In the Shikkotsu Forest.
Lord Haseo stood gazing blankly in the direction Tsunade had left… Well, actually, since Tsunade had directly teleported back to Konoha's Western Front from the Shikkotsu Forest, strictly speaking, Haseo was now simply staring at the spot where she'd vanished.
His eyes appeared calm as water, yet the emotions hidden within were deeply layered and complex. At that moment, only he himself truly knew where his thoughts had wandered off to.
"Lord Haseo, it's just a temporary separation..."
Katsuyu beside him probably couldn't comprehend the complexity of human feelings, interpreting Haseo's behavior simply as that of a sentimental old man pining for familial warmth after parting.
In truth, however, what Haseo was thinking was completely opposite—not indulging in emotions, but rather deciding to firmly commit to something.
Although hesitating for a moment, he remained someone capable of staying true to his original intent.
"No, I'm just taking a brief rest, both mentally and physically... Don't overthink it," Haseo said with a smile.
At this point, the contemplation in his eyes had completely disappeared, leaving only a deep resolve hidden at the bottom of his gaze.
"Lord Haseo, you really don't need to work yourself so hard, but I believe you might have said something wrong... Ever since you awkwardly said, 'Even short legs can be cute,' you've been desperately trying to make up for it. Indeed, very hard indeed." Katsuyu shook its antennae and declared as though having reached some research conclusion.
"...Hmm."
Well, there were two issues here.
Firstly, long and short are relative concepts requiring comparison to judge, so exactly how did Lord Haseo reach such a conclusion? Although they were undeniably adorable—in fact, not merely cute, even... Anyway, describing herself as "soft" was certainly accurate for Tsunade.
Yet the compliment concealed a problem difficult to hide, bordering on self-incrimination. Saying "short legs" equated to calling attention to someone's sensitive physical feature, particularly when there were others with longer legs around. Furthermore, it was outright false; Tsunade didn't have short legs. Her proportions were perfect—just not especially long.
Secondly, why could Katsuyu hear what Lord Haseo had muttered during the night, and now spoke without restraint? Haseo felt he might have become a subject for the other's studies. He already knew Katsuyu had a keen interest in "anthropology."
While their research interests differed, compared by progress alone, Katsuyu far surpassed Orochimaru.
"Well then, I should head back to Konoha. The Land of Fire can't manage a single moment without me around."
Lord Haseo chose to leave immediately. Even he preferred avoiding overly personal discussions, especially when the listener was a mollusk.
...
The Fourth Hokage, so important to the entire Land of Fire, resumed zoning out in the office after returning to Konoha.
As expected, his proposal to expand the Elder Council gained approval from both Elders, though they only agreed after a brief discussion... Viewed from the angle of decentralizing power, this move could be called mutual destruction between the Hokage and the Elders.
Knowing Haseo's personality, the two Elders knew there was no way they could effectively restrict him. Their way of thinking often fundamentally clashed with his. Under these circumstances, maintaining village stability meant either having someone to check the Hokage or decentralizing his powers.
Therefore, in the end, the two Elders accepted Haseo's approach of "tying his own hands." In this aspect, they actually fulfilled their roles adequately as advisors... When handling internal Konoha affairs, most of their decisions usually turned out to be sound.
The two Elders held deep respect for Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Standing alongside these younger generation members posed no issue for them. Particularly regarding Tsunade, whose status significantly increased after becoming The Fourth's wife; being the granddaughter of The First also carried great weight. These two factors together elevated her status significantly.
The Sannin were an extension of The Third's political influence. Since the two Elders had always worked well with The Third, accepting these three individuals came naturally to them.
Regarding Uzumaki Shikou and Sakumo Hatake—setting aside Sakumo for now, since he possessed actual ability and battle achievements, and served as an outstanding commander on the battlefield currently defending the Northern Front against Cloud and Stone, elevating his status appeared justified.
However, Uzumaki Shikou had always been seen primarily as an "administrative talent" without widespread battlefield fame. She simply lacked that much influence; suddenly placing her into a high-ranking position… But obviously, she was Haseo's most trusted person. In a certain sense, expanding the council originated precisely because of her.
Thus, even though it somewhat defied conventional rules, the two Elders still had to reluctantly accept this arrangement.
Once this matter was settled, Uzumaki Shikou quickly began to demonstrate her abilities. The result for Haseo was that he wouldn't end up prematurely bald like The Third used to be.
After finalizing the council expansion, Haseo took another step—he reinstated the broad selection mechanism for Anbu recruitment.
He didn't deny Root's legitimacy as a training ground for Anbu ninja but specified that the proportion of Anbu directly promoted from Root shouldn't exceed thirty percent, with the rest being selected from regular ninja ranks.
The Anbu represented the village's instrument of force, while the Hokage's direct Anbu equivalent functioned as the "Village Headman's Royal Guard"—exuding prestige and refinement. They formed the Hokage's fundamental lifeline.
Haseo's reform reverted Anbu recruitment policies back to how they were before The Third's reign, clearly indicating his skepticism toward the direct promotion system—and sending a clear message to Danzo Shimura to stop playing tricks.
Haseo himself had no personal safety concerns; he did all this not for himself, but for the sake of the Fifth, Sixth, and future Hokages who would follow.
Moreover, nobody could object to such institutional changes. Matters concerning Anbu always resided within the Hokage's absolