Three days later.
Konoha Research Department.
Hiruzen stood with Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Hiruko at his side.
"Production and effectiveness of the 'Sage Region Pills' have already increased by fifty percent…"
"Samples of the Sage Region cosmetic line are also ready. They can be put into mass production. We selected a batch of ninja with some aptitude in medical ninjutsu and are training them through a senior-to-junior mentorship system to use chakra slow-release techniques."
Orochimaru reported to Hiruzen: "As for cloning technology, we can now relatively efficiently produce prosthetic bodies without rejection reactions, but the chakra capacity issue still cannot be resolved."
"Tsunade has also organized the application of Earth Grudge Fear for internal organ stitching. As long as it's not excessive blood loss or multiple organ failure, it can be used effectively for emergency treatment…"
"And the Chimera Technique prepared for Hizashi is also being perfected to the greatest extent possible. We're just waiting for news from his side."
Hearing this, Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction.
Seeing tangible research progress as long as money was invested—
that was extremely gratifying.
The return rate was already quite good.
"Sensei…"
"About the village's situation, aren't you going to convene a meeting and set a direction?"
Orochimaru spoke tactfully: "If this drags on, the nobles will grow dissatisfied, and the ninja will also start having their own thoughts…"
Hiruzen smiled.
"Set what direction? Let everyone talk first and see what each side is thinking… Can I cast genjutsu on all Konoha ninja and make them all believe what I say is right?"
"These past few days, debates have been nonstop in the village. I've already grasped the general mindset of the ninja."
It could be summarized in two points.
First, under the influence of the Will of Fire, many ninja believed that saving people was not wrong. In a gradually more open Konoha, quite a number of people held this view.
Second, the old-school perspective believed that if ninja were not strictly required to complete missions, some would inevitably exploit loopholes, and it would weaken their will, affecting combat effectiveness.
Hiruzen thought both sides made sense…
A compromise would suffice—by incorporating the extreme case of Uchiha Yashiro.
"How did you find out what the ninja are thinking?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"You'll understand when you become Hokage…"
What other method could there be?
The crystal ball, the Anbu, and the Root—using the full set together, the village was essentially transparent to him.
"Then what about the enemy mentioned in Uchiha Yashiro's report? How should we deal with him?"
Orochimaru continued.
"An enemy? Let's just call him one for now…" Hiruzen chuckled.
He had been thinking about how to moderately stage a conflict between ninja regulations and the Will of Fire—using an incident to push forward institutional reform within the village…
And now it had delivered itself to his door!
With a bonus opportunity to purge opposing nobles…
Killing two birds with one stone.
As for who this person actually was, Hiruzen had no idea.
But even if he had personally arranged it, it wouldn't have been better…
It was almost like his own Shadow Clone…
"The old rules carry strong inertia. Forcibly changing them through authority alone won't convince the people."
"A crisis is always a window for reform. Remember this: consensus can only be formed through conflict, not instilled out of thin air. You must learn to leverage force against force…"
Orochimaru listened with extreme focus.
Sensei was revealing the real substance now!
Just as Orochimaru was mentally preparing to commit it to memory, he heard the sound of rapid scribbling beside him.
Hiruko's eyes shone as he quickly wrote everything down in a notebook.
'Heh, that's convenient… I'll just borrow it later when I want to review,' Orochimaru thought, though he gradually came to appreciate Hiruko's behavior.
This wasn't flattery.
Some of Sensei's words truly required careful contemplation…
"I don't believe Yashiro is lying. I've reviewed his record—he was a responsible member of the Police Force, and after transferring into the ninja ranks, he also had a good reputation within the village."
"Then I must analyze this enemy's objective in order to deal with him…"
Orochimaru listened intently.
Hiruko and Tsunade did the same.
"To strike at such a moment—coincidence is highly unlikely."
"We can conclude that this mysterious individual has been observing Konoha for a long time. He knows about the series of recent events in the village and likely has deep ties to it."
"To casually suppress Uchiha Yashiro, without revealing any structured ninjutsu system—this level of combat power already surpasses Kakuzu. Even I might not handle it with such ease. He is an extraordinary expert."
"A person with such strength would not lack wealth or means of survival in the ninja world. His objective cannot be material."
"In my view, he is testing whether, as Konoha's material development advances rapidly, the Will of Fire has also kept pace. He simply used a conspiratorial method."
