Sarutobi Hiruzen puffed on his smoking pipe.
It was his habit; in truth, the smoke could no longer produce any real stimulation to his body.
More than anything, it was a sense of ritual…
"So-called authority can be roughly summarized as the degree of control I exercise over the village's various groups and institutions…"
"The Hyūga and the Uchiha—these two nails must be pulled out…" Hiruzen shook his head, then cast another glance at the report Sakumo had submitted in his hand.
This concerned Hizashi's conduct within the clan grounds yesterday.
"Hizashi, that youngster, has a streak of ruthlessness—he can be used…"
Taking into account the intelligence and Hizashi's own words, this clan was simply his natural political base as Hokage.
It would be hard to find a better group to unite with than the Hyūga branch family…
Even civilian ninja in today's Konohagakure, in non-wartime conditions, enjoyed an extremely high degree of freedom: if they wanted to take missions, they could; if they did not, staying home and sleeping the day away was also acceptable…
The Hyūga appeared to be a great clan, yet most of its members did not possess this kind of freedom.
It was, in effect, a slave society hidden within a feudal military group…
"We must train Hizashi properly and let him stir things up within the Hyūga!" A sharp glint flashed through Hiruzen's eyes as he reflected inwardly.
"Not just as an ordinary Anbu operative—I hope he can demonstrate the capability to serve as a squad leader."
With this, Hizashi would have sufficient capital to slowly build influence within the Hyūga clan, drawing in a group of branch-family members who wanted to learn from him—that is, who would come to yearn for the Hokage's protection.
"As for the Hyūga main family, there's no need to bother with them for now. They've held themselves so high and mighty for so many years—it's time to let this fire, Hizashi's fire, burn them for a while. When the main family gets truly anxious, then I'll sit down smiling and talk with them…"
First suppress, then pull in—this was always an unshakably effective method.
After all, adding flowers on brocade was far inferior to offering charcoal in the snow…
But as for where this 'snow' came from—don't ask!
"But where is the opening with the Uchiha?"
"Not easy to find…"
In Hiruzen's view, the Uchiha clan and the Hokage Building at present lacked an extremely severe foundation of trust.
This situation had multiple causes.
The heavy historical baggage was one major problem.
Putting himself in their shoes—if it were the Uchiha he had transmigrated into, he would absolutely keep his distance from the Hokage's line as well…
There was no helping it: the little matter between Senju Tobirama and the Uchiha, from the Warring States period up to the present, was a widely relished "meme" in the ninja world.
It had even spawned quite a few storybooks; he had heard that among those sheltered-from-the-world nobles, some even rather liked shipping the two…
In Hiruzen's eyes, the Senju and Uchiha cooperating to found the village was, in itself, something quite surreal.
It had been forcibly pushed through entirely by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara—while among the other mid- and high-level figures there had been no reconciliation at all; the hatred truly existed.
If one were to speak of it merely as the beginning of reconciliation, it was, in truth, something quite subtle.
Madara demanded that Hashirama commit suicide, and only then did the two reconcile…
It seemed excessively harsh—indeed, even unreasonable—but Hashirama's agreement gave the defeated Uchiha an emotional step down and afforded Madara ample face…
It caused the Uchiha and the Senju—who should have gone mad and annihilated one another in a blood feud over the gravely injured Uchiha Izuna and the clansmen who had died—to suddenly shake hands and make peace.
It could be said to have been an advance made by retreating, fully displaying magnanimity and winning heartfelt acceptance.
The problem, however, lay in the fact that no institutionalized constraints were formed afterward; everything rested entirely on Senju Hashirama's personal charisma to hold it together…
As a result, after Senju Tobirama came to power, the Uchiha clan's hopes for the "Hokage" were dashed, and then came the death of Uchiha Kagami—factors from all sides piled together…
The Uchiha issue had already become a major intractable problem.
Take the matter of the Konoha Military Police Force, for example.
Anyone with eyes could see that the Konoha Military Police Force was a policy adopted by the Second Hokage to restrain the Uchiha.
First, it confined them within the village, preventing frequent mission execution and specialized combat training. Instead, they were assigned to internal security duties with very low actual combat frequency; naturally, like pulling a lion's teeth, their combat strength declined sharply.
Second, making a single clan the core of law enforcement—combined with the Uchiha clan's temperament—meant that their reputation and public image within the village would inevitably grow worse and worse…
Yet after things had developed to the present point, even if Hiruzen wanted to pull the Uchiha out of the Konoha Military Police Force, it would be extremely difficult.
Because this was the last piece of rancid bread still clenched in the Uchiha's hands.
For them, the fear of losing had already grown greater than the desire to gain.
Especially with his own identity as Tobirama's disciple, it was even harder to earn the trust of the older generation of the Uchiha.
Under such circumstances, even the crudest method—cutting away interests outright—would be hard-pressed to have much effect…
Between the two sides lay a chain of suspicion that was difficult to sever.
"To deal with the Uchiha clan, it's necessary to establish a sufficiently strong bridge of communication…"
Hiruzen rubbed his brow.
"The old generation of the Uchiha can't be relied on. It has to be a new-generation, village-oriented Uchiha prodigy—someone whose thinking is on the same wavelength as mine and who can exert enough influence within the clan!"
