On Konoha’s bustling shopping street, Kei smiled as he watched Oboro happily munching on a skewer of dango, her face practically glowing with delight.
Noticing his gaze, Oboro hesitated for a moment before reluctantly extending one of her skewers toward him.
“Would my lord like one?” She looked as though she was offering to share, but both her expression and her tone completely betrayed her.
She clearly had no intention of giving it away.
Watching the young girl, who guarded her food like a child, Kei could only smile helplessly.
Using the same tone an adult would use to coax a child, he said, “Go ahead.
I don’t really like dango.” Oboro looked at him in disbelief.
“How can anyone not like sweet dango?” Kei chuckled and affectionately ruffled her hair.
“Because only people whose hearts are bitter crave sweet things.” Oboro understood even less.
I’m not bitter at all.
I’m happy.
In a few years, I’ll become Lord Gennosuke’s bride.
Is there anything happier than that?
What she didn’t realize was that Kei wasn’t talking about her.
He was talking about the two groups who had unknowingly boxed them in on the shopping street.
In front of them stood Orochimaru and his disciple, Anko Mitarashi.
Behind them stood Uchiha Fugaku and his son, Itachi Uchiha.
Both Anko and Itachi loved dango.
And both of their lives would be filled with tragedy.
Looking at the scene before him—a respected master with his devoted student, a caring father with his obedient son—Kei couldn’t help but sigh as he thought about what awaited them in the future.
That sigh, however, filled Orochimaru’s heart with an unexpected sense of desolation.
So even this child can see how awkward my position has become…
As expected of someone who reached such a high position at such a young age.
He had risen to fame as a prodigy who fought the “Hanzo of the Salamander,” the legendary “Demigod of the Shinobi World,” while still in his youth.
He had commanded forces across multiple battlefronts and helped lead Konoha to victory during the Second Shinobi World War.
The village hadn’t forgotten him…
But very few people still remembered what he had accomplished.
Now, even that carefully staged “victory for both villages” had become the achievement everyone praised.
Peace had made people forget who had actually secured that peace.
I, Orochimaru—a commoner-born hero of the Second Shinobi World War—am now being placed on equal footing with Minato Namikaze.
He admitted that the young man possessed considerable talent.
But in terms of achievements?
What qualifications did Minato have to stand beside him?
Ever since Nawaki Senju—the younger brother of his close friend Tsunade and one of his own subordinates—had died before his eyes, Orochimaru had become far more obsessed with researching immortality than pursuing the title of Hokage.
But that didn’t mean Konoha could treat him this way.
He wasn’t asking for much.
Even if the village merely granted him a measure of dignity, he could accept the current situation.
Yet Konoha wouldn’t even give him that.
Orochimaru knew perfectly well that, despite his prestige, his cold and gloomy personality meant he was never the Third Hokage’s preferred successor.
In Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes, Jiraiya had always been the ideal candidate.
A hot-blooded commoner who started as a dead-last academy student, possessed genuine strength despite his flaws, and embodied the village’s ideals.
What better symbol could there be?
With the Ninja Academy producing more and more civilian shinobi every year, someone like Jiraiya becoming Hokage would strengthen their identification with the village.
It would give the expendable foot soldiers a beautiful illusion: If I devote my life to the village…
One day, I could become its leader.
What a wonderful future Hiruzen had planned for everyone.
Unfortunately, before the Hokage could sell that dream, Jiraiya had already been completely captivated by Mount Myōboku.
He had no interest whatsoever in becoming Hokage.
Instead, he pinned all his hopes for peace upon the so-called Child of Prophecy.
With Jiraiya refusing the position, Hiruzen had no choice but to cultivate someone else.
And so Minato Namikaze rose rapidly through the ranks.
Like Jiraiya, he was passionate.
Like Jiraiya, he came from common origins.
Like Jiraiya, he had an optimistic personality.
And like Jiraiya, he possessed enough strength to earn everyone’s respect.
The only thing Minato lacked was military achievement.
But wasn’t that the easiest thing to arrange?
Whenever a new generation needed to rise, every village needed accomplishments to justify it.
They simply had to cooperate behind the scenes and exchange a few victories.
Problem solved.
Truthfully, Orochimaru wasn’t even particularly opposed to that.
