Chapter 161: Natsuki's Change
As usual, Ishiro immediately went to see Ōnoki.
When Ishiro presented the Third Kazekage human puppet to Ōnoki, Ōnoki's expression was somewhat strange. A bit of disbelief, and a bit of empathy for a similar figure.
The Third Kazekage had taken office around the same time as Ōnoki, both during the First Great Ninja War. The two were old adversaries; they had fought each other in their youth, schemed against one another, and also had times when they allied to target Konoha.
Ōnoki was pleased to see the Third Kazekage dead, but seeing the Third Kazekage's corpse turned into a puppet after death was still hard for Ōnoki to accept.
At this moment, Ōnoki was probably thinking, what if he too died in battle one day? What would his end be like? Would it be any better than the Third Kazekage's?
Ishiro didn't interrupt, quietly waiting for Ōnoki to grieve alone for a good while.
After a while, Ōnoki came back to his senses, looked at Ishiro, and said, "Tell me what happened."
"Yes." Then Ishiro recounted the cause of the incident and the battle process in detail.
Usually, for such reports, Ōnoki would wait until all the advisors were present. But today, Ōnoki was not in his usual state, though Ishiro didn't point it out. He honestly recounted the process.
"Sasori of the Red Sand, you say? As a genius of Sunagakure's new generation, he actually laid a killing hand on his own village's Kage." Ōnoki shook his head, finding it somewhat incomprehensible.
"Zero, go call the two advisors. Also, notify Ikura to come as well," Ōnoki instructed the Shadow Guard captain.
Of the village's four advisors, Saka had gone to the front lines, and the middle-aged female advisor had gone to the capital, apparently to discuss war funding with the Daimyō. Only two elderly advisors remained in the village.
Ikura, because he needed to learn S-rank ninjutsu, hadn't gone to the front lines and had been in the village.
After a while, the three arrived one after another, and Ishiro briefly recounted the ins and outs of the matter again.
The two elderly advisors reacted just like Kitsuchi, with expressions of utter disbelief.
Ikura, on the other hand, being of the younger generation, didn't have a deep understanding of the Third Kazekage. Plus, he was getting closer and closer to Kage-level strength, so he accepted this reality more easily than the two advisors.
Ōnoki also knew how much of a shock this matter was to everyone, so he waited quietly on the side for a good while. Only after they had thoroughly accepted the situation did he say, "Alright, let's discuss how to handle this."
After Ōnoki finished speaking, the two advisors, without prior consultation, looked at Ishiro and Ikura. They wanted to see how the two juniors would handle it.
And between Ishiro and Ikura, they were more concerned about Ikura's thoughts. Regardless, Ikura was about to become a Kage-level powerhouse, and his possibility of becoming the Tsuchikage in the future was the greatest.
Ikura looked at Ishiro, signaling for Ishiro to speak first.
Ishiro didn't decline, saying, "It's not suitable for us to keep the Third Kazekage human puppet; it will only invite Sunagakure's animosity. We are left with two choices."
"Either give it to Konoha in exchange for something, letting Konoha use him to negotiate with Sunagakure. Or give it to Sunagakure, increasing their combat power and letting Sunagakure fight Konoha to the death."
"I lean towards trading with Konoha because Konoha can offer more benefits."
After Ishiro finished, he looked at Ikura. Ikura was somewhat surprised and asked doubtfully, "Trade with Konoha? If Konoha and Sunagakure declare a truce, won't we face even greater pressure?"
Ishiro explained, "Even if Konoha gets the Third Kazekage human puppet, it only gives them the possibility of a truce with Sunagakure. Sunagakure's higher-ups might not agree because Sunagakure now needs to establish a hero through war and then elect a new Kazekage."
"Moreover, even if Sunagakure's higher-ups agree, the hatred between the two nations has already been sown. Wars are not so easily stopped. With a little provocation later, they will fight again."
Ikura shook his head and said, "Trading with Konoha does have benefits, but we are currently de facto allies with Sunagakure. If we choose to trade with Konoha, it will inevitably make Sunagakure hostile towards us."
"Offending Sunagakure for some benefits isn't very worthwhile."
Ōnoki nodded and said, "Then contact Sunagakure. Ikura, you'll be in charge of this."
Saying this, Ōnoki looked at Ishiro again, feeling a bit of a headache over this subordinate who could cause trouble but also frequently achieve strange merits. He wanted to say something but ended up sighing.
"Ishiro, focus on healing your injuries first. Next time you encounter such a situation, don't just think about handling it yourself. You have the entire village as your backing, while that Sasori of the Red Sand is just a rogue ninja. You can choose to call for help!"
Ishiro felt a little guilty. Actually, if Ishiro had chosen to flee the moment he saw Sasori of the Red Sand, although he wouldn't have obtained the Third Kazekage human puppet, at least he wouldn't have been poisoned.
With his Porcelain Release and Light/Heavy Rock Technique, fleeing while calling for help, waiting for any nearby Iwagakure ninja to come to his rescue, Ishiro's chances of escape would have been very high.
It was just that Ishiro had his own considerations. When facing these characters from the plot, he had an intelligence advantage that others lacked.
Ishiro knew Sasori of the Red Sand's greatest weakness: he liked to hold back a trump card.
Sasori of the Red Sand in the original story died without using all his trump cards, a rather stifled, frustratingly unresolved death.
