Naruto: I am the Hokage

Morning Peacock. Might Dai had used it many times, but never with such exhilarating satisfaction. After landing, he even kicked the opponent's corpse.

"Damned thing!"

Might Dai took a breath, then deactivated the Eight Gates state in his body. Behind him, Gekko Shusaku, holding a sword and in his transparent state, was stunned and incredulous. Although he knew about the Eight Gates and had heard of the power of this forbidden technique, hearing about it and witnessing it firsthand were two completely different things. The scene before him was truly too shocking.

Might Dai muttered a few words, then scratched his head, a little puzzled—

"Huh! When coming over with the Flying Thunder God Formation, isn't there usually a landing point marker?"

Although he didn't know the specific principle of the Flying Thunder God Formation, he vaguely remembered that the teleportation had a marker that usually needed to be retrieved. He then began to look around.

"Jonin Dai, what are you looking for?" Gekko Shusaku appeared.

Might Dai was startled and sent a flying kick—this was purely a case of his body reacting faster than his brain. At the last moment, he finally held back his strength.

"Ahem, sorry!"

"It's nothing. I'm relieved to see you're still alive and kicking," Gekko Shusaku let out a breath. To use such a powerful forbidden technique and be completely fine afterwards… truly amazing!

"It's nothing. Just opening the sixth gate, the damage isn't actually that great. I just get a little tired, but I'm used to it," Might Dai chuckled. Then, he reached out to pick up the corpse.

Gekko Shusaku immediately stopped him. "No need for such trouble!" He then took out a scroll and sealed it directly. By now, he roughly understood why such a powerful combatant was the way he was. Although his taijutsu was powerful, and he was terrifyingly versatile after opening the Eight Gates, Might Dai was indeed severely lacking in various other aspects. Basically, he could never be a team-leading Jonin for regular missions, though some S-rank missions might have him participate. But in times of peace, S-rank missions were usually rare.

However, having such an existence in the village, who also loved to train and exercise, really gave one a great sense of security.

---

"He's still breathing. Don't worry, Inoichi, check him." Tsunade held Jinin Akebino, her anger not yet subsided, but still provided some medical support. Then, she walked towards the boy standing dazedly in front of the wooden house.

Although the fire had been extinguished, there was no doubt that the body inside had been burned beyond recognition. They couldn't even find any intact parts. The exploding tags and Water Style ninjutsu had scattered the body, leaving only a rough outline. Tsunade frowned, then looked at Obito beside her. The family here, she vaguely remembered, was an elderly woman. There shouldn't be any direct relationship between her and Obito, right? How did the two of them get together? And it seemed that Obito was very sad after her death.

"Obito…" Tsunade had just uttered two words when she saw Obito turn his head to look over, the redness in his eyes gradually fading. Two tomoe.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Hokage-sama." Obito wiped away his tears. He looked at the house, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Hokage-sama, why is there war in the world?"

"This…" Tsunade was silent. This question was really difficult for her to answer. Peace, war. This was an age-old problem in the shinobi world, and to this day, no one had been able to find the answer.

After pondering for a long time, she looked at the wooden house and said, "Between countries, territories border each other. Due to conflicts of interest and unsatisfied desires, there will always be many, many problems."

She knew a little about this child, Obito. Not smart. His academic performance was very poor. Before, when there were still cultural classes, he was basically the stable dead-last in the class. But since the model changed, the weight of cultural classes was reduced, and the proportion of elective courses such as ninjutsu and taijutsu was increased, Obito's grades had been gradually improving. Although he still couldn't be said to be excellent in many areas, at least his ninjutsu was worthy of recognition. Of course, what Tsunade liked most was Obito's kindness.

So. "When there are too many problems that can't be solved through dialogue and communication, war will occur…"

"Is there no way to eliminate war and achieve complete peace?" Obito's eyes were filled with confusion.

After hearing this, Tsunade couldn't help but smile. "Do you know my grandfather?"

