A special thank you to my patrons:
—Jacob Mooe, kevin Williams, ZaberZ, Archer, Acedia, kurtis newman, Fredrik Dahlman, Nithin Samuel, Little Sand, Dradin Hebrhal, Luca August, Kyle.S406, Alin Kadas, Sarah Ann Thomas, sediaz, Xanex44.
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!
————————————————————
This meant that the people expressing such views weren't being led by anyone else.
"Has it really come to this?"
Kazuki hadn't been paying attention to this. Because he believed Tsunade would return eventually.
He also believed Tsunade could heal herself. Sending Naruro there was just to motivate her.
With him holding down the village, nothing should go wrong.
He had confidence in himself, but the villagers didn't.
They would speculate: when would the Hokage return? Why had there been no word for so long? Had something happened to her?
Once such thoughts arose, it was hard not to think about them.
Shikaku nodded gravely, his voice heavy.
"Perhaps worse than you imagine, Lord Advisor. Not just villagers, but many ninja are speculating. Lady Hokage has been away for quite some time. Leaving aside the length of her absence, the most important thing is that she's unwilling to contact us."
A short period without contact was one thing. But a prolonged lack of contact – who knew if she'd run into real problems or something had happened.
And the Hokage abandoning the village to run around the world – was that right?
Certainly not.
"Alright. That's enough. Let's stop here."
Kazuki cut off Shikaku, indicating he didn't want to continue this topic.
Seeing this, Shikaku could only swallow his remaining words.
After a long day of miserable work, Shikaku dragged his exhausted body home.
"Honey, did you save me..."
As he entered, changing into his wooden clogs, he looked up and saw his father sitting in the living room drinking. His light-hearted words stopped. The faint smile on his face faded.
Putting on his shoes, Shikaku quickly walked over and bowed. "Father."
"Sit." Nara Shikashin gestured for his son to sit.
"Yes." Shikaku knelt properly, hands on his knees, head slightly lowered.
After kneeling, before his father could speak, Shikaku proactively confessed.
"Father, Lord Advisor isn't willing to discuss this. He wants to wait for Lady Hokage to return."
As expected.
"Then wait a while. We'll see if Lady Hokage makes progress. If..." Shikashin paused, then continued.
"If it truly comes to a point where there's no choice, I believe the Lord Advisor will make a decision."
Since Kazuki didn't want to discuss it and wanted to wait for Tsunade, they could urge and hint. Once or twice was fine. Too often might backfire.
The Nara clan was only loyal to the Hokage. They didn't care who was Hokage.
The Hokage's prolonged absence had a significant impact on the village. With radical opinions emerging, Shikaku, prompted by his father, went to Kazuki to hint that enough was enough.
But Kazuki didn't take the bait.
Meeting, father and son couldn't help but play a game.
Shikaku didn't even have time to eat before he and his father were battling over the Go board. It had been a while since he'd played. With his father here and his wife unable to interfere, today he would enjoy himself.
After making a move, Shikaku suddenly asked.
"Father, the three of us – Ino-Shika-Cho – have always been loyal to the Hokage. We don't care who becomes Hokage. But by jumping out to urge like this, could it have negative consequences?" Shikaku felt this was a bit hasty.
"Precisely because we are loyal to the Hokage and don't care who it is, it should be us reminding the Lord Advisor." Shikashin focused on the board, speaking without affecting his thinking.
Is that so?
Shikaku nodded thoughtfully.
Soon, he pushed all these messy thoughts away. Because if he didn't focus, his father would crush him. So he concentrated.
At the Hokage's office, Kazuki stood by the window, looking at the night sky. He was considering the issue Shikaku had raised.
He could avoid it, but he had to consider it.
Because he was the Hokage's Advisor, the only one besides Tsunade who could stabilize the village.
So, some things, even if he didn't want to, had to be considered.
"I wonder how Tsunade is doing."
Shikaku's meaning was straightforward: the Hokage had been away too long. If this dragged on, problems would arise.
So the Lord Advisor needed to be mentally prepared.
If the time came when a new Hokage had to lead the village, he needed to step up.
He couldn't keep delaying. That wouldn't be good for anyone.
"That lunatic off a woman ran off, leaving this mess for me – during wartime, no less."
Thinking about it made Kazuki want to smack Tsunade head.
If she'd run off during peacetime, half a year wouldn't be a problem. But during wartime, with the shinobi world in chaos, and the Hokage abandoning the village for so long – how could there not be problems?
No wonder Shikaku was hinting.
Anyone in Shikaku's position would have hinted earlier.
This wasn't about profit. It was about position and responsibility.
In other words, it was Shikaku's duty.
As the Jonin Commander, he had the right to raise these issues.
That's why Shikashin had his son hint at Kazuki, rather than waiting for public opinion to ferment further.
Probably, this was also influenced by Akimichi Tokifusa, that big guy.
Don't be fooled by the big guy seeming to not care about anything. At critical moments, his opinion greatly influenced the Ino-Shika-Cho.
At that moment, Tsunade had already left the Land of Iron with Shizune and Naruto. As Kazuki had guessed, she'd left.
Her original plan was to go west, but considering Naruto, she chose to head southeast.
"Damn it! You said it was for my own good? Are you sure you didn't just send me a big problem?"
Kazuki wanted to smack Tsunade head. Coincidentally, Tsunade wanted to smack Kazuki too, for sending Naruto to her. Naruto was a big problem.
With Naruto mastering the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, his strength had greatly increased. He could use the Rasengan anywhere. His strength did improve, but the headache was Tsunade's.
Because she discovered that whenever Naruto ran low on chakra, he'd draw on the Nine-Tails' chakra. The Nine-Tails' chakra was starting to affect the seal.
"Lady Hokage, where are we going?" Naruto lay weakly on the deck, his stomach churning.
Who would have thought Naruto was afraid of ghosts?
Sitting on the boat, looking at the sea by moonlight, he was scared by the moon's reflection. Then he threw up.
Because he was scared, his emotions were unstable. Did he get seasick?
Tsunade sighed. How troublesome.