"I missed you too, Ayaka." Izuna hugs her and pats her head.
"Ara… Izuna-kun you are back?" Aiko walks from the kitchen.
"I am back Mother."
He walks inside the house with Ayaka clinging to him.
"Onii-san… play with me."
Ayaka drags him to the backyard. Izuna helplessly shakes his head and follows her.
"Look… look Onii-san." Ayaka takes out a toy shuriken from her pocket and throws it towards a target.
Swoosh…
The Shuriken hits the target right in the center.
Wow…
Izuna claps his hands in praise.
"Hehe… I am awesome right Onii-san."
Ayaka folds her small hands and raises her head high in pride.
"Yes, my Ayaka is awesome." Izuna cheers her.
"Hehe… it is nothing… nothing. I can do much more."
Izuna pats her head.
"Yes… yes. Ayaka is the strongest." Izuna tosses her up in the air and catches her.
Hehe…
"It's so fun… Onii-san." Ayaka giggles in happiness.
"Ne… Ne… Nii-san… Shisui and Itachi Nii-san told me… you are the strongest Ninja of the village. Ayaka also wants to be strong like Onii-san. So teach Ayaka some jutsu."
"Ayaka, you are only three years old now. You haven't unlocked your chakra yet. So, I can't teach any ninjutsu to you. Wait for a year and I will teach you many cool new jutsus."
"No… no… I want to learn them now…"
Ayaka pleads with her puppy eyes.
"Aww… so cute." Izuna's heart melts from her expression.
Sigh…
"Ok… then… I will help you unlock your chakra and I will teach you the signature jutsu of the Uchiha clan."
"Yay… Onii-san is so awesome."
Ayaka jumps on the ground and dances in happiness.
Sigh…
Izuna shakes his head and stops her.
"Ok… ok sit still. I will unlock your chakra."
Ayaka silently sits on the ground and closes her eyes.
After a few minutes,
Izuna takes out a chakra paper from his pocket and passes it to Ayaka.
"Ok… now let's see your chakra nature. Try to infuse your chakra in this chakra paper."
"Ok!"
Ayaka nods her head and infuses some chakra in the paper.
Whoosh…
The paper slits into four parts. One part of the paper catches fire and turns into ashes… the second part gets soaked with water… the third part crumbles with many creases and the last part crumbles into dust.
"Woah… that's so amazing." Ayaka claps her hand.
Shock appears on Izuna's face as he stares at the paper with wide-eyes.
Ayaka notices his expression and asks him.
"What's the matter… Onii-san? What happened? Did Ayaka did something wrong?" Ayaka's eyes turn teary.
"No… no… nothing is wrong. Instead Ayaka did very well." Izuna calms her down.
'Incredible! I never expected Ayaka to be born with all elemental chakra affinities and her chakra reserves are quite high for an Uchiha almost rivaling that of an Uzumaki. Looks like… another genius is born in the Uchiha clan.'
A smile appears on Izuna's face as he pats Ayaka's head.
"Ayaka… you are a genius."
"Huhu… yes, I am." Ayaka puts her tiny hands around her head and proudly raises her head.
"One day… I will become as strong as Onii-san."
"Hai… hai… now let me teach you your first jutsu."
Izuna lifts her and places her on his back as he flickers towards the Uchiha lake.
He places her down and walks towards the lake.
"I will teach you the signature technique of the Uchiha clan."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu"
Izuna slowly makes some hand signs and spews out a giant fireball from his mouth to demonstrate the technique.
"Did you get it?"
He turns towards Ayaka and asks her.
"Yes… now it's my turn."
Ayaka walks in front of the lake.
She makes some hand signs according to her memory.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu"
She spews out a gigantic fireball which vaporizes the entire lake.
"I did it." Ayaka clenches her fist as she raises them in the air.
Woosh…
Her vision turns blurry as her head spins. Izuna instantly catches her and creates a bed for her from Wood Style.
"This silly girl. She used up all of her chakras in that last jutsu. Looks like I have to teach chakra control to her first."
Izuna gently caresses Ayaka's face as he infuses some Nature energy to rejuvenate her.
"She did it on her first try. Her talent and potential are on par with Itachi perhaps even greater… I bet she will be as strong as Grandfather in the future."
Izuna shakes his head and carries her over to their house.
---------------------
Inside the Hokage Office,
Izuna stands in front of the Hiruzen as he passes a scroll to him.
"The Fourth Mizukage of the Kiri was being manipulated by the very same person who caused the Nine-tails Incident in Konoha. He is a hidden member of Akatsuki and their aim is world dominance.
