"Hiruzen, where have you been? I thought you were dead."
Danzo had been waiting in the small room for a long time. When he finally saw Sarutobi Hiruzen emerge, his annoyance grew as he caught the scent of alcohol from the man. Frowning, he said angrily, "Hiruzen, since becoming Hokage, you've grown negligent! You've become obsessed with alcohol; this doesn't suit you at all."
Alcohol dulls a ninja's nervous system, and being a qualified ninja means being ready for battle at any moment.
If a fight breaks out suddenly, alcohol could endanger the ninja's life.
Faced with the reprimand from his colleague and friend, Hiruzen didn't take it seriously, laughing as he said, "Don't worry, we're in the Daimyo's palace; it's safe here. Besides, you all are with me, aren't you?"
Danzo let out an unsatisfied sigh. "What were you doing inside? Why did it take so long?"
Hiruzen responded with a straight face and a steady heart, "Nothing important, we were just discussing the details of the funding budget."
"How much will they give us?"
Hiruzen didn't speak but pointed with his finger.
When Danzo saw it, he tried to estimate the amount but frowned, feeling dissatisfied. After the death of the Second Hokage, the funding budget had been significantly reduced.
Before Danzo could get angry, Hiruzen gave him a huge number that surprised him: "How did you convince them to give such a large amount?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought, 'I sacrificed my body.'
Then he explained, "The Land of Fire enjoys an excellent environment and fertile lands, but it is surrounded by enemies. Many seek to control these lands. After the death of the Second Hokage, our village's strength declined, and the Daimyo fears that war might affect him, so he increased his investment in our village to protect himself."
Being Hokage doesn't just mean fighting; it also means dealing with social relations.
Hiruzen wasn't like the First Hokage, who had immense power that allowed him to ignore these social matters.
To be a successful Hokage, he had to use some unconventional means.
His father always taught him that the higher a person climbs, the more they must pay attention to the purity of the ladder they ascend.
But that's difficult unless you possess immense power like the First Hokage. In the climb to the top, it's natural to encounter some dirty matters.
In fact, most people are like trees; the more they reach for the light above, the deeper their roots sink into the darkness below.
When the Second Hokage established the Anbu, it was based on this principle, but Hiruzen felt that this wasn't enough.
The Anbu were still too visible, and anyone who thought a little would know that the activities they carried out were at the Hokage's behest.
This wouldn't work. The Hokage must be a symbol of purity and perfection, without any blemish.
Therefore, he needed another force, one even deeper than the Anbu.
If something were to happen, he could coldly place the blame on this person, claiming that he was unaware and that everything was that person's unilateral decision.
In politics, there's a special term for such people— "black gloves."
At this point, Hiruzen looked at his friend Danzo with a deeply meaningful gaze.
At that moment, Danzo was undoubtedly feeling dissatisfied, so Hiruzen exploited this point and deliberately showed weakness in a particular matter, pushing Danzo to act decisively, trying to prove that he was better, and thus, Hiruzen would be able to guide him to bear the dark sides of the village's tasks.
When Danzo saw that meaningful look from his friend, he didn't understand: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing, I just felt happy to have you by my side."
Danzo replied sharply, "I'm not interested in men."
Hiruzen laughed.
"Don't blame me, Danzo. It's all for the village..."
.....
In Konoha Village, in the medical department.
Since the death of the Second Hokage, Tōshirō hadn't seen Tsunade in the medical department, perhaps because she was in a poor psychological state.
Noticing that Tōshirō hadn't rested for several hours of training, Biwako asked him to take a break: "That's enough, rest a little now."
Tōshirō wiped his sweat and stopped his healing training, saying with admiration: "I never imagined that a simple healing technique like the Healing Hand Technique would be this difficult."
Biwako laughed and said, "Of course, this technique is considered an A-rank ninjutsu. But you've already grasped the basics quickly; I think you'll soon master it."
While chatting, Tōshirō asked a question that had been on his mind: "Biwako-sensei, now that we've allied with the Cloud Village, does this mean we won't have any wars?"
Biwako thought for a moment and then answered, "Yes."
Tōshirō raised his hands in the air with joy, expressing his happiness: "What great news!"
Seeing his childlike enthusiasm, Biwako shook her head, not wanting to dampen his spirits. Even if there were no wars now, wars were inevitable in the future.
After finishing a day of medical ninjutsu lessons, Tōshirō immediately decided to head to the Uchiha Clan's area, where he learned he would receive training in ninjutsu techniques and was very excited.
For him, developing ninjutsu techniques required a lot of energy and effort, so why not take advantage of the techniques that currently existed?
When the young Fugaku saw Tōshirō arrive, he ran towards him excitedly, planning to challenge him to a fight.
Tōshirō looked at Fugaku with disdain: "You train all day; don't you ever study?"
Fugaku wondered: "Study? Study what?"
Kozan: "???"
It seemed that Fugaku was being trained to become the clan leader like his father, and considering that, maybe he didn't need to study anything.
Fugaku impatiently said, "Okay, let's skip the useless talk. Let's spar; I recently learned a new technique."
Defeating Tōshirō was Fugaku's biggest dream now.
Tōshirō scratched his head and said, "You're really annoying. Fine, if you win today, don't come challenging me again for at least a month."
Fugaku had a strong competitive spirit; he kept coming to challenge Tōshirō, even if Fugaku didn't get tired of it, Tōshirō had grown weary.
Fugaku agreed immediately.
The two distanced themselves from each other, performing the confrontation seals according to the procedures, and Fugaku began the attack first, trying to use the ninjutsu technique he had learned.
The steps required to form the seals were many, making the technique seem complicated. Tōshirō didn't know exactly what the technique was, but he cut it off directly and kicked Fugaku away.
Fugaku got up from the ground, angry and shouting.
Tōshirō sneered, "This technique of yours has too many steps. By the time you finish performing it, everyone would have run away. Who was the fool who taught you this technique?"
At that moment, Uchiha Kira said coldly, "I taught him."
Often, the steps for forming seals in high-level techniques are very complicated, but after practice, these steps can be reduced to just a few.
Fugaku had just begun learning this technique, so it was natural for him to follow the steps one by one. And since his seal-forming speed wasn't fast, it was full of gaps, allowing Aokiji to knock him down with one kick.
Tōshirō smiled sheepishly, the situation was quite awkward.
But he didn't care much; his biggest advantage was his thick skin: "Hey Kira Jonin, why don't you teach me some ninjutsu techniques? So far, I only know the Great Fireball Technique."
Uchiha Kira let out a cold sigh and said, "Today, it won't be me teaching you ninjutsu."
Tōshirō didn't understand: "If not you, then who?"
"Me."
An elderly voice sounded, and when Tōshirō looked towards it, he saw an old man with thick white hair—it was Elder Itachi.
(End of Chapter)
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