Compared to Danzō Shimura, who obsessed over becoming Hokage, Orochimaru was far more clear-headed.
Or perhaps someone whose status came from genuine achievements understood power better than someone whose authority existed only because the Hokage granted it.
Power had never flowed from the top downward.
It always flowed upward.
If your subordinates acknowledged you as their leader, then you were their leader.
If they didn’t…
Then even if you occupied the highest office, your orders wouldn’t make it past your own front gate.
A future Hokage with no real foundation…
So what if he married into the Uzumaki Clan?
He still had no people truly loyal to him.
Even if he became Hokage…
Wouldn’t he simply become a puppet manipulated by everyone else?
Perhaps that was the greatest difference between Orochimaru and Danzō.
No matter where Orochimaru went, followers gathered around him naturally.
Without mind-control techniques, very few people were willing to follow Danzō voluntarily.
So Orochimaru truly didn’t care that much about the Hokage’s seat.
But there was one thing the village’s politicians should never have done.
They should never have dragged Jiraiya into all of this.
That fool had no idea what was really happening.
Whether he got involved or not, the village elders, Danzō, and the leaders of every major clan would still support Minato’s ascension.
After all— Who wouldn’t want a passionate, idealistic leader who was easy to influence?
Minato’s rise was the consensus of every major power within Konoha.
But Jiraiya’s personal involvement left Orochimaru in an unbearably awkward position.
Behind the title of the Cold Lord, Orochimaru still possessed a fragile side.
A large part of that softness belonged to his comrades who had fought and nearly died beside him—Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Yet watching Jiraiya escort his disciple, Minato, everywhere to build political support drove a knife straight into that weakness.
Orochimaru knew someone was using that fool as a pawn.
He was even willing to forgive Jiraiya for it.
But the people who treated Jiraiya as a disposable tool…
Those people truly chilled his heart.
Holding Anko Mitarashi’s hand, Orochimaru lost himself in thought after seeing the expression on Uchiha Kei’s face.
Without realizing it, he ended up blocking Kei’s path.
Kei wasn’t traveling with only his personal guards.
Scattered throughout the area were his own subordinates.
Although they officially belonged to the Konoha Military Police Force, they wore distinctive black uniforms different from the standard issue.
Embroidered on their armbands were three bold characters: Shinsengumi.
The moment they saw their commander boxed in from both the front and rear, they reacted instantly.
It didn’t matter why.
It didn’t matter that one of the people involved was even the Uchiha Clan Head himself.
They couldn’t simply stand by.
In an instant, dark silhouettes appeared atop the surrounding rooftops.
The members of the Shinsengumi seized the high ground.
Their thumbs had already nudged the guards of their katana and wakizashi, leaving the blades slightly unsheathed and ready to draw at a moment’s notice.
They couldn’t help it.
Their commander was simply too reckless.
At every clan meeting, he loudly proclaimed: “If Konoha refuses to give the Uchiha fairness, then we fight.” “Fight them to the death.” “Fight a war that forces the entire village to remember the Uchiha’s name.” With a leader like that, everyone had learned to remain prepared for battle at all times.
Of course…
They were overthinking things.
Kei had absolutely no intention of sacrificing himself for the Uchiha Clan.
He merely adopted that stance because it was exactly what the clan wanted to hear.
Until he figured out how Itachi Uchiha, perhaps with the help of Obito Uchiha—if Obito was even involved at all—had managed to wipe out more than a thousand Uchiha without anyone noticing…
Every one of Kei’s declarations about war was nothing more than political intimidation.
After all…
Don’t judge people by what they say.
Judge them by what they do.
These days, everyone spoke of lofty ideals.
But in their hearts, they were calculating profits.
Even so…
Who would dare dismiss Kei’s threats?
Just like now.
No one actually knew what was happening.
Yet it wasn’t only the Shinsengumi who became tense.
Orochimaru’s own subordinates established a security perimeter around the area and even drove away the arriving ANBU.
The once-lively shopping district—and indeed, all of Konoha—seemed to fall into an uneasy silence.
Until someone learned the true purpose behind today’s meeting between these two men…
No one could relax.
And all of this…
Had begun simply because Kei’s guard, Oboro, liked eating dango…
…and happened to run into Orochimaru while he was buying dango with his disciple.