On receiving the news of mobilizing chief commanders, Namikaze Minato’s biggest concern was whether his former student would be able to deal with Kumo alone at the Northern front.
Waving off his worries though, Uchiha Tonan smiled and said, “You don’t need to worry about me. Sandaime Raikage is already very old. He has reached his peak and his strength is not going to grow any further. But I am still young. My strength will only get better with each day. What’s more, is that I only need to hold them back. This will really not be a problem.”
Even after he said this, the worried looks on both Minato and Hatake Kakashi didn’t fade away. Kakashi said with concern, “Even if you can fight against Sandaime Raikage, the eight-tail jinchuriki and their Quasi Yondaime Raikage are there as well. They too are very formidable opponents. No one on Konoha’s side can stop them.”
Tonan shook his head and said, “Rest assured, when I fight against Sandaime Raikage, those two will not intervene. If they dared to attack Leaf ninjas while I’m fighting against the Raikage, then I’ll rush into the Kumo battlefront. If that had to happen, it would only hurt both sides gravely.”
The only thing Tonan cared about now was to make Minato take Kakashi and others to the Western battlefront. If Minato refused to go because of him, how would Uchiha Obito follow the original plot and be buried by the Stone ninjas?
“Leave, just leave already! This is an urgent matter, don’t worry about me. As long as everything goes smoothly with Obito, not to mention one, I’ll be able to hold on to a few more Raikage.”
Seeing that Tonan had made his decision, Minato no longer tried to change his mind. With a solemn look on his face, he advised, “Alright, but you still have to be careful. And if you find that you can’t salvage the situation, you must escape in time. You indeed are still young. You don’t need to die on the battlefield.”
Tonan nodded his head with a smile and replied, “I understand. When are you all planning to leave then?”
Minato replied with a straight face, “We have to leave now. I have already informed the subordinates about the situation. You can directly head to the command tent and take charge. Kakashi’s strength has reached the level of a jonin and with the addition of the Sharingan, he is more suitable for the Stone battlefront. So, I have decided to take them along as well.”
Tonan nodded his head lightly and said, “I’ll see you all off.”
After speaking, he walked with them until they reached the command tent, and then, he watched them leave. After these two people disappeared from his field of vision completely, he walked back to his rattan chair and sat down. He took out a blank information scroll from his ninja bag.
Picking up a pen, he wrote down things that needed to be explained. Soon after that, he raised his finger and made a hand seal.
Coo, coo… A white pigeon glided over from a distance and landed firmly on the table. Tonan closed the information scroll and placed it on his palm. He said, “Give this to Kabuto.” The white pigeon intelligently nodded its head and immediately grabbed the scroll with its sharp claws. Then, it flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
Afterward, Tonan picked up the teacup on the table and drank it in a pleasant mood. His eyes narrowed a little as if he was thinking about something. After a long time, he chuckled. “Seeing that the next battle is about to start, you are doing whatever you can to push Namikaze Minato and Kushina away. Old man, you are so impatient to let me die. Are you truly not afraid of Konoha’s defeat?”
After mumbling to himself, Tonan slapped his forehead and shook his head. He said, “That’s right, I’m the chief commander now. Once Konoha is defeated, you can still blame the Uchiha clan.”
This move from Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn’t be considered as unusual. In Hiruzen’s assumption, Tonan would definitely use all his strength to resist Sandaime Raikage. If he resisted successfully, he would suffer a serious backlash with each battle. In this situation, even if the Northern front was defended in the end, and Tonan was not dead, it could be assumed that he would almost certainly be a cripple.
Moreover, because it’s a defensive battle, he wouldn’t get many military exploits. And if too many Leaf ninjas died, he would have to bear the responsibility when the accounts would be settled in the end. But if the Northern front was breached, then that meant that Tonan was dead. And the defeat would definitely fall on his head.
If one dead man’s back was not enough to bear the responsibility, then it would fall on the entire Uchiha clan. In any case, it would never fall on Hiruzen. Because even a commoner like Minato could block it, but the genius of the Uchiha clan, the number one influential clan of Konoha, couldn’t stop it. It could only be blamed on Tonan for not having abilities and just having valor but lacking strategy.
At most, Hiruzen would bear the responsibility of excessively trusting people and not knowing people’s strengths well enough.
After a long time, Tonan gently put down the teacup and leisurely stood up. He closed his eyes and spread out his arms, taking in a deep breath.
This was the breath of freedom. Another chance for him to do living human experiments. “Then, I’ll take the lives of your Sarutobi clan members to collect some interests first.” After thinking about this, Tonan’s mood became even better. He turned around and walked towards the command tent in an unhurried manner.
