"So it's… like this."
Senju Hikaru stared at the report in his hand, his expression genuinely strange. He hadn't expected a twist like this.
Uchiha Shin… was Uchiha Saya's grandfather.
Yes—this file was the full background report on Uchiha Shin. The old man had sought Hikaru out, and he clearly had his own agenda. So verifying Shin's history, connections, and political stance was necessary.
Besides, Shin was a "dove."
And Uchiha doves were the dangerous kind—fanatics in their own way. Dealing with them carelessly wasn't just reckless; it was irresponsible.
This report contained far more than Hikaru expected—especially the part he was most curious about: how Shin had even found him in the first place.
Now it made sense.
"So it was Saya…"
Hikaru rubbed his brow. No wonder that girl had been assigned to follow the Uchiha main group to the Land of Water—her identity protected her. She was never going to be sent somewhere truly lethal.
And her attempt to get into the Medical Department… was probably her grandfather's hand at work.
Shin wanted a clean, visible channel to Konoha's upper ranks.
After all, on paper, the Medical Department looked easier to approach than ANBU—
—but in reality, the difficulty was comparable.
The report was also… oddly considerate.
Whoever compiled it likely knew Hikaru's relationship with Uchiha Saya, so they dug into her history too—probably to see whether her closeness with Hikaru was orchestrated by Shin from the beginning.
The conclusion: no such connection.
Hikaru agreed. Even without the report, he wouldn't believe Shin had "invested" in him back then.
At the Academy, Hikaru had been nothing more than an average "civilian kid," not outstanding, not mysterious.
And with Uchiha pride being what it was, why would they bother grooming a nobody?
Unless they could see the future?
"That's… quite something."
Hikaru exhaled, half amused, half irritated.
He had threatened Saya's grandfather.
And on top of that, he had planted a seed of rebellion inside the old man's head.
The irony was almost comical.
But he stopped thinking about it.
What was done was done.
And honestly—his "advice" wasn't purely malicious.
Someday, Shin might even thank him for it.
He finished reading, then calmly set the report alight.
ANBU documents had two fates: archive them—or destroy them.
Which one you chose depended on the target, and the value of the intel.
Uchiha Shin was an Uchiha elder. Quietly probing that clan's internal structure was not something you wanted leaking.
And since Hikaru was the one holding the file, its end was his call.
He watched the paper curl into ash.
Then he turned to the second report.
"Land of Hot Water — Hidden Hot Water Village requests aid. Possible villagers worshipping an unknown evil sect."
Hikaru skimmed it and immediately extracted the core.
The request itself was normal. The Land of Fire bordered the Land of Hot Water, so asking Konoha made sense.
Yes, Hot Water also touched the Land of Lightning—
—but in terms of reputation, the "winner" of the Third Great Ninja War still looked like Konoha, not Kumogakure.
Even if the reality was that the Cloud had withdrawn early and preserved enormous strength… small villages didn't always understand that nuance.
But the phrase "unknown evil sect" made Hikaru's face go faintly weird.
Are they talking about Hidan?
Strictly speaking, intel like this shouldn't have ended up in Konoha's hands.
Otherwise, years later, Asuma wouldn't have walked blindly into Hidan and Kakuzu's trap and died that stupidly.
"Did ANBU fail to locate him, so the mission got sealed as a 'failed case'?"
Hikaru leaned back, thinking.
He still remembered the rough outline of Hidan's story.
The Hidden Hot Water Village was also known as "the village that forgot war."
After the war ended, they cut funding to their ninja system—something Hikaru never understood.
A shinobi force was part of a nation's defense backbone.
Weakening it voluntarily was insanity.
And Hot Water wasn't poor—it was wealthy.
But that policy created a perfect outcome for someone like Hidan, who craved bloodshed.
At the same time, a strange new cult emerged in the Land of Hot Water.
Hikaru couldn't recall the exact name with certainty, but it was something like—
Jashinism.
In any case, it was an evil religion. The doctrine was basically: kill everyone around you.
Any sane person would recognize it as poison.
But it "validated" Hidan perfectly—like the cult was written for his twisted will.
So the village paid the price.
Hidan, furious at their peace-minded softness, began slaughtering them with his curse techniques.
Then he became a missing-nin and later joined Akatsuki.
Hikaru had written notes on all of them—potential enemies.
He wouldn't forget.
"So… are we already at the point where the Hot Water Village is about to be wiped out?"
He set the report down.
If the timeline had reached that stage, then ANBU should at least have retrieved bodies and investigated.