The group wants to create true peace in the shinobi world by destroying all the Hidden villages."
Izuna reveals the facts to Hiruzen.
Sigh….
Hiruzen rubs his forehead in contemplation as he reads the report.
"Konoha signed a peace treaty with the Kirigakure, as the rest of Hidden villages didn't like the idea of an alliance. But it is fine this way too… at least there won't be an unnecessary war in the future."
Hiruzen rolls up the scroll and places it on his table.
"As for the Masked Man whom you talked about… I can only ask you to monitor them. Jiraiya is keeping tabs on Orochimaru so he doesn't have a chance to look after other affairs."
Sigh…
Hiruzen sighs again.
"Old man… today I will beat you up for sure."
A short spiky brown hair kid with blue eyes and blush marks on his cheeks opens the door and jumps towards Hiruzen.
Hmm…
Izuna stares at the kid for a sec before ignoring him completely.
Haah…
The Kid runs towards Hiruzen before tripping on the floor and hitting his head on the floor.
Waah…
The Kid cries as he held his head.
Sigh…
"Konohamaru… I am busy with work right now. I will play with you later." Hiruzen rubs his forehead.
"No… I want to play now." The Kid throws a tantrum.
Creak…
The door of the Office opens and a female anbu enters the room. She grabs Konohamaru and apologizes to Hiruzen.
"I am sorry for bothering you… Hokage-sama."
"It's fine." Hiruzen waves his hand in dismissal.
The Anbu drags Konohamaru out of the room by his ear.
Ouch… ouch…
"That hurts… Mom!"
Konohamaru yells in pain.
Izuna silently stares at their interaction as he remarks.
"It's time for you to step down from your position as the Hokage. Four years have passed since that incident… the village has stabilized by now… and I am sure… you are also tired of the position."
Sigh…
Hiruzen sighs again.
"Were you able to convince Tsunade?"
"Yes… she is ready to become the Fifth Hokage. I have talked with her. I will fetch her soon."
Hmm…
Hiruzen nods his head.
"The old age has caught up to me. I am not as capable as I was in my younger days. It's time to pass the 'Will of Fire' to the new generation. Why don't you become the Next Hokage instead of Tsunade?"
Hiruzen questions Izuna.
"That won't do." Izuna shakes his head.
"The Hokage position is such a drag. I won't get enough time for my training."
Hmm…
"You sound like… Shikaku Nara. Fair enough… then fetch Tsunade and I will hold a meeting with the Daimyo and the Elder council and will retire from the position."
Hiruzen removes the Hokage's hat from his head and places it on the table.
"Very well, I will fetch Tsunade."
Shoom…
Izuna's body disperses into countless particles of light as he disappears from his place.
Hiruzen takes out the crystal ball from his drawer as he stares at it with a conflicted gaze.
"Looks like… this is the end of our long relationship. Sigh…"
He stows away the crystal ball and walks out of the Hokage Office.
---------------
In an Underground hideout just outside the Konoha,
Izuna calmly stands in the center as a figure bows in front of him.
"What should I do next… leader?" The figure asks him.
"Pride… you are the first member of the Shadow group. Other members will soon join us in the future. But for now, you have only one task… search for the traces of an organization called Kara.
Don't reveal yourself to them under any circumstance. No matter what it is. You just have to search for their traces. Don't engage with any of the members of this organization."
"Yes… Leader." The Pride nods his head as he flickers out from the hideout.
"Yagura Karatachi… now called Pride is the first member of the Shadow group."
Izuna stares at Pride's back and makes amendments to his plan.
"My Organization would have two branches… the Light and the Shadow… or the Virtue and the Sin. The members of the Light group will work in the light of the shinobi world whereas the Shadow group will stay hidden from sights like a shadow as they will lurk in the darkness of this world."
Snap…
Izuna snaps his finger as the Sin Grimoire floats in front of him.
"I can trust the members of the Light Group since they are a part of my family and friends, but the same can't be said about the Shadow group."
Whoosh….
The pages of the Grimoire flips open as a seal appears on one of the pages.
--------------------
A/N:- People who are wondering if we missed some chapters in the Land of water arcs. Then yes, I haven't explained some part about the fate of the Fourth Mizukage, but I will do it later in a side chapter dedicated to Yagura and his new identity. TBH... the Land of Water arc turned out to be longer than I expected it to be.
Also, the cannon has almost officially started. Timeline wise we are two years from the Naruto cannon start. There are a few major events which we will cover and move on to Naruto.