Konoha.
Hokage Residence.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in a wide wooden chair, a pipe he had used for many years clenched between his teeth as he focused on the documents in his hands.
Deep in his eyes, there was a strong trace of curiosity.
Before he could read for long, the office door handle was twisted roughly. A knock followed almost at the same time, and a man with bandages wrapped around his head and an arm, leaning on a cane, strode in.
Danzo Shimura was holding back his anger.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had recently fallen seriously ill, bedridden with a high fever for several days, leaving behind quite a bit of work…
Too lazy!
He clearly needed to be knocked into shape by his Hokage assistant!
Danzo Shimura instinctively opened his mouth, about to shout "Hiruzen," triggering a smooth combo he had used for years.
But he saw the man suddenly look up, amusement flickering in his eyes.
Danzo's heart jolted, and he unconsciously stopped in place.
What was going on?
Hiruzen Sarutobi, just recovered from serious illness, seemed younger somehow. His posture and frame were far more upright than before.
Was it just his imagination?
"I was wondering who it was."
Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly tapped his pipe against the edge of the desk, paused for a moment, then said, "So it's the Hokage…"
He deliberately emphasized the last two words.
"…assistant?"
Danzo's expression darkened.
During that brief pause, his emotions had actually wavered.
After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi had never addressed him by his official title of Hokage assistant.
So was there a chance? A very small chance, but one that should exist, right?
The monkey finally realized I'm the one most suited to be Hokage, and today he's going to pass the title to me!
But the moment the word "assistant" was stressed…
Danzo instantly understood. Hiruzen Sarutobi was expressing dissatisfaction.
"Hiruzen…"
Danzo frowned, his fingers unconsciously tightening as the document folder in his hand crumpled slightly.
"What exactly do you mean by this?"
"I mean your recent work has been quite good." Hiruzen smiled as if genuinely pleased. "The Foundation keeps expanding. Individual funding and equipment standards have already surpassed Anbu…"
"You've added cloaks to their attire, adopted masks that look even more vicious than Anbu's, and as their leader, your word is absolute…"
"So Konoha's Foundation bears the Shimura name now, does it?"
Danzo Shimura's thoughts raced.
Something was wrong…
Very wrong.
Logically speaking, he was secretly carrying out the forbidden Wood Style experiments. Hiruzen Sarutobi should not be picking a fight with him right now.
At the very least, he should wait until he noticed and confirmed results. Only then would the Hokage try to seize the fruits grown in the darkness, followed by a punishment that was neither too light nor too heavy.
In that process, even if Danzo's personal authority expanded beyond the limits of a Hokage assistant, that was simply the price he paid for handling the village's darkness.
This had been their unspoken understanding for many years.
And now, Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to tear up that agreement?
Wasn't he afraid Danzo would stop working on Wood Style altogether?
If Hiruzen did it himself, as someone standing in the light, would he dare take the blame?
"Hiruzen, I'm doing this for Konoha!"
Danzo Shimura raised his voice. "The Foundation operates in the darkness, facing the cruelest environments and missions. Of course we need massive manpower and resources!"
"As Hokage, you should be thinking about the village's future and the inevitable ninja wars to come, not nitpicking over trivial Foundation issues. This kind of infighting is meaningless!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen slowly stood up and walked over to Danzo, pipe in hand.
He gave him a disdainful smile and blew out a thick cloud of smoke.
The smoke made Danzo clench his fists at once.
This was humiliating!
Even if Hiruzen was the Hokage, he shouldn't treat his assistant like this…
But the words that followed left the so-called darkness of the shinobi world completely stunned.
"Do you really think I'm criticizing you?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and firmly patted his old friend on the shoulder.
"I'm reminding you that you've taken the wrong path."
Danzo frowned deeply.
"What path have I taken wrong?"
Hiruzen waved his hand dismissively.
"Your ambition to become Hokage is known everywhere, from the Five Great Villages down to nameless ninja tribes. Who doesn't know it?"
"But with the way you're acting now, how could you ever become Hokage?"
"You're always walking in the darkness. As the head of a special department, you possess privileges that ordinary ninja fear."
"But the further you go down this road, the farther you drift from the Hokage seat."
