After breakfast, Tsunade's column pressed on toward the Land of Water. Barring accidents, they'd link up with Mei and the Mist by noon.
Natsuki didn't travel with them. He returned to Konoha instead.
One of the snake princesses was waiting when he walked into the Hokage's office.
A war turned on any number of factors, and intelligence sat near the top of the list. The moment Konoha declared on Kumogakure, Natsuki had recalled all three sisters. Leaving them parked in the Land of Water's capital was a waste of a very sharp knife.
"Master." She produced a scroll. "The latest on Kumogakure."
Natsuki nodded, took it, and read.
Konoha's own Anbu had already reported the essentials: A had taken the hat as Fourth Raikage and declared war.
The snakes went further, naming every significant shinobi Kumogakure was committing to the front.
Two names jumped off the page immediately — Killer B, Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, and Yugito Nii, Jinchuriki of the Two-Tails. Add the Fourth Raikage himself, Dodai, and the rest of the senior roster, and it was obvious the Cloud was holding nothing back.
Which was only sensible.
On paper, Konoha and Kumogakure were evenly matched villages. When aggregate strength was that close, the margin came down to individual monsters.
And after the Third Raikage's death, Natsuki was Kumogakure's designated public enemy.
Their internal assessment had apparently concluded that killing him would require Killer B and the Fourth Raikage working in concert — currently the two strongest individuals the village had.
If even the pair of them couldn't bring him down, there was exactly one option left. Bury him in bodies.
"All three of you attach to the Anbu as deputy commanders," Natsuki said, setting the scroll down. "Your sister holds Konoha. You and Ichikishimahime move up to the front."
"Yes, Master."
Natsuki waved a hand, and she vanished in a puff of smoke. As a summon, she could dismiss herself whenever she liked.
He turned to the paperwork stacked on the desk.
All of it was internal village business. None of it was urgent.
Then he stopped, and let out a quiet, "Huh."
An early graduation petition. Filed by Uchiha Shisui.
It was March — graduation season at the Academy. Natsuki skimmed the list of this year's candidates.
Apart from Shisui, not one name meant anything to him.
He stroked his chin.
The simplest solution was to attach Shisui to Might Guy, Shizune, and Yuhi Kurenai. That saved him the trouble of scraping together two more teammates, and more importantly, the boy was strong enough that he wouldn't be dead weight.
This was the same Uchiha Shisui who would earn the name Shisui of the Body Flicker before this war was over.
Decided, Natsuki got up and walked to Nara Shikaku's office.
"Lord Hokage." Shikaku was on his feet at once.
"Something for you to handle," Natsuki said, straight to it. "Tell the Academy to run Uchiha Shisui through his graduation exam today."
Normally he'd have had Mikoto pass the order along, but she was in the Land of Water with Tsunade's column.
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
"When he's finished, send him to me."
With that, Natsuki turned and left.
He thought for a moment, then made a detour to Uzumaki Kushina's office.
"Natsuki? What are you doing here?" Kushina was on her feet before she'd finished the question.
"Are you busy today?"
"Not for a while now." She shook her head.
With seven thousand shinobi deployed against Kumogakure, the village's administrative load had simply evaporated.
"Good. You've been asking to fight in this war for months," Natsuki said. "I'm signing off on it."
"Eh?" Kushina looked up, thrown. "But the war just started."
He had promised — but the promise had been that she'd fight if things turned dangerous, and she'd assumed that meant Konoha on the back foot. Instead the Leaf had opened by killing the Third Raikage and annihilating three thousand Cloud shinobi. It was about as clean an opening hand as anyone could ask for.
"New intelligence came in this morning. Kumogakure is fielding the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails." Natsuki's expression didn't flicker. "The best answer to a Jinchuriki is another Jinchuriki."
Kushina blinked.
It was a lie, and she knew it within a second. Natsuki could handle a Jinchuriki in his sleep, and both of them knew it.
But it was an airtight lie. Nobody in the village could argue with the logic — and it put her on the battlefield, at his side.
"Thank you."
"Since when do you thank me?"
"When do I leave?" She was practically bouncing.
"Today. Tsunade-sensei links up with Kirigakure around noon; I'll take you over then."
"Yes!" Her whole face lit up.
"One condition." Natsuki's tone shifted just enough to land. "No going off on your own out there. You follow orders."
