Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI - Chapter 256 - The Rumors About the Strange Movements of the Other Nations.

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.] Third Person POV Konoha, Year 42. ... ... More time passed as strange activities began to be seen on the borders

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.] Third Person POV Konoha, Year 42. ... ... More time passed as strange activities began to be seen on the borders

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 42.
...

...

More time passed as strange activities began to be seen on the borders and in other countries.

Ninjas began hearing about ninja movements passing through missions in the area, and this made it quite difficult to carry out missions outside the country, as people started to argue that perhaps a new war was emerging.

There was no way to hide information from ninjas on common missions outside the Land of Fire, and even merchants coming from abroad or returning from business trips noticed something was happening, and the villages were concentrating their forces in some way.

People began to question what was going on, afraid of a new war, as everything pointed to it.

Strangely, missions at the borders and in other countries started to decrease, though they were not entirely eradicated, as this would limit the Hokage's access to information about what was happening, even as the murmurs diminished a bit.

Questions started to be raised about this, although they began to be muffled within the village. Still, the ninjas who spoke with outsiders were wary.

Minato was standing atop Hashirama's head at that moment, as he always did when he was on the Kage wall. Since his head had not yet been sculpted there, he had to use the First Hokage’s, who, despite many failures in his administration and era, still had fewer than the next two.

He was looking out at the village, feeling the entire place through the observation haki.

“Something’s going on! I swear, some Sand Village ninjas were on the east coast...”
“Really?! They’re plotting something. I told the Hokage... but he asked to wait until the investigation is finished.”
“This is very strange, I’m telling you!”
“You guys really doubt the village? The Hokage already said he’s investigating!”
“Yes... you should trust the village’s leadership!”
“The elders clearly have everything under control!”
“Trust in Danzou-sama, he’s the Hokage’s right hand.”

These were a group of off-duty ninjas, talking in a group of three, questioning what was going on, when four ninjas appeared, all approaching them as if they had been listening to the conversation and quickly started giving arguments to calm the questions.

The questioning was being muffled by Root agents disguised as undercover ninjas, who were circulating the village looking for people raising doubts—a way to control public opinion. Obviously, it made no sense that all this was happening in the four enemy nations of Konoha while the ninjas were clearly noticing something very wrong.

Danzou and Hiruzen were trying to control as much of it as possible, and there were also the civilians.

“I’m hearing strange things... They’re saying the peace treaty might fall apart...”
“You can’t be serious, are you saying we’re going back to war?”

Two women were talking while shopping at one of the grocery stores.

“My uncle’s son’s father is a ninja and said the Cloud Village is concentrating its soldiers... My son explained that his friend’s dad said that only happens when an attack is about to happen.”
“It can’t be...”
“That’s a lie!” another person appeared.
“We are at peace, Konoha won’t go to war again. Don’t believe in that nonsense!” the person replied with hostility while walking past the two women shopping.

Even in the civilian area, the other elders like Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were placing civilian agents to control public opinion as well.

Minato stood there, able to hear everything happening in the village thanks to his haki after years of training. He could know what each person was doing, the words exchanged, even details like what they were buying or eating. He could even sense marks on their tongues—Minato could feel it all without needing to move. If he focused, he could even see people’s emotions.

The observation haki was a terrifying ability, and there was the result of it—allowing him to watch over the village better than anyone else could, no matter their sensory skills or even their dōjutsu.

Either way, Minato remained there, watching how the village was behaving. Everywhere, there were ninjas and civilians talking about it, most of them being silenced by the elders' agents.

They didn’t want to announce to the village that the Uzumaki clan was being targeted by four villages, building a massive military force to destroy them. That would bring a certain negative perception toward the leaders, so they would leave it for the last moment.

Minato imagined that truly announcing what was happening at the last minute would leave people torn between trying to save a clan already facing an attack at its doorstep—when they weren’t even prepared—or trying to save them at the cost of another war.

The first mistake of the Hokage would be that, if the four villages turned on them, they would be in a very bad situation, unprepared for war. After all, when the Second Great Ninja War began, it was a sudden attack with no great preparation—now they could strike with a large force, and the Hokage would put the village in danger if the enemy ninjas suddenly turned on them.

The second mistake was that the Hokage didn’t seem to consider that weakening Konoha's allied forces would only encourage the other four nations to attack the Land of Fire even more. Nothing would stop the world from entering a Third Great Ninja War.

Minato would try to change Konoha, try to corner the Hokage, and if that wasn’t enough, he would save the Uzumakis himself.

He was still doing missions in the west and couldn’t really see what was happening on that side of the country, while every day, when he returned to Konoha, Minato came here to check on the village. It had been three weeks since it all began, and soon the time would come for them to act.

Minato vanished in the next moment, leaving the place alone, as a few Root ambu ninjas appeared shortly afterward.

