86 Chapter 85: Has Shikaku gone Senile??

"ARE YOU MAD?" Hiruzen lost his composure and shouted at Shikaku after hearing that he wanted him to send his grandson on such a dangerous mission.

"You are sending a bunch of genin to fight elite shinobi. They would just be a burden to Jiraiya and Shikuro." Hiruzen retorted to that idea.

Shikaku though did not back down

"Tell me would you have hesitated if your grandson was not on the team? No, you would not have. You are a Hokage first before a grandfather. Remember it as the village depends on you to be impartial."

Hiruzen did not have an answer to that.

He knew that he was letting his affection towards his family affect his work but what could he do, he did not want to see his grandson die before he himself dies. Ken has so much to experience in life beyond eating sweets and burning things.

As he thought about the silly antics of his grandson, a wry smile appeared on Hiruzen's face.

"Besides, They are no normal genins. You and I both know it. Yes, I know it is dangerous but since when shinobi's life is not dangerous. The kids would have both Jiraiya and Shikuro to protect them so you don't have to be worried about their safety unless they are sending more than a hundred shinobi or one of the seven swordsmen or the Mizukage is himself coming." Shikaku said while he looked at Jiraiya at the end hoping he could tell who would be leading the mist forces to ambush Pakura.

"An Anbu captain is going to lead them as far as I know. I don't know who the captain is or from which clan he or she belongs. " Jiraiya stated to which Shikaku nodded and looked towards Hiruzen for his decision.

"Fine, but what after they managed to save Pakura? Let her go back to Suna and cause a civil war there? If Rasa wins the political battle between the two, our alliance with Suna would end and we would have another nation attacking us." Hiruzen asked after he agreed to send the entire Shikuro team for the mission. He had witnessed their growth in the past year and knew they were capable enough to survive against a couple of jonins until backup arrives for them.

"Pakura would have no place to go. We have to make her believe that if she goes back to Suna she will die and if Kiri finds out that she has gone rogue, they will hunt her down along with Suna. Going rogue would not be a good option for her either. So her final option should be to go with her saviors." Shikaku said as both Hiruzen and Jiraiya looked at him as if he had lost his mind and had gone senile.

"You think a loyal S-rank shinobi would betray her village to join a village that she fought against in the previous shinobi war? Have you been drinking recently?" Jiraiya asked Shikaku who just rolled his eyes.

"The things that a shinobi can do when they are desperate are always mind-blowing. Surely, she would expect some demand from us to save her. We are her saviors whether she likes it or not and that means she would have a moral obligation towards us. Besides, there is another reason why I want those kids to join the mission."

"Seeing the young Leaf genins among whom one is Hokage's grandson and the other is the Uchiha heir help her by risking their lives, it would mean something to her. It would tell her that Konoha does not betray their own and is completely unlike Suna. Now that I think about it maybe you should tell Ken to use those puppy dog eyes he uses against you to get whatever he wants," Shikaku concluded his explanation with a chuckle at the end.

Hiruzen and Jiraiya could see the value in what Shikaku said but they still had one last question for the best strategist in Konoha "What if she refuses? What then?"

Shikaku sighed at this question "Then we would have no choice but for Shikuro and Jiraiya to kill her and erase every proof of our involvement. Suna and Mist would either interpret that Pakura has managed to kill every Mist shinobi while at the same time, she was too injured and died herself or is alive and went rogue. In this scenario, there would be a 50-50 chance of Mist still keeping their peace treaty with Suna after both parties die in the confrontation."

"Fine let's go with your plan," Hiruzen said as he sent an Anbu to bring him Shikuro and his team to his office.

---Meanwhile-

Team Shikuro was on their way to the Hokage's building. They all were quiet and were still thinking about their weaknesses that Shikuro had told them yesterday.

Ken thought about his genjutsu weakness 'I don't think that I have any way to protect myself from genjutsu, especially the one without any handsigns. My exceptional chakra control allows me to easily identify a genjutsu and break it but even if this process takes just one second that might be enough for someone to deal with me.'

'Aburame have their insects to protect them from genjutsu. Should I ask Shikuro sensei for some insects?' As Ken thought about insects living on his body, he shuddered and immediately dropped that idea.

'That leaves me with options like increasing my chakra control even higher or transplating a byakugan or sharingan, or becoming a jinchuriki or learning sage mode. Only Chakra control seems a reliable option and a workable one among them. But despite my training in chakra control for the past year, I have realized that I would never reach the stage of Sakura and Tsunade in chakra control. The amount of chakra I have keeps on increasing making it incredibly tough to gain control over it and I lack talent for it. Oh well, Let's get done with this mission first before I think of a solution for this genjutsu thing.'

Kabuto was also thinking about his weakness which was a lack of versatility in jutsus but since he was a medical nin, he was not bothered by it much. Besides, he was young which means he had many years to train new jutsus.

Shikuro had told Itachi that he was quite skilled at both Taijutsu and Kenjutsu which was expected from him since he had learned the Uchiha style taijutsu and kenjutsu from a very young age. Not to mention both his father and Shisui were responsible for teaching him these things.

But Shikuro had pointed out that technique and skill would not take him far, he needed pure strength and speed to back him up. Thus, Shikuro wanted Itachi to do more physical training and toughen himself up.

They reached the Hokage office soon where a troublesome mission was awaiting them.

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