… he was still an Elite Jōnin of our village."
He looked down, voice tightening.
"Recently, Kumogakure attacked him.
And killed him.
His wife and child fled.
Kumo is now hunting his son."
The next words hit the room like a hammer.
"For that reason…
we are going to war with Kumogakure."
Silence.
Shock.
Then—
Fugaku closed his eyes.
Alright… I have 1,500 men… he began calculating immediately.
Minato's fingers drummed lightly.
A thousand kunai might be enough…
From Shikaku's seat came a whisper:
"Enji-senpai…"
Naoki lowered his head.
The wooden table creaked beneath his tightening grip.
"Enji, you fool…" he muttered. "I'll avenge you. No matter what."
"I knew it… not revoking that idiot Enji's rank was a mistake," Danzo muttered under his breath, facepalming hard.
He was frustrated — and embarrassed — yet too wary to say it aloud.
The last thing he needed was the Advisory Board calling him a "scared old fossil."
Jiraiya exhaled deeply, eyes drifting upward.
Aki-sensei… if only you hadn't made that choice… he thought, guilt tightening in his chest.
Across the table, Orochimaru let out a quiet chuckle.
"I suppose," he murmured to himself, "I should prepare some new ninjutsu."
"I want all of you to go back home and think through the situation," Hiruzen said. "We'll meet again at exactly 9 PM."
Everyone rose from their seats.
"Minato… you stay," he added.
Minato sat back down as the rest of the council filed out of the chamber.
As tradition dictated, the elders left first, then the younger clan heads, then the regular elite members.
---
"Keigo-san," Raiko called as he caught up to him.
"Yes, Raiko-kun?" Keigo answered. "Nervous, huh? First time facing a war?"
"Yeah… kinda nervous if I'm being honest," Raiko admitted. "Wait— isn't it your first war too?"
"Nope," Keigo replied casually. "I've seen far worse than a 'little' Great War." There was a strange calm in his tone — like someone who carried more than he said.
"Anyway… you wanted to ask something?"
"Yeah… about this whole situation. What do you think of it?"
Keigo chuckled. "Did you see Fugaku's face? He's eager for it. And if he's in… I'm in. Besides— Enji's sister... she's the widow of my younger brother, so…"
"Oh…" Raiko nodded, the connection clicking into place. The small talk continued as the two walked down the corridor.
===
Back at Granny Honoka's house — right after the council meeting concluded
Kaen was sprinting up and down the stairs like he was racing a departing train, bringing Kushina every item he thought mattered.
First came his mother's ring. Then the new clothes Enju bought him yesterday. Then—honestly—probably anything he could grab before she left.
Kushina cupped his cheek with a soft laugh.
"Slow down, sweetheart — I'm not disappearing."
From the kitchen, Granny Honoka stepped out, already wearing the smile of a woman who knows exactly what's about to happen.
Kushina bowed deeply.
"Honoka-san… I want to ask something. Please don't feel pressured. I mean this sincerely."
Her eyes drifted to Kaen, who was trying so hard to hide his excitement it was basically glowing off him.
"Would you allow Kaen to stay with me for a few days? Just a short visit. I want to know my sister's son properly."
Kaen immediately turned to his granny with that tiny, trembling smile kids use when they're desperate but trying not to beg.
"Granny… I'll come back in three days. I promise. Pinky promise even."
Honoka hesitated.
Not because she doubted Kushina — but because letting him go, even for a few days, felt like giving up a piece of her heart.
But then she looked at Kaen's face. That was all it took.
She let out a slow, knowing sigh.
"Alright. Three days."
Kaen punched the air. "Yessss!"
As Kushina grabbed his small travel bag, Enju gently pulled her aside into a quiet corner.
She held both of Kushina's hands — tight, almost shaking.
"Kushina… I'm happy. Truly. But please… don't let him forget he has both sides of his family. We are only ones he knows."
Kushina squeezed back, her expression soft and earnest.
"I know. And I promise — I'm not here to replace anyone. I'll never let him forget his granny or his aunt."
Her smile warmed. "He doesn't need to choose. He can have all of us."
Enju's shoulders finally loosened, relief pouring out of her in one long breath.
"Good… that's good."
Just then Kaen burst into the room carrying his little sandals like a trophy, practically vibrating with joy.
"Let's gooo! Uzumaki sleepover!"
Both women laughed — because this time, his joy wasn't fragile.
It was real.