"For example, why did the Second Hokage assign the Uchiha Clan sole responsibility for the Military Police Force?"
Danzo Shimura's expression turned complicated.
How could he not understand that reasoning?
Standing in the light, holding Konoha's authority, had always been a privilege exclusive to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
After all, there couldn't be two suns in the sky.
So Danzo could only tighten his grip on the darkness.
Dark power was still power. At the very least, he was second only to the Hokage as the assistant and head of the Foundation.
"Of course I know!"
Danzo spoke hoarsely. "What are you trying to say, Hiruzen? I willingly shoulder the village's darkness! A ninja must have the resolve to sacrifice!"
"Let me ask you something. Do you want to be Hokage?" Hiruzen suddenly smiled. "I'll ask you just this once, Danzo."
Danzo had always believed no one understood Hiruzen Sarutobi better than he did.
But today, he couldn't understand him at all.
"I want to. How could I not? I think about it day and night. I want it every single day. I dream about it! I want to be that damn Hokage more than anything!"
Danzo roared inwardly.
But…
Facing this unreadable Hiruzen Sarutobi, the words stuck in his throat.
Subconsciously, his mind replayed the scene from years ago, when Tobirama Senju asked who would stay behind.
He hadn't dared raise his hand then.
Was he going to be too afraid to say it now, when it came to becoming Hokage?
With that thought, Danzo took a deep breath and spat out a stiff, single word.
"I do."
"Hm, that's progress compared to before." Hiruzen chuckled and nodded.
That tone made Danzo deeply uncomfortable.
You think you understand me? Let me tell you, you don't understand me at all!
What kind of attitude is that? Do you think you're my superior?
Despite his inner complaints, his ears were sharply focused.
"If you want it, I can help you, but I won't designate you outright."
"I'm making this clear to you now."
Hiruzen returned to his seat and took a sip of hot tea.
"In the past, I've officially endorsed some of the Foundation's actions for you."
Danzo's breathing grew heavier, confusion surging in his chest.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was actually willing to take the blame for him?
Danzo was eager for him to continue, but Hiruzen leisurely sipped his tea instead.
He glanced at Danzo, chin slightly raised.
My sincerity is already on the table.
Now… it's your turn.
Danzo's thoughts churned.
Should he bring up the Wood Style test subject…
That was an incredibly precious Wood Style ninja!
But Hiruzen's composed demeanor made it impossible to read his intentions.
"At Orochimaru's request, I cooperated with him on some Wood Style experiments."
Danzo chose his words carefully. "We paid a price, but the results were extremely encouraging. A test subject appeared who endured the intensity of the First Hokage's cells."
"That's what I came to tell you today."
This was a lie.
He had come to confront Hiruzen, not confess.
Hiruzen gestured for Danzo to sit and poured him a cup of tea.
He seemed completely unconcerned about Wood Style.
Danzo frowned slightly. That was Wood Style!
His mind began calculating.
Was Hiruzen pretending not to care to lower the price of Danzo's confession? Or did he truly already know everything?
The clear tea reached his lips, but under the weight of tangled thoughts, it tasted bland.
Hiruzen smiled as if the Wood Style matter hadn't even registered.
"That's all?"
"A few days ago, I took in a talented ninja from the Aburame Clan."
Danzo's tone grew irritated.
"Hiruzen, does that even count as an issue? If I don't take people from those arrogant clans, how is the Foundation supposed to have combat strength? How are we supposed to establish the authority of the Hokage's faction?"
Hiruzen laughed loudly.
"There you go again, getting worked up. The two of us old brothers haven't sat down for a proper chat in a long time. I'm just concerned about your work and your life."
"For all these years, you really haven't had it easy."
Danzo sneered inwardly.
This monkey's playing the sentimental card now?
Yet the rigid, corpse-like expression on his face softened slightly despite himself.
"Sometimes I see you building armed forces within the Foundation, even trying your best to hide it from me…"
Hiruzen's tone abruptly shifted.
"I'm not angry. I actually feel a bit sorry for you."
"You know you're not in the normal succession line for Hokage. Building private forces like this, were you thinking that if I died someday, you could try your luck with an armed coup?"
