The Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, despite harboring persistent prejudices against Uchiha Madara and the Uchiha clan as a whole, had actually performed quite admirably in his role as Hokage.
Therefore, even though he remained deeply wary of the Uchiha clan's potential for causing problems, Senju Tobirama had genuinely attempted to implement policies that would improve the relationship between the village and this powerful family.
After all, when Uchiha Madara had ultimately chosen to leave Konoha behind, the rest of the Uchiha clan had not followed him into exile, but had instead willingly remained in the village as loyal citizens.
This crucial decision demonstrated that the Uchiha clan also desperately desired peace and stability, and if there had been viable alternatives available to them, they wouldn't necessarily have chosen the path of rebellion in later years.
Uchiha Kagami represented Senju Tobirama's experimental approach and sincere effort to find a way to eventually defuse the explosive potential that the Uchiha clan represented.
Under such carefully considered circumstances, Senju Tobirama would naturally never have done something as drastic as completely deleting historical records and educational materials.
The most extreme action he would have taken was to discourage villagers from casually discussing Uchiha Madara and to minimize the lingering influence that the fallen founder still exerted over Konoha's political landscape.
All things considered, Senju Tobirama's political capabilities were quite impressive, which explained how he had been able to successfully assume the position of Second Hokage.
As for why substantial amounts of information about Uchiha Madara had been systematically deleted from the textbooks and educational materials used in the ninja academy during later years, this decision had obviously been made at the direction of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Just as Tsunade and her advisors were currently holding this high-level meeting, Sarutobi Hiruzen had initiated similar policy discussions during his tenure. Ultimately, with the indifferent attitudes displayed by Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, combined with the enthusiastic approval of Shimura Danzo, all content related to Uchiha Madara had been systematically removed.
They had also begun selectively deleting information and achievements related to the Uchiha clan as a whole.
This historical context explained exactly why Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were so strongly opposed to Tsunade's current proposal. It was because of their tacit approval and passive consent that the situation had developed as it had.
Now that they had made their choice decades ago, the two elderly advisors were naturally unwilling to agree to Tsunade's suggestion to reverse course.
Besides, Uchiha Madara had been dead for such a long time that there seemed to be no compelling reason to bring up his controversial legacy again.
Shihouin Naraku didn't actually care very much about Uchiha Madara's specific historical treatment, but since Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were opposing the proposal, he felt obligated to stand up and support it as a matter of political principle.
Furthermore, since educational affairs were now under his direct jurisdiction through the Ministry of Education, he had a professional responsibility to advocate for this position.
"There is absolutely no doubt that Uchiha Madara eventually became a defector and traitor," Naraku acknowledged, "but his substantial contributions to Konoha's founding cannot and should not be ignored or forgotten."
"We should record this historical information accurately and allow the teachers in the ninja academy to explain both the merits and the serious mistakes of Uchiha Madara in complete detail to their students."
"Through this balanced approach, students will be able to understand precisely why Uchiha Madara's choices were wrong and why the First Hokage's decisions were morally correct."
"It was the First Hokage Senju Hashirama who fought to the death against the defecting Uchiha Madara in order to protect the innocent villagers, and this heroic sacrifice allowed Konoha to survive an existential crisis."
"Only when students understand this complete historical context will they be able to comprehend what truly happened when they mature into adult shinobi."
Tsunade nodded emphatically. "What Naraku has expressed is exactly what I intended to say. We have absolutely nothing to hide from our own people!"
"No, I still cannot support this proposal!" Mitokado Homura shook his head firmly, continuing to reject Tsunade's suggestion. "There are certain sensitive secrets regarding Uchiha Madara's achievements and failures that simply cannot be disclosed to the general public. If all this classified information were to be revealed in complete detail, it would have extremely serious consequences for Konoha Village's security."
"Uchiha Madara has been dead for many years now," Naraku pointed out reasonably. "The situation is not nearly as dramatic as you're suggesting. Besides, we don't have to include every single deed and action of Uchiha Madara in our books and textbooks. We can be selective and choose only the most appropriate examples."
"I still believe this approach is fundamentally misguided!" Homura insisted.