Following Hiruzen's line of reasoning, Orochimaru analyzed: "That makes sense! If it were an external village force, there would be no need to act so covertly. Their goals would only be intelligence, resources, or bloodline limits—they would act directly and ruthlessly, not hide their edge like this."
"At the very least, they would have taken Yashiro's Sharingan…"
Tsunade muttered: "What kind of lunatic is that? But in the ninja world… it actually feels pretty normal. There are plenty of people like that…"
Hiruko nodded in agreement.
"There are way too many obsessive ninja! Once someone becomes fixated, they tend to go to extremes and do things others can't understand…"
Tsunade and Orochimaru glanced at him at the same time.
So now you're an expert after being sick for so long?
Hiruko looked at them in confusion and said righteously: "What are you looking at? I'm not obsessive!"
Tsunade twitched her lips.
"Right, right… you're not obsessive!"
"Then who could he be?"
"A remnant elder from when the Senju disbanded? A Uchiha who left when the village was founded? Or perhaps a powerful survivor from the Land of Whirlpool who bears resentment toward Konoha…"
Orochimaru frowned, recalling Konoha's history.
He had read extensively.
Even before the village was founded, when the Uchiha and Senju made peace, some clan members chose to leave.
After Uchiha Madara defected, a few Uchiha followed him belatedly.
Even after Madara's death, they never returned—their whereabouts unknown.
When the Second Hokage disbanded the Senju, some clan members strongly resisted, and a small number left…
Then there was the matter of the Land of Whirlpool.
Even now, there were rumors across the ninja world of Uzumaki survivors, but they were only legends—whenever Anbu investigated, the trail vanished.
"Not necessarily from those clans. It could also be a ninja who never returned to the village after a war and obtained some rare opportunity…"
Tsunade said hesitantly.
She was projecting a bit of herself into it.
If her teacher hadn't suddenly become wise and decisive, she had even considered, in a couple of years, taking Dan's niece and wandering the ninja world, leaving the village behind…
If she had really done that, she would probably have kept a close watch on Konoha as well.
Just not to the point of using such extreme methods to test it.
"Konoha's history is basically half a history of people leaving…" Orochimaru thought through it and couldn't help but complain: "Why are there so many missing-nin? Isn't Konoha good enough?!"
This time, Tsunade and Hiruko looked at him silently.
You used to run around with Danzō despite being the Hokage's disciple—how good were you?
"What are you looking at? I've been Sensei's disciple since childhood—proper and upright!"
"I was gathering evidence of Danzō's illegal activities to help Sensei!" Orochimaru coughed lightly, but even he couldn't help laughing.
"Alright, that's all in the past…"
Hiruzen waved his hand.
"We must objectively acknowledge that the village took a detour before… With many clans in Konoha, it is natural that there are many strong individuals."
"And strong individuals have their own temperaments. Their actions inevitably follow their own convictions…"
"In the end, it was still that things weren't handled thoroughly enough before. This must be viewed dialectically."
Hiruko unconsciously took a deep breath.
The Hokage truly possessed a great character!
"Although this mysterious individual is powerful, he also has concerns."
"The fact that he does not dare reveal his combat system shows that his techniques and methods are distinctive. There are people and things in present-day Konoha that he fears."
"His motives are also subtle—he doesn't kill, doesn't injure, doesn't destroy the village, doesn't declare war. He's here to watch Konoha make a fool of itself, to test the Will of Fire, and to stir internal conflict…"
"A person like this is actually someone we have room to win over."
Hiruzen changed tone: "Besides, for a lone wolf like this, investing massive effort into tracking him yields very little…"
"Once things settle down, I will have Mito-sama and the Intelligence Division extract Yashiro's memories and analyze them frame by frame…"
"If he continues taking destructive actions, he will inevitably expose more of his trail. Only once we have more points of leverage to work from will an investigation yield twice the result with half the effort."
As the director of the ninja world's largest mental hospital…
Hiruzen had caught the scent of a patient in this mysterious man's actions…
And the very severe kind at that!
Orochimaru nodded in agreement.
"I understand, Sensei!"
"Then what about the nobles? Their protests are very loud right now…"
Hiruzen waved a hand.
"Loud? That's just a minority making the noise of a majority!"
