Naruto: I am the Hokage

In Konoha, just outside the Hokage's Office, Tsunade had just gotten off work. It wasn't that she was working diligently, but there had been too many things happening in Konoha recently. With Ryoho Kyohiko having just returned from outside, some of the Anbu's matters had piled up on her desk, needing approval. If she didn't work overtime, she would never finish.

As it turned out, just as she stretched, there was a fluctuation of chakra outside. She thought it was that kid Kyohiko and was about to scold him, but to her surprise, when she opened the office door, the one standing outside was… Uchiha Shisui!

"Shisui, why is it you?"

"Hokage-sama, Kyohiko-senpai sent me here." Shisui looked around, then said, "May I come in and report to you alone?"

"Of course." Hearing that it was Kyohiko who had sent him over, Tsunade believed him to some extent. No one in the Uchiha clan had access to the Flying Raijin technique; only Kyohiko, Namikaze Minato, and a small number of Anbu members had mastered the method of teleportation. She let Shisui in, then closed the door and activated the barrier. "Speak. No one else will hear," Tsunade said seriously.

Shisui hesitated for a moment. "Just now, Uchiha Obito left the village. I'm not sure of his situation, I only know he said he was going to find a path to peace." In the end, he didn't lie. However, as for whether it was defection… Shisui didn't define it, but left the decision to Tsunade.

"A path to peace?" Tsunade was truly stunned for a moment. Obito, a child who hadn't even graduated, what kind of path to peace could he pursue? Has he gone mad? Her first reaction was the same as Shisui's, but considering Shisui was right in front of her, she didn't say anything too harsh, instead using more tactful words…

"What do you think was Obito's mental state at the time?"

"Not very good. Senpai once reminded me that the Uchiha clan's awakening of their eyes requires great emotional stimulation, and during the process of emotional stimulation, it may be accompanied by a shift in personality…" Shisui quickly explained the situation.

Although Tsunade hadn't studied the field of psychology for a long time, she knew that extreme emotional stimulation could leave behind psychological illnesses. Moreover, the person suffering from such a psychological illness would find it difficult to notice it themselves, and might even think what they were doing was right. Seeking peace because of suffering a shock? But where is Obito going? She frowned, but a plan quickly formed in her mind. She was about to press the alarm bell, but not long after—outside the room, a Flying Raijin fluctuation appeared.

"No need to chase." Kyohiko pushed the door open, his expression grave. Seeing his expression, Tsunade's heart skipped a beat. With Kyohiko's abilities, catching an Obito should have been a piece of cake. This expression of his could only mean one thing. Obito wasn't caught!

"Even you couldn't catch up?"

"To be precise, I couldn't sense his position. I couldn't determine what means he used to leave. Even the Byakugan couldn't observe his method of departure through his chakra," Kyohiko replied. He pondered for a moment. "The only thing that can be confirmed is that from before Obito awakened his eyes, to his awakening and leaving the village, someone has been manipulating things from behind the scenes."

A flash of killing intent unconsciously appeared on Tsunade's face. Someone who knows enough about the Uchiha's method of awakening their eyes, knows enough about Obito, and can make a move in Konoha without being noticed… She found it hard to move her suspicion away from the Uchiha clan. The biggest suspect was naturally Uchiha Fugaku. And she knew that the Uchiha had been restless in recent years.

Kyohiko shook his head. "We can't be so arbitrary. Shisui, it's not appropriate for you to get involved in this matter. But regarding Obito, I am very grateful that you told me immediately."

"I, it's nothing." Shisui hesitated for a moment. "Hokage-sama, Senpai, I don't think it could have been Fugaku-sama!"

Tsunade was a little surprised and couldn't help but look up at Kyohiko. This child… is very smart! A bit like the Kyohiko of the past. No wonder Kyohiko had such a close relationship with him; it turned out he had taken a liking to this promising Uchiha seedling. She smiled. "You know I was suspecting Fugaku?"

"Fugaku-sama is indeed the primary suspect, but he has no reason. And he doesn't pay any attention to Obito-san at all. He might not even know that Obito-san has awakened his eyes," Shisui replied.

Tsunade shook her head. "These things can be faked, Shisui. With just this, you haven't convinced me." Kyohiko stood by with a smile, saying nothing.

Shisui's brain worked rapidly, using his limited knowledge and experience to think of anything that could prove his words. Only he had had deep contact with both sides. Therefore, Shisui understood very well that for the Uchiha clan, his words were very crucial! After racking his brains, he immediately thought of something.

"That's right! Before I used the amber from Senpai, I felt a strange power. I couldn't sense it, but my intuition at the time told me I should use the Amber Jutsu!" Shisui said immediately.

