Minato and the others were all fired up by Jin's words, their fighting spirit blazing like wildfire.
Inuzuka Gaku gently patted the large yellow dog lying beside him, his tone tinged with emotion as he said, "Youth really is a wonderful thing! So full of energy—it's rubbing off on me!"
Gaku was the oldest among Minato's team, a seasoned jonin. He treated Minato and Jin like his own younger brothers.
Jin chuckled and said, "Don't sell yourself short, Brother Gaku! The world belongs to me—but it belongs to you as well! If we're the sun at ten in the morning, then you're the noon sun at its brightest!"
"If you have even a glimmer of light, then you must give off heat! That's how we'll make this world a brighter place!"
"You trying to get this old man to go all out, huh?" Gaku's expression softened, clearly moved. Though his words were half-joking, his tone was firm. "But just like you said, my hands are already stained with blood—no way to wash it clean. Still, my boy's hands are clean."
"If I can, I want to carve out a clean future for him."
Gaku's son was only three years old and hadn't even entered the Ninja Academy yet.
With the war nearing its end, there was a real chance his son might never have to experience the flames of battle.
Gaku's words carried a heavy weight, and for a moment, everyone fell silent.
They were all jonin. To reach this point, which of them hadn't walked through rivers of blood?
"Everyone, the past is behind us. There's no point in dwelling on it," said Minato, breaking the silence. His voice was warm and comforting, like a gentle breeze.
"Now we've found something worth dedicating our lives to. We'll no longer live as mere tools."
Minato smiled gently, radiating a natural warmth that made others instinctively want to be close to him.
This was the charm of a true leader.
On that alone, Minato already had the qualifications to sit on the Hokage's throne.
Jin timely shifted the conversation. "Gato and the Land of Waves will become allies to our cause. But more importantly, I wanted to update you on Shisui's mission to the Daimyo's court."
Minato's expression grew serious. "He's going to meet the Daimyo?"
Jin nodded. "I sent him to apply for a position among the Twelve Guardian Ninja. It's a way to build a bridge between us and the Daimyo."
Though this world belonged to ninjas, in a political sense, it was the Daimyo who held true power in the Land of Fire.
The Daimyo had the authority to appoint or remove the Hokage, and he controlled Konoha's economic lifeline.
Since Konoha was within the Land of Fire's territory, it was vital to maintain good relations with the Daimyo for any sort of development.
"But will the Daimyo agree?" Minato frowned. "Those so-called Guardian Ninjas are his private guards. The whole reason that group was formed was to defend against us—Konoha!"
"In that case, they probably won't accept any Leaf ninja as members."
Jin didn't directly answer the question. Instead, he smiled. "Not bad, Minato. You're starting to see the deeper layers."
Minato scratched his head a bit sheepishly. "I didn't used to think about this stuff. But after reading those books you gave me, I started realizing just how complicated all of this really is."
Although the Fire Daimyo and Konoha were technically a united front, the truth was, a nation cannot serve two rulers.
The Hokage commanded the strongest military force in the country, while the Daimyo controlled its economy. Conflict between their powers was inevitable.
Back during the First and Second Hokage's time, relations between Konoha and the Daimyo's court were quite strong.
There were even political marriages between the two sides. If Konoha needed something, the Daimyo would usually provide it without hesitation.
Security for the Daimyo himself was handled directly by Konoha.
But things changed after Hiruzen became the Third Hokage. For reasons unknown, the Daimyo began distancing himself from Konoha.
Eventually, he even rejected the Leaf ninja assigned to protect him and formed his own personal guard—the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
That move was a clear signal: the Daimyo no longer trusted the Hidden Leaf.
Or more precisely, he no longer trusted the high command of Konoha, led by Hiruzen and his inner circle—the so-called Konoha F4.
Jin explained, "There's definitely friction between the Daimyo and Konoha, but more accurately, it's between the Daimyo and Hiruzen's faction."
Minato raised an eyebrow, sensing a deeper story behind Jin's words.
Jin paused in thought before continuing, "This actually isn't some big secret, just a long story. It all goes back to the death of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju."
"At the end of the First Great Ninja War, Tobirama led his guard unit to negotiate with the Hidden Cloud. But something went wrong."
"In the end, Tobirama chose to stay behind and cover their retreat. He died in battle."
"When the news reached Konoha, most people couldn't accept it."
"Not just because Tobirama was incredibly powerful, but because he was known as the fastest shinobi in the ninja world."
"Minato, your Flying Thunder God Technique was created by Tobirama. You should know better than anyone how powerful it is."
Minato nodded. He had already taken the Flying Thunder God further than Tobirama had, so he understood its potential well.
He wasn't being arrogant, but at this point, no one could stop him if he truly wanted to escape.
Which made it hard to believe that Tobirama—who also had mastery over this jutsu—could be so easily killed.
After all, the Flying Thunder God wasn't just for solo teleportation; it could also bring others along.
Tobirama's entire guard unit was only six or seven people. If he wanted to, he could've evacuated them all. There was no need to stay behind.
Looking at it that way, Tobirama's death was highly suspicious—no wonder so many questioned it.
Jin continued, "To make matters worse, Hiruzen and his team brought back one more piece of news: Tobirama, just before his death, supposedly appointed Hiruzen as the next Hokage."
"That only deepened people's suspicions."
"After all, the position of Hokage is supposed to be decided by a vote among the jonin. But Hiruzen got it just because of a supposed final word from Tobirama."
"Call it what you want—stepping up in a time of crisis, or carrying out his master's last wish—it doesn't change the fact that Hiruzen's claim to power was illegitimate."
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