"Children's education is far too important to treat casually," Utatane Koharu added. "Books and teaching materials cannot be changed arbitrarily or without careful consideration. This entire proposal seems too hasty and poorly thought out."
Following this exchange, Shihouin Naraku engaged in increasingly heated discussions with both Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura. After several rounds of intense arguments and counterarguments, Naraku finally succeeded in implementing his educational vision.
Tsunade also issued her official order, effectively ending the prolonged debate.
The ultimate decision was that education in the ninja academy could not be delayed or compromised simply to conceal the historical deeds of Uchiha Madara. Such an approach would be completely backwards and counterproductive.
During the remaining time, the group proceeded to discuss various other matters both large and small concerning Konoha's governance and future direction.
"Very well, that concludes our main business," Tsunade announced.
"Before we officially end this meeting, I have one additional announcement to make."
Tsunade glanced around at the other participants, indicating that they shouldn't rush to leave, and then delivered her prepared statement:
"Although Naraku currently serves as the Minister of Education, his workload in that position is not particularly demanding, so I've been considering the possibility of having him take on additional responsibilities."
"However, since the Ministry of Education isn't completely organized yet, Naraku should simply handle two positions simultaneously. This won't be the first time he's managed multiple roles anyway."
Everyone except Shihouin Naraku appeared momentarily stunned by this announcement, but they quickly recovered and processed the implications.
Indeed, this would not be the first time Naraku had held multiple important positions.
Utatane Koharu opened her mouth as if she intended to voice an objection.
Mitokado Homura, standing nearby, caught her eye and gave her a meaningful look that conveyed his message clearly.
Don't bother objecting. It would be completely useless.
Given Shihouin Naraku's current political connections, reputation, and overwhelming personal strength, he was destined to become the next Hokage regardless of any opposition they might offer. Under these circumstances, holding additional positions was relatively insignificant.
Mitokado Homura had already accepted this political reality!
"Naraku, from today forward you will serve as the Director of Konoha's Mission Assignment Center," Tsunade announced officially. "Whenever you have available time, I want you to go to the center and take responsibility for assigning appropriate missions to the various shinobi teams in our village!"
"Don't underestimate the importance of this position," she warned seriously. "If you want to avoid any accidents or major losses to our personnel, you'll need to develop a thorough understanding of the members and capabilities of each ninja team, and then select missions that are perfectly suited to their skill levels."
"Understood! You can count on me!" Naraku replied confidently.
[Ding! Host has become the Director of Konoha's Mission Assignment Center!]
[Congratulations to Host for earning two lottery draws! Current total draws: six!]
[Friendly reminder: It is easier to obtain magical items if you draw ten times consecutively!]
Unfortunately, this appointment didn't qualify as a formal promotion, so he only received two chances to participate in the lottery system.
However, this wasn't particularly concerning. There were only four more draws needed until he could achieve the next ten-draw streak. Perhaps he could accumulate enough opportunities soon.
Compared to Naraku, who was primarily focused on his lottery qualifications, the other three participants immediately recognized the deeper meaning behind Tsunade's strategic appointment.
Was this an attempt to establish legitimacy and precedent?
Mission Assignment Center Director was essentially a position that Tsunade had created specifically for this purpose.
The reason this seemed significant was that the person responsible for this critical function had previously been the Hokage personally!
The previous Third Hokage had operated in exactly this manner. Whenever he had available time, he would sit in Konoha's mission assignment center and personally distribute appropriate missions to every ninja team that came to receive new assignments.
It wasn't that Sarutobi Hiruzen had nothing better to do with his time, but rather that the prerequisite for effective mission assignment required an extraordinarily detailed understanding of every Konoha shinobi, which allowed him to match the right missions to the right ninja teams.
After all, it would be absolutely irresponsible to assign an S-rank mission to a genin team that had just recently graduated. That wouldn't be carrying out a mission—it would be sending them to certain death.
Additionally, missions involving enemy surveillance and intelligence gathering were best entrusted to experienced perception-type ninja, as this approach significantly increased the chances of successful completion.
Combat-focused missions should be handed over to other ninja who possessed sufficient raw strength and battle experience!