Ishiro had exploited Sasori of the Red Sand's carelessness and tendency to underestimate enemies to achieve success in one fell swoop.
If Ishiro at that time had managed to take down the Third Kazekage human puppet without being poisoned by Sasori, perhaps Sasori would have fallen into Ishiro's hands once again.
But Ishiro couldn't say these words to Ōnoki and the others, so he seemed a bit lacking in confidence.
After Ōnoki arranged matters concerning the Third Kazekage human puppet, Ishiro went to the hospital accompanied by Ikura.
Watching Ishiro, who dared not let his foot touch the ground and was constantly using the Light/Heavy Rock Technique to fly, Ikura asked, "How long will this injury take to heal?"
Ishiro said, "My external injuries aren't severe; the trouble is the poison in my body. It will take some time to completely eradicate it. At the encampment, the medical-nin already checked me. It will probably take about a month to completely clear it out."
Ikura nodded upon hearing this and said, "Since the treatment will take a month, why don't you visit the Ninja Academy? The new batch of students is about to graduate."
"You mentioned last time that you wanted to take on more disciples. Coincidentally, my S-rank ninjutsu has also progressed, and I have some time now. Let's find an opportunity to go to the Ninja Academy together and see if there are any suitable students."
Ishiro nodded and said, "Alright. You handle the Third Kazekage human puppet matter first. I'm free anytime. When you have time, we'll go together."
Arriving at the hospital, the medical-nin just told Ishiro to come for treatment once a day starting tomorrow.
After confirming Ishiro was alright, Ikura went to deal with the Third Kazekage human puppet. This matter required negotiations with Sunagakure, and the contents involved would also require the Daimyō's participation.
So Ikura still had to make a trip to the capital to discuss it with the Daimyō first.
Ishiro returned alone to the small cabin within the natural energy sealing barrier. The Ninja Academy hadn't dismissed classes yet, so there was no one in the cabin, and Natsuki hadn't returned either.
Ishiro noticed that the layout of the cabin had changed significantly. Originally, only Ishiro and Dango lived in Ishiro's cabin. And Dango, although a cat, was a ninja cat, so it only occupied a small area in Ishiro's place.
Therefore, the cabin originally only contained Ishiro's belongings. But now, Ishiro's items had been moved to one side, and a large half of the cabin's space was occupied by various items belonging to a little girl.
Seeing this scene, Ishiro finally realized that he hadn't considered that Natsuki was a girl, and it wasn't convenient for her to live with him, a man.
However, the cabin was located within the natural energy sealing barrier. In such a place, the village had arrangements for every piece of land, and Ishiro had no authority to change the cabin's size.
Shaking his head, Ishiro decided to first pick Natsuki up from school. After Natsuki returned, he would discuss with her how to change the cabin's layout.
Although Natsuki came from a civilian family in the Land of Hot Water, because she possessed a special talent, like Uzumaki Yumi back then, she was directly assigned to the top class.
The little girl was probably learning and playing with so many peers for the first time. So, after this period of school life, she had become much more cheerful compared to before.
When Ishiro saw her at the Ninja Academy entrance, she was walking towards the school gate, laughing and chatting with several girls from her class.
Although when Natsuki and her friends chatted, most of the time others were speaking and Natsuki was listening, the smile on Natsuki's face was genuine.
Clearly, she enjoyed life at the Ninja Academy very much.
Natsuki listened to her classmates while walking towards the school gate. She didn't notice Ishiro because every day after school, she would meet Chiko Tomoe's younger sister, Kotake, at the school gate, and then they would go to Kotake's house for dinner together.
And Kotake's classroom was further from the school gate, so Natsuki always had to wait at the gate for a while.
Seeing that Natsuki hadn't noticed him, Ishiro walked directly up to her and said, "Natsuki, big brother is back."
Natsuki was clearly stunned for a moment, then reacted with a pleasantly surprised expression, "Ishiro-nīchan."
This was the first time Ishiro had heard Natsuki call him that, and it sounded a bit awkward. However, Natsuki said "Ishiro-nīchan" very smoothly.
Because although Ishiro hadn't been around during this period, Kotake often mentioned Ishiro to Natsuki. And every time Natsuki chatted with Kotake, she referred to Ishiro as "Ishiro-nīchan," so she was used to it now.
Speaking of which, Kotake had taught her this way of addressing him.
Although Ishiro wasn't used to it, Natsuki's "Ishiro-nīchan" had unintentionally shortened the distance between them, giving Ishiro a feeling that they were already family.
Smiling slightly, Ishiro said, "Where is your older sister Kotake? Big brother will take you guys out for some good food."
"Older sister Kotake will be here in a little while." Perhaps realizing that she wasn't actually very familiar with this "Ishiro-nīchan," Natsuki's voice was noticeably much softer this time.
Ishiro ruffled Natsuki's hair and said to her again, "Are these your classmates? Why don't you introduce them to big brother?"
"Oh." Natsuki then reacted and whispered to her three classmates, "This is my Ishiro-nīchan."
Then she introduced her three classmates to Ishiro one by one: "They are all my classmates. This is Yoneko, this is Nanaka, and this is Hazuki."
Ishiro nodded to the three girls.
After a while, Kotake arrived at the school gate on time. Ishiro treated the group of little girls to a big meal, and then he held Natsuki's hand and returned to the cabin.
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