Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 169: Shikaku: "One Minute on Stage, Ten Years Off Stage"

After a lengthy conversation, Shikaku watched as Chiyo silently returned to the Konoha embassy. Suddenly, his expression shifted, his already pale face growing even paler.

He gritted his teeth and forced himself to suppress the discomfort welling up inside. With a slightly dazed look, he quickly issued a few instructions to the shinobi standing behind him before swiftly leaving the vicinity of the embassy.

The shinobi who witnessed this exchanged glances as they moved further from the embassy, muttering quietly among themselves, their faces tinged with anger.

"Shikaku-senpai must be feeling terrible right now, don't you think? This morning, I noticed how out of it he seemed. He probably didn't sleep a wink last night after hearing the news about his father's death. And now he's still forcing himself to negotiate with that old woman... I just hope he doesn't push himself too hard."

"First the Fourth Hokage, and now all the embassy shinobi—they died at the hands of Sunagakure! We absolutely can't let this slide!"

"Exactly! Shikaku-senpai is too calm and collected. It's just the Land of Wind—are we supposed to be scared of them?"

Hearing this, several shinobi nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, in the embassy, Chiyo stood by the window, watching the group of shinobi leave as their whispered conversations faded into the distance. She found herself replaying Shikaku's words in her mind, her face betraying a rare struggle.

---

Walking through the Nara clan compound, Shikaku carried with him an oppressive aura, his presence heavy enough to silence even whispers around him.

"Shikaku-sama looks so drained…"

"Well, his father just… passed away. Sigh."

"Damn those Sunagakure shinobi!"

Returning home, Shikaku stepped through the door, only to see his father leisurely eating a meal. His eyebrow twitched.

"You certainly seem relaxed. Meanwhile, I've been so busy I can't even eat."

Shikaku's father glanced at him, then nonchalantly polished off the remaining food in his bowl. Setting the bowl down, he dismissed the attendant before turning to Shikaku.

"I've told you before, don't come in while I'm eating. One look at that face of yours, and I lose my appetite. Still feeling the effects of the medicine?"

Shikaku sighed deeply. "Not yet. I may have overdone it with the dosage yesterday."

In his determination to perfectly execute his role during the negotiations with Chiyo, Shikaku had resorted to some extreme measures. Last night, after receiving the news about the embassy, he deliberately consumed a potent laxative. The resulting series of bathroom trips, coupled with a sleepless night, left him in the ideal state of exhaustion and frailty needed to sell his grief.

"One minute on stage, ten years off stage."

Shikaku didn't consider himself a particularly good actor, so he had to rely on "external aids" to deliver a convincing performance.

"You've outdone yourself, I'll admit," his father remarked, glancing at him with a mixture of amusement and concern. "But next time, skip the laxatives. Just use genjutsu instead."

"That'd be too risky. It's easier for someone to spot anomalies with genjutsu," Shikaku replied, settling onto a floor cushion. "I couldn't afford any slip-ups against an elder like Chiyo."

"She's not as sharp as you think," his father countered with a small shake of his head. "You're being overly cautious. After all, she didn't even notice the changes happening around her closest kin."

"That's intel you gathered from Sunagakure?"

"Precisely. If our assumptions are correct, the events that led to the Third Shinobi World War—the death of the Third Kazekage—were directly tied to her grandson."

Shikaku's father gave a brief nod but refrained from delving further into the topic. Instead, he shifted his focus. "Now, with you playing the grieving son, Chiyo might be reluctant to provoke you further. She's likely worried you'll pressure Tsunade-sama to launch an all-out attack on Sunagakure."

"She's been sold out by her own people. With Ebizō dead, her grandson a defector, and Sunagakure in ruins, how much love for the village could she possibly have left?"

Shikaku's tone was calm, almost indifferent. "Talking about your 'death' was simply a tool to sway her. She's grieving her brother's loss, and I'm grieving my father's. Elderly people tend to get sentimental. A shared sense of loss can nudge her decisions in our favor."

"Can you stop casually talking about me being dead?" Shikaku's father sighed. Pouring himself a cup of tea, he offered another to his son.

"So, has Tsunade-sama made her decision yet?"

"Yes," Shikaku confirmed, taking the tea. "Troops are already being assembled. If the upcoming negotiations fail to produce the desired outcome, the Land of Fire will go to war… and exact vengeance!"

With the entire embassy wiped out, Konoha held the moral high ground. The shinobi under Tsunade's command were simmering with righteous anger. Not avenging the embassy's victims would be unthinkable.

However, before they officially made their move, it was critical to go through the motions of being a "responsible ally."

If Konoha launched an invasion immediately after the attack, it would come across as opportunistic and predatory. Though Tsunade now firmly held her position as daimyō, the fact that she had risen to power through a coup necessitated careful management of public perception.

By prioritizing the retrieval of their dead and spreading the narrative of Sunagakure's betrayal, Konoha could dominate the court of public opinion.

Moreover, this approach had other strategic advantages.

While Shikaku silently contemplated, his father spoke again, his tone light. "Well, I'll leave the rest to you. My role is limited to offering minor bits of intelligence."

The elder Nara didn't seem surprised by the situation—they had anticipated this outcome. Koharu's decision during the embassy crisis had given Konoha an uncontested advantage, ensuring the Land of Fire maintained the upper hand.

With the Land of Wind's rich mineral resources essential for military development, it was only logical for the Land of Fire to seize this opportunity.

Hearing his father's self-effacing comment, Shikaku sipped his tea and shook his head.

"Without your efforts, none of this would've gone so smoothly. The Land of Wind has suffered devastating losses. This is our best chance..."

Trailing off, his eyes narrowed slightly as he pondered something. "By the way, have we identified the attackers?"

"The one responsible for the attack on the Kazekage's office used Scorch Release. Most likely, it was Scorch Release Pakura. As for the Uchiha… I'm not certain. He wore a tiger-striped mask and displayed a single Mangekyō Sharingan."

"A single Mangekyō Sharingan?"

Shikaku's expression darkened as Kakashi's face flashed in his mind. He opened his mouth to say more but froze, his body tensing.

Moments later, his face turned ghostly white as a familiar, unwelcome sensation overtook him. In a blur, he vanished from the room.

"How is the laxative still working?!"

Watching his son's hurried exit, the elder Nara chuckled, shaking his head as he refilled his tea.

---

"Up ahead is the Land of Wind's forward military outpost. You'll need to choose one representative to accompany me inside," Chiyo said curtly.

Her gaze swept over the group of Konoha shinobi following behind her.

After much deliberation, she had finally agreed to Konoha's request to allow some personnel into Sunagakure to recover their dead.

While she knew Shikaku's intentions likely went far beyond this stated goal, the request itself was reasonable. Refusing it outright would only further strain relations between their nations.

For now, Chiyo held out hope that the situation could still be resolved diplomatically, though her expectations weren't high.

The Konoha shinobi exchanged glances before one nondescript figure stepped forward. Offering a respectful bow to Chiyo, the selected representative fell in step beside her as they approached the military outpost.

(End of Chapter)