Tsunade and Kyohiko exchanged a look. In fact, her suspicion of Fugaku was only for a moment, and she had quickly dismissed it. The reason was simple. In her impression, Fugaku didn't have that kind of vision or ability, unless Fugaku had mastered a stronger power.

Kyohiko pondered for a moment. "Shisui, go back to the clan compound and tell Fugaku-senpai about Obito."

"Huh?" Shisui was stunned for a moment. "You also…"

"No. No matter what, as the clan head, he has the right to know about this matter. Hiding it would be worse. But regarding the fact that you know me, you'd better think carefully about what you say," Kyohiko shook his head.

Shisui was stunned for a moment, then realized—actually, neither the Hokage nor the Senpai truly believed the clan head would do such a thing. They were just testing him to see what he would say. He bowed lightly, then turned and ran outside.

Tsunade sighed. "This shinobi world, why can it never be peaceful?!"

"Because there are interests, and there is contention," Kyohiko replied faintly. He then said, "I don't think it was Uchiha Fugaku. He doesn't have that ability or courage. Of course, we can use this to obtain more intelligence."

"For example?" Tsunade frowned.

"Where exactly is Obito, so certain that he has mastered the path to peace that he decided to leave Konoha village," Kyohiko said.

Tsunade thought for a few seconds. "I've heard that the Uchiha clan's ancestral land is at the Naka River. Konoha was the place decided upon later with my grandfather."

"Yes. So, the Naka River… we need to go and see."

---

At the Uchiha clan's territory, it was originally peaceful. For a long time, no elders had visited Fugaku's house, giving Uchiha Fugaku a period of quiet time. But this night was destined not to be peaceful.

Knock, knock, knock!

Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique all the way. By the time he arrived outside, he was out of breath, so tired he could hardly stand firm, but he didn't dare to delay. For an ordinary clan, this would just be a simple matter of a clansman defecting from the village. But for the Uchiha, whose situation was already awkward, it was a very serious matter. One misstep… and the Uchiha would be one step closer to a terrifying abyss!

After a moment, the door opened. Fugaku appeared at the door with a stern face. "Shisui, what are you doing here at night?"

"Clan Head, Obito has defected!" Shisui said quickly.

"What?" Fugaku was instantly stunned. For a few seconds, he didn't understand, staring blankly at Shisui. Only then did he come back from his trance. "You said Obito? I remember he's still studying at the academy, and his grades aren't particularly outstanding, are they?" Compared to ordinary civilians, Obito's ability was decent. But in the Uchiha clan, for an eleven-year-old like Obito to still have such strength and not have awakened his eyes, he really couldn't be considered very powerful. At least, he wasn't a genius and wasn't worthy of Fugaku's much attention.

Shisui sighed. "Obito-san has already awakened his eyes in the incident a few days ago."

Fugaku was silent for a second. "What happened to him?"

"Uh, this, it might be a long story, but the key now is that Obito has defected, right?" Shisui was also stunned. He found—this clan head didn't seem very reliable! At least, compared to the swift and decisive actions of Tsunade and Kyohiko, the Fugaku before him seemed unable to grasp the main point, and his actions were not decisive enough. Especially Kyohiko. Compared to Kyohiko, the gap between the Fugaku before him was a bit too large. In the past, Fugaku had always been an object of his admiration within the clan, but at this moment, he felt that some of his impressions seemed to have collapsed.

"Obito is just a genin. Even if he defects, the impact won't be too great. And… wait?" Fugaku's pupils shrank, his not-so-clear mind finally scared awake in an instant. "Who else knows?"

"Hokage-sama's side should all know. Because there were Anbu ninjas who acted at the time, otherwise I might not have been able to come back," Shisui told a white lie. As Kyohiko had reminded him, he didn't want Fugaku to know that he knew Kyohiko, especially when the Fugaku before him was showing a shocking level of "dementia." Of course, Fugaku might not have been fully awake. But… this also proved that Fugaku's ability might not have reached the level of leading the clan to become stronger and better. At least Shisui felt that he might be better than Fugaku in the future. As a clan head, he really shouldn't be like this, he thought to himself.

Fugaku's pupils shrank. "The Anbu didn't bring Obito back?"

"No," Shisui replied.

Fugaku's breathing stopped. He finally understood why Shisui had come over in such a hurry, insisting on knocking on his door. This matter… was big! He immediately stood up. "Take my order, assemble the Police Force."

"Fugaku-sama…" Shisui was helpless and had to remind him again—he wasn't part of the Police Force yet. "I can only go and call Inabi-nii."