"Grandfather… Shodaime-sama?" Obito's memory for knowledge wasn't very good, but he still remembered the relationship between Tsunade and Senju Hashirama. And he also knew that Senju Hashirama had maintained peace in the shinobi world for more than a decade! Mentioning the First Hokage, his face was filled with admiration.

Tsunade sighed. "Even my grandfather only maintained peace for that period of time. After he passed away, the shinobi world quickly fell into chaos, and after that came the First Great Ninja War…"

Obito didn't know about these things. Hearing them, he was greatly shocked, and at the same time felt an indescribable sadness and despair. He was not desperate because the "old woman" couldn't be revived. As the old woman had said, birth, old age, sickness, and death were the most helpless yet natural things in the world. She was already old and had come to terms with it herself. What made him desperate was—even Senju Hashirama couldn't maintain complete peace in the shinobi world. What could he, a ninja with no outstanding talent, do?

Obito stared at the house before him and fell silent. Peace. It's so difficult! He helped make a grave, then left, no longer lingering in this place. Obito felt—he never wanted to come back to this place again.

---

After everyone had left, a person emerged from the ground, a black shadow twisting behind him and merging with him.

"How cruel!"

"If it were a heartless person, they wouldn't care about these things. But this Uchiha will care a lot." Black Zetsu chuckled. The first step of the plan was complete! Awakening his eyes directly to two tomoe. Too perfect! Even Uchiha Madara was only at this level back then, and perhaps not even as good as Obito. Madara's strength… lay in his own powerful abilities. The Sharingan, for Madara, was just a tool to reach the top, not a crutch. Obito was different. This guy's talent was average, but he was emotional, with extreme mood swings…

"His eyes might be more useful than Madara's!" Perhaps this guy is my most perfect work. Black Zetsu thought to himself.

White Zetsu didn't know his thoughts. After sighing, he submerged into the ground and walked away, communicating while underground.

"So what should we do next? Kill his other grandmother?"

"How can you be so cruel?" Black Zetsu smiled faintly. "I wonder if the current Uchiha still remember a person named Uchiha Madara?"

---

The next morning. In the Uchiha clan's territory, Obito found Shisui and hurriedly went up to ask a question.

"Senju Hashirama? What are you asking about him for?" Shisui looked at Obito strangely. This clan brother of his… was acting weird.

"It's nothing, I just want to know more about him. My previous understanding of him wasn't very deep. How strong was he really?" Obito asked. His understanding of Senju Hashirama was limited to impressions like "invincible" and "God of Shinobi," and nothing else.

Shisui thought for a moment. "Do you know Uchiha Madara?"

"Uchiha Madara? I know of him, but not very clearly." Obito shook his head. He only knew… Uchiha Madara was a very strong ninja in the clan, but once, clan members were not allowed to mention him. In recent years, fewer and fewer people knew about him.

Shisui was helpless and had to start from the beginning to educate him. After a round of explanation… Obito understood. Uchiha Madara was very powerful, very great back then. He participated in the construction of the village, and later parted ways due to various conflicts of ideals. But Senju Hashirama was stronger; even Uchiha Madara was no match for him.

"No wonder!" Obito sighed. People like him, and Uchiha Madara… the two had joined forces and cooperated, yet they couldn't achieve peace in the shinobi world. What could he do alone? He was silent for a few seconds, then stood up and said thanks.

Shisui watched him leave, feeling that Obito was a bit strange today. He chased after him.

"Obito, what's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing. I just feel like I've suddenly grown up, but I'm also more confused," Obito sighed. Before, he never considered heavy things like war, peace, or life and death. He would only chase after Rin. But now, the more he knew, the more troubles he had.

Shisui smiled. "Everyone goes through such a stage."

"Huh?" Obito looked down at Shisui, who was a head shorter than him. "You've been through this too?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I?" Shisui nodded, then told Obito a small part of his troubles—basically, only mentioning the conflict and friction between the Uchiha's current situation and the villagers.

Listening, Obito's heart was heavy. The Uchiha are also in crisis? I didn't feel it at all… At this moment, he suddenly felt he had been too arrogant before. Maybe he hadn't grown up yet. Obito glanced at Shisui and sighed heavily. "Compared to you, I feel more like the child."

