"Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, follow me."
Through just a glance, Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage, signaled that he was responsible for delivering the experimental materials to Orochimaru, while the Third Hokage was tasked with explaining the light curtain situation to the three of them.
The four of them walked in silence to the Hokage's office. Once there, the Third Hokage pointed to a chair in the corner and said, "Pick any chair, sit down, and we'll talk."
They each picked a chair and moved it over to the desk, then looked attentively at the Third Hokage.
"Where should I start?"
The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe and, after a brief pause, continued, "Do you know that ever since the Chunin Exams, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and I have been meeting in this office at 8 PM every two weeks?"
"I heard something about it from Naruto," Kakashi nodded, taking over the conversation. "He mentioned a magical light curtain in the Hokage's office. He said the people inside the curtain are funny and nice to listen to. Naruto really likes watching it. Sandaime-sama, is this the light curtain you want to tell us about?"
"Yes, that's the one. The light curtain appears every two weeks at exactly 8 PM. Its content is mainly divided into two parts: a review of ninja world characters and the daily life of the Content Creator. These alternate every two weeks."
The Third Hokage didn't know what a video 'Content Creator' was, but based on his understanding, it seemed right to think of Hayashi Sora as a commentator.
"A review of people in the ninja world? What does that even mean?"
Asuma, who was beginning to lose his temper, asked. The Third Hokage sighed to himself.
He had spent a lot of effort on his son.
In his younger days, Asuma was very rebellious. He defied everything the Third Hokage stood for, even leaving the village to serve as a bodyguard for the Daimyo in the capital of the Land of Fire. This earned him the title of one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Though the Third Hokage wasn't particularly impressed by this title, he was glad Asuma had mellowed with age.
At this point, the Third Hokage was thinking of how to pave a better future for Asuma.
To help build his network, the Third Hokage had assigned him as the mentor for the new generation of the "Ino-Shika-Cho" team.
Even then, he feared the support from the "Ino-Shika-Cho" clans might not be enough. So, he went against the majority opinion and appointed Kurenai Yuhi, a newly promoted Jonin, to be the teacher of the heirs from the Hyuga, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans.
Logically speaking, someone with Kurenai Yuhi's limited experience wouldn't usually be chosen to teach Hinata, Shino, and Kiba.
But who could blame her for having Asuma Sarutobi as her boyfriend?
Sarutobi Hiruzen had a plan. After a few years, when these six students grew older and Asuma's strength improved, completing more missions and gaining more experience, he could smoothly pass the title of Hokage to him.
With Hiruzen being the longest-serving Hokage and having the support of the six major ninja clans, he didn't believe anyone would dare oppose it.
But things didn't go as planned. In the original timeline, he ended up dying at the hands of Orochimaru.
Even though the light curtain intervened and he was saved by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, Asuma's chances of becoming Hokage were slim.
With Tobirama-sensei and the light curtain present, your background and identity aren't what's important if you want to become Hokage.
What matters most is the quality and talent of the Hokage candidate themselves.
The Third Hokage knew very well that Asuma's strength, vision, and other qualities weren't the best in his generation.
At the very least, he wasn't as patient as Kurenai or Kakashi.
For this reason alone, it would be hard to convince Tobirama-sensei.
Not to mention, sooner or later the light curtain would show the future Hokages of Konoha.
If Asuma had become Hokage in the original "history," then maybe he would still have a chance now.
If not, then he really had no chance at all.
Sighing quietly, the Third Hokage looked at Asuma with a complicated expression and said, "In simple terms, it's like showing a rough broadcast of someone's life story, and adding a Content Creator named Hayashi Sora to explain it, so that we as viewers can have a more direct understanding of the person being reviewed."
After saying this, the Third Hokage paused to give them time to digest the information.
After a while, Kakashi, who had fully grasped what the Third Hokage said, asked seriously, "Sandaime-sama, is it possible that everyone in the ninja world could be counted?"
"I don't know."
The Third Hokage shook his head. He really wasn't sure if everyone had been counted.
But he knew one thing for certain: these review videos were chosen by a Content Creator named Hayashi Sora.
As for how Hayashi Sora picked the people for the list, the Third Hokage had no clue.
"Then, Sandaime-sama, can you tell us how many people have been counted by the light curtain so far? Who are these people?"
"Of course I can tell you. So far, the light curtain has counted six people. They are the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, the Third Hokage, the Fourth Hokage, Shimura Danzo, and Kato Dan."
"They're all from our village."
"Yes."
Besides the four Hokage, Shimura Danzo had also been a high-ranking figure in Konoha before he defected.
Kakashi didn't know much about Kato Dan, but he knew that he was Tsunade's lover, one of the legendary Sannin.
All six people counted so far are from Konoha. Is that just a coincidence? Or is the light curtain only counting people from Konoha?
Kakashi voiced the question on his mind, and as expected, the response was: "I don't know."
"By the way, did Danzo defect because the light curtain exposed all the evil things he'd done?"
The Third Hokage looked at Kurenai approvingly, his eyes showing admiration. He thought to himself, "She's worthy of being our daughter-in-law, so sharp and quick-witted."
"That's right. The light curtain not only revealed Danzo's past actions but also what he would do in the future."
"The future?"
"Yes, the future."
"Can the light curtain predict the future?"
"You could say that, but this future is one that would happen under normal circumstances if the light curtain hadn't appeared."
After hearing the Third Hokage's explanation, the three of them understood.
Because the light curtain appeared, the set future has already been changed. So, the future shown by the light curtain can only be taken as a reference. We can't blindly believe in that future.
"Alright, now you have a general idea of what happened with the light curtain. In a few days, there will be an extra video from Hayashi Sora. You can come watch it together."
"Yes, Sandaime-sama."
Kakashi and the other two nodded in agreement.
Seeing that the discussion was coming to an end, the three of them were about to leave.
However, the Third Hokage didn't let them go just yet. He continued, "Before you leave, let me share some of the things I've learned through the light curtain."
Asuma chimed in, "Like what?"
"For instance, I now know who was responsible for starting the Nine-Tails Rebellion and who killed the Fourth Hokage and his wife."
"Please tell us, Sandaime-sama," Kakashi said, clenching his fists, clearly very emotional.
It wasn't hard to tell that he deeply wanted to avenge Minato and Kushina.
The Third Hokage looked into Kakashi's eyes and, with a calm expression, spoke the name.
"Uchiha Obito."
"What?!"
Hearing that name, Kakashi and the others were shocked.
Especially Kakashi—he never imagined that Obito could be the one behind all of this.
****
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