"Fine, fine." Kushina waved him off, already halfway to packing.
By noon they were ready to move.
"Is Nonou not coming to the front?" Kushina asked.
"She can stay in Konoha." Natsuki glanced over. "Why — nervous?"
"Nervous about what?" Kushina snorted, chin up. "I just don't like the idea of Nonou rattling around the village with nobody for company."
"We can come back at night."
Kushina opened her mouth, closed it, and then remembered the Doa Doa no Mi. He could be standing in Konoha again in the time it took to blink.
She let out a breath, mollified.
"Then let's go already!"
Tsunade and Nawaki had already joined up with Mei's forces by the time the two of them arrived. Konoha had raised a temporary camp beside Kirigakure's.
Natsuki and Kushina made straight for Tsunade's tent.
Tsunade's eyebrows shot up at the sight of Kushina.
"Word came in this morning — Kumogakure is deploying two Jinchuriki," Natsuki said. "I brought Kushina up so we aren't caught short."
Beside him, Kushina turned the most pitiful expression in her arsenal on Tsunade.
"Well, you're here now." Tsunade sighed. "You may as well come along."
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade!" Kushina's face switched from wounded to delighted fast enough to qualify as a technique.
"You fight only if the Cloud's Jinchuriki take the field," Tsunade said firmly. "Otherwise you stay in camp with the rest of us."
"Got it!"
Kushina agreed without a second's hesitation. She hadn't come to this war to fight. She'd come because Natsuki was here.
"Tsunade-sensei — have you met the Mizukage?" Natsuki asked, steering them back to business.
"I have. She's even younger than I'd been told." Tsunade shook her head. "I honestly can't work out what possessed Kirigakure to hand her the hat."
She wasn't alone in that. Inside the Mist and out, the consensus was that Yagura or Ao had been the obvious choice.
"Doesn't matter who wears it," Natsuki said, unbothered.
"True enough." Tsunade smiled. "After what Kumogakure did to them, the Mist won't be threatening anyone for a long while."
"When do we move?"
"After lunch. The Cloud has pulled out of the Land of Water entirely, so there's no reason to sit here."
"So they want to meet us in the Land of Moon and the Land of Sound." Natsuki paused. "It's a nice thought."
The two small countries lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, and every previous war between Konoha and Kumogakure had been fought across them.
This one wasn't going to follow the pattern.
Tsunade caught the edge under his words. She chose not to ask.
He was the Hokage, after all.
That afternoon. The Ninja Academy.
"Congratulations on graduating, Shisui." Uchiha Fugaku was all smiles.
"Thank you, Clan Head." Shisui was scrupulously polite.
"Clan Head is far too stiff. I'm your father's generation — call me Uncle."
Fugaku had received the news that morning: Natsuki had personally ordered Shisui's graduation exam run early, and alone.
The implication was unmistakable. The Hokage intended to make good on his promise and take the boy as his student.
Which would put Shisui closer to the Hokage's seat than any Uchiha in living memory.
Obito was in the Hokage's teaching lineage too, in a sense — but his sensei, Minato, had never worn the hat. And Mikoto, whatever her closeness to Natsuki, simply wasn't strong enough for the office.
On top of all that, Shisui was a descendant of Uchiha Kagami. And Kagami had been a student of Senju Tobirama.
"...Uncle Fugaku," Shisui said, after a few seconds' hesitation.
"Good. Come on — the Hokage's expecting us." Fugaku clapped his shoulder.
"Yes, sir."
Shisui had already heard the news himself, and to him it was an unqualified gift.
Kagami's influence had shaped him from childhood; he'd been a model inheritor of the Will of Fire before he was old enough to spell it. Becoming the Hokage's student felt less like an honor than like a wish being answered.
In Konoha, after all, the Will of Fire and the Hokage were more or less the same thing.
"When you have the time," Fugaku said suddenly, "you might give Itachi some pointers."
"Of course."
Shisui was momentarily caught off guard, but he didn't refuse.
Young as he was, he was a great deal more perceptive than his peers, and he recognized an overture when he heard one.
He didn't resent it, either. He loved the Uchiha, and the last thing he wanted was to see the clan and the village pulled into conflict.
Now that he'd be standing at the Hokage's shoulder, he might actually be able to do something about that.