"Obito-san is also very outstanding."

"Tch! I'm leaving!" Obito waved his hand and quickly ran off. If it were the old him, he would definitely have shown off his newly awakened Sharingan to Shisui, demonstrating that he was indeed a genius, and even more talented than Shisui. But now, he suddenly lost interest. It seemed… that kind of behavior was indeed very childish, not the bearing a proper senior should have. Obito silently left and continued his training. I still need to increase my strength! If he had been strong enough, he wouldn't have had to watch her die yesterday, helpless, and even be captured. If Tsunade hadn't saved him, he might be dead by now, or have had his eyes gouged out. Obito's steps were heavy.

Shisui watched Obito leave, lost in thought. What happened to Obito?

"If only senpai were here, he would definitely know the news," Shisui sighed inwardly. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen Kyohiko at the lake recently, nor had he seen Kakashi in the village. It was clear these people had all gone out on important missions. Is the shinobi world going to fall into chaos again? He couldn't help but worry.

---

In the afternoon, Obito had considered going to talk to Nohara Rin. But he didn't see Rin at all. He returned dejectedly.

At night, as Obito returned to the clan compound, on his way home, he heard people talking.

"Do you know the Naka River?"

"The Naka Shrine?" Obito's ears perked up. He quickly moved to the wall and saw a child and an old man sitting opposite each other on the other side.

"Yes, the Naka River. That's where our Uchiha rose, and it's our ancient clan land. A pity it's abandoned now!" the old man lamented.

"The Naka River…" the child murmured to himself.

The old man nodded. "No matter what, you must remember the Naka River, and the Naka Shrine there. That is our pride, where the legacy of our Uchiha clan is buried!" At the end, his tone was filled with deep pride.

The child nodded. "Grandpa, I will definitely remember!"

"Mm." The old man nodded in satisfaction.

Outside, Obito was stunned for a moment. The Naka River. What kind of place is that, to hide the "legacy" of the Uchiha clan? His steps faltered slightly, then he quickly ran towards home. There was a map at home; he could definitely find the Naka River.

Not long after, Obito found an old map at home. It showed the terrain around Konoha, but it was clear that many places on it were parts that had been expanded to now. However, there was a place on it that he had never seen on Konoha's maps before. The Naka River! The place where the Uchiha rose.

At night, he quietly slipped out of the clan compound and ran towards the Naka River. He ran wildly, got lost, corrected his direction, and ran wildly again. Late at night, he finally arrived at the so-called Naka River and found the Naka Shrine. This so-called "place of rising."

Just as Obito was excited, he heard a noise. He immediately hid. Then, Obito saw one clan elder after another coming out from a certain place. The last one to come out was Uchiha Fugaku. The clan head! He was astonished. The elders and important figures in the clan all know the secret of the Naka Shrine?! Why don't they tell everyone! Obito was both shocked and angry, feeling that these people were hiding secrets and deceiving the clan members, while at the same time becoming more and more curious about the secret inside.

He waited for a long time, until he himself was getting sleepy, before the people over there finally left completely. Obito carefully snuck over. After some fumbling, he found the entrance to the tunnel, and then… finally, he found the stone tablet.

On it were written some obscure characters that he couldn't understand at all. But at this moment, he caught a glimpse of something in a dark corner out of the corner of his eye. In the dirt under the steps, the end of a scroll was faintly visible. Obito dug away the dirt. It really was a scroll! He carefully dug it out and took out the scroll inside.

Opening it, the text on it was ancient, but the signature was someone he hadn't expected—Uchiha Madara! Obito was shocked. This scroll was actually left by Uchiha Madara! He eagerly began to read. Then, Obito's expression changed from joy to surprise. He immediately walked to the stone tablet and tried to open his eyes. In a short while—through his two-tomoe Sharingan, he found that he could actually understand the characters on it.

The secret of the "Mangekyo Sharingan"! It corresponded to what was on the scroll.