“Um, there was a slight complication.”
Minato looked out the window in embarrassment.
“Kushina’s seal has needed constant reinforcement lately, so she hasn’t had time to cook for me…”
“Other than her scrambled eggs, you’re probably the only person capable of eating Kushina’s cooking.”
Arashi’s eyelid twitched.
Minato had invited him over several times, so he knew perfectly well that Minato normally handled the cooking.
As for Kushina’s dishes…
Honestly, everything besides her scrambled eggs was a disaster.
Only Minato enjoyed them.
The power of love truly was remarkable.
“I-I’ve recently been—”
“Overwhelmed by the Hokage’s work and unable to find time to cook for yourself?”
Arashi sighed.
“Shisui, could you buy him a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen?”
“Yes!”
Arashi was probably the first person in the shinobi world to use Shisui of the Body Flicker as a food delivery runner.
Itachi could not help asking, “Fourth Hokage-sama, even we can eat with Advisor Kaeda in the staff cafeteria.
Why can’t you…?”
“Unfortunately, the Hokage can’t.”
Arashi shrugged.
“The previous Hokage all had personal chefs, so there was never any need for them to eat cafeteria food.”
“Minato abolished the position after taking office because he didn’t want to consume too many public resources.”
“And because he has no money.”
The first three Hokage had all been heads of powerful clans.
Minato, however, was a civilian Hokage without much personal wealth.
That much was obvious from their residences.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, and even Uchiha Fugaku lived in detached houses.
Minato lived in a single apartment, which was why Arashi had previously said he lived next door.
As mentioned before, the Hokage’s office possessed no independent budget until Arashi pried a small portion away from the Elder Council.
Every expense had required their approval.
Unlike those experienced old politicians, Minato also had no hidden sources of income beyond the mission rewards he earned before becoming Hokage.
He was genuinely penniless.
Shisui soon returned.
As Minato devoured his Ichiraku Ramen, the expressions of both Uchiha changed subtly.
“Rather ironic, isn’t it?”
Arashi chuckled.
“The Yellow Flash, the Fourth Hokage who stands above every shinobi in Konoha, can’t even afford a plate of scrambled eggs.”
“Stop teaching children strange ideas.”
Minato rolled his eyes.
“This is the path I chose.
Kushina simply happens to be away from home lately—”
“You can’t even eat properly the moment your wife leaves, yet you’re still trying to be Hokage.”
Arashi rolled his eyes in return.
“Fortunately, I recently pried a little funding away from the Elder Council.
Hiring you a chef would be easy.”
“Do you want every villager to think the first thing I did after taking office was hire myself a chef?”
Minato looked irritated.
“We don’t need to tell them.”
Arashi smiled.
“The Hokage’s income must be made public, but the Hokage’s office budget doesn’t.
Neither does the chief advisor’s spending.”
“We’ll say I hired the chef for myself, and you merely happen to steal a few bites.”
“Anyway…”
Before Minato could fill his mouth with more noodles and avoid responding, Arashi changed the subject.
“This should undoubtedly be the first major decision you make as Hokage.”
He slapped a document onto the desk.
“Will Konoha spend an enormous amount of money to lease Sunagakure’s One-Tails jinchuriki, Bunpuku…”
His expression turned openly mocking.
“…to reinforce our defenses?”
“The main concern is Kushina’s condition…”
Minato sighed.
He did not explain further with Shisui and Itachi present, but Arashi naturally understood.
Kushina was close to giving birth, making the Nine-Tails’ seal extremely unstable.
It required constant reinforcement, leaving her too busy to cook for Minato, let alone enter a battlefield.
But there was one obvious problem.
She had not fought during the Third Shinobi World War either.
Across the four great wars in Naruto, jinchuriki were rarely sent into direct combat.
The Fourth War was the only exception, largely because Naruto was the protagonist and the tailed beasts became central to the conflict.
Even at the beginning of that war, the Five Kage wanted the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails hidden while the regular army fought.
In this world, jinchuriki were essentially the equivalent of nuclear weapons from Arashi’s previous life.
Their greatest purpose was deterrence.
They rarely appeared on the front lines.
Therefore, whoever proposed this plan could not genuinely be trying to strengthen Konoha’s defenses.
“Who proposed this?”
Arashi immediately flipped to the final page and checked for a signature.
As expected, the space was blank.
But sometimes, leaving a name absent revealed more than writing one.
Arashi glanced toward Minato.
When the latter guiltily looked away, Arashi became even more certain.
“Let me guess…
Hiruzen-sama?”
“Hiruzen-sama was only thinking of what’s best for me.”
Minato lowered his voice.
“If another war begins, I can’t ask my wife to fight as her husband.”
“But as the Fourth Hokage, I must use the jinchuriki to protect the village and its people.”
“If we lease Sunagakure’s Shukaku, then—”
“Who said protecting the village requires deploying a jinchuriki?”
Arashi scoffed.
“During the recent war, many people proposed sending out the Nine-Tails’ jinchuriki.”
“Hiruzen-sama firmly rejected every suggestion.”
“That was because Kushina—”
“Minato, your concern for her is clouding your judgment.”
Arashi interrupted again.
“I admit you’re a good husband, but you’re now the Fourth Hokage.
You must consider matters from the Hokage’s position.”
“Let us assume the Nine-Tails’ jinchuriki isn’t Kushina.”
“She is merely a simple weapon of war…”
Arashi paused.
“Forgive me.
Let me phrase that differently.”
“She is merely an ordinary member of Konoha.”
