Naruto: I am the Hokage

In the meeting room.

"What?" Utatane Koharu shot up, her face filled with astonishment. Beside her, Mitokado Homura sighed softly. "Koharu, let it go. Kyohiko did nothing wrong, and Danzo's actions have long since deviated from our original ideals."

"But…" Koharu's expression turned grim. After all, they were once classmates, comrades-in-arms, and colleagues, yet they had reached such a point.

Sarutobi Hiruzen smoked his pipe, saying nothing. He had long been mentally prepared. Hearing the news, he only felt a slight sense of emotion but wouldn't get angry or anxious with Tsunade because of it. However, Utatane Koharu clearly lacked his composure and awareness.

Tsunade glanced at her faintly. "Everyone goes through this kind of thing. Everyone has to face it, not just you…" She paused for a moment, then said, "Weren't we once comrades with Hiruko? But betraying the village is betrayal. Danzo going to the capital could be explained as a difference in ideals, but…"

She threw over a second intelligence report. "This, how do you explain this?"

"What explanation? Danzo still… during the last war…" Koharu took it and was immediately at a loss for words.

What Tsunade had thrown over was—the Third Raikage and his son A had invaded the Land of Fire. Currently, the Third Raikage had left, and A had been captured by Konoha's Jonin, Ryoho Kyohiko and Namikaze Minato.

A had been captured! This news was no less than a clap of thunder. Koharu looked at Tsunade in shock, then slumped back into her seat, muttering to herself, "It shouldn't be, how could he… be so foolish!"

Danzo had actually colluded with an external enemy! Regardless of Danzo's purpose, this step was enough to define him—he had committed treason! Treason was more serious than betraying the village. Even the noble faction would quickly draw a clear line with him. As long as the news spread, the Land of Fire's Guardian Shinobi would immediately be cast aside like a worn-out shoe. The methods of the noble faction… she knew them all too well! Therefore, Danzo had essentially thrown what he himself had built directly into a fiery pit. She fell silent, with no more words.

"Tsunade, is this news true?"

"Absolutely true. Kyohiko sent it over. In addition, Shusaku's side has already gone to confirm it. Danzo did indeed flee to the north, and he caused chaos in the capital before he left," Tsunade said.

Mitokado Homura said, "It's a foregone conclusion that the nobles will cut ties with Danzo. Regarding the Guardian Shinobi, should we proceed with the plan Kyohiko previously agreed upon with the Daimyo?" Women were more emotional. In this respect, Mitokado Homura was doing better than Utatane Koharu; he immediately understood what the top priority was. The ninja force in the capital! How should the Guardian Shinobi be handled?

Sarutobi Hiruzen also looked at Tsunade, waiting for her answer.

Tsunade said, "The plan Kyohiko and Daimyo-sama agreed upon, we will definitely implement it. But as Kyohiko mentioned before, no matter what, the Guardian Shinobi must be trained and sent out by our Konoha."

"I agree." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. Although it was just a nominal title, it must be held in Konoha's hands, otherwise, it would be exploited by others like this time.

"In addition, we need to ease the atmosphere with the nobles. We can't let things get too tense, but they can't get away with paying nothing either." Tsunade looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen. There was no one more suitable for this matter than Hiruzen. In fact, the main purpose of holding this meeting was to have Hiruzen step forward to negotiate for benefits with the noble faction and Daimyo-sama.

Hiruzen thought for a moment. "Won't that be too harsh?"

"No!" Tsunade's tone was firm. "Although we won't settle scores with them for their previous actions, it doesn't mean they don't have to pay at all. They still have to bleed where they must. And, we are training Guardian Shinobi for Daimyo-sama and the capital. Don't they benefit from it?"

Hiruzen thought for a moment. "There is no precedent for this, and as for the Guardian Shinobi… I still hold a wait-and-see attitude on whether they should be maintained."

"Sensei, I am the Hokage now, not you!" Tsunade stood up, a half-smile on her face. "Besides, you're in a semi-retired state now. You probably don't even know our plan, so how would you know it won't work?"

"What plan do you have?" Hiruzen asked seriously.

Tsunade said, "The people are indeed chosen by Daimyo-sama and the others, but how to teach them, that's our business." She smiled. "The Will of Fire shouldn't just be our Konoha's own spiritual will. That's too narrow. The entire Land of Fire should understand it."

