Chapter 7: Tsunade: "Sensei, Your Heart is as Cold as the Second's!"
As Hiruzen finished his "confession," the three Sannin sat in a long, heavy silence.
The pieces were finally falling into place. Why had their teacher been so obsessed with conservative policies? Why had the "God of Shinobi" become a shadow of his former self, only to suddenly undergo a radical transformation?
It all made sense now.
Tsunade and Jiraiya shared a look, seeing the same mixture of guilt and realization in each other's eyes. They had both avoided the Hokage's seat for similar reasons. It wasn't just the paperwork; it was the suffocating shadow of their predecessors.
Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, was a literal god. His power was beyond comprehension.
Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, lacked his brother's raw divinity but possessed a mind that was light-years ahead of the rest of the world. Every system, every jutsu, and every policy that governed the ninja world today had been his creation. To the enemies of the Leaf, the Second was even more terrifying than the First. Hashirama was a man of peace; Tobirama was a man who would reanimate your dead family members and use them as suicide bombers just to win a skirmish.
Arata—in Hiruzen's body—watched them. He knew that even Jiraiya and Tsunade had looked at the Hokage's hat and wondered: Could I ever live up to that? Even a young Hiruzen, with all his talent, had clearly felt the same crushing weight.
Orochimaru's gaze had softened considerably. Unlike the other two, his sense of duty to the village was thin. He cared about his "family"—Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. To see the man who was both his master and surrogate father finally drop the mask of the "perfect leader" and show his scars... it touched a nerve Orochimaru didn't know he had.
He really does trust us, Orochimaru thought. The "Black Report" on his crimes had been dismissed with a wave of a hand. Hiruzen had chosen his student over the rules.
Arata took a long drag from his pipe, satisfied. By showing "weakness" to his inner circle, he had actually made his authority over them unbreakable. In a crowd, a leader must be an iron wall. But with his "sons and daughters," being human was the ultimate power play. It triggered their protective instincts.
"Sensei... you've carried so much on your own," Tsunade said softly, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "You should have told us. You shouldn't have pushed yourself to the point where death felt like the only exit."
"Lord Hokage, don't count me out!" Jiraiya barked, his voice thick with emotion. "I might be the 'idiot' of the team, but I can carry my share of the weight! You just give the word!"
Orochimaru added a simple, quiet nod. "I'm with you, Sensei."
Hiruzen smiled. "Good. With the three of you behind me, I feel like I can actually get things done. But let's be real—Konoha is a mess."
"The first problem: Internal Factionalism. The Great Clans don't trust the administration. The Hyūga are isolated, and the Uchiha are one bad day away from an uprising. Even the smaller clans like the Inuzuka and Aburame are cooperative, but they aren't integrated."
"Why?" Hiruzen asked, throwing the question to the table.
"Because they don't have the Will of Fire?" Jiraiya guessed, trying to sound profound.
Hiruzen snorted. "My boy, that's an S-Rank forbidden jutsu right there—the 'Revoke Their Ninja License' jutsu. You're basically saying anyone who disagrees with the government is a traitor. That's how you start a civil war, not fix a village."
Tsunade burst out laughing. "Hear that, Jiraiya? Even Sensei thinks you're a zealot."
Orochimaru leaned back, his eyes narrowing. "The real reason is stagnation. The glass ceiling. The village leadership is a closed circle."
"The First passed it to the Second. The Second passed it to his student, our Sensei. The other seats are held by his teammates. Even the Nara clan, the smartest of the bunch, are essentially just the administration's footstools."
Orochimaru's serpent-like pupils scanned his teammates. "If you're a clan leader looking at that setup, you don't see a path to the top. You just see a monarchy in everything but name. Why would you give 100% to a system that will never let you lead?"
Tsunade shifted uncomfortably. As the granddaughter of the First and Second, she was the ultimate "insider." Hearing Orochimaru lay it out so coldly made her realize just how much of a "Royal Family" they really were.
"Exactly," Hiruzen nodded. "The upward mobility in this village is non-existent. We need to show the clans and the commoners that we are sincere about sharing power."
"Does that mean letting the Uchiha into the inner circle?" Tsunade asked, her brow furrowed. "Or the Hyūga? If they get a seat at the table and use it to push their own agendas, it could tear the village apart."
Jiraiya looked at her in surprise. Since when did Tsunade start thinking about high-level politics?
"We have to stratify the leadership," Hiruzen explained. "The current 'Council' is too small. I'm proposing a new Upper Jonin Council. A group of about twenty elite shinobi who are given better pay, administrative power, and a direct vote on village policy."
"If they want to fight, we give them combat resources. If they want to lead, we put them in management. We solve the glass ceiling problem for eighty percent of the clan leaders in one move."
"And the high council?" Orochimaru asked.
"A Seven-Seat Cabinet," Hiruzen replied. "Myself, Danzo, Orochimaru, a representative for the neutral clans, and Sakumo Hatake—to represent the common-born shinobi."
"That leaves two seats open. The carrots. We leave those seats dangling in front of the Uchiha and the Hyūga. But we don't give them away for free."
Jiraiya blinked. "Wait, but the Hyūga are still under that 'Main House/Branch House' nonsense. How do we pick one?"
"We don't," Hiruzen smirked. "I've already brought Hizashi Hyūga into the Anbu. By giving the Branch House a direct line of communication to the Hokage, I've just created a third faction within the Hyūga clan. The Main House can't punish him without attacking my personal guard, and the Branch House will see him as their champion."
Tsunade slammed her hand on the table, though she was grinning. "Oh my god... Sensei, you're a devil! That's just like something my Great-Uncle Tobirama would do! You're splitting them from the inside!"
Jiraiya shivered. "Note to self: Never get on the Old Man's bad side."
"It's a good start," Orochimaru admitted, his voice full of admiration. "But a system like that requires massive resources. Reforming the ranks, paying the Upper Jonin, pacifying the elders... it takes money. Our treasury is nearly empty. Is the Daimyo going to give us a raise?"
Hiruzen's smile turned predatory. "The Daimyo is rich, sure. But the Lords—the minor nobility and the merchant kings—they are the ones sitting on the real gold. We aren't going to ask for a raise."
"We're going to rob them?" Jiraiya asked, horrified.
"No, Jiraiya," Tsunade sighed. "You really are an idiot. We're going to sell them something."
Hiruzen reached into his pouch and pulled out a small, brown ball of compressed herbs and clay. He set it on the table.
The Sannin leaned in. "What is it?" Jiraiya asked. "A bomb?"
"This," Hiruzen said with the tone of a master salesman, "is the result of years of secret research into the First Hokage's Regeneration Cells, refined by the notes of the Second Hokage, and formulated by the world's greatest medic, Tsunade, and the premier researcher, Orochimaru."
"It has been safety-tested by the legendary Mito Uzumaki herself and is endorsed by the Three Great Sage Regions: Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, and the Shikkotsu Forest."
Hiruzen leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. "It is a specialized tonic designed to rejuvenate the body, eliminate chronic fatigue, prolong life, and—most importantly for the aging Lords of the Land of Fire—massively increase 'stamina' and virility."
The Sannin stared at the dirt ball.
"Sensei..." Orochimaru whispered, "Are you telling us we're going to sell 'Male Enhancement' pills to the nobility?"
"Call it the 'Hokage's Restoration Tonic,'" Hiruzen corrected. "Between the 'God of Shinobi' branding and the promise of eternal youth, those fat Lords will be trampling each other to hand us their gold. We'll be the richest village in history by the end of the year."