Ninja School, lunchtime.
Toki and a few others gathered on the school rooftop, and Asuma recounted what happened yesterday in the Hokage's office.
"That's how it was. I thought about it all night, but I still don't understand what the 'iceberg' represents. Toki, do you have any ideas?"
When he encountered something he didn't understand, Asuma instinctively chose to ask Toki for help.
Toki organized his words for a moment, then said, "Hokage-sama means that Sakumo's matter was deliberately leaked by someone."
As soon as he finished speaking, the others exchanged glances, only Kakashi's expression remained normal.
Asuma was the first to react. His father was the Hokage, and being exposed to it since childhood, he knew more than the other children.
"If I remember correctly, Sakumo was on a top-secret mission. According to the Village's confidentiality system, besides Sakumo's teammates, there shouldn't be many people in the entire Konoha Village who know the inside story."
"Not many people, easy to find, but that doesn't mean they're easy to deal with." Toki suddenly felt a headache.
How was he supposed to explain to these five-year-old children what it meant to fight for power and profit?
Rin Nohara asked in confusion, "Shouldn't all the other Ninja in Konoha Village obey Hokage-sama? Why do you say it's hard to deal with?"
"The Hokage isn't omnipotent either."
Toki sighed, drawing a large circle with his hand: "Look… the Village is so big, and there are so many people. If Hokage-sama had to handle everything, he would be exhausted to death and still wouldn't be able to manage it all."
Seeing their pure, untainted gazes, he then added, "Do you understand?"
Everyone nodded in unison: "Yes!"
"So Hokage-sama needs people to help him handle affairs, and he only needs to handle the most important matters. Thus, various departments of Konoha Village were formed, such as the Hospital, Anbu, Ninja School, and so on."
After speaking, Toki had a sudden flash of inspiration, so he clapped his hands: "Alright! From now on, suppose I am the Hokage. Then Kakashi will manage the Anbu, Rin Nohara will manage the Hospital, Asuma will manage the Ninja School…"
Just then, Obito excitedly shouted, "Hey, hey! What about me? What do I manage?"
"Uh…" Toki paused slightly, then said, "You manage logistics."
"Why do I only manage logistics? I am an Uchiha, I should be at the forefront! I don't want to be a coward hiding in the back!"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered into Obito's ear, "Alright, you go to the front, and I'll tell the logistics manager not to give you kunai or explosive tags."
Obito was stunned: "How can you do that!"
"Alright, alright, let's get back to the main topic." Toki clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"In our simulated Konoha, the qualification to handle affairs is called power, and I have now distributed all the power to you. Nominally, the Hokage's power is greater than each of yours, but if you unite, you will be more powerful than the Hokage."
"No, no!"
Obito interrupted him again: "The Hokage is the strongest Ninja in the Village, even if others unite, they are not as strong as the Hokage!"
"That's true, but the Hokage cannot act casually, and neither can others."
"Why?"
"To maintain stability." Toki spread his hands.
"If the Hokage and people in the Village start fighting, it will cause Konoha Village to fall into a weakened state called 'internal strife,' and external enemies will seize the opportunity to invade the Land of Fire, so force is often the last resort."
With that, Toki patted Obito's shoulder and instructed, "Obito, you must always remember one thing: force cannot solve all problems. Unless… your force can solve the external enemies as well."
Having been in Konoha for so long, Toki had more or less learned about the Uchiha Clan. His most intuitive understanding of the Uchiha was—might makes right.
The Uchiha were extremely devoted to force, and their way of thinking was quite simple and clear. In their own words, it was… well, people with lower ocular power are not qualified to speak.
Alas, dealing with these people is both simple and difficult.
Out of concern for his friend, Toki did not want Obito to become like this. He wanted him to use his brain more, at least… so he wouldn't be swindled when helping an old lady cross the street.
"Oh."
Obito nodded robotically, falling into a brainstorm.
'What Toki said makes so much sense, but… what the clan members said also makes sense. Whose words make more sense?'
Seeing him like this, Toki suddenly regretted it. He seemed to have overestimated Obito's CPU processing power.
Kakashi gave Toki a look of shared suffering, then said, "Forget it, Obito, you go sit on the side and rest for a bit."
Obito nodded first, then immediately realized something was wrong: "Kakashi, are you looking down on me? Toki, continue! I can understand!"
Toki covered his forehead with one hand, sighing helplessly: "In short, you can't just act casually, do you understand?"
"Understood!" Everyone nodded in unison.
Toki raised his hand and pointed at Kakashi again: "Next, let's assume Kakashi is not satisfied with only controlling the Anbu's power, meaning he wants to become 'Hokage'."
"And at this time, Kakashi needs to face a strong competitor. Hmm… let Kurenai Yuhi be this competitor."
"Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi compete for Hokage. He will face two choices: one is to increase his prestige and gain more support. The other is to eliminate Kurenai Yuhi, the opponent, so that he cannot participate in the competition."
"I understand!" Obito immediately raised his hand, "So Sakumo is equivalent to Kurenai Yuhi!"
"Exactly," Toki gave him a thumbs-up and continued, "Compared to increasing one's prestige, it's obviously simpler to eliminate a competitor, especially if that competitor has made a mistake."
"Strictly speaking, the mastermind didn't commit any serious error. He merely leaked a record of a failed mission, so Hokage-sama finds it difficult to impose any effective punishment on him."
"And because the mastermind controls a portion of power, Hokage-sama, in order to maintain the Village's stability, cannot use force or forcefully issue unreasonable orders. He can only wait for the right moment."
For a time, everyone present felt a sense of disillusionment.
They had all once believed that the Hokage was the greatest Ninja in the Village, because everyone had to obey the Hokage's orders.
But now, Toki told them a truth: the Hokage was not actually great, and some people could choose not to obey the Hokage's orders, even threatening the Hokage and forcing him to compromise.
Among everyone present, Obito felt it the most deeply.
He had always aimed to "become Hokage," and Toki's words thoroughly stripped away the mystique of the Hokage for him. For a moment, he suddenly felt lost.
Asuma asked again, "Toki, what do you think should be done?"
"I don't know."
Toki shook his head and said frankly, "If the Hokage isn't omnipotent, what methods could I, a student who isn't even a Ninja, possibly have?"
Upon hearing this, Asuma immediately became disheartened, the weight on his shoulders almost crushing him.