===
Shinji House — one hour after the council meeting
Tsunade sat cross-legged at her nephew's table, a half-empty bottle of premium sake between them. Shinji matched her sip for sip… or at least, he tried to. She was two bottles ahead without even blinking.
"Auntie…" Shinji muttered, rubbing his face with both hands. "Just three months ago, I was hungry for a war. I've always been. And when it looked like my life might actually stay peaceful… I got married. I started thinking maybe I could be a normal guy. A simple man. Why can't fate let me be happy for once?"
Tsunade lifted her cup with a lazy swirl. "Relax, Shinji-kun… it'll be fine."
Spoken like someone who was definitely more drunk than she looked.
"No, Auntie. It's not fine." His voice cracked. "Everything in my life hits me at the worst time. My father died on my first birthday. My mother died the day I graduated. And now—now that I'm finally looking forward to being a father—fate wants to drag me into a war with Kumo? WHYYYY—"
He slammed his forehead onto the table… and promptly passed out.
Tsunade blinked at him.
"…Wait. You're becoming—"
She whipped her head toward Shinji's wife.
The woman tried to hide her smile, but it only made Tsunade freeze harder.
Tsunade stood, walked over, and placed a glowing hand over the woman's stomach. A soft, blue light pulsed as she performed the diagnostic ninjutsu.
The moment the result came back positive, her eyes softened.
She pulled Shinji's wife into a tight, heartfelt hug.
===
Shippu Residence — One hour after the Council Meeting
The drawing room was hazy with cigarette smoke — thick enough to blur faces, thin enough to feel the tension under it.
The three clan heads of the Ino–Shika–Cho sat cross-legged around the table with their Sensei, Sarutobi Shippu.Yamanaka Naoki and their joint advisor, Nara Shinki.
Six men. Six cigarettes. Six different ways of processing the same grief.
Shippu exhaled a long stream of smoke, squinting through it.
"Woah… Shikaku… no, Smoka-kun has gone full chain smoker, huh?"
Shikaku crushed his 103rd cigarette into the ash plate and covered his eyes with his palm. His shoulders trembled.
Choza rubbed his back gently without saying a word.
Naoki broke the silence.
"Shippu-san… I still can't believe it. How can Enji of all people die?"
Shippu leaned back, arms crossed, frown deepening.
"I don't get it either, Naoki-san. I was the one who personally begged Lord Third not to put a bounty on that idiot's head."
He jabbed a thumb toward the window.
"Reason being — who the hell would want to run after that man? Like, except you, of course."
Naoki let out a weak laugh — the kind that dies halfway.
Inoichi nudged Shikaku.
"Hey. Get a grip, man. You're the brain of this whole damn operation…"
Shikaku lowered his hand. His eyes were sunken, dim.
"I… don't know what to do anymore. It feels like my brain's locked up."
Shinki raised his hand lazily without even looking up from his slouch.
"Oye, oye… Shikaku-boya… don't do that. If your brain stops, these guys will force me to think. And I really don't want that, man."
A small wave of chuckles passed around the room.
Then silence settled again — heavier than before.
===
Uchiha Main House — Three hours after the council meeting
Fugaku sat alone in his study.
A massive map of the Frost and Kumo borderlands lay spread across the table, weighed down by kunai at the corners. His elbow rested on the wood, his forehead balanced against his knuckles.
In his other hand, he held a chalk stick, quietly marking invasion routes, chokepoints, supply lines.
The balcony door slid open with a soft shff.
"May I come in, Fugaku?" a familiar voice asked.
Fugaku didn't turn.
"Yes, Keigo. Come in."
Keigo entered with respectful formality.
"So, Zukuchō-sama… how's it coming along?"
"Just fine," Fugaku exhaled — though the fatigue beneath it betrayed him.
Keigo approached the table, eyes drifting over the chalk lines.
"I know you want to do something for Enji… like Akihiko-sama did for your father."
He paused, then added gently, "Please don't. Spare the old man Hokage. He won't survive another Akihiko."
Fugaku shot him a sharp look — then closed his eyes and let out a dry, amused breath.
"You know me too well, my friend. Don't worry… I've got my intrusive thoughts under control."
He smirked. "Besides… I'm not insane enough to match Aki-san's legacy."
Keigo chuckled.
"True. No one can be that crazy. No disrespect… but God damn… I still get goosebumps when I picture that scene."
Fugaku's eyes softened with nostalgia.
"I still remember when my youngest uncle told me about it. Fifteen hundred men. Half Uchiha, half Hyūga. A terrifying alliance — one that only Akihiko could've forged."