The principle was to make the best possible use of every available resource!
However, ordinary shinobi were simply not qualified to handle mission assignments!
When you considered the situation carefully, it became obvious how dangerous it would be if someone other than the Hokage possessed detailed information about a large number of Konoha's active shinobi.
If something unexpected were to happen and sensitive information about Konoha's ninja capabilities were to be leaked to enemy forces, it was difficult to imagine the catastrophic consequences that might follow.
Ninja battles were fundamentally about intelligence gathering and information warfare!
Sometimes, as long as someone obtained reliable intelligence about a specific ninja and set an appropriate trap, it was not uncommon for several chunin working together to successfully eliminate a jonin.
Often the outcome of any engagement depended entirely on which side could conceal their intelligence more effectively and prevent the enemy from gaining clear insights into their capabilities.
Therefore, the position of Director of Konoha's Mission Assignment Center represented something that Tsunade was now openly revealing!
The meaning behind entrusting duties and responsibilities that only the Hokage should normally perform to Shihouin Naraku was crystal clear.
Tsunade was actively planning to nominate her student as the next Hokage!
However, none of those present made any significant comments about this development, since it had been an obvious inevitability for quite some time.
When Nara Shikaku had originally nominated Tsunade to become the Fifth Hokage, he had made his position perfectly clear—he supported Naraku for the eventual succession.
As for Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, they had already exhausted all their political energy trying to prevent Naraku's rise and ensure Tsunade's appointment during the previous succession crisis. Now they simply lacked the ability to mount another effective opposition campaign against Naraku.
After the meeting concluded, Shihouin Naraku first visited the Ministry of Education and handed over the finalized rules and teaching materials to Deputy Minister Harada Shiramizu, instructing him to take responsibility for their implementation.
Of course, Harada Shiramizu would handle all the specific operational work, while Naraku would only need to conduct final inspections to assess how well his subordinate had completed the assigned tasks.
If the work was done well, then there would be appropriate rewards!
If performance was inadequate, then he would issue reprimands and find someone else to handle the responsibilities.
In any case, there were plenty of capable people in Konoha, so there would be no problem finding suitable candidates to carry out these important tasks.
"There aren't very many people here today," Shihouin Naraku observed as he stood outside the mission assignment center, watching the ninja coming and going from the building.
"Ah! Lord Naraku!" some called out in recognition.
"Hello, sir!" others greeted respectfully.
"Thank you, Lord Naraku!" still others expressed their gratitude.
Naraku casually returned the greetings of the passing shinobi and walked into the mission assignment center.
As soon as he entered, he spotted Tsunade sitting inside, currently in the process of assigning new missions to a ninja team.
"Sensei!" he called out.
"Now that you're here, have you successfully transferred the tasks from the Ministry of Education?" she asked.
"Yes, everything is handled!"
"Excellent. Come over here and I'll provide you with the necessary information and intelligence first."
Because the mission assignment center's responsibilities were of such critical importance, both Tsunade and Naraku had come in person to ensure a smooth transition and prevent any potential problems.
Naraku followed Tsunade into a secure back room and accepted a substantial stack of classified documents from her.
"These contain all the detailed information about Konoha's current ninja teams!" she explained seriously. "You can only review these documents here in this secure location. After you've finished reading them, you must use sealing techniques to properly secure all the information. Absolutely no intelligence can be allowed to leak under any circumstances."
"I understand completely," Naraku acknowledged.
Looking at Tsunade's grave expression, he nodded with appropriate seriousness.
Konoha Village strategically divided each graduating ninja into different specialized teams based on their unique abilities and talents.
There were ninja teams that specialized in direct combat, teams that excelled at perception and reconnaissance, teams designed for support and logistics operations, and many other specialized configurations.
What Naraku needed to accomplish was to assign appropriate missions to these various ninja teams based on their specific capabilities.
Some missions absolutely required elite ninja teams to handle them safely, while other missions could be used as valuable training opportunities for Konoha's less experienced teams that needed to build practical experience.
"Some missions may appear straightforward when they are initially issued, but complications can easily arise during actual execution," Tsunade warned.