“And you, my dear Hokage, clearly trust the deterrent power of a jinchuriki, correct?”
“Of course.”
Minato frowned.
“Otherwise, the First Hokage would never have distributed the tailed beasts among the Five Great Nations.”
“We’ll set aside whether the First Hokage’s decision was correct.”
Arashi continued.
“Who exactly can the Nine-Tails’ jinchuriki threaten?”
“Iwagakure?
Kumogakure?
Or Sunagakure, which is willing to lease us Shukaku?”
“Iwagakure has the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, while Kumogakure possesses the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails.”
“Their jinchuriki are all more experienced and capable than Konoha’s Nine-Tails’ jinchuriki.”
“You have personally fought them.
You should know their power is controllable, unlike Kushina’s…”
Arashi quickly corrected himself.
“Unlike the Nine-Tails’ jinchuriki’s power.”
Seeing Minato prepare to insist that Kushina was not the problem and that the fault lay with him, Arashi accelerated his explanation.
“Let us return to the real issue.”
“As the Fourth Hokage, under what circumstances would you decide to unleash the Nine-Tails’ terrifying, uncontrollable power that could harm both enemy and ally?”
“O-Only during a true emergency…”
The newly appointed Minato had clearly never considered the question carefully.
“Then what qualifies as an emergency?”
Arashi patiently guided him.
“When the enemy reaches Konoha’s gates?”
“Perhaps…
somewhat earlier than that.”
Minato sounded uncertain.
“Exactly.”
Arashi smiled.
“Across the three Shinobi World Wars, the enemy never reached Konoha’s gates.”
“In fact, they never even occupied half of the Land of Fire.”
“Are you saying there’s no need to lease the One-Tails?”
Minato frowned.
“But Sunagakure’s One-Tails is more controllable than the Nine-Tails.”
“If war breaks out, perhaps we could deploy it earlier.”
Bunpuku was one of the few jinchuriki Shukaku ever genuinely acknowledged.
“If the One-Tails is truly so reliable, why would Sunagakure agree to lease it?”
Arashi waved one finger.
“Is it merely because they’re poor and desperately need money?”
“No.”
“They already understand the rules of competition between villages.”
“Most of the time, a jinchuriki is nothing more than a symbol.”
“They might as well remain locked inside a prison.”
That statement was entirely accurate.
Judging by the current timeline, Bunpuku, who had become Shukaku’s jinchuriki during the Second Kazekage’s era, should already be imprisoned.
Minato remained silent, but his expression showed that he was not entirely convinced.
Arashi continued.
“Let us ignore how much of the enormous leasing fee would truly reach Sunagakure and how much would disappear into the pockets of Konoha officials.”
“Instead, imagine the following situation.”
“Kumogakure announces that bandits have appeared near the Land of Fire’s border.”
“They openly cross the border under the excuse of capturing criminals who supposedly robbed citizens of the Land of Lightning.”
“Would you immediately deploy a jinchuriki?”
Minato frowned.
“No.
That would be an excessive response.”
“During their so-called pursuit, Kumogakure causes widespread destruction and starts several fires.”
“Then Iwagakure arrives to ‘help extinguish them.'”
“Would you deploy the jinchuriki?”
“Probably not.”
“Afterward, those two shinobi units simply refuse to leave and openly occupy land belonging to the Land of Fire.”
“Your choices are: one, send shinobi squads to drive them away.”
“Or two, blast them apart with a jinchuriki.”
“Obviously the first option.
I don’t enjoy unnecessary killing.”
“Precisely.”
Arashi spread his hands.
“It’s called salami tactics.”
“They will never push you into a hopeless corner where you must deploy the jinchuriki.”
“Instead, they’ll slowly consume the Land of Fire one thin slice at a time.”
“Each loss will hurt, but never enough to threaten the nation’s survival.”
“The day you finally decide to use the jinchuriki may never come.”
“The way you describe it makes jinchuriki sound completely meaningless.”
“No, they certainly have meaning.”
Arashi’s expression became serious.
“They give each of the Five Great Nations the power to say, ‘I may die today, but none of you will survive either.'”
“That prevents anyone from committing completely to war.”
“Conflicts remain battles of attrition along the borders, or they occur inside smaller nations like the Land of Rain.”
“Those are the rules governing the Five Great Shinobi Villages.”
“There is no need to risk everything.
Every struggle is ultimately about profit.”
“Possessing a jinchuriki grants a village the qualifications to negotiate and sit at the table.”
“Nothing more.”
“Sunagakure understands that perfectly.
If they can lease Shukaku for money, they’ll gladly accept.”
“Then what do you recommend?”
Minato finally reached the real question.
Arashi answered seriously.
“Cancel the lease and use the money to establish a standing army.”
“The Third Shinobi World War has only just ended.
Every village suffered severe losses.”
“Even without Kushina’s deterrence, another war will not begin immediately.”
“Everyone is using this opportunity to rebuild their military strength.”
“If we waste our money and resources on a pointless jinchuriki lease…”
Arashi chuckled softly.
“When the next war begins, the outcome may become very unpleasant.”
“A standing army, an intelligence network, scientific ninja tools…”
“Those are the things I believe we should pursue.”
“Of course…”
Arashi made a small gesture toward him.
“You are the Hokage.”
“The final decision belongs to you.”
“I…”
Minato had clearly been persuaded, but he still drew a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm.
“I need time to think carefully.”
Arashi gave a satisfied smile.
“Yes, Hokage-sama.”
…