"The Will of Fire…" Hiruzen opened his mouth, but ultimately closed it without speaking. Of course, he believed in the Will of Fire. But he believed in his own set of beliefs. As for Tsunade's ideas, Hiruzen still felt they were too bold and risky. But as Tsunade had said, she was the Hokage now, not Sarutobi Hiruzen. To object further would be impolite.

---

At the Ninja Academy, Obito hesitated for a long time before finally stepping forward. "Shisui!"

"Hmm?" Shisui turned to see Obito. He said with some surprise, "Obito-san, what's the matter?" Obito's relationship with him was quite delicate. He could feel that Obito urgently needed to prove himself, while Shisui didn't care about these things, so he had been quietly holding back his strength, both openly and secretly. He hadn't used many techniques in the ninjutsu class. But even so, his relationship with Obito had not improved, remaining in a state of being neither close nor distant. To this… Shisui could only explain it as his own age being too young. The age gap ultimately prevented the two of them from becoming partners or friends.

He hadn't expected Obito to actively seek him out today, and his previous dejected state was swept away, his whole temperament somewhat different. He was secretly surprised.

"I have a question about a sealing jutsu that I don't quite understand, and I wanted to ask you for help…" Obito blushed, scratching his hair awkwardly, then lowered his head. "My foundation in sealing jutsu is too poor, and my learning ability in terms of knowledge is very poor, so…"

Shisui said, "It's alright! I don't know much about sealing jutsu either. We can study and improve together."

After hearing this, Obito was first touched, then overjoyed. "Shisui, you're too kind!"

"Yes! Thank you. What I wanted to ask about is a, uh, probably a very simple technique, but I can never learn it…" Obito said, somewhat ashamed. According to his secret investigation, the so-called unsealing hand sign was only C-rank difficulty, a ninjutsu difficulty that even a Genin could learn. But sealing jutsu was too difficult!

After listening, Shisui thought for a moment. "This technique, ah, it is indeed a relatively basic unsealing jutsu. The main difficulty is memorizing things, and remembering how to combine and use them…"

"Yes, yes!" Obito nodded repeatedly.

Shisui said, "In terms of chakra application, Obito-san, have you awakened the Sharingan?"

"I have. What's wrong?" Obito was puzzled.

Shisui said, "Then it's simple. Come with me!" He then disappeared in a body flicker.

Obito was stunned for a few seconds, then activated his Sharingan and saw that Shisui had gone towards the school gate. Such a fast Body Flicker Technique! He was secretly shocked—compared to Shisui, his level back then was far behind! As expected of Shisui. He sighed inwardly. It was precisely the gap between them that made Obito not know how to get close—to him, Shisui was like the clouds, the sun, while he was like a person running and chasing on the ground, never able to catch up. The gap between a genius and an ordinary person… Obito sighed, then quickly chased after him, all the way to a riverbank outside the school, where Shisui finally stopped.

Then, Shisui turned around and smiled. "There are too many people and prying eyes at school. This is our clan's secret technique; it's not good to let them see."

"Mm-hmm." Obito nodded repeatedly.

Shisui took out a sealing scroll, then took out another item. "Anyone who has used the Sharingan knows that it can see through others' chakra, so… even if you don't know the principle of the ninjutsu, you can first memorize the opponent's chakra application trajectory, remember its usage, and then fit the knowledge points into it. This is especially effective for sealing and unsealing jutsu." As he spoke, he formed hand seals. In the blink of an eye, the seals were completed, and the chakra surged, forming characters that spread from Shisui's palm to the surroundings. Finally—the sealing scroll was activated, and the item beside it was directly sealed inside.

"Did you see clearly?" Shisui asked patiently.

Obito nodded repeatedly. "I saw clearly!" He was extremely excited. So… the Sharingan can be used like this!

Shisui nodded. "Our clan's unsealing hand sign is a bit different from a normal unsealing jutsu. Look carefully." He then formed hand seals. Poof! Chakra spread out. The unsealing was complete.

"That's amazing! So it can be done like this! Thank you, Shisui!" Obito was extremely excited. This was the first time he knew that the Sharingan could be used in this way!