"For example, what appears to be a simple low-level mission that should be easily completed by an ordinary ninja team can suddenly become far more difficult during the actual execution phase, potentially resulting in casualties among the assigned team members."
"We want to prevent this type of tragedy from occurring as much as humanly possible."
"Therefore, the people responsible for issuing missions must be carefully screened and thoroughly investigated, and we must send personnel to verify each mission request to prevent dangerous loopholes!"
"Also, some situations are rare, but they do occasionally happen," she continued.
"There have been cases where enemies have used the mission assignment process to set elaborate traps designed to capture or kill our village's ninja. This type of deception has indeed occurred before."
"Although the probability of such incidents is relatively small, we must still remain constantly vigilant."
"Understood," Naraku replied.
As Tsunade continued organizing the materials, she explained, "Missions below A-rank can be assigned to regular ninja teams or ordinary shinobi throughout the village. Missions ranked A-level and extending up to S-rank difficulty should only be performed by our most powerful jonin and ANBU operatives."
"You need to master these distinctions and apply them consistently."
"I understand," Naraku confirmed.
He nodded and continued carefully examining the documents in his hands.
This time, serving as the Director of Konoha's Mission Assignment Center, his responsibilities were significantly more important and far-reaching.
It appeared that he would be extremely busy for the immediate future.
However, there was no requirement for him to remain at the center constantly to handle mission distribution personally. Some routine and straightforward assignments could still be managed by other qualified subordinates.
"You don't need to rush into everything immediately," Tsunade advised. "Before the Ministry of Education matters are completely concluded, you should focus on familiarizing yourself with all the available information and intelligence."
"The Ministry of Education's affairs are relatively straightforward. Harada Shiramizu is handling the specific operational matters. At most, I'm simply providing final oversight and quality control."
"We need to be particularly careful. Some people are reluctant to see the Ministry of Education implement significant changes. If something unexpected were to happen, they would have plenty of ammunition for criticism."
"Don't worry. Nothing like that will happen," Naraku assured her confidently.
"Then you can review the information here while I take care of other business. I'm leaving first."
"Sounds good!"
Naraku saw Tsunade off and continued examining the classified information, beginning to develop a much deeper understanding of the intelligence profiles of Konoha's active shinobi.
"As expected, when you analyze it from this perspective, the Sarutobi clan and the Shimura clan are clearly the families with the largest populations in all of Konoha. They may seem unremarkable on the surface, but the ninja from these two clans are basically all chunin level or above, and there are also several jonin among their ranks."
"Hmm... If we simply compared raw fighting power, these two families might not represent the absolute strongest in Konoha. However, if we evaluate them comprehensively across multiple factors—total membership, average quality, available resources, established foundations, and so forth—both the Sarutobi and Shimura clans have significant advantages in every category."
"The Sarutobi clan still has Sarutobi Asuma, a skilled jonin, providing leadership and support. Even though the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen died in battle, their development and influence haven't stagnated at all."
"I remember that Asuma also holds the prestigious position among the Twelve Guardian Ninja. He should maintain good relationships with the Daimyo. When you consider this political connection..."
Naraku shook his head thoughtfully. None of the ninja families that had successfully survived the chaotic Sengoku period were easy opponents to deal with.
The political connections and accumulated favors left behind by the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen were still very much intact. Sarutobi Asuma possessed sufficient personal strength and maintained that crucial relationship with the daimyo, so it was hardly surprising that the Sarutobi clan continued to develop and prosper rapidly.
Even taking a step back, Tsunade was still technically Sarutobi Hiruzen's student, which meant there remained some degree of affection and loyalty between their respective factions!
"But the Shimura clan presents a different situation..."
"Hehehe..."
It was possible that Shimura Danzo's historically underhanded and unreasonable behavioral patterns had negatively affected the entire Shimura clan, and this family had developed a reputation for being particularly aggressive toward outside threats.
This wasn't entirely surprising, considering that although Danzo was dead, the Shimura clan still maintained several jonin serving actively in Konoha's forces, so their fundamental strength hadn't been significantly weakened.
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