A special thank you to all my patrons.
The List of The "ANBU" Member:
-ar4ngel
-Cain
-Ryan biggins
-Kreios
-Sabo
-Goha21
-Cherudim
-Splendid
-Jacob Mooe
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------
"So, are you two planning to handle this trip personally?"
Tsunade had the two elders firmly in her grasp.
She knew that if they were unwilling to take on the task, all she had to do was bring up Jiraiya and Naruto, and they would immediately fall in line.
"..."
At this point, the two elders realized they'd been cornered, and Tsunade had played her cards perfectly.
Either they handled the mission themselves, or Jiraiya would take Naruto on a world-spanning journey.
Tsunade didn't care either way. She trusted Jiraiya to protect Naruto. The only ones worried were these old men.
Truthfully, while Jiraiya had his quirks—some of which were outright terrible—his strength was undeniable. He only grew more formidable with age.
With him around, Naruto would be safe unless someone like the Six Paths of Pain appeared, or Obito struck from the shadows.
Even if Jiraiya wasn't always reliable, he wouldn't put Naruto through constant dangerous battles like Kakashi did.
Honestly, Kakashi's "fifty-fifty" reputation was a mystery.
When he was strong, he could fight elite jonin or even Kage-level opponents toe-to-toe.
But when he was weak, someone like Zabuza could trap him in a tough spot.
Zabuza's strength...
Setting aside the Mist Village's assassination techniques, Zabuza was just an average jonin in terms of raw ability.
"Does it really require both of us?"
Faced with the situation, the two elders had no choice but to compromise.
They'd rather endure the awkwardness of traveling with Kazuki and occasionally being infuriated by him than let Jiraiya roam the world with Naruto.
"One will suffice."
Seeing them relent, Tsunade also let out a sigh of relief.
If possible, she didn't want to argue endlessly with them. Annoying them came at the cost of frustrating herself as well—it wasn't worth it.
"If it weren't for the need to negotiate, I would've handed this joint jonin assessment entirely to Kazuki to handle."
"I can go, but I require control over the team's decisions."
Utatane spoke up before Mitokado, asserting her terms.
She could represent Konoha for this mission, but she wanted authority over the team's decisions.
Homura, being more reserved, wasn't effective at standing firm or arguing during tense negotiations, so Koharu felt she had to take the lead herself.
In external negotiations, sometimes a more forceful attitude worked better. At the very least, it made others cautious about offending her.
As a senior advisor, Koharu held a higher rank than Kazuki. Since she was handling negotiations, taking control of the team was reasonable.
Koharu also worried that Tsunade might sideline her and make her little more than a figurehead while letting Kazuki take charge. If Kazuki held decision-making power, he would certainly take full advantage of it.
"Fine," Tsunade agreed after some thought, giving Koharu a bit of face. However, she added a reminder:
"You'll be in charge of most decisions, but you're not to interfere with the arrangements for the assessment. Kazuki will handle those independently."
"Agreed."
Having been given some leeway, Koharu readily accepted.
"Oh, and there's another matter," Tsunade said, pulling out a mission scroll. "The village needs to deliver a shipment of rare medical supplies to the Land of Iron. Since it's on the way, this task can be combined with your mission. At most, it'll delay your arrival in the Land of Lightning by two days."
Konoha maintained a close partnership with the neutral Land of Iron, and any shipment of critical supplies to them was treated with utmost importance.
"I'll take care of it," Koharu replied.
Taking the scroll, Koharu and Homura finally left the Hokage's office.
"Shizune, send someone to notify Kazuki and have him come here."
"Yes, Lady Hokage."
Wearing her secretary outfit and unaccustomed heels, Shizune hurried out, signaling to the Anbu guards outside to summon Kazuki.
Before long, Kazuki arrived at the Hokage's office.
Tsunade gestured for him to sit down.
Once he was seated, she said, "For this trip to the Cloud Village, the village needs to send someone with sufficient status to handle negotiations."
"So..."
Kazuki raised an eyebrow. "One of the advisory elders will accompany us and insist on having absolute authority over the team?"
"Correct."
Tsunade didn't hide anything and openly explained:
"Utatane will join the mission and take charge of the team. However, she's not allowed to interfere with the arrangements and plans for the assessment—those are your responsibility. Additionally, the team will make a stop in the Land of Iron for a special escort mission. This means the departure time has been moved up to tomorrow morning. Although it's an escort mission, the supplies are medical in nature, so it shouldn't delay you by more than two days."
"Understood."
As a senior advisor, Koharu outranked Kazuki and was responsible for external negotiations.
Given her strong desire for control and her fear of being undermined, her request for team authority was understandable.
Kazuki had no objections to her having decision-making authority—it wasn't important to him.
That said, if she caused trouble, he wouldn't tolerate it.
"If she makes any unreasonable demands, you have my permission to refuse," Tsunade assured him.
Relations between Kazuki and Koharu were already as strained as they could get. With her holding authority, there was a chance she might stir up trouble during the mission.
Knowing Kazuki's personality, Tsunade anticipated conflict and gave him the green light to ignore her if necessary.
If Koharu behaved, everything would proceed smoothly. But if she didn't, Kazuki could simply disregard her.
In this light, Koharu's insistence on authority became almost meaningless—it merely ensured Kazuki wouldn't use his position to push her around.
This arrangement was exactly what Kazuki wanted.
Having someone backing him up was entirely different from being left to fend for himself.
The departure time was moved up.
Before dawn, Kazuki arrived at the village gates. By the time he got there, the others were already present.
Shisui and Kakashi were chatting about something.
Since returning from the Daimyo's estate, Shisui had been more than happy to interact with Kakashi, and Kakashi, for his part, had shed his usual aloofness, engaging in normal conversation with Shisui.