Shisui smiled shyly. "It's nothing. This kind of technique can't be shown in public. I only researched it to save time."

"Mm-hmm, thanks!" Obito carefully recalled and pondered, then tried to fit it in as Shisui had said, and indeed found that as long as he remembered the chakra usage, he could achieve it by just fitting in the knowledge points later. Although he still couldn't remember it… he could bring a book with him!

Shisui nodded lightly. "It's nothing. We're both from the Uchiha clan, and we both have pursuits different from others. It's only right that we help each other."

"That's right!" Obito deeply agreed. At this moment, he felt as if only Shisui in the entire Uchiha clan understood him, and he was greatly moved. "Shisui, thank you so much!" After speaking, Obito ran off.

After running towards home for a while, he suddenly felt something wasn't right. Shisui… is just over five years old, right? How does he know so many ways to use the Sharingan? I've only just awakened mine! Hmm? Could it be? Obito stopped in his tracks, his eyes and mouth wide open. "I actually thought he was the same type of person as me?"

---

In Konoha, at the Anbu base. With a ripple of space and chakra, a little girl appeared in a dark room. She looked around. "Is this Konoha?"

"Don't touch anything here." A hoarse voice sounded out, and then a cold face emerged from the darkness, wearing blood-stained gloves. However, upon noticing it was a little girl, he quietly put away the gloves and threw them into the trash can. "Wait here," Orochimaru said faintly.

Not long after, two figures appeared beside the girl. One was naturally Kyohiko. The other… was packed in a wooden barrel, surrounded by various sealing talismans.

"Heh, a rare guest!" Orochimaru looked at the wooden barrel, a slight smile on his face. Although he couldn't see what was inside the barrel, he already knew the other's identity from his presence. The Cloud Village's Jonin, A! Or one could say—the next generation's Raikage, the future successor of the Cloud Village. In the current Cloud Village, no one was more suitable than A. Of course, that was before. After being a "guest" in Konoha, it would definitely affect A's reputation in the village, but it probably wouldn't have too much of an impact.

"Kyohiko-kun, you guys… I understand." Orochimaru chuckled lightly. Without needing Kyohiko's reminder, he already understood what was going on. So Danzo contacted the Cloud Village! He thought for a moment and understood Danzo's thinking, and also roughly guessed why the Cloud Village had come all this way. Danzo's head held too many secrets!

"Mm, I'll take him to be locked up first. You help take care of her. I have to take her to her mother later."

"Wait…" Orochimaru was stunned for a moment. But the next second, Kyohiko had already left with the wooden barrel. He was stunned, then looked at the little girl who was only five or six years old beside him, and fell into deep thought. Babysitting? Me? He recalled that the last time he had babysat was a long, long time ago. Back then… Nawaki was still alive.

Orochimaru was silent for a few seconds, then didn't insist. He lowered his head and said softly, "It smells too much of blood here. Let's go outside."

"Yes, sir!" Guren's face was obedient. She was scared, but didn't dare to show it. However… looking around, she found that the surroundings were not people, but monkeys or small animals. There was even a ninja in the cave helping to feed them. This seems to be a laboratory, she thought.

Being led out of the laboratory, Guren looked around and realized she had come to a vast forest. "Is this Konoha?"

"No, this is the forest outside of Konoha," Orochimaru said in a low voice.

Guren understood and nodded lightly. "Is my mom really in Konoha?"

"Yes," Orochimaru replied.

Guren didn't dare to ask anymore. And knowing that her mother was really still alive, she was already relieved. As for her father… she knew in her heart that her father was already dead.

A few minutes passed. Kyohiko suddenly appeared, and beside him was a woman, Mami. Seeing Guren, her eyes immediately became moist, and she knelt down. "Guren!"

"Mom, Mom?" Guren looked up, hesitated for a moment, but after being hugged, her memories seemed to surge up, and her cries became more firm. "Mom!"

The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried bitterly. Seeing this scene, Orochimaru silently walked away. Kyohiko followed behind. "This kind of reunion is really gratifying."

"A reunion after a war is indeed worthy of joy, but every war, there are always many people who don't come back," Orochimaru said in a low voice.

"Heh, human life is too fragile. Any fluctuation in any country or force will take away many lives, directly or indirectly… there's no difference!"