His voice dropped, almost reverent.
"They marched for vengeance. For my father, Uchiha Ken. And the politics of it…" Fugaku laughed mid-sentence.
"Lord Second had no idea what hit Iwagakure that dawn."
Keigo nodded, his expression flickering with secondhand memory.
"Oh, my father told me that story. He was an aide to Lord Second back then. According to him, the Second Hokage jumped out of his seat when he heard Akihiko stormed Iwagakure… and killed the First Tsuchikage."
Fugaku couldn't help but smile — a strange mix of pride, humor, and disbelief.
"Yeah…" he murmured.
"Aki-san was something else."
===
Ichiraku Ramen — Six hours after the Council Meeting
Jiraiya sat at the counter, quietly slurping noodles.
To his right sat Minato.
To his left sat Raiko.
Two boys he once had to drag through missions by the collar… now full-fledged Elite Jōnin.
He was proud — not that he'd ever say it out loud.
Raiko broke the quiet first.
"Jiraiya-sensei… what's the progress on your novel?"
"It's coming along," Jiraiya said with a shrug. "Maybe another year till it's out."
Minato blinked.
"Wait — what novel?"
Raiko scoffed.
"Meh. Idiot. You don't even know this? Sensei's writing an amazing book."
Jiraiya chuckled.
"How would I know? It's not even published yet!" Minato defended himself.
"Besides, sensei shows up like a blue moon… once every two or three years."
"Alright, alright," Jiraiya sighed, patting Minato's back. "You'll get the first copy."
Minato's eyes gleamed with childish triumph.
He turned to Raiko with a smug squint.
"Of course. After all, I am his golden student."
Raiko's jaw twitched — triggered.
Jiraiya exhaled slowly.
And here they go again…
Raiko leaned in, voice sharp.
"Ahem, Minato… remind me who beat you in the Elite Jōnin Exam by three percent?"
Minato opened his mouth — then froze.
He had nothing.
Raiko smirked.
Minato recovered instantly.
"Oh yeah? And who was it that saved your sorry ass multiple times using a forbidden S-rank space-time ninjutsu that used to fry my chakra every time?"
"Tch." Raiko clicked his tongue.
"If I had water nature… I could've done it myself."
"Good excuse." Minato slurped the broth.
Raiko stood up, fists clenching — ready to box.
Jiraiya slammed his hand on the counter.
"Oi! Enough!" he barked.
"Stop bickering like you're still the ten-year-olds I was forced to babysit."
Both men froze mid-glare, then looked away in synchronized sulking.
War on the horizon… and these two still act like kids..
Jiraiya sighed into his bowl and then smiled of nostalgia.
Exactly like me and Orochimaru back then.
Teuchi laughed as Jiraiya facepalmed.
I am glad I chose to be a Ramen Vendor.
===
Somewhere underground in Konoha — 8 hours after the Council Meeting
Deep beneath the village, in a dim chamber where only candlelight flickered against stone,
Orochimaru stood beside an enormous glass tank. His pale hand was submerged up to the wrist, fingers gently stirring the water as he injected Wind-nature chakra with meticulous precision.
Under the surface, an air bubble formed — perfectly spherical, shimmering with faint chakra light.
He lowered himself into a crouch, golden eyes narrowing as he observed.
The bubble held.
Ten seconds.
Fifty.
A hundred.
Three hundred.
At precisely the five-minute mark, the sphere trembled like something alive… then collapsed into a swirl of collapsing pressure.
"Hm."
A quiet, almost bored exhale.
it needs more coating.
He rose, gliding back to the chalkboard behind him. The board was covered in long strings of formulas — chakra ratios, elemental resistance coefficients, water-pressure tolerances — all scrawled in his elegant, serpentine handwriting.
He erased several portions with the duster, chalk dust drifting through the stale underground air. Then he rewrote the equation, adjusting symbols, refining terms, shifting variables with the confident precision of someone who had long since surpassed the boundaries of conventional science.
Trial and error — but done with the patience of a predator.
Finished, he crossed the lab to a table cluttered with scrolls. From beneath a stack, he pulled out an enormous one bound with old silk. When he unfurled it across the table, seals and diagrams sprawled like a forbidden tapestry.
Orochimaru skimmed it quietly, eyes glinting with fresh calculation.
After a minute, he turned back toward the massive tank, stepping close enough for the reflection of the water to ripple across his face.
Time for another test.