[I'm going to take the 1st and 2nd off, have to spend it with the family]
[Happy New Year To Everyone!!]
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Everyone nodded after hearing him out.
Although Natsuki hadn't laid out a detailed battle plan, he'd summarized the must-do items perfectly.
That's the benefit of knowing the truth in advance—you can see exactly how to block the coming cataclysm. From here, they only needed to organize around those points.
Natsuki spread his hands. "That's all I've got. For concrete plans, I'll leave it to the veterans with actual experience to hash out."
"Mhm. Well said. As expected of the Hokage's aide." Tsunade offered him a generous nod.
"As expected of a prodigy." Mei gave a thumbs-up.
"As expected of Natsuki." Gaara added his praise.
"As expected of the little genius who beat me and Bee!" A chimed in too.
Natsuki couldn't help rolling his eyes. What are you people flattering me for? With a bit of brainpower and the intel we already have, anyone could list these key points. It's basic reading comprehension.
Being praised for this—wasn't that a bit embarrassing?
Worse was Ōnoki. He suddenly put on a kindly smile. "Heh. Good lad. Do you have a girlfriend? My granddaughter Kurotsuchi is young and lovely, and still single. Interested?"
This old man was actually trying that?!
Kurotsuchi yanked Ōnoki's hair on the spot, making him bare his teeth in pain.
"Bad grandpa!"
Tenten stepped in front of Natsuki, bristling. "Don't even think about poaching my guy. Believe it or not, I'll use the Rikudō no Dōgu (Six Paths Tools) to seal you up!"
Ōnoki was unruffled. "Tsk, tsk. So the kid's taken. You must be the Tenten who wields the Six Paths Tools. Don't be so angry—I was only joking."
Whether he really was joking, no one could say.
Still, everyone glanced Tenten's way. Most of them knew about the girl who could use the Six Paths Tools.
After all, Tenten had been very active during Pain's invasion of Konoha—sealing a whole stack of Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) bodies by herself, practically a natural counter to Edo Tensei. Impossible not to notice.
And many people believed the Six Paths Tools were treasures left by the Sage of Six Paths—things ordinary people couldn't even wield.
Yet Tenten could run the whole set (she didn't have the Kohaku no Jōhei (Amber Purifying Pot) yet, but clearly could handle it). You had to admit it—Konoha's talent pool was enviable.
Jokes aside, a formal operations framework had to be hammered out quickly.
First, the Five Great Villages and the Land of Iron would form a joint alliance. All shinobi and samurai would be deployed under a unified command so assignments could be targeted and efficient.
After deliberation, the alliance commander would be the Fourth Raikage, A; chief staff officer would be the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade; the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, would serve as overall field commander. A staff division and an intelligence division would be established, with personnel to be decided later.
With the core leadership set, the next task was tallying each village's deployable numbers and cataloging every shinobi's specialty, then assigning them into units.
The basic formation would include a reconnaissance corps, frontline combat corps, surprise-attack corps, medical and logistics corps, a jinchūriki guard unit, and a daimyō guard unit.
When Natsuki heard "daimyō guard unit," he was speechless.
Daimyō contributed nothing to the shinobi world. Why babysit them and waste manpower?
Much better to "forget" them and, when the war broke out, let fate run its course—then nobody would need to serve daimyō again, and each village could manage its own country. Wouldn't that be neat?
But the shinobi world's thinking was that daimyō rule nations. They are the sovereigns; you don't just ignore them.
So Natsuki kept quiet. In any case, he wasn't going to be assigned to guard a daimyō.
The meeting paused there, and the real arrangements began.
Natsuki immediately became the runner.
First up was moving the conference venue to Kumogakure. Natsuki simply ferried everyone with Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), saving a mountain of travel time. After that, he escorted each village's representatives home in turn to bring back their shinobi rosters for allocation.
As for further personnel shifts and material distribution—well, those also got handed to Natsuki.
His speed meant transit time and risk vanished. Preparations accelerated massively—critical for an alliance going to war.
By the end of the day, though, Natsuki's chakra battery was flashing red, and he was exhausted.
Just as worn out was Tenten. Her Hiraishin couldn't carry passengers yet, but she could transmit messages. As long as Natsuki had pre-placed her formula-marked kunai, most orders could be sent as paper notes—efficiency through the roof.
Come dinner, Natsuki finally couldn't hold it in.
"Hey, can you stop wringing us lovebirds dry? We're wiped, okay? Hiraishin burns chakra. My chakra battery's almost dead!"
"…"
Tenten didn't even have the strength to complain, nor much appetite.
Sure, she often shot paper notes back and forth with Natsuki for fun, but chatting with your boyfriend was one thing; using it for work was another.
After a whole day of message-shuttling, even if each slip cost far less chakra than Natsuki's jumps, she was close to her limit too. Her chakra battery was nearly empty.
Tsunade sheepishly ruffled both their hair. "Sorry. The alliance's first phase is hectic, and your Hiraishin is the most efficient option. We had to lean on you two. Thanks to you, the unit breakdown has already begun. Normally, this step would take ten days to half a month. You've done us a great service."
Indeed, with Natsuki and Tenten, the efficiency was absurd.
Need a person? Natsuki fetched them.
Need data? Tenten fired a paper note ahead to have it compiled, then Natsuki brought it back.
Even supplies—Tenten signaled the collection by note, then Natsuki ferried them in.
The pace was much faster than Tsunade claimed.
A nodded. "The Hokage's right. We really owe you two. Thanks to your efforts, the progress is blazing fast. We'll log the credit. When we win, you'll get the biggest reward!"
Natsuki instantly climbed the pole. "Biggest reward? Then I want the Kohaku no Jōhei (Amber Purifying Pot)!"
Tenten: "We want the Kohaku no Jōhei!"
"You two little brats… you really dare ask!"
A could only laugh and cry. He knew Tenten lacked only the Kohaku no Jōhei to complete the full set of Rikudō no Dōgu—no wonder Natsuki had set his sights on it. The kid really doted on his girl.
But A refused. "No can do. That's a treasure of Kumogakure."
Natsuki clicked his tongue. "Fine. Just don't forget the reward when the time comes."
(End of Chapter)
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