Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

"Ahem!" Inoichi Yamanaka habitually cleared his throat. "Uh, Seiki, what are your thoughts on the current situation?"

Asuma muttered nearby, "Is it just me, or does Yamanaka-sensei suddenly seem... sleazy?"

Kurenai nodded in agreement. "Just like yesterday when Yamanaka-sensei asked us about the Psychology Club activities."

Seiki thought for a moment before replying, "If the news about the Kazekage's disappearance is true and war cannot be avoided, Sunagakure will most likely become the starting point of this conflict."

"The first possibility: Right now, Suna may already be filled with panic and uncertainty internally. To shift internal conflicts outward, whoever temporarily assumes the Kazekage role might use this as an excuse to start a war."

"The second possibility: Without their leader, Sunagakure might descend into chaos, making it especially vulnerable and possibly targeted by some major nation who would then launch an attack during this confusion."

Inoichi rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I'm leaning more toward the first possibility. After all, the only major villages surrounding Suna are Iwagakure and our Konoha. We at Konoha have always been reluctant to initiate wars, while Iwa has already opposed us because of this incident and wouldn't likely confront Suna simultaneously."

Seiki's eyes darkened. His past life held few detailed accounts regarding the beginning of the Third Great Ninja World War, so even he found it difficult to make an accurate judgment.

"From Konoha's perspective, if war breaks out now, it would actually be extremely dangerous!" Seiki sighed as he spoke. "As those Iwagakure ninja pointed out, we have indeed been slow to respond to warfare."

Inoichi's expression turned serious, "Not only do very few people prepare for or mobilize against possible war, but hardly anyone even senses or alerts others about potential threats! In such circumstances, war breaking out would place Konoha in a very disadvantageous position!"

As if seeing dark clouds of war approaching, Asuma couldn't help feeling anxious, "Then how soon could war break out?"

"It might never come to pass—or it could erupt as early as tomorrow," Inoichi's worries remained etched on his brow. "Either way, Konoha doesn't have much time left!"

Crossing his arms, Seiki mused, "Therefore, I'm thinking—can we push back the outbreak of this war a bit?"

"How can we achieve that?" Inoichi quickly asked.

Letting out a heavy breath, Seiki replied, "By organizing all ninja villages to hold a grand Chunin Exams!"

…

"Haha! Konoha, your future Hokage (our village's future leader) has returned!" Just after returning to Konoha, Asuma proudly and loudly declared.

Seiki and Kurenai both instinctively stepped a little farther away from him, worried someone might mistake them as being with him.

Still lost in shock and deep thought, Inoichi didn't seem to notice.

"Seiki, Kurenai, I need to report our mission completion to the Hokage first. You two should go find somewhere to rest."

With that, he left, clearly burdened by concerns.

"Rarely see Yamanaka-sensei so serious."

"Knowing these things naturally brings some worries."

"Anyway, what happens next has nothing to do with us anymore."

"Seiki chuckled and invited them, "What you should be thinking about now is where to go for dinner later."

"Let's go for BBQ!"

"Noodle house!"

"You don't understand anything! Barbecue is the romance of men!"

"Hmph! Then I can say noodles are women's tenderness too!"

The three were joking around as they entered the food street when suddenly they heard familiar voices arguing ahead.

"Damn it Kakashi, we've already agreed—you're not allowed to steal my mission target again!"

"Oh."

"Grr! What kind of reply is that 'Oh' like that?"

As Obito grew more furious, a voice from behind cut in teasingly.

"I guess Kakashi must want to say something like Obito was too slow or something!"

"I was clearly very fast..." Obito growled while turning around angrily, but his expression instantly turned joyful when he saw who it was. "Senior Seiki, you're back?"

Kakashi and Rin also happily turned around. "Senior Seiki!"

Asuma, once again left out, nearly fell into depression—but then he rolled his eyes and took the initiative to approach. "By the way, Obito, did you guys just come back from a mission too? Judging by your appearance, you must have completed a very difficult task?"

Obito wiped his nose proudly. "We completed a B-ranked mission!"

"Woaah! That's truly amazing!" Asuma fawned over him like a suck-up.

Obito was still too naive to sense the approaching 'danger,' instead bashfully scratching the back of his head. "Actually, it wasn't that big a deal—it was only somewhat impressive. By the way, what rank mission did you complete?"

"Ahhh, we were barely even given a proper mission rank," Asuma said with a frown, "But... well, taking down two Iwa jonin and a whole bunch of chunin and genin isn't *too* shabby, right?"

"Pft!" Not just Obito, even the usually cold Kakashi spat out his drink.

Two jonin?! Not even the cheap knockoff kind you find in backwater villages either!

Toss in all those chunin and genin Asuma mentioned—it was already on par with an S-ranked mission just by enemy count alone!

Asuma didn't stop there, smacking his lips discontentedly. "Although we did kill quite a few enemies, the rewards weren't much—just managed to turn a country leaning toward Iwagakure back to neutrality."

"You're showing off way too much!" Seeing how green the other three's faces had turned, Asuma felt slightly better after being ignored for so long.

"Speaking of which, during my mission this time—"

Before he could finish speaking, Kakashi's eyes suddenly went cold as he rushed forward.

[Konoha Secret Transmission Taijutsu Ultimate Art – One Thousand Years of Death!]

"Yowch!"

After a bout of chaos and commotion, everyone finally returned to a peaceful state.

Still, the expressions of Obito and others remained shocked.

"Senior Seiki, did you really kill two Iwa jonin?"

Seiki waved his hand smilingly. "It's not as exaggerated as Asuma put it. Those two Iwa jonin fought each other first—we engineered their internal conflict. We only killed the last one remaining."

Seiki said it so casually, but all three of them knew just how hard it must've been.

No idea how those two Iwa Jonin ended up trying to kill each other, but the fact that you dropped the last one without even getting scratched—that's legit!

And that's not even counting the dozens of Chunin and Genin he wiped out!

Obito bit his lip with envy, "So cool… I wonder when I'll be strong enough to take down a Jonin?"

Kakashi's eyes blazed with determination, "Sensei Seiki keeps getting stronger. I've got to get stronger too!"

"Heh, now you see what we…" Asuma started, but noticing several icy stares aimed his way, he quickly clutched his backside and changed course, "Haha, yeah… why don't we all grab a bite together?"

Speaking of food, Obito suddenly remembered, "Oh right! I thought you guys might not make it back in time, so I forgot to tell you—our clan leader wants to invite you to his son's celebration banquet, Sensei Seiki!"

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