Chapter 95: The Crisis from Sakumo Hatake
To think he would consider things so far ahead and so thoroughly.
Stelle found she didn't have the heart to fabricate any more stories about the Uchiha clan being annihilated in some alternate future. She cast a few more glances at Jiraiya, deciding that when her "Kinoe" persona finally went offline, she would be as gentle as possible. She would make sure he wasn't anywhere near the scene and leave no corpse behind. If he never saw a body, the pain wouldn't cut quite so deep.
Jiraiya, however, couldn't shake the idea. A day later, he was back in her office, his mind still churning.
"Hokage-sama, do you think if we put on a show… if we pretended I died… it would be enough to make Kinoe awaken his eyes?"
'Oh, for crying out loud,' Stelle thought.
After his trust had been so thoroughly betrayed, Kinoe had sealed away the heart that had just begun to open, reverting to the cold, emotionless tool he was trained to be. Faking a death now would only drive him further into that shell. It was completely illogical.
Stelle rubbed her temples, a headache blooming behind her eyes. "No."
At her firm refusal, the expectation in Jiraiya's eyes flickered and died. But after only a few seconds of hesitation, his usual vigor returned, blazing back to life.
"It's fine," he declared, his fists clenched with determination. "I will definitely make Kinoe trust me again. I'll make him my friend."
Meanwhile, in the heart of the Hidden Sand Village, Kazushi sat in her office, deftly handling the mountain of paperwork before her.
Technically, most of these documents were supposed to be sent to the Kazekage's building for processing. But since she was the one truly in charge—and more, the one providing all the funding—everyone tacitly rerouted the village's administrative affairs directly to her.
Being an unrivaled workaholic was no joke. While Stelle herself might find these tasks a tedious headache, her Kazushi persona, who had inherited that same relentless drive, was like a fish in water.
At this point, Kazushi's mindset had undergone a significant shift. Initially, she had only wanted to integrate into the Hidden Sand's upper echelons and lead a small group to happily plant trees.
But now, a new thought had taken root. If Senju Stelle could become the Fourth Hokage, then why couldn't she, Kazushi, become the Third Kazekage?
Since she was already here, she might as well go big.
While mulling over how to further expand her influence, she addressed Matsumoto Akira, her self-proclaimed 'Number Two Housekeeper'. He had managed to snag the task of serving her tea while Kakuzu was out buying groceries and preparing their meals.
"Matsumoto, what do you think about me becoming the Third Kazekage?"
Hearing her words, Matsumoto Akira's eyes erupted with a fervent, almost religious admiration. In that moment, Kazushi was no longer just a person in his eyes; she was a god walking among mortals.
"As expected of Kazushi-sama! No wonder you gave up on becoming the Daimyo! It turns out your true ambition was to reclaim control of the Land of Wind's power by becoming the Kazekage!" he gushed. "With your status, Kazushi-sama, becoming the Kazekage is just a matter of saying the word! If not, you'd only need to ask Shamon to repay his debts, and he'd be on his hands and knees, groveling at your feet in an instant!"
He let out a dramatic sigh. "Just thinking about Shamon's expression—hating you but being utterly powerless to do anything about it—it's almost pitiful."
Kazushi shot him a flat, unimpressed look. She was asking a serious question, not fishing for compliments.
'Could this guy act a bit more like a man instead of brown-nosing all day?' she thought, exasperated. His behavior was so infectious that even Kakuzu had started learning how to flatter her, all in the hopes of getting a raise.
Did she look like she was lacking people to praise her?
What she lacked was someone who could help her build her reputation, grow stronger, and harvest emotional value from the leaders of the great nations.
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
Two scythes of wind shot from her fingertips. They crossed in mid-air, grazing the sides of Matsumoto Akira's head with a whisper of air before embedding themselves deep into the ground behind him.
Terrified, Matsumoto Akira snapped his mouth shut, his entire demeanor becoming instantly serious.
This man wasn't just a sycophant; he did possess some actual skill when properly motivated.
"In truth, Kazushi-sama, you have already sidelined Shamon," he began, his voice now crisp and professional. "Not even ten percent of his power remains, with only a few old noble clans still offering him their support. If you wish to become the Kazekage yourself, you lack nothing… except for prestige."