"Starting research on Hashirama's cells. Aside from considering the village, you also wanted that power for yourself, didn't you?"
"Fists equal authority. That part isn't wrong. But in Konoha, equating the two completely means straying from the path Lord Hashirama and Lord Tobirama cultivated for us…"
The atmosphere grew heavy.
For a Hokage to accuse a subordinate of harboring thoughts of seizing power by force was the most severe charge imaginable.
And for Danzo Shimura…
Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to understand him far too well.
The two of them drank tea in silence for a long time.
"I never thought that way," Danzo finally said slowly. "Hiruzen, just tell me what you plan to do."
"After all, you're the Hokage…"
But what he received was not a reprimand.
It was a promise.
"Danzo, I swear to you on the honor of being Lord Tobirama's disciple. From now on, I will treat you as one of the official Hokage candidates."
The weight of those words was immense.
So much so that Danzo blurted out urgently, "Hiruzen, are you serious?!"
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and pointed back at the portrait of Tobirama Senju on the office wall.
Danzo's heart instantly burned with heat.
"Since you're choosing the right path, you need to act under the sunlight, Danzo…"
Hiruzen took another sip of tea. "Keep a few capable people in the Foundation. Hand the rest over to me for unified reassignment."
"Don't worry. I'll arrange positions for you."
Now this was the main event.
Danzo's mind raced.
He never believed Hiruzen would be generous enough to set him on the right path while still letting him keep so much manpower.
And frankly, the offer was fair.
If Hiruzen were even a little more ruthless…
What waves could Danzo, this so-called assistant and Foundation head, stir up with the little strength he had?
Just one Third Hokage alone…
Danzo didn't want to admit it, but the monkey really was strong.
His disciples, Sakumo Hatake, and the major clans rallied under the Hokage's name…
Even the Uchiha Clan, if ordered to suppress him, would go all out for that damned monkey!
As long as Hiruzen lived, suppressing Danzo would be effortless.
"Hiruzen, about the Foundation, I think maybe…" Danzo took a deep breath, trying to negotiate.
Hiruzen raised a finger, signaling him to be quiet.
"Danzo, you need to think from the Hokage's perspective. If you were Hokage, how would you handle the Foundation?"
Danzo fell silent.
In today's Konoha, the Hokage's authority was far from absolute.
But for someone like him, a Hokage assistant and Foundation head who relied on Konoha's legal framework, this was a fatal choke point.
Not to mention that Hiruzen had used Lord Tobirama as a guarantee…
He had laid the matter of competing for Hokage out in the open and promised fair competition.
That was enough.
"I understand."
Danzo placed a scroll on the desk.
"I'll explain Orochimaru's matters as well, Hiruzen…"
"I'll handle the Foundation."
"But what you promised me…"
He gave Hiruzen a long, searching look, then strode toward the door.
After taking two steps outside the office, Danzo glanced back at the open door, his heart stirring.
Though unwilling, he still turned back and closed it properly.
In the past…
He would never have closed the door for the monkey!
Not slamming it would have been generous enough!
But times were different now. Some respect for the old man was due.
Danzo scowled as he turned back and shut the door.
Hiruzen watched the door close with a smile, his eyebrow lifting slightly.
Clearly, he was no longer the original Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He had once been a veteran strategist named Kazuki, who rose swiftly through the ranks before being trapped by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
All he could do was pursue treatment and read historical anecdotes during his rest to ease his mind.
A few days ago, for some unknown algorithmic reason, a video comparing history to the ninja world had been recommended to him.
Though the content was flawed, it still made someone who had never watched Naruto smile. He watched several in a row before drifting into sleep.
When Kazuki woke up, he found himself in this ninja world, having become the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
This body was no longer young, but it contained power far beyond his understanding.
And more importantly…
Though he only knew fragmented, uncertain details about this world's future, he had a trump card.
With a slight shift of thought, a page of red header and white paper appeared in his mind, solemn black text printed upon it.
[Authority], [Diplomacy], [Economy], [Education], [Military].
Five indicators stood side by side.
And after finishing his conversation with Danzo Shimura, the word "Authority" quietly gained a trace of gold at the bottom of its strokes.
Like a progress bar filling up.
---
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