Chapter 122 (Patreon)

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Konoha Year 63, July 15.

During the Five Kage Summit, Obito Uchiha had declared the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi World War, leading the Five Kage to agree to unite and form the Allied Shinobi Forces.

However, an alliance of that scale could not be created merely because the Five Kage had exchanged a few words.

They still needed the approval of their respective daimyō, and the five great shinobi villages had to set aside generations of hatred toward one another.

Three Shinobi World Wars had already taken place.

Countless shinobi had lost their families, comrades, brothers, and sisters at the hands of those they once called enemies. Asking them to fight beside those same enemies now felt no different from betraying the loved ones who had died.

Before they could present a truly united front, each village first needed to determine whether the others were sincere about the alliance.

Consequently, the intelligence divisions of the Five Great Nations became extremely busy.

Information was exchanged every few days, while the daimyō of the five nations began holding frequent video conferences through their communication screens.

The matter had already risen to the national level. As the military forces of their respective nations, the shinobi villages could not officially unite without the approval of their daimyō.

While the daimyō continued their negotiations, the five great shinobi villages quietly began preparing for war.

Konoha, meanwhile, had already completed the limited repairs required after Pain’s attack.

Mihawk had stopped Pain’s Shinra Tensei before it could flatten the village. Although several buildings and streets had been damaged during the fighting, most of Konoha had remained intact.

The new Hokage Building had been completed first, followed by the few districts damaged during the battle.

Those repairs had been finished well before two months passed, allowing Konoha to devote nearly all its manpower and resources to preparing for the coming war.

That day, Nerona Mihawk entered the village for the first time in quite a while.

The streets were as lively as ever. Civilians moved between the shops while shinobi transported crates of weapons, medicine, military ration pills, and other supplies toward newly established storage facilities.

Everyone in Konoha was contributing to the war preparations in whatever way they could.

On a plot of land assigned to Mihawk, construction of his new house had just begun.

Mihawk stood in his kimono and quietly discussed the project with a stern-looking foreman.

More than a dozen blueprints were spread out before them.

The house was shown from several different angles, and every part of its interior and exterior had been drawn in clear detail.

After discussing the plans for quite some time, Mihawk finally looked at the foreman.

“Good. Don’t worry about the cost. Use the compensation provided by the village first, then come to me for whatever remains.”

“Leave it to us, Mr. Mihawk.”

The foreman confidently patted his chest.

“We’ll make sure it looks exactly like the house in these plans. You should be able to see the finished result within a few days.”

Mihawk smiled faintly.

“I’m counting on you. I’ll stop by over the next few days. If anything in the plans is unclear, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“Understood. There won’t be any problems.”

With their discussion concluded, Mihawk left the construction site in a good mood.

“Hey, Mihawk.”

Just as he was leaving, a familiar voice came from behind him.

Mihawk turned and saw Nara Shikamaru approaching in his chūnin flak jacket, an unusually serious expression on his face.

Mihawk looked at him curiously.

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping with the war preparations? How do you have time to wander around?”

The shinobi villages had far more preparations to make than the daimyō.

They needed to stockpile military ration pills and ninja tools, as well as compile complete records of every shinobi who could be mobilized for war.

The five great shinobi villages had suspended all regular missions two months earlier.

As two of the most intelligent people in Konoha, Shikamaru and his father, Shikaku, had naturally been ordered by Tsunade to assist with the preparations.

Shikamaru should have been overwhelmed with work.

“Do you have a minute?” Shikamaru asked, getting straight to the point. “Everyone wants to talk.”

Mihawk paused briefly before nodding.

Shikamaru led him to a clearing in the forest.

The rest of Konoha’s twelve young shinobi were already gathered there. Even Hinata, who had been helping organize supplies elsewhere in the village, had come.

“Mihawk, is what Granny Tsunade told us true?”

The moment Mihawk arrived, Naruto anxiously confronted him.

“Sasuke joined the Akatsuki, and you fought him when he tried to take revenge on Konoha. Did that really happen?”

Mihawk frowned at Naruto’s agitated expression.

“Calm down. You’re all pillars of Konoha now. Stop losing your composure so easily.”

Naruto did not seem to hear him.

His blue eyes remained fixed on Mihawk, demanding an answer.

Seeing that Naruto had no intention of backing down, Mihawk nodded helplessly.

“Yes. Everything you heard is true.”

Before Naruto could speak again, Mihawk continued.

“I intended to kill Sasuke, but Obito Uchiha interfered. Sasuke has joined the Akatsuki, and he helped them attempt to capture the Eight-Tails. They failed.”

Mihawk stared directly into Naruto’s eyes.

“That’s everything I know, and I have nothing else to tell you.”

Naruto clenched his fists, but Mihawk continued before he could interrupt.

“No matter how strong your bond with him once was, Sasuke has chosen his path. He has fallen so far that there may be no bringing him back.”

His tone remained calm and indifferent.

“You claim that you intend to become Hokage. If that is true, then you need to learn how to make your own decisions when the village and a former comrade who has become a rogue ninja stand on opposing sides.”

“Of course, I have no interest in which choice you make. What you do is entirely up to you.”

After saying that, Mihawk turned toward Hinata and beckoned to her.

“Hinata, come home with me.”

“Yes.”

Hinata immediately answered and hurried after him.

The two soon disappeared from everyone’s sight.

The brief gathering had ended almost as soon as it began.

However, everyone present understood Mihawk’s personality. They also knew how determined Naruto was to bring Sasuke back, so no one took their argument personally.

Only Sai, who had gradually begun to find his place among them, remained deep in thought.

He looked at the silent Naruto before turning toward the troubled Sakura, seemingly considering something.

“Well, I’m going back to work.”

Shikamaru had little interest in Sasuke’s situation. Once Mihawk had left, he said goodbye to the others and retraced his steps toward the village.