In the evening, after having dinner with Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, Kizaru walked back to the Shimura residence, enjoying a leisurely stroll.
As he knocked on the door, the entrance was opened by Minato. A year ago, Minato was officially adopted by Danzo and became a part of the Shimura clan.
The process of Minato being adopted by Danzo had a small twist. After strengthening the bond between him and Minato, Danzo took the initiative one night to find Minato and proposed to adopt him as his son.
Minato, after contemplating for a while, agreed to Danzo's request. However, he had one condition – he didn't want to change his surname. Not because Minato had a prestigious clan background to revive, but because the name was given to him by the Third Hokage when he was adopted as a war orphan.
Knowing about this, Kizaru intervened and convinced Danzo to accept Minato's condition. He pointed out that what Danzo wanted was Minato's heart and presence, not just a clan name.
With Kizaru's words, Danzo changed his mind, resolved the dilemma, and officially adopted Minato as his son.
"Kizaru, you're back!" Seeing Kizaru at the door, Minato greeted him with a joyful smile.
Then, Minato sniffed a whiff of alcohol and furrowed his brows. "You drank again? Father is waiting for you; he'll be angry if he smells alcohol!"
"Just a little bit!" Kizaru chuckled and made a "C" shape with his hand, imitating a drinking gesture.
Like an adult sighing, Minato took a deep breath and advised, "I'll ask my sister to make you some sobering soup. Drink it all, get rid of the alcohol, and then go see Father!"
Patting Minato's head, Kizaru smiled and said, "Don't worry; he can't beat me!"
???
Minato felt a bunch of question marks in his head. He realized that his train of thought and Kizaru's were in completely different worlds.
Rubbing the yellow hair, feeling satisfied, Kizaru retracted his right hand and walked towards Danzo's residence, ignoring Minato fixing his hair behind him.
"Kizaru, you..." After fixing his hair, Minato looked at Kizaru's back, chased after him, and called out.
"It's late; go back and rest!" Raising his right hand to stop Minato from speaking, Kizaru lazily said.
"Fine!" Standing in place, Minato could only helplessly watch Kizaru walk away.
Parting ways with Minato, passing through the courtyard, Kizaru casually walked to Danzo's residence.
Sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, Danzo, who was resting with his eyes closed, heard Kizaru's footsteps.
"Uncle, still not sleeping this late?" Leaning on the door frame in the courtyard, Kizaru looked at Danzo with a smiling face.
Although they were tens of meters apart, Danzo, with his sensitive nose, still caught a faint smell of alcohol.
Frowning, Danzo was ready to start lecturing.
"Have you forgotten the three ninja prohibitions?"
"Ninjas and all that are just troublesome! How about I retire and resign?" Kizaru said with a smile, completely ignoring Danzo's lecturing.
"You..." Danzo was about to retort, feeling both angry and helpless.
Helpless, Danzo could only shift the topic.
"The ninja who attacked you today has confessed. As I expected, they are indeed from Kumogakure."
"Kumogakure again?" Kizaru slightly restrained his smile. "It's the second time already; how scary!"
"What are your thoughts?" Danzo stared at Kizaru, calmly asking.
"Being attacked every day is quite troublesome!" Kizaru rubbed the back of his head, looked up at the moon in the sky, and appeared genuinely troubled. "How about we wipe them all out?"
The tone shifted, and Kizaru looked back at Minato with a smile devoid of any emotion.
Analyzing possibilities in his mind, Minato lowered his head in contemplation for a while before raising it again.
"Now is not a good time. Hanzo of the Amegakure, has been unusually silent lately. I have a feeling that he's planning something significant!"
Compared to the old enemies from the Kumogakure, the newly emerged Hanzo of the Amegakure was the major concern for both Hiruzen and Danzo.
Indeed, it was a significant development!
Having knowledge about the Ninja World War in the Naruto storyline, Kizaru speculated that Hanzo was about to initiate a major event that would shock the ninja world.
This event, while not too big in scale, involved Hanzo almost simultaneously declaring war on the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Iron, sparking the Second War.
Hey! Kizaru found Hanzo's move somewhat familiar. It seemed like something he had read in history books.
In any case, Hanzo's actions left many in the ninja world dumbfounded. Even the Raikage, the most reckless of the five Kages, would feel inferior in front of Hanzo.
Declaring war on three nations simultaneously, did Hanzo have any assurance or trump cards?
It turned out that he didn't, or rather, Hanzo's confidence came from his strength and sheer audacity!
So, why did Hanzo want to start a war? Simple. He was an idealistic pacifist with grand visions of peace.
At this point, Kizaru couldn't help but comment on the fact that many antagonists in Naruto world were almost half idealistic pacifists. It was truly bizarre!
Hanzo's peaceful ideals were quite unrealistic. His simple belief was that the chaos, bloodshed, and wars in the ninja world were due to the uneven distribution of resources and power among nations.
Up to this point, Hanzo's ideas were not entirely flawed.
However, when it came to the specific solution to end wars, Hanzo's proposed method showcased what could be called shameless free-riding!
His plan to resolve the issue was incredibly straightforward. Since wars were caused by unequal distribution, he suggested that major nations should cede territory and resources to smaller nations, balancing the strength and resources among all nations.
Upon hearing this proposal, Hiruzen became Danzo. Danzo wanted to kill him, Tobirama was angry at him, and Hashirama found it ridiculous as he laughed heartily.
With such impractical thoughts, Hanzo faced numerous setbacks in his youth. Over time, he developed a new perspective.
Since major nations were unwilling to share, he decided to take matters into his own hands as a leader of a small nation and seize what he needed!
With this radical mindset, Hanzo unified the ninja forces in Amegakure, becoming their leader. He continued to plan and work towards realizing his ideals.
And the day for this plan was about to come.
Considering Hanzo's recent abnormal behavior, Danzo couldn't agree to Kizaru's proposed plan.
However, with the Kumogakure attempting to assassinate his beloved nephew twice in a row, even Danzo couldn't tolerate it.
"The idea between Hiruzen and I is that you will lead the team and form an elite team to fight back in revenge!" Looking at Kizaru, Danzo revealed his plan.
"Leading a team? It feels so troublesome! Why don't I go alone?" Kizaru replied with a frown.
"Don't worry, the team members arranged for you are all the most elite ninjas in the village!" Danzo explained aloud, knowing Kizaru's inner thoughts.
"Really? Then I'll look forward to it!" Kizaru relaxed his brows and said with a smile.