"Mm, go ahead. Have Inabi assemble the members of the Police Force." Fugaku nodded.

Just as Shisui was about to leave, he suddenly reacted and immediately shouted, "Don't!"

"Huh?" Shisui turned back, his face blank.

Fugaku said gravely, "We do nothing. Just act as if nothing happened!"

"Why?" This time it was Shisui's turn to be puzzled. He was young, after all, and didn't know many of the twists and turns.

Fugaku looked at him meaningfully. "We say we're going to bring Obito back, but will others believe us?"

"This…" Shisui was stunned, then said, "So we do nothing?"

"Doing nothing is better than making a mistake." Fugaku let out a breath. "Go back to sleep. I'll go talk to the Hokage-sama about this tomorrow. You don't have to worry."

"Yes!" Shisui was in a trance, remembering the Senpai's words… He didn't need to get involved in this. Looking at it now, he was just a student, a child. This matter was beyond the limit of what he could get involved in. "So, the clan head is not incompetent, he just—"

"—dares not explore, dares not make choices." Shisui left, pondering in his heart.

Doing nothing is better than making a mistake. The logic was right. When facing high-level Konoha officials like the Fourth Hokage and Kyohiko-senpai, perhaps one could still have a chance of survival by relying on a dutiful attitude and personality. If one was too aggressive and sought change, it might instead bring disaster to the clan. The premise was—there were no accidents. Now, an accident had occurred. Uchiha Obito's defection was definitely not good news for the Uchiha clan.

---

The next morning. The Police Force was as usual, the only difference was—Fugaku did not appear. At this moment, Fugaku had already rushed to the Konoha building, and in the Hokage's office, Tsunade had not yet come to work. Fugaku stood outside, pacing back and forth. His heart was as restless as his footsteps now. Obito's defection had happened too suddenly! In the morning, he had just gone to cram on Obito's recent situation, and his forehead was covered in even more cold sweat.

There were too many coincidences in Obito's case. From meeting the old woman to awakening his eyes and defecting, it was as if a big hand was manipulating everything from behind, and the other party had to be sufficiently familiar with the Sharingan to do it. Besides the Uchiha clan, who else could it be? This was definitely many people's first judgment! Fortunately, the ones in power now were not the Third Hokage and Danzo Shimura. If it were them, the Uchiha might have been surrounded by now. Fugaku thought with a sense of grim humor.

At this time, a voice came from below. "Tsunade-sama, you not only woke up late today, but you also insisted on dragging me here. I originally had a training class today!"

"Oh, Shizune, just for today, please help me!" Tsunade pulled Shizune up. However, when she reached the corner of the stairs, she saw Uchiha Fugaku standing there, bowing.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Fugaku, you're here so early? Wait in the Jonin office. I have some work for Shizune to help arrange."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Fugaku was extremely respectful, not daring to show any negligence.

Tsunade brought Shizune inside. Shizune, seeing Uchiha Fugaku, didn't dare to say anything more—she would be informal with Tsunade in private, but in front of outsiders, she would absolutely give Tsunade her utmost respect.

After some arrangements, Tsunade came to the next room. Fugaku stood up and bowed. Tsunade waved her hand. "Don't be nervous. You should have heard about what happened last night, right?"

"I heard a little from Shisui. I was woken up in a panic, so I didn't hear everything clearly," Fugaku replied with shame.

Tsunade shook her head. "Fugaku, you were once a meritorious person on the battlefield. You've become a little lax after staying in the Police Force for so long."

"Yes, Hokage-sama! I… I'll reflect on it!" Tsunade was his Senpai. When he was a genin, Tsunade was already a Jonin. Lecturing him was like scolding a child. How would Fugaku dare to talk back?

"Sigh, I don't blame you. The work of the Police Force is also very important. Let's not talk about this today. The main thing is Obito's matter…" Tsunade synchronized all the information from yesterday.

Fugaku's eyes showed deep shock. That Anbu was Kyohiko? Kyohiko acted, and still couldn't bring Obito back? This…

"Who on earth is the person behind this?" he muttered to himself in astonishment and shock.

Tsunade gave him a meaningful look. "I should be asking you that!"

"Asking me?" Fugaku was stunned for a moment, then broke out in a cold sweat. "Hokage-sama, it definitely wasn't me!"

"There aren't many things Obito could have come into contact with. I heard your clan's ancestral land is at the Naka River. Is it possible he got something there?" Tsunade asked.

"Impossible. The Naka River…" Fugaku didn't believe it at first, but then he was stunned. "Could it be… that stone tablet?"