The Peace lasted longer than expected. I had expected it to fail sooner, but it lasted halfway through year 9 after transmigration. Hana had turned 18 recently, and we had begun wedding preparations. But before the wedding came my birthday. And it brought a gift I absolutely did not want.
In the middle of the celebration, a kid from Summer brought me the news.
That accursed mission by Hatake Sakumo had happened. Shinobis had lost their lives, and still the mission had failed.
I pulled up my Status
STATUS
KUROSAWA REN
Power - Elite Chunin
Physique - 701
Chakra - 3975
Specials - YamiGami
Skills - Tagcraft IV, Sensor, Taijutsu III, Kenjutsu III, Leader II, Medic II
System Stats - 8890
Call - The Eye Slows
TREE OF LIFE
Soul Develop (3/10) 10000 SS
Physique
Soul Physique(1/1000) 10SS
Chakra
Chakra Control (10/100) 100SS
Energy Control (99/100) 100SS
One Tail (100/1000) 10 SS.
I still needed 4 more months. I thought I had more time. A lot more time, in fact. I expected attacks, but this leaves me wide open. Wasn't Sakumo Hatake's Death the trigger that started the conflicts that culminated in the 3rd war? There was a difference of 20 Years between the two wars, right?
Was I wrong?
Or had something changed?
Because I knew that Namikaze Minato was still not in the academy. I discovered him He won't be anywhere near his prime when this war hits. So what changed?
I summoned Haruto.
"Yes, Lord Ren?"
"You remember that kid, Namikaze Minato? The one I told you to find all those years ago?"
"I haven't checked up on him for years now. Especially with all the things going around. But I can try to find him again."
"Do so."
After sending him away, I sat back in my chair. I had more things to worry about. The Hokage will take this and use it to absolutely destroy the Hatake reputation. Which will, in turn, crush the Daimyo influence in Konoha to a large extent. Which will, in turn, leave me open to attacks from the Kurokami.
I summoned Daichi and Hotaru next.
"Go around and buy as many Fuinjutsu supplies and armor-making supplies as you can. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir!"
Alright, calm down. I have planned for this. We'll have enough supplies in store for a while now. I have delivered installments for almost all contracts for this year. We have spent years under attack. We can take four months.
------
Over the next few days, the hounds had descended upon the Hatake as rabid beasts. Daimyo had based his network of power on the Hatake. And now, using those very connections, the Hokage was nailing everyone not absolutely loyal to him.
The Kurokami were itching to strike blows against us. But I had suspended all but the necessary missions. So nothing big had happened on that front. Which made me uneasy. This was probably the last fight. If Hana could deduce my moves, they could too. And them being quiet meant a bigger blast.
But one thing still confused me. Sakumo's suicide. He had been battling those rumors for years now. Sure, they became tougher. But was that really enough to drive him over the edge? Did the canon miss something? What changed? I had never heard him even flinch in all of this. I'll have to find out the trigger later on.
But I had an even bigger problem to deal with now.
"Minato is dead."
"What!?"
"Yeah, he died 2 years back of a disease."
"Disease?"
I slumped back into my chair. What on earth was this? We can't win the 3rd war without the Yellow Flash. I mean, the guy must have a bit of plot armor, right? At least until he impregnates Kushina. He was the father of the damn MC! And wasn't he a genius? What genius dies of disease?
This wasn't making sense. Did I have the wrong Minato?
"Haruto, check for any Namikaze families."
"Very well."
Our mistaking another boy with the same name was the most plausible explanation for this.
Because if everything were on track, more or less, that would mean that the start of the 3rd war isn't 10 years in the future, but around 3-4 years. And the date that I remembered was a stupid mistake. I had confused the end date of the war with its beginning.
But for that to be true. Minato would have been born long before I had thought, which now that I thought about it. Made sense. Uzushiogakure was destroyed so early. Which means Kushina should have met him at the academy around that time. Curse you, Kishimoto. Couldn't you have given us better timelines?
But why haven't I heard anything about the real Minato then?
Then I realized. I haven't heard anything about the Sanin either.
Tsunade wasn't in the village, and Orochimaru was diving into research. No news on their end made sense. But Jiraya? He was on active duty, right? Could he really have pulled off training a new disciple without the village knowing? I knew the Yamanaka and the Nara considered Minato a secret weapon. But can the Sun of Konoha really be hidden that easily?
But on second thoughts. This was a world of superpowered spies. I was realizing one of my most fatal errors now.
I hadn't kept tabs on all those plot-relevant people. In fact, I had not developed an information network at all. I was so busy with myself and the politics of the present that I never asked about the future. And why would I? They weren't relevant to me yet, and I was too busy surviving day to day. This stupid mistake should have been corrected years ago if only I had asked the Hatake about their young heir's health. I had never even bothered. "Nene!"
Nene came in.
"Call Emiko. And send someone to recall Haruto."
"Yes, Lord Ren."
If they wanted it hidden. They won't appreciate me peaking in. It was better to find those famous people to check the Timeline instead of Minato. Because from what I could figure out. The Hokage had already decided on naming Minato a disciple of Jiraya before I discovered him. And the guy whom we discovered was probably a plant by the leadership to absolutely confuse the enemies. It was a double trap. The people would think that his death is a lie. But the true trap is his age. Everyone is thinking that he should be roughly Academy starting age now. When it looks like he should be at the academy ending age now.
But more importantly. This is f..king up all my calculations. Once I unveil the SS Tag. We will become high-value combatants. I had thought that I would have almost half a decade to train my people. Now I won't have even 2-3 years proper. This would mean losses in my clan during the war.
I know it was inevitable as Shinobi. But I wanted to delay it for as long as possible. But now I had a dilemma. If I unveiled the SS tag. I would open myself up to wartime deployment too soon. If I didn't, I didn't have ways to counter their influence. And now I was late. I could no longer sue for peace anymore. Which meant I will have no choice but to unveil it to survive.
The next few months are going to be absolutely hell.
Emiko came in. "Find out how old is Lord Sakumo's son Hatake Kakashi is."