"The Daimyō sent me an urgent letter immediately, explicitly stating that those condemning Konoha are absolutely not part of his faction. At least eighty percent of the nobles of the Land of Fire have drawn close to him because of the Sage Region Pills, which in other words means they are also inclined toward Konoha."
"That En Masamune was originally his greatest legal-political rival within the clan."
"The reason this still hasn't been suppressed is because I instructed him to let it play out."
Tsunade asked in confusion: "Why, Sensei? Wouldn't it be better to resolve it sooner?"
"Sensei wants the Daimyō to further identify which nobles oppose Konoha? To get them to jump out on their own and clean them all up in one go, making the Land of Fire even more unified…"
Orochimaru said with a faint smile: "Those nobles are always hiding themselves in ordinary times. They're not easy to find."
Hiruzen patted Orochimaru on the shoulder.
"As expected of my disciple. Ever since you were young, I knew you had the bearing of a Hokage. Now it seems that really is true…"
The corners of Orochimaru's mouth lifted slightly.
But then Hiruzen made a shocking move.
He took the Hokage hat from his own head and placed it on Orochimaru's, narrowing his eyes as he said: "Not bad… it suits you fairly well, doesn't it? What do you think, Tsunade, Hiruko…?"
Even someone as calm as Orochimaru froze at that moment.
Sensei, didn't you say you were going to keep going for another fifty years?
I'm not ready to become Hokage yet!
"It does suit him, but not as well as it suits you," Hiruko replied smoothly, without the slightest hesitation.
"Sensei, are you passing it on already? Isn't that too early…? I think you should keep going for at least another ten years. As for me, I think it suits me just fine!"
Tsunade boldly snatched the Hokage hat and put it on her own head.
Strangely enough, after Tsunade took the Hokage hat away, there was not the slightest trace of anger in Orochimaru's heart.
Instead, he let out a long breath of relief!
He did want to become Hokage, but not now…
"It suits you well enough too!" Hiruzen said with a smile, taking the Hokage hat back.
"I'm not making you Hokage right now, but you are going to manage the village for a few days."
"As for this mysterious enemy, we have no way to resolve that problem, so for now we'll solve the problems we can solve…"
"I'm going to make a trip to the capital of the Land of Fire. Guess I'll have to play big brother and go back him up myself…" Hiruzen joked, then continued: "On the other hand, I also need to talk with the nobles about the direction of the Land of Fire's future development, further bind the bureaucratic system and Konoha together, and take this opportunity to promote the Research Department's latest products."
"For these next few days, you'll take my hat and start by holding a few Konoha Committee meetings. Coordinate everyone's views, collect them, and then summarize them."
Hiruzen patted Orochimaru on the shoulder again, squeezing slightly harder in encouragement.
"Kid, go at it boldly. Don't be afraid of making mistakes! But remember this: you have to preside over the meeting with the mindset of a Hokage. You can't stand there like someone below the stage and openly lock horns with Danzō."
"A Hokage's duty, aside from being able to fight, is to coordinate and organize the resources and ideas of all sides, and fuse them into a combined force the village can use."
"That isn't simple. This will be good training for you, and you're still young, so don't carry yourself too high…" Hiruzen instructed him carefully.
For the first time in a long while, Orochimaru's emotions surged.
He looked at the hat in Hiruzen's hands and slowly raised his own hand.
The distance was clearly not far, yet even taking a small step forward felt weighty…
The obsession hidden in his heart was like a mist, disturbing his vision.
So much so that the Hokage hat reflected in his snake-like eyes also strangely became somewhat blurred, as if washed in glare…
"Enough, it's not as if I'm letting you be Hokage permanently. I still have a few more years to work!" Seeing Orochimaru's condition, Hiruzen shook his head with a laugh.
He placed the hat into the crook of Orochimaru's arm.
In Hiruzen's view, obsession was the strongest genjutsu in the ninja world…
Under the effect of obsession, even ninja as powerful as Hashirama and Madara probably would not have been able to break free of it.
"Hiruko, the detailed production report and testing report for the Sage Region Pills…"
Hiruzen turned and instructed him.
"I already prepared them for you, Hokage-sama! Also the production capacity and documentation for the Sage Region cosmetic line, prosthetic graft continuation, Earth Grudge Fear, and a whole series of related items…"
Hiruko naturally took out a file and presented it to Hiruzen with both hands.