But canon history suggested Konoha never had solid intel on Hidan.
Which implied something else:
Maybe it wasn't time yet.
Maybe Hidan hadn't acted fully—
—but he had already made contact.
And if that was true…
Hikaru couldn't sit still.
If Hidan had already learned—or begun learning—the immortality ritual, then his value skyrocketed.
Not because Hikaru liked him.
But because an "unkillable" tool could be used in ways most people wouldn't dare imagine.
A few days later, at a side gate of Konoha, Hikaru departed with the Senju four-man cell.
Once he understood what was happening in the Land of Hot Water, he had made his decision: he would go personally.
Now that he had decided to intervene in the Nine-Tails incident—and extract maximum profit from it—Minato's survival became the core pivot.
If Minato died, everything snapped back to the original track. That wasn't what Hikaru wanted.
But if Minato lived and continued ruling smoothly… Hikaru would have to wait far too long. That didn't suit him either.
That was why Senju Renge's answer mattered so much:
Intervene—take immediate gains, secure future gains, and still reach your final goal.
Hikaru had power now.
He had the right to act.
And he had special methods—like his Yang Release ability to draw out life-force, a potential lifeline in extreme circumstances.
So Hikaru set a brutal, precise target for himself:
Minato must not die. But Minato also must not remain firmly seated as Fourth Hokage.
If Minato lived, it kept Hiruzen cautious. It also let Hikaru collect what he needed.
Future benefits were obvious too—alignment.
If Hikaru stood close to Minato, the clans would see him as not part of Hiruzen's camp, clearing a mountain of long-term suspicion.
As for the Hokage seat…
A living Fourth Hokage who, for "various reasons," could no longer effectively govern—
—and a Third Hokage who couldn't regain full control—
—that kind of power vacuum inevitably produced a Fifth Hokage.
Conquest and governance were different crafts.
Hikaru remembered that lesson well.
He wasn't just "taking power."
He was timing power.
"What I need is a gap," Hikaru thought, eyes cold beneath his mask. "A gap where Minato can't rule, and Hiruzen returns—then I use that window to build force fast enough to push him down."
But there were obstacles—especially how exactly to handle Minato's decision-making during the Nine-Tails crisis.
At first, Hikaru considered giving Minato subtle guidance: no Reaper Death Seal, just re-seal the Nine-Tails back into Kushina.
And with Hikaru's "medical" methods, maybe even Kushina could be kept alive—if the balance was controlled carefully.
But realistically, with both of them impaled and time collapsing into seconds… Minato might not change course.
Especially since Hikaru didn't plan to reveal his healing methods.
"So I need a substitute," he decided. "Someone who isn't afraid to die—someone who can pry open the Reaper's belly."
In the shinobi world, everyone feared death—including Hikaru.
Finding someone willing to die for a plan wasn't easy.
There were rare exceptions, like Orochimaru—
—but those came with their own problems.
And Hikaru had already made enemies like Kakuzu, and didn't have money to buy a death from him even if he tried.
Hidan had crossed Hikaru's mind before—
—but the timeline for Hidan was too vague.
Hikaru never knew exactly when the massacre happened.
Now a mission request had landed right in his hands.
If he ignored it, he'd be a fool.
"This intel went to every division," Hikaru thought with a faint smile. "But they won't choose to go personally like I will."
He'd spent days clearing the path—meeting people, feeding them the right reasons.
To Minato: the division needed time for training, and Hikaru had space to handle an external mission.
To Hiruzen: Hikaru needed achievements to repay "the Hokage's trust."
Back and forth, and finally he secured permission.
Honestly, Hikaru was starting to feel the itch to stop pretending around Hiruzen entirely.
But it still wasn't time.
He was only a division captain.
A true break required two conditions:
First—ANBU must become his voice.
Second—Hiruzen must commit a public, undeniable mistake that earned widespread resentment.
The first would take time.
The second…
Hikaru remembered the Hyūga incident in the future.
That alone could shake the village.
"But for now…" he thought, stepping past the gate. "Handle what's in front of you."
He watched the Senju four finish their handoff with the gate guard. Hikaru adjusted his mask and moved out first.
At the same time, Kakashi's squad was departing too—
—and with them, a special passenger:
Pakura.
Hikaru didn't trust leaving her behind in ANBU custody.
Not with Danzō lurking in the dark.
And Hikaru had zero intention of handing Pakura—or anyone—over to Danzō.
If Hikaru was leaving the village, he needed his pieces secured.
So Kakashi would escort (and test) her—
—and show her the truth she could no longer unsee.
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