CH_129

Even with the ceasefire agreements in place, Konoha had stationed far more border guards on the fronts facing Suna and Iwa than during peacetime.

And on top of that, Kumo and Kiri had only withdrawn their main forces—they still had small units stationed not far outside the Land of Fire's borders!

Konoha was on high alert against both.

The Kiri-nin were relatively restrained, since Madara Uchiha's objective was only to threaten Konoha—so that Obito Uchiha could smoothly take full control of the "Bloody Mist Village."

But even so, the two sides often clashed, and casualties were inevitable.

The eight-year-old genius, Uchiha Shisui, was around this time beginning to make a name for himself. Over the next three years, he would earn the title "Shisui of the Body Flicker" from countless Kiri-nin.

The Kumo-nin, on the other hand, were mostly hot-headed and aggressive—quick to pick a fight. Small-scale skirmishes between Konoha and Kumo had almost never ceased.

Around this time, many Hyūga branch-family members were putting their skills to use there, laying the groundwork for Kumo's later coveting of the Hyūga main family's Byakugan.

But neither side wanted to blindly escalate small clashes into full-scale war, so they tacitly "maintained" this state of affairs.

If Natchi were lucky, being sent to the northwestern border wouldn't be too bad…

Kakashi was probably operating around the border where the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth met. Now do you understand why almost all the promising young shinobi of the Hokage faction thrived?

If Tōji couldn't secure a position in Konoha's medical corps soon, he'd most likely be sent to the border too—and the northeastern border was still a strong possibility.

If… Kokubō Kenji hadn't returned at such a convenient time, Tōji and Natchi would probably have been selected together for a Konoha village guard squad…

If Tōji applied on his own to join the village guard squad, his parents and the rest of the clan would definitely oppose it. Even if he got in, they'd use moral pressure to force him to "voluntarily" resign.

But if Tōji had been officially invited by Konoha to take a position in front of tens of thousands of spectators at the arena, the Kazamatsuri clan would have to respect Konoha's authority and couldn't force him to quit.

That was the difference.

『If my family and the clan are really that set on making me "revive the clan," then I'll have to do something big…』 Tōji lay on his bed, hands behind his head, staring at the blank ceiling.

『Maybe I should just bet with the ceiling—that no one in the clan will let me have my way!』 Tōji laughed bitterly to himself.

After all the groundwork and preparation, he was still stuck on one last hurdle.

Right now, Tōji hadn't yet achieved anything that could convince his family or the clan.

But he was running out of time.

If he were sent to the Kumo border, he'd be facing a tough battle in a year and a half—tougher than the Kannabi campaign!

And if he were sent to the Kiri border, every day would be uncertain—he could wake up with his head separated from his body and never even know what hit him.

Having thought through his next "plan," Tōji opened his bedroom door…

"Tōji—your mother and I talked it over." His father was already standing outside his door, waiting.

"We think maybe you should reconsider. It's rare for the clan to produce someone suited to be a shinobi, and you…" His father was hesitating.

He knew he was putting his son in a difficult position.

His mother came over too. "Tōji—everyone in the clan has such high hopes for you… Mom's not saying being a medical-nin is bad, it's just…"