This was absolutely insane! It was as if Sunagakure had thrown away all of their advantages. If Sunagakure had invaded the Land of Fire the moment they declared war, it might have cost them dearly, but they could've plunged the Land of Fire into chaos, causing immense damage. Instead, because of the Wind Daimyo's threats, the Third Kazekage chose to compromise. All Takuya could say was, "Wow, impressive!"
If this were the Land of Fire, Danzo would have scared the Daimyo just by glaring at him. When trying to gather military power, Danzo would do so quietly, fearing retaliation from Konoha's higher-ups. In contrast, the Wind Daimyo felt comfortable exerting control over Sunagakure openly.
"Your village really has it tough, letting the Daimyo just sit on you like that," Takuya quipped.
Pakura's face darkened, but she kept her gaze straight ahead, acting as if she hadn't heard him. Takuya knew he had hit a sore spot—one that hurt every Sunagakure shinobi deeply. Fortunately, these kinds of issues were something Konoha never had to deal with. Even if the Fire Daimyo tried to meddle in Konoha's affairs, it was none of Takuya's concern.
"How long do you think this war between the villages will last?" Takuya asked, tilting his head to look at Pakura.
"I don't know," Pakura replied, no longer ignoring him. She knew that if she pushed things too far, Takuya wouldn't go easy on her. She'd learned that lesson already—like the time he made her wash one piece of clothing eight times.
Pakura swore that even as a woman, she'd never washed something eight times. Takuya had definitely been messing with her on purpose.
"Maybe it'll last three to five years," she added.
A war involving the Five Great Shinobi Villages wasn't something that could end casually. Three years was the bare minimum, and five years wasn't unlikely. The unique nature of shinobi warfare meant that, aside from specific circumstances, ninja wouldn't amass in one place for an all-out attack; it was mostly fought through skirmishes.
Conventional military tactics didn't often apply to shinobi wars—at least not most of the time. This had everything to do with the massive power disparity among ninja. Lower-level shinobi could be killed by regular people, while top-tier shinobi could potentially wipe out an entire major village. That was the difference.
Though she wished for Konoha's swift defeat, Pakura managed to maintain some level of composure as she analyzed the situation.
"Three to five years? Not a bad assessment," Takuya nodded.
If there were no outside interference, the war might indeed last that long. In the original timeline, the Third Great Ninja War spanned quite a long period, roughly a decade. After the Nine-Tails attack, if the Third Hokage hadn't forced the Hyuga clan to sacrifice Hizashi, the war could have lasted even longer.
Takuya's main concern wasn't Sunagakure; he had never really viewed them as a significant threat. His worry was whether Iwagakure and Kumogakure would join in. If they entered the fray, Konoha would be in big trouble. Four of the Five Great Shinobi Villages fighting against Konoha—that would be a serious issue, potentially leading to the village's destruction.
Of course, that was assuming all four villages worked together seamlessly and pooled their resources.
"I'm planning to send you back to the village," Takuya said suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Pakura frowned. "You promised that I could stay by your side until the war ended and then you'd let me go. You didn't say anything about sending me to Konoha to be imprisoned."
Was Yagami Takuya going back on his word?
"That's not what I meant."
She was getting anxious, and Takuya could see it. He smirked, but he wasn't in the mood to tease her. Instead, he turned serious and explained, "Although there are a couple of old men here trying to shift responsibility onto others, I can't stay in the command post forever. It's only a matter of time before I head out to the battlefield. That's why I'm thinking of sending you to Konoha, where you can stay with Tsunade. After the war, you'll be released."
It was fine when they were in the camp, but once Takuya was on the frontlines, he couldn't take Pakura with him, right? Take her along to kill Sunagakure shinobi? Now that was a provocative thought.
"I refuse," Pakura said without hesitation.
Over the past few days, she had followed Takuya around, and he had made no attempt to hide anything from her. She knew Konoha's arrangements and preparations, and she also knew that Hatake Sakumo and Nara Shikashige had no intention of taking charge—they had shifted that responsibility to Takuya.
And as much as Takuya wanted to throw it back at them, the two old veterans were cunning enough to evade it. This meant that everything in the camp was ultimately decided by Takuya. If he made a mistake, Sakumo and Shikashige would step in to correct him immediately.
Hatake Sakumo was mostly out on the battlefield, leaving the nitty-gritty details to Shikashige. Takuya had made plenty of small mistakes, but none of them had been serious. Shikashige patiently corrected and explained everything, almost like a teacher guiding a student—attentive and thorough.
But that wasn't what Takuya wanted. He would rather fight on the battlefield than stay in camp dealing with the complexities of logistics and planning.
In the camp, Takuya had the final say, and he gave Pakura the freedom to move around without anyone objecting. If she were sent to Konoha, Pakura couldn't even imagine what awaited her there, and she didn't want to. So, she flatly refused, even if Takuya promised she wouldn't be imprisoned.
It was just Takuya's promise—who knew if she would actually be locked up once she arrived in Konoha?
"Fine, suit yourself," Takuya shrugged.
Since Pakura didn't want to go, Takuya wouldn't force her. Besides, if he was out on the battlefield, Shikashige would make sure someone kept an eye on Pakura. She wouldn't get any opportunities to act out. On top of that, her chakra was still sealed, and unsealing it wasn't easy.
Sealing techniques were always Sunagakure's weak point. If it weren't, Shukaku wouldn't constantly be breaking free and causing chaos.
Wait a second!
Suddenly, Takuya thought of Shukaku.
"How about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal?" Pakura replied warily.
Drumming his fingers lightly on the table, Takuya thought for a moment before saying, "It's simple. I'll keep you here in the camp and won't send you back to Konoha, but in return, you need to tell me some basic intel—like whether your village is planning to use the tailed beast."
Although he wasn't afraid, Takuya wasn't looking for trouble either. Even though Shukaku was one of the weaker tailed beasts, it could still cause a lot of damage on the battlefield, which was something Takuya wanted to avoid. The last thing he needed was for Tsunade to face more issues while she was still dealing with the aftermath of the war with Kirigakure.
If Tsunade ended up in a tight spot, it would end up causing him trouble.
"You already promised not to send me to Konoha," Pakura said, her face darkening. She felt like she was being played. Takuya had just agreed to let her stay, and now he was pushing for a deal.
"I changed my mind."
Takuya made a gesture, smiling.
"You...!" Pakura was livid, her chest heaving in anger. Clearly, Takuya's shamelessness had gotten to her.
Yeah, I'm being a jerk—what are you gonna do about it? Don't forget, you're my prisoner. It's already a favor that I'm not keeping you locked in a cage.
——————PowerStone_____________
Next Bonus: 2000 power stone
___________________________
(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read up to chapter 450+ at Patreon com/ Emik01.
___________________________