Chapter 27: Are You Willing to Sacrifice Yourself for Konoha?

January 25th

It had already been four days since Naruto arrived at the front lines.

A few days earlier...

Jiraiya had quietly withheld the Third Hokage’s order.

Despite fighting battle after battle...

Konoha had neither suffered another crushing defeat nor achieved any meaningful victory.

Now...

A second order had arrived from the Third Hokage.

This time...

It explicitly demanded that the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki be deployed to the battlefield.

The order was delivered to Konoha’s frontline strategist—

Nara Shikaku.

Frontline Command Headquarters

"I oppose sending Naruto into battle."

After reading Hiruzen’s latest order...

Jiraiya, Hiashi Hyūga, Nara Shikaku, and Shisui Uchiha argued for hours.

In the end...

They decided to settle the matter with a vote.

Jiraiya spoke first.

He firmly opposed deploying Naruto.

Yet...

As he looked at the three people across from him...

None of them immediately voiced their support.

Instead...

Each of them wore a faint expression of guilt.

Jiraiya fell silent.

Shikaku glanced at Hiashi.

Then at Shisui.

Seeing that neither intended to speak first...

He sighed inwardly before breaking the silence.

"Jiraiya..."

"On principle, I don’t agree either."

"But you know Konoha’s financial situation."

"We simply can’t afford a prolonged war."

"And the other nations have already seen our weakness."

"We need a victory."

"A decisive one."

"Only then can we reverse the current situation..."

"And change how the other villages see us."

Shikaku didn’t want to send a three-year-old child into battle.

No one did.

But...

Konoha truly was in decline.

And war...

Couldn’t be decided by personal feelings alone.

Silence filled the room.

Jiraiya said nothing.

"...I’m sorry."

Hiashi finally spoke.

He offered no grand speeches.

No lofty ideals.

Just a quiet apology.

Jiraiya nodded.

He understood.

Hiashi’s own daughter had already been brought here.

If Konoha lost...

She would be handed over to Kumogakure.

No one wanted victory more desperately than the Hyūga Clan.

Sending the Jinchūriki into battle couldn’t guarantee success...

But at least...

It offered hope.

Seeing the veterans state their positions one after another...

Shisui finally spoke.

"I abstain."

Voting against the proposal...

Would mean openly opposing Konoha’s leadership.

Given the suspicion already hanging over the Uchiha Clan...

Shisui couldn’t afford that.

Voting in favor...

Would risk offending Jiraiya.

Since the vote was already two to one...

As long as he didn’t oppose the decision...

The outcome wouldn’t change.

So why make himself a target?

An abstention allowed him to appear both cautious and politically astute.

Shisui had only been invited because his Mangekyō Sharingan was the key to controlling the Nine-Tails.

Although powerful...

His status and seniority were nowhere near that of the three veterans before him.

He had no intention of becoming the sacrificial lamb.

Jiraiya gave him a slight nod.

He understood the young Uchiha’s difficult position.

Even choosing to abstain carried political risk.

Besides...

Jiraiya had only hoped to gain Shikaku’s support.

If the vote had become two to two...

As commander-in-chief, he could have overruled the proposal himself.

Instead...

Shikaku had been the first to support it.

Silence settled over the room once more.

Finally...

Shikaku spoke again.

"How about this?"

"We ask Naruto."

"If he’s willing..."

"We’ll carry out the Hokage’s orders."

"If he refuses..."

"As long as you’re still commander..."

"We’ll stand with you and bear the Hokage’s anger together."

He turned toward Hiashi and Shisui.

"Any objections?"

"I’m fine with that."

"No problem."

Both of them agreed.

After a long pause...

Jiraiya slowly nodded.

He understood what Shikaku meant.

As long as he remained commander...

He could protect Naruto.

He could even veto the order outright.

But...

If the war continued to stagnate...

Sooner or later, he would be replaced.

When that day came...

Whether Naruto fought or not would no longer be his decision.

A short while later...

Naruto was brought into headquarters while playing with Hinata.

Shikaku walked over.

He crouched down in front of him.

Gently rubbed his head.

Then asked,

"Naruto..."

"Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for Konoha?"

That wording had been Jiraiya’s suggestion.

The way a question was asked mattered.

Different phrasing naturally led people toward different answers.

This question...

Was meant to make Naruto fully understand the consequences.

Going into battle...

Didn’t necessarily mean death.

But Jiraiya hoped the boy would choose to back down.

Naruto hesitated.

"...Do I have to die?"

"There’s a very high chance."

"But not necessarily."

Shikaku answered honestly.

Naruto visibly relaxed.

Hope filled his blue eyes.

"If I survive..."

"Will the villagers finally accept me?"

Shikaku sighed inwardly.

"...They will."

Naruto immediately nodded.

"Then I will."

"I want the village to acknowledge me."

His little face was filled with determination.

Mixed with innocent hope.

"What a good boy..."

Shikaku gently ruffled his hair once more.

His heart felt unbearably heavy.

But...

This was war.

And Konoha had truly reached its limit.

Jiraiya’s expression darkened.

Guilt weighed heavily on his heart.

On one side...

Minato’s son.

On the other...

The village he had devoted his life to protecting.

He couldn’t abandon either.

In the end...

He could only blame himself.

He hadn’t been able to turn the tide of the war.

Meanwhile...

Naruto lowered his head.

If I said no...

Would you really stop sending me?

Stop pretending.

The moment I refused...

Shisui would probably use Kotoamatsukami on me.

Until he possessed a way to counter that technique...

Naruto didn’t dare refuse.

It was simply too terrifying.

He couldn’t afford to take that risk.

Late That Night

Under Jiraiya’s command...

Konoha launched a surprise offensive.

"Lord Raikage!"

"Lord Killer B!"

"Be careful!"

"Konoha must be planning something!"

After so many days of fighting...

Konoha had never launched the first attack before.

A Hidden Cloud shinobi immediately sensed something was wrong.

The Fourth Raikage waved him off dismissively.

"It doesn’t matter."

"Jiraiya and that Uchiha brat are both on the front lines."

"The rest aren’t worth worrying about."

He then turned to Killer B.

"Bee."

"You keep Jiraiya occupied."

"I’ll personally kill that Uchiha brat."

"Yo~ Yo~!"

"We’ll finish him tonight!"

"Yeah!"

Smack!

Seeing Killer B strike another ridiculous rap pose...

The Raikage smacked him across the back of the head.

"Bee!"

"Take this seriously!"

Killer B instantly snapped to attention.

"Yes, Big Brother!"

"Good."

"Move out!"

Meanwhile...

Before Konoha’s frontal assault even began...

The real Shisui had already infiltrated the outskirts of Kumogakure’s encampment.

Naruto rested quietly in his arms.

Following close behind them...

Was an elite strike team.

Among them...

Was Tokuma Hyūga.

Activating his Byakugan...

Tokuma carefully surveyed the enemy camp.

"The Raikage and Killer B have already left."

Shisui nodded.

"Keep watching."

"Wait for the signal from the front."

The Kumogakure encampment lay more than ten kilometers from the battlefield.

Shisui waited patiently.

He was waiting...

For Jiraiya to engage the Fourth Raikage and Killer B.

Only after that signal arrived...

Would the true operation begin.