The Hokage Office was filled with the smell of smoke.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind that wide desk, holding a report with a furrowed brow.
The desk was piled high with a large amount of official business that needed to be processed; this was the daily routine the Hokage had to do every day.
He rubbed his temples and picked up his pipe to take a couple of puffs.
This thing wasn’t a pleasure anymore; it was keeping him alive.
“Come in.” He said without raising his head.
The door opened, and an Anbu Ninja wearing an animal mask flashed in and knelt on one knee.
“Hokage-sama.”
“Speak.” Hiruzen put down the report, “Is there any movement on the Uchiha side?”
“Yes.” The Anbu’s voice was flat, “The Ninja Academy’s first practical combat assessment has concluded, and the new generation of the Uchiha Clan… performed exceptionally well.”
“Exceptionally well?” Hiruzen raised his eyelids, “In what way?”
“Obito, Class 1-A, defeated Uchiha Aoki in the taijutsu assessment. Aoki’s father is a Jonin who has received systematic training since childhood.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow, “Obito? That… child who is always late?”
“Yes. But in this assessment, he used a brand new defensive taijutsu, taking Aoki’s full-strength blow head-on before counterattacking to win.”
“A new taijutsu?” Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and took another puff of smoke.
“What else?”
“And Uchiha Makoto,” the Anbu said, “Class 1-A, scored 80 on the theory assessment, and smoothly defeated his opponent in the practical assessment.”
Many people publicly recognized him as the strongest genius in the first grade.
The office fell silent for a few seconds.
There was only the subtle crackle of tobacco burning in the pipe.
“Uchiha Makoto…” Hiruzen Sarutobi muttered the name, “How is his true talent?”
“From what we can see, it’s very strong,” the Anbu replied.
“Undefeated in actual combat, his taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and tactical awareness far surpass those of his peers. But…”
“But what?”
“But he still hasn’t reached the level Uchiha Fugaku was at back then.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
If he hasn’t reached Fugaku’s level, then it’s fine.
A genius like Fugaku only needed one per generation.
If two appeared, Konoha wouldn’t be able to handle it well.
“Continue observing,” he said.
“Especially that Uchiha Makoto. Report back once a week.”
“Yes.”
The Anbu saluted and prepared to leave.
“Wait.” Hiruzen Sarutobi called out to him, “Find out who taught Obito that’self-created taijutsu’.”
“It’s already being investigated. Preliminary judgment is that it may be related to Uchiha Makoto; the two have been getting very close recently.”
“Uchiha Makoto…” Hiruzen Sarutobi repeated the name once more, “Alright, go ahead.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
The Anbu disappeared.
Only Hiruzen Sarutobi was left in the office, along with that endless pile of paperwork.
He picked up his pipe, and just as he took a puff, the door was pushed open again.
This time without knocking.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t need to look to know who it was.
In all of Konoha, there was only one person who dared to enter the Hokage Office without knocking.
“Danzo,” he said without raising his head, “Remember to knock next time.”
“Waste of time.” Danzo Shimura walked in leaning on a cane, half his face wrapped in bandages, the exposed eye as sharp as a hawk’s.
“I heard another genius has appeared on the Uchiha side?”
“Your news is certainly well-informed,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
“I have my people in the Anbu,” Danzo said matter-of-factly.
“Obito, Uchiha Makoto. Two six-year-old kids, one apparently able to create his own taijutsu, the other able to make an opponent directly kick and injure their own foot.”
“Hiruzen, don’t you think this is dangerous?”
“What’s dangerous about it?” Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe.
“Just two kids.”
“Kids?” Danzo sneered.
“Uchiha kids can do this at six. What about when they are sixteen? Twenty-six? Who in Konoha will be able to suppress them by then?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t answer.
He knew what Danzo wanted to say.
All these years, Danzo had been saying the exact same things.
“The Uchiha Clan had Fugaku, Yashiro, Inabi in the previous generation, a bunch of Jonin.” Danzo walked to the window, looking out toward the Uchiha compound in the distance.
“If several more genius Ninjas appear in the new generation… Hiruzen, tell me, is this normal?”
“Konoha needs geniuses,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
“What Konoha needs are obedient geniuses.” Danzo turned around, his single eye staring at him.
“Uchiha geniuses never listen.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a moment and asked in return,
“Then what do you want?”
“Control,” Danzo said.
“Talented Uchiha should either be nipped in the bud or kept in our hands. I suggest choosing the latter and letting them join Root.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, “Danzo, do you think the Uchiha will agree?”
“They don’t need to agree, they just need to do it ‘voluntarily’.”
“Voluntarily how? Using genjutsu? Drugs? Or threatening their families?” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s voice turned cold.
“Danzo, this is Konoha, not your Root.”
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Danzo retorted.
“Let them grow unchecked? Regret it only when they get so strong we can no longer control them?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t speak.
He picked up his pipe, took a puff, and then another.
“Danzo,” he finally spoke, “Do you know what Konoha’s current situation is?”
Danzo didn’t answer.
“Shodai(1st)-sama is dead, Uchiha Madara defected, and Nidaime(2nd)-sama also died in battle.”
“It hasn’t been many years since we went through the Second World War. Today’s Konoha is long past being the Konoha that could keep the Four Great Nations from raising their heads back then.”
“Kumogakure is making restless moves at the border, and Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Hidden Mist—which one of them isn’t eyeing us like a tiger watching its prey?”
“We’ve constantly been in battles with other Ninja villages; we can’t afford internal strife, not even the slightest bit.”
“So you’re just going to let the Uchiha grow in power?” Danzo asked.
“It’s not letting them grow unchecked,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
“It’s buying time. Konoha needs time to recover its vitality, and needs the new generation to grow. They are all Konoha’s future; what we should do is not control them, but guide them.”
“Guide?” Danzo scoffed.
“Hiruzen, you’re too naive. The Uchiha bloodline flows with the genes of betrayal; Nidaime(2nd)-sama said so himself.”
“Nidaime(2nd)-sama also said that the Uchiha are part of Konoha,” Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him.
“Danzo, don’t forget, Uchiha Kagami was your teammate and mine as well, and he died in battle for Konoha.”
Danzo fell silent.
The light in that single eye flickered.
“Kagami was an exception,” he said finally.
The two stared at each other.
The air was filled with the smell of smoke and something much heavier.
“I won’t agree to it,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said finally.
“Let Uchiha Makoto and Obito grow up normally at the academy. The Anbu will keep an eye on them, but it’s limited to watching. Danzo, I won’t allow you to mess around.”
Danzo stared at him for a long time.
Then, he smiled.
That smile was cold and hard, like a stone in winter.
“Hiruzen, you’re still the same old you,” he said.
“Indecisive and overly sentimental. One day, you will regret this.”
With that, he turned and walked out leaning on his cane.
When he reached the door, he paused for a moment.
“Oh right,” he didn’t look back.
“That Uchiha Makoto, I’ll send someone to make contact with him. Just contact, nothing else—that’s fine, right?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t speak.
Danzo took his silence as tacit consent.
The door closed.
The office grew quiet again.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his chair, looking out the window.
“Uchiha Makoto…”