“He disappeared... let’s find him.” they murmured as they left, having been trailing Minato the whole time—not that he didn’t already know, but it didn’t matter now.

Minato headed to the Senju clan, where no one would bother him. There was no one in the Senju clan, as Tsuna and Nawaki were with Tsunade with the purpose of restoring her younger brother’s arm. At the same time, security here had increased greatly, at least doubling the number of ninjas watching over Kushina.

Certainly after the attempted theft, the Senjus—now that Nawaki had returned to the village—made sure to make it public, while everyone knew the First Hokage’s tomb was being violated by ninjas whom the Hokage declared were from outside the village.

He walked calmly past the ninjas, while Kushina, already sensing Minato’s presence, went to greet him at the door.

Minato entered soon after and moved to the main room, with Kushina forming a barrier of adamantine chains.

“How are things?” he asked. Kushina was more isolated than ever, with only her there in the clan.

“A bit lonely...” she admitted with a sad smile.

“The fox is bothering you, isn’t it?” Minato asked.

Kushina just nodded, answering carefully.

“Let’s eat something, it’s finally time to calm her down.” Minato said, receiving yet another killing intent from the creature.
“Are you sure? She’s scary.” Kushina murmured.
“I have my methods,” Minato said.
“Alright, let’s eat.” she replied.

They ended up eating there. It was noon, and she had something prepared and shared it with Minato, since he had told her in advance that he would eat with her.

“How are things...?” she asked carefully.
“The village is realizing something’s wrong, but the elders are doing everything they can to suppress it. They’re going to try to stall everyone until the very last moment, when there’s no other choice but to watch the Uzumaki clan be destroyed. Also, the surveillance on me has increased a lot, that’s why I’m walking alone without Mikoto or Hanabi,” Minato commented.

The mention of the Uzumaki clan made Kushina look at him with a desperate gaze to save them.
“Don’t worry... we’re going to save them.” Minato said, and Kushina nodded.
“Thank you... I don’t want my mother to die... I wanted to see her again.” Kushina said.

Kushina came from the Uzumaki clan when she was just a girl of 7 or 8 years old. When she and Minato met at the academy, her father had already died when she was a child. She wasn’t from a high-ranking family within the clan, yet she had been trained from her earliest years to succeed Mito. It was a great honor for her to be sent to Konoha in the future, something that happened more than 10 years ago.

Kushina wanted to see her mother again, it was her wish, but she could never do that being the Jinchūriki. The Uzumaki were also rare visitors to Konoha, and after the war, when that might have been possible, Konoha shut itself off from their clan, distancing itself after offering their heads to the other four nations.

They talked a little longer, and Minato looked at her seriously.
“It’s time to go. Are you ready?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Yes.” she said, as both of them prepared, performing shadow clone jutsus and disappearing at the same time, leaving the clone in their place to fool the ninjas watching over the Jinchūriki.

Minato went to the southern beach while Kushina immediately smiled brightly, able to see that beautiful place again.
“I’ll gather some natural energy before we go further. I don’t want any Nine-Tails chakra here—it would definitely raise questions.” he said as he sat in the lotus position.

Kushina immediately began playing in the water, feeling the sea on her feet after taking off her sandals, enjoying the sun and the sea breeze.

Minato opened his eyes quickly, now with toad eyes. He needed the chakra to travel as far as he intended.
“Your eyes... toad eyes!” Kushina laughed at that, while Minato simply shrugged.
“Let’s go.” he said, touching her as they vanished.

Minato appeared at Mount Myōboku, while the strange atmosphere filled with the sounds of frogs surrounded them, and Kushina looked around in surprise.
“So this is the land of the toads! It’s amazing!” she said cheerfully, and he nodded.

“Now let’s choose a secluded place to begin.” Minato said, while Kushina nodded, despite wanting to explore that place.

Minato stopped just as he was about to move, seeing Fukasaku approaching him—he must have sensed his presence the moment he reappeared with Raijin, although Minato admitted he was pretty quick there.

“Minato-boy?!” he appeared, jumping before landing on top of a rock.
“Hello,” Minato greeted him.
“What are you doing here? You didn’t give notice, did you? And who is the young lady beside you?” he asked curiously.
“I’m Kushina Uzumaki!” she stepped forward and said cheerfully, looking at the small, elderly-looking, talkative toad with curiosity and awe.

“This is the chief of the toads, Lord Fukasaku.” Minato introduced as he turned back to him. “Sir, I was going to talk to you later anyway. Kushina is the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi, so we came here to have a quick conversation with the Kyūbi. We’ll be brief and I’ll return soon. Now I’m going to take her away for a moment.” Minato said as he grabbed Kushina and jumped, moving away.

“The Jinchūriki... of the Kyūbi... What?!” Fukasaku exclaimed, almost fainting upon hearing that.
“I promise I’ll explain later, we’ll be back soon! Goodbye!” Minato shouted as he moved away, leaving the toad there, stunned and confused.