"I figured you might ask, so I prepared a copy in advance!"
"You're going to show them to the nobles, right? Shall I go prepare several samples for you right away?"
Hiruzen froze for a moment. What a thoughtful person!
The moment he saw the Hokage's expression, Hiruko broke into a run to make the preparations, using the Body Flicker Technique he had honed over a lifetime, and returned in the blink of an eye.
"You, honestly… you really do understand me…"
"Thank you for your hard work, Hiruko!" Hiruzen said earnestly.
"Not hard at all, Hokage-sama. It's all what I ought to do!"
Hiruko gave a light cough.
"Though there is one matter I'd like to ask for your guidance on: how exactly should I teach Asuma?"
"You've already been in contact with Asuma? I was thinking that after he graduated, we'd first hold a formal ceremony of apprenticeship…"
Hiruzen said, somewhat surprised: "But I suppose that can still be made up for later… As for how to teach him, that's up to you. I trust you."
A flash passed through Hiruko's eyes.
The Hokage said he trusted him!
Recently, Hiruko had reached a new conclusion about Konoha's power structure…
If one wanted lasting prosperity and an easy life, drawing close to the current Hokage alone was not steady enough!
The steadiest course was to remain tightly at Sarutobi Hiruzen's side at all times!
Given Konoha's development trend, by the time Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped down, his prestige would surely be unimaginably great.
And as long as he gained the Third's approval, it would be like receiving a protective talisman. So long as he didn't make any major mistakes, no one would be able to touch him…
The role Hiruko had set for himself was to strive to become the Research Department's Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura…
"I will certainly pass on everything I know to Asuma!" Hiruko vowed solemnly.
After Hiruzen left, Orochimaru slowly placed the Hokage hat on his head.
Though in essence it was only an ordinary decorative object, it gave off an extremely complicated feeling…
"Do your best, Orochimaru."
Tsunade stretched lazily.
"I have a feeling this won't be easy at all, huh?"
Orochimaru neither agreed nor disagreed, merely shaking his head.
What could possibly be difficult about it?
...
The next day.
Following Hiruzen's instructions, Orochimaru convened a Konoha Committee meeting.
But the various Konoha Committee members who arrived did not seem nearly as well-behaved as when Hiruzen was present…
"Advisor, what's the meaning of Orochimaru calling this meeting?"
Outside the Hokage Building, Tenzō leaned close to Danzō's side and asked in a low voice, "Could it be that he said something to the Third-sama? No matter what, it still shouldn't be his place to speak…"
"You fought through countless battles alongside Hokage-sama!"
Isshin also walked over and, taking the opportunity to stir things up, said: "Exactly, Advisor. Sure, Orochimaru may do good work, but in terms of seniority… sigh. Although Seisui was a bit rude to you, personally I support old-school ninja like you…"
"You should pull yourself together!"
The other committee members also voiced their own opinions—people like Sakumo, Hizashi, the Ino-Shika-Chō trio, and other diehard Sarutobi Hiruzen loyalists.
It was not that they opposed Orochimaru. It was just that Hiruzen really had taken care of every side's interests.
Even if he were to step down, it should not be now!
Besides, the matter was delicate. Supporting Orochimaru right now just felt a bit strange…
A new Hokage meant a new inner circle. If there really were a change in leadership, it would disrupt the current balance.
After all, with public opinion in the village in such an uproar, if Sarutobi Hiruzen were not sitting there anchoring things in place, how could the situation possibly still remain one of struggle without rupture?
No one else had that kind of prestige!
As Danzō listened to the committee members, his heart gradually stirred…
He seemed to mishear everyone's support for Hiruzen as support for himself.
At once, Danzō straightened his chest and strode into the Hokage Building, the first to shove open the conference room door!
But the moment he entered, Danzō's expression changed instantly.
He saw Orochimaru seated high in the main seat.
And the advisor's seat that normally stood at the left hand of the main seat had been removed—there was no chair for him.
Danzō swept his gaze across the room, confirmed that Sarutobi Hiruzen was indeed not present, and immediately slipped into form.
Pointing straight at Orochimaru's nose, he began cursing him out in a harsh voice: "Orochimaru, you worthless bastard who got beaten by Hanzō and spent ten years researching the First Hokage's cells without producing a damn thing—what gives you the right to swagger around here?!"
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