"Sensei, you really left me with a pile of messes. You were the one who caused all this—but from what I see, even if you came back, I'm afraid you wouldn't handle it much better…"
"That little brat named Shisui does have that kind of potential, but potential is only potential."
Although in his memories, Tobirama always told Kagami that he never discriminated against the Uchiha, saying that the Uchiha clan was, in truth, a clan with genuine love in their hearts—just misapplied.
But that sort of talk would only fool someone as simple-minded as Kagami…
If Hiruzen had transmigrated into an Uchiha, unless Tobirama could be sealed inside his body to talk things through slowly, it would truly be a waste of words to say even one extra sentence to him.
There was no other reason—he feared being cut down by the Flying Thunder God.
Hiruzen looked at the Hokage portraits in the office, his gaze fixed on Senju Tobirama's stern face and those red eyes, Uchiha-like in color.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
This was the ninja world—there were all kinds of techniques here…
Was it possible to resurrect his sensei?
But not under the identity of Senju Tobirama—rather, as a member of the Uchiha?
Hiruzen suddenly clenched his fist.
In fact, he had once considered the matter of reviving Senju Tobirama through Impure World Reincarnation…
Although the Impure World Reincarnation technique could not replicate a ninja's strength from when they were alive, for someone like Senju Tobirama—the foremost scientific mind of the ninja world—having a functioning brain was enough.
For Hiruzen, who wished to establish a "technological gap" and "technological hegemony" for Konohagakure, he longed intensely for Senju Tobirama to return and assist him.
It sounded somewhat like a reversal of the natural order, but the situation truly was so…
However, there were two problems.
First, in the Impure World Reincarnation state, the reanimated body lacked living flesh to nourish the soul. If it existed for only three to five days, it would still be manageable, but over a longer period it was effectively like air-drying the soul.
That was, after all, Konoha's Second Hokage…
Moreover, in such a state, Senju Tobirama would be incapable of carrying out effective work.
Second, there was a very realistic issue.
Hiruzen intended to develop Konohagakure—to strengthen it in a diversified manner, as quickly and efficiently as possible…
But there was a prerequisite: Konohagakure had to remain under his rule!
If Senju Tobirama himself were revived, setting aside the difficulty of the resurrection, based on Hiruzen's understanding of him, the Second Hokage would certainly attempt to become Konoha's power behind the throne!
It was not that Tobirama was obsessed with authority; rather, every figure of that caliber possessed an extremely strong sense of self.
In that case, the authority in Hiruzen's hands would inevitably be eroded.
For Hiruzen, who required "authority," this was utterly unacceptable.
But what if Tobirama were revived as a member of the Uchiha clan?
Then everything seemed to fall neatly into place…
All that would be needed was to arrange an appropriate identity for him—for example, an Uchiha survivor. Or, bolder still, directly claim that he was a "descendant of Uchiha Izuna"!
Wasn't his sensei quite familiar with Uchiha Izuna? For him, putting on such a disguise should not be difficult at all, right?
In that case, the best possible bridge of communication between the Hokage and the Uchiha would finally exist!
And if Tobirama were revived as an Uchiha, then by his very nature he would be unable to interfere excessively with Hiruzen's authority as Hokage.
Because, no matter what, the unified consensus of Konoha was the Will of Fire.
Given the antagonism between Senju Tobirama and the Uchiha clan, if the Hokage were to be revived in the body of an Uchiha, it would inevitably give rise to extremely disturbing associations in everyone's minds.
Killing wasn't enough—now you even seize bodies?
Therefore, if Senju Tobirama were truly revived as "Uchiha Tobirama," he could only live in Konoha as an Uchiha; he could never return to being the Second Hokage…
This secret had to remain buried forever!
—Sensei, I am the Hokage! You are just an Uchiha!
Even if he offered advice regarding Hiruzen's work, it would amount to nothing more than advice.
This idea had originally been nothing more than a fleeting thought sparked by seeing Tobirama's red eyes.
But once it had begun, it ran wild through Hiruzen's mind like a horse that had broken its reins…
He was already thinking about practical methods.
How could Senju Tobirama be revived…
No—how could Uchiha Tobirama be revived?
At this moment, a great many forbidden techniques surfaced in Hiruzen's thoughts—those related to the soul, those related to chakra…
He stared fixedly at Tobirama's portrait.
Slowly, step by step, he walked toward the Second Hokage.
And at that very moment, Danzō knocked on the door of the Hokage's office.
Behind him followed Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura…
"Come in!" Hiruzen's gaze was still fixed on the Second Hokage's portrait.
So much so that after the three of them entered and saw Hiruzen in this posture, they all froze in unison.
Hiruzen… do you miss Sensei that much?
The scene held for a while.
"Hiruzen, you—" It was Danzō who finally spoke, breaking the strange silence.
Hiruzen turned his head, his gaze meeting Danzō's. In his eyes was a coldness born alongside extreme rational thought. "Mm. Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone."
"I was thinking about something just now. Please, have a seat."
And yet the three of them stood there, stunned.
Hiruzen's bearing, his tone—especially that look in his eyes…
Why did it resemble Sensei so much?
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