When first stepping onto the battlefield, an ordinary ninja's initial perception of time is usually best described by the phrase "a day feels like a year." The ever-present terror brought about by constant death forces them to measure their lives in seconds. Every single minute, every single second is a torment.
And no matter what, escaping this fear is impossible, so a ninja can only endure.
Through this process of continuous endurance, their feelings toward war gradually shift from terror to numbness. Their perception of time also shifts from "a day feeling like a year" to "a fleeting moment passing in the blink of an eye."
A year actually passes very quickly. Not only that, but in their numbness, even repeating the same cycle year after year feels inconsequential. From the Hidden Mist to the Hidden Stone, and then to the Hidden Cloud—the initial illusion that the war would end quickly contrasted sharply with the endlessly dragging reality, bringing a massive sense of whiplash and dissonance to the Konoha ninjas... The war was still going to continue for a long time.
During this period, the itineraries of Minato and his entire squad underwent quite a few changes. Primarily, compared to the early and middle stages of the war where fighting was fierce, Minato now needed to travel back and forth between Konoha and the frontlines much more frequently.
Naturally, this wasn't because of Kushina. Even if you sliced off half of Minato's brain and sold it for pennies, he still wouldn't be just a love-struck idiot.
As the designated candidate for the Fourth Hokage, Minato had many matters to handle back in Konoha. He had much to learn and was concurrently taking over a portion of the Hokage's duties step by step. For example, he had already begun gradually taking command of the Hokage's direct Anbu forces.
In terms of pure strength, Minato was more than qualified to be Hokage. But clearly, simply being exceptionally good at cutting people down didn't make one a perfect Hokage. Combat prowess was only the baseline requirement—or rather, the requirement just to become a candidate. Once someone actually became Hokage, personal combat strength became secondary. After all, aside from the First Hokage's era, a Hokage's main job absolutely did not involve personally taking the field to fight.
As Minato's bodyguard, Hagoromo naturally ran back and forth between the two locations as well. However, returning to Konoha didn't mean he got a chance to rest and catch his breath. On the contrary, being in the village was actually more exhausting.
On the battlefield, he only needed to keep an eye out for ninjas wearing different headbands and fight them. But in Konoha, it was different: ninjas wearing the exact same headband might also make a move against Minato.
When enemies are hidden among your own people, it makes a bodyguard's job exponentially more troublesome.
Although no Konoha ninja had actually made a move on Minato so far, Hagoromo frequently detected hidden surveillance and prying eyes. It was highly likely that certain people did indeed have certain plans in motion... This wasn't something to lament; it was simply a fitting expression of being a Ninja.
However, these situations later disappeared without a sound. Based on Hagoromo's guess, it was highly likely that the Third Hokage had personally stepped in to smooth things out.
The selection of the Fourth Hokage was his to dictate; it wasn't anyone else's place to interfere.
One day in the future, the Third would personally sign the appointment letter naming Minato as the Fourth Hokage, send it to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire for a rubber-stamp fingerprint, and the matter would be settled. Just like that, the title of the Fourth Hokage would belong to Minato.
As for the Daimyo disagreeing? That situation simply wouldn't happen. If one were to intuitively explain the complex internal mechanics of this issue, it was actually very simple: in the ninja world, between a political boss and a military boss, whose fist was harder? Who was more badass? Who had more say?
In short, the Daimyo still wanted to live a few more years.
Yet, even with the form of this transition being so incredibly clear, there were still people pulling petty, eye-catching stunts in the shadows... A completely peaceful transition of leadership was truly difficult to achieve.
Hagoromo, Choza Akimichi, and Shibi Aburame were all considered inner-circle personnel. Therefore, Jiraiya didn't shy away from them when explaining the situation; he possessed the requisite trust in them.
"Danzo?" Minato was a bit confused. He naturally knew that Danzo coveted the Hokage seat. But after all, Danzo was from the same generation as the Third, and was inferior to the Third in every aspect. He had long passed the optimal age to become Hokage. Rather than letting him be the Fourth, it would be better for the Third to just keep doing the job until he died. Was the guy seriously still trying to stir up shady trouble at this point?
"Yes. According to intel we just received, Danzo recently led a contingent of Anbu and Root members to the Land of Rain. The scale of their numbers and combat strength cannot be ignored," Jiraiya said.
"Even though the Hidden Rain signed an alliance treaty with us, the premise was that we wouldn't launch any more incursions into their territory. For a large number of Konoha ninjas to enter the Land of Rain right now...?"
"At the tail-end of the Great Ninja War, a move like this could easily reignite the war between Konoha and the Hidden Rain." Minato frowned deeply at Danzo's actions. The man shouldn't be someone who couldn't weigh the gravity of such matters. So what was his objective in taking a powerful combat force into the Land of Rain at a time like this?
"You don't need to worry about that. This is something that was communicated with Hanzo of the Salamander beforehand. Or rather, Konoha obtained explicit permission to enter the Land of Rain," Jiraiya explained.
Minato had misjudged the direction of the issue.
"Then what is Hanzo's objective in letting them in? What exactly are the two sides plotting?"
"The stated objective is to mediate the conflict between the two great nations of Fire and Earth, using the neutral territory of the Hidden Rain to officially propose peace negotiations... At least, that's what Danzo claims." Jiraiya's final sentence thoroughly exposed his lack of trust.
"It sounds very nice, but..." Minato didn't finish his sentence. It sounded nice, but was it the truth? After all, in the eyes of certain people in Konoha who knew him, Danzo's credibility rating was quite laughable.
In reality, the moment the words "Land of Rain," "Hanzo," and "Danzo" appeared together, Hagoromo instantly reacted.
He remembered his mission to monitor Danzo a few years ago. At the time, serving as a guide, he had actually been led into the Hidden Rain by Danzo.
And regarding that alliance treaty... The condition the Hidden Rain had proposed for signing a peace treaty with Konoha was that Konoha would be required to assist them in quelling domestic rebel factions when necessary. Danzo had agreed to this demand on his own authority, without the Hokage's permission...
So, was Danzo leading a significant number of Konoha ninjas into the Land of Rain right now because of that matter?
Purging the rebel factions? The more Hagoromo thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. After all, that wasn't a demand Hanzo had required Konoha to fulfill immediately back then. Hagoromo hadn't heard any intel regarding this aspect previously. On the contrary, he had heard that Hanzo had undergone a cognitive shift regarding the new faction within the Land of Rain, seemingly no longer viewing them as rebels. But had he now changed his attitude back?
As Hagoromo pondered, he looked up at Jiraiya, and his gaze happened to meet the Sannin's... It was highly likely they were both thinking the exact same thing.
But this matter doesn't harm Minato, does it?
However, thinking about it a step further... weren't the rebel factions in the Land of Rain the Akatsuki? Hanzo and Danzo teaming up to deal with Nagato? They were going to get completely counter-killed, and quite easily at that.
Of course, Hagoromo wasn't privy to the karmic twists and turns of this event, much less the artificial manipulation behind the scenes.
Furthermore, even "cheat-like" individuals couldn't blindly place absolute faith in their own power. The current Nagato wasn't yet strong enough to sweep away everything in his path. Setting Danzo aside, people underestimated Hanzo way too much. The title "Demigod" wasn't just given because it sounded cool.
However, regardless of whether Hagoromo knew the inside story, it was too late to do anything about it now.
The intel he received was a step behind—nth-hand information that had been passed along who knows how many times. Danzo was already deep inside the Land of Rain; whatever he planned to do, he had undoubtedly already made his move.
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