They reached the Hokage's office soon after.
"Lord Hokage," the two of them said together.
"Shisui. Are you willing to be my student?" Natsuki asked, skipping the preamble entirely.
"Natsuki-sensei!" Shisui switched forms of address on the spot.
"Clan Head Fugaku." Natsuki considered for a moment. "I'll leave it to you to spread the word."
Announcements like this normally went out through the Anbu. Handing it to Fugaku instead would make the man's month.
And so it did — Fugaku accepted with barely concealed delight.
"Then I'll take my leave." He bowed slightly and withdrew.
"Shisui, your talent is well past your age group. Ordinary classmates would only hold you back." Natsuki looked him over. "For now, you'll be attached to Guy, Shizune, and Kurenai."
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei."
"Come with me."
Natsuki raised a hand and tore open a rift.
Guy, Kurenai, and Shizune had been placed under Might Duy's temporary command as before, and had moved out with Tsunade's column. Natsuki took Shisui and caught up with them.
Night fell.
On the eastern coast of the Land of Moon, Tsunade's forces came ashore without incident.
"Lord Hokage!"
Namikaze Minato came down to meet them, and after the briefest of greetings, the whole group headed inland to Konoha's camp. Minato had already had tents prepared.
Once everyone was settled, Natsuki called the Jonin together.
Every Jonin of note in the army packed into the command tent — Tsunade, Kushina, Nawaki, Minato, Hatake Sakumo, Mikoto, Hyuga Hizashi, Aburame Shibi, and more besides.
"Minato. Brief us."
"Kumogakure has been extremely aggressive. In under two days they've thrown multiple attacks at us." Minato's delivery was calm and unhurried. "Fortunately, we were dug in and ready. They haven't gained an inch anywhere."
He unrolled a map as he spoke. It was dotted with red circles, each one a skirmish or an attempted raid.
Natsuki studied it. The tempo was relentless.
Which was to be expected. The Third Raikage's death had turned the Cloud's army into something grieving, furious, and unwilling to wait.
Between forces this evenly matched, though, impatience was a gift. The harder Kumogakure pushed, the better it was for Konoha.
The casualty ratio bore that out. Over two days of constant contact, the Cloud had lost several times what the Leaf had.
"You've done well," Natsuki said, smiling. "Hold as you are for now. We'll talk once we have a clearer picture of what Kumogakure has left."
His plan hadn't changed from the last war.
Let his students make their names first. Then step in and end it.
There were two reasons for that.
The first was reputation. In the shinobi world, a name was a weapon in its own right — an intangible kind of strength, and one worth building deliberately.
The second was the templates.
The war with Iwagakure had ended too quickly, cut short by Roshi's death. His students had come out of it merely somewhat known, and no template had triggered as a result.
And it wasn't only his formal students who counted. Tsunade, Nawaki, Kushina, Might Duy — all of them qualified as students of a sort. He'd taught every one of them Soru, Geppo, Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and the rest.
Only Conqueror's Haki had proved unteachable, so none of them had it.
Tsunade and Nawaki were already famous enough. This time he intended to put the spotlight on the Might family — father and son both.
And beneath those two reasons sat a third.
Orochimaru hadn't finished cloning the White Zetsu yet.
But he was close. The last time Natsuki asked, the estimate had been two months at best, six at worst.
Once that work was done, he could finally move on Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu.
Because the two of them would absolutely use this war to get their hooks into Uchiha Obito. It was the opening they'd been waiting for, and if they let it pass, another might never come.
"We reconvene at eight tomorrow morning and I'll hand out assignments," Natsuki said. "Dismissed."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
"How's the tent?" Natsuki asked, walking Kushina to hers.
"Fine." She gave it a cursory glance.
The word shinobi meant one who endures, and most of them lived up to it. The overwhelming majority cared about the mission and nothing else; accommodations ranked somewhere below the weather on their list of concerns.
Kushina was no different.
"Get some rest."
He left her there and headed for the section of camp set aside for the Anbu, who were quartered together on account of their status.
He didn't go looking for Elephant and the others. He went to the tent shared by Ichikishimahime and her sister.
Whether he was building his students' reputations or stepping in himself, he needed the right openings at the right moments.
And finding those was work for the snake princesses and the serpents of Ryuchi Cave.