'Kage!'
The word suddenly flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.
Could Jie Uchiha already be a Kage-level powerhouse?
'Impossible. Absolutely impossible.' Hiruzen instinctively rejected the idea. Jie Uchiha was only ten years old. A ten-year-old Kage-level ninja was simply a fantasy.
Tossing the absurd thought to the back of his mind, Hiruzen began to ponder how to deal with the threat the boy posed. However, after thinking for a long time, he couldn't come up with a viable solution. Helpless, he could only shelve the issue of Jie Uchiha for the time being.
Right now, a far more severe problem awaited his attention.
Although the Third Great Ninja War had long since been declared over, Konoha, despite being the sole victorious nation, had yet to sign peace treaties with all the other hidden villages. Just recently, Hiruzen had received a letter from the Fourth Raikage. A Kumogakure delegation would be arriving in Konoha within a few days to negotiate the terms of their peace treaty.
If it were merely a simple signing ceremony, Hiruzen wouldn't be nursing such a headache. But based on his understanding of the Fourth Raikage, this delegation's visit to Konoha was definitely not going to be that straightforward.
After all, even during the war, it had taken Minato Namikaze defeating the Fourth Raikage and suppressing the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, combined with the heavy losses inflicted by the Konoha army, to force Kumogakure to reluctantly retreat back to the Land of Lightning.
Yet, even after conceding defeat, Kumogakure had never truly stopped. They constantly pulled little tricks behind the scenes, periodically dispatching small ninja squads across the border to pillage villages within the Land of Fire. Take Omoi, who recently raided the Land of Fire—Kumogakure claimed he was a rogue ninja, but who really knew the truth?
Pulling out the Fourth Raikage's letter to scrutinize it once more, Hiruzen finally looked up and spoke to the Anbu guarding the door. "Go invite the two elders and the Hokage's Assistant to my office."
It didn't take long for Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado to arrive together.
"Hiruzen, what do you need to discuss with us?" Koharu asked directly.
"Read this first. We can discuss your thoughts once Danzo arrives," Hiruzen said, handing the Raikage's letter to her.
The office fell silent. About five minutes later, Danzo Shimura slowly walked in, leaning on his cane with one arm hidden beneath thick bandages.
"Hiruzen, have you run into trouble again?" Danzo asked.
Hiruzen rested both hands on his desk and lowered his head slightly, his tone grave. "A Kumogakure delegation is arriving soon to sign a peace treaty. But I feel this matter isn't going to be simple, so I need your input."
"Hiruzen, remember that we are the victorious nation!" Danzo stated firmly. "If Kumogakure tries to pull any schemes, we'll just go to war again. If we can beat them once, we can beat them a second time."
As the darkness of Konoha, Danzo had acted as the village's Scapegoat Shadow for many things in his bid for the Hokage seat—a reputation he could never wash clean. But in one aspect, he was far superior to Hiruzen: Danzo was infinitely more decisive.
"There can be no more war," Hiruzen said, shaking his head. "Minato died on the Night of the Nine-Tails, and every major clan suffered heavy losses from which they still haven't recovered. If we start another war now, the village won't be able to muster enough troops. We'll be in true danger."
"Troops? Who says the village has no troops left? The Uchiha clan is the perfect candidate." A flash of hatred crossed Danzo's remaining eye.
It was the Uchiha clan who had caused him to lose his position as the Hokage's Assistant and forced his Root organization to disband. Although he had merely shifted from the shadows to even deeper underground—which neither entirely stripped him of his power nor significantly impacted his operations—the days of being criticized and universally despised were hard to swallow.
"The Uchiha clan? Will they even deploy their forces?" Koharu questioned with a frown.
Ignoring her entirely, Danzo spoke plainly to the man at the desk. "Hiruzen, you are the Hokage of this village. Ultimately, the Uchiha clan is just one of its many families."
After a moment of silence, Hiruzen nodded. "I understand. Then we will do as you suggest, Danzo."
"If you had listened to me earlier, Hiruzen, things wouldn't be this troublesome now." Danzo glanced at the intelligence report regarding Jie Uchiha resting on the desk, a cold, mocking sneer pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"Danzo, I am the Hokage," Hiruzen replied darkly, unfazed by the taunt.
"Hmph! You'll regret this, Hiruzen!" Danzo glared fiercely with his one good eye, then turned and strode out of the office.
In an instant, Hiruzen was the only one left in the room. He looked up at the row of portraits hanging on the wall. His gaze lingered on the youngest face for a long time before he let out a heavy sigh.
"Minato... if only you were still alive," he murmured softly. "Sensei... what should I do about the Uchiha clan?"
Back at the Root base, Danzo recalled the intelligence report on Hiruzen's desk and fell into a brooding silence.
"The Uchiha... an evil clan," he muttered. "A ninja clan like that shouldn't even exist."
Smirking inwardly, Danzo pulled a sheet of stationery from his desk. He casually scrawled a few lines, drawing a small, distinct snake near the signature line.
"Deliver this letter to the Land of Rice Paddies," he ordered the shadows of the room. "Someone will come to collect it."
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