The Final Stage

"Okay, now that the deal is made, you can come back to the Land of Fire with me first." Shintaro said as he turned around.

Pakura frowned and asked, "Why do I need to go back to the Land of Fire with you?"

Shintaro shook his head and said, "Don't overthink it. You've gone missing in Sunagakure. If you return there, you'll definitely be watched. Those senior officials of Sunagakure have killed you once. It's impossible for them not to be afraid if you come back now. Once they are afraid, they'll only choose to kill you again."

"So your best option now is to hide in the Land of Fire first, wait until I help you kill Rasa, then immediately seize the position of Kazekage when Sunagakure is leaderless, and then return to Sunagakure. At that time, the senior management won't want to accept it but will have to."

Pakura listened and said, "Alright, but I don't have any money."

Shintaro sighed and took out some banknotes from his hand. It was money he had prepared specifically for this espionage mission.

"If you are frugal, you can live for one or two months. I estimate the war will end in one or two months."

He handed the money to her, and Pakura took it without any pretense.

The two then traveled overnight, and Shintaro brought Pakura across the sea and smuggled them into the Land of Fire.

Along the way, Pakura told him all the information she knew about the ceasefire and cooperation between Sunagakure and Kirigakure.

They didn't stop after entering the Land of Fire and headed west.

During the day.

At this moment, Shintaro's shadow clone was released, and the information returned.

The shadow clone had successfully completed its task, disguised as Kenji, sold all the fish, and prepared a boat back to Kenji's home.

When Ogura Ai saw the shadow clone disguised as Kenji, her illusion was broken, and she immediately cried.

She received the shadow clone and dispelled the [Henge no Jutsu], which surprised Ogura Ai.

The shadow clone gave her all the money from selling the fish and then told her the ins and outs of the matter that weren't confidential.

Only then did Ogura Ai put down the hoe she had raised high.

Shintaro read the memory of the shadow clone, wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead, and glanced at Pakura beside him.

"All these women are so tough. Luckily, my family isn't like this."

Pakura turned her head at this moment, looked at him, and snorted, "What did you just see me do?"

The sixth sense of a ninja was still very sharp.

Shintaro coughed and sidestepped the topic, saying, "Cough... It's nothing. We'll go to the city first. You can stay there. It's quite far from Konoha and the front lines, so it won't be affected. I need to go back and report the situation, so I won't be continuing with you."

After Shintaro finished speaking, he turned and left.

Pakura looked at his back again, feeling a bit reluctant to let him go.

Then she laughed at herself.

"Will I depend on this man who is much younger than me just because he saved me?"

Pakura shook her head, set aside the distracting thoughts in her heart, and continued to move forward.

❀❀❀

Shintaro returned to the Konoha camp on the southeastern defense line and met Minato and Shikaku.

"Minato-sensei, Shikaku-sensei, I have information about Kirigakure."

The two looked at each other and quickly asked him to report.

Shintaro cleverly omitted the part about Pakura and told these two all the information he knew.

Thanks to Kirigakure and Sunagakure hiding everything about Pakura, Shintaro wasn't exposed.

"In short, the ceasefire between Sunagakure and Kirigakure should be a feint. The Sunagakure side seems to be concentrating its forces for a final decisive battle, and the Kirigakure side might have a similar idea."

Shikaku heard this and said with mixed feelings, "It looks like the war will end soon, but I don't know who will win."

Minato stood up and said, "Whatever happens, we can't relax in the final stage of this war."

"Shikaku, go and notify the Western Front troops to be on guard to prepare for a general attack from Sunagakure."

"Shintaro, follow me to check the frontline defenses."

The way Minato stood and gave orders was very much like a Hokage.

Shikaku immediately wrote a letter to notify, and Shintaro followed Minato with mixed emotions.

If Shintaro wanted to become Hokage, he couldn't go through normal campaigning methods and could only stage a coup.

And compared to the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, the man named Namikaze Minato in front of him was clearly more difficult to deal with.

And whether it was difficult or not, Minato and he still had a friendship.

Therefore, it would be very unbearable for Shintaro to launch a coup while Minato was still in office. Now he could only take it one step at a time.

After all, Minato was still young, and he was even younger.

"Shintaro, what are you thinking?" Minato turned around and smiled gently.

Shintaro shook his head and said nothing.

And Minato might have tried to save others by himself, saying, "Are you thinking about Kurenai?"

Shintaro nodded, following the other party's wishes.

Minato then sighed and said, "I can understand. After all, I'm also thinking about Kushina. I just hope I can go back to Konoha to see her after this war is over."

"Honestly, achieving great feats means nothing compared to being with the person you love."

Shintaro nodded in agreement, then changed the topic and asked, "Does Minato-sensei have any plans after the war?"

"Well... Have children with Kushina. After all, we've been married long enough. Only after the war can we think about raising the next generation. I just hope we can create a peaceful living environment for the next generation."

"I hope my child and his friends won't have to go through another war."

Shintaro could hear the spirit and determination in Minato's voice, which was completely different from the feelings brought to him by the high officials of Konoha.

'If it's Minato-sensei, maybe it won't be necessary to proceed to the last step.'

The two chatted and quickly arrived at the frontline troops' position.

"Minato-sama, Shintaro Jonin."

Minato and Shintaro both had great prestige in the army. Even if one was younger than the other, ninjas always valued strength.

The reputations of the Yellow Flash and the White-Haired Devil Eyes were terrors to enemies and a source of support for the people.

Shintaro humbly accepted the attentive greetings from the ninjas he met along the way, while Minato greeted them while instructing them to be more vigilant.

The two patrolled the battlefield and found no gaps.

❀❀❀

A few days later, the Kirigakure attack came as expected.

This time the attack was fierce, almost more intense than the battles in the early stages of the war.

Kirigakure placed all its forces on the southern battlefield, trying to defeat Konoha in one move with a tyrannical assault.

Fortunately, Konoha had made sufficient preparations, and Minato had been preaching vigilance for several days.

Konoha and Kirigakure immediately started the decisive battle.

The Kirigakure side was even personally commanded by the Fourth Mizukage Yagura.

In the Mizukage camp, the short, baby-faced Yagura asked, "How is the plan being carried out?"

"Report to Mizukage-sama, the preparations are complete."

Yagura smiled faintly and said, "Good."