He elaborated, "Take Konoha's Fourth Hokage, for example. She doesn't belong to any of Konoha's major clans and wasn't even an adult when she took office. But she became famous in a single battle, establishing such immense prestige that everyone was convinced and willing to follow her."
"Although you are powerful, Kazushi-sama," he concluded, "you don't have any noteworthy battle achievements to your name."
To put it simply, she hadn't fought enough. In that case, she would just have to create some achievements for herself.
Kazushi summoned Kawakawa Shō. "Pass down the order. Starting today, the Hidden Sand Village will conduct a full-scale investigation and pursuit of all foreign spies hiding within our walls."
At Kazushi's command, the entire village sprang into action.
Some time ago, she had initiated major infrastructure projects throughout the Hidden Sand, and with so many people coming and going every day, who knew how many spies had managed to slip in.
Now that the hunt was on, following the clues led to entire nests of them being rooted out and captured.
Kazushi stood atop a building, watching countless Sand shinobi leap across rooftops in pursuit of targets fleeing the village. Suddenly, a special Hidden Sand signal flare exploded in the distant sky.
Before long, a shinobi landed before her to deliver his report.
"Kazushi-sama, the pursuit squad has discovered a Byakugan-wielding ninja from Konoha's Hyuga clan fleeing toward the southwest. They are requesting backup!"
"Just a single Byakugan user? You handle the arrangements," she replied dismissively.
"Kazushi-sama," the ninja pressed, his voice trembling with manufactured excitement. "This isn't a member of the Hyuga Branch House, but a ninja from the Main House! His headband was knocked off, and our people saw with their own eyes that there is no Caged Bird Curse Mark on his forehead! Both his eyes and his body are immense treasures!"
Hearing this, Kazushi nearly stumbled. 'What? Aren't the life-or-death missions of the Hyuga Clan always handled by the Branch House? Since when did the Main House start sending their own out on such tasks?'
Could it be that unlucky fellow from the original story, the one whose Byakugan was stolen by the Hidden Mist? And now, of all the people to run into, he had run into her.
It was one thing to cross her path, but to do so during the Hidden Sand's internal power struggle… talk about terrible luck. When kings fight, the pawns are the first to suffer.
Looking at the messenger's fake, hyper-excited expression, Kazushi was fairly certain that by now, Kawakawa Shō—that poor guy who didn't even warrant a name in the original story—had likely already been silenced by Shamon.
Otherwise, how would his second-in-command dare to come and lay a trap for her?
She knew it. Shamon might be a relic, but he was still the man who had served the Second Kazekage and left his mark on history. There was no way he'd be such a pushover, letting her run wild in his village without making a move.
It turned out he had assessed their respective combat strengths, realized he couldn't win in a direct confrontation, and resorted to underhanded tactics. No wonder the tea and snacks Shamon had provided during their meetings these past few days had felt off. He was secretly poisoning her, but didn't have the nerve to do it all at once, opting instead for a slow, cumulative approach.
Poor Shamon. Poison had no effect on her.
She had just been curious what excuse they'd use to lure her out of the village. After all, the mid-to-low-ranking shinobi and the civilians were all her die-hard fans; Shamon could never move against her inside Suna's walls without a legitimate reason.
But surely they wouldn't use a single Byakugan user to bait her, right? Did they think her prestige was that low?
Regardless, she had to get Kakuzu out of the way today. Otherwise, he'd see through the flaw in this little play at a glance, and the show couldn't go on.
'Got it,' she decided. She would give him three days of paid leave. The old miser would definitely be overjoyed and scurry off to the Bounty Station to pick up some part-time work.
By now, Stelle had already received the "news" from her sources in the Hidden Sand.
But Danzo was skeptical. He felt that the intelligence network Stelle had custom-built in the Land of Wind was a bit too impressive, able to acquire and transmit information with impossible speed.
"The intelligence is accurate!" Stelle said decisively.
Of course it was accurate; the intel came from Kazushi herself, the one who had initiated the whole affair. How could it possibly be false?
She even went on to explain the troublesome political implications of a Hyuga Main House member being captured, preparing to personally lead a team to rendezvous with her Anbu Captain.
But Danzo strongly opposed it.
"You are the Kage of a village! How can you just leave whenever you please? What if this is a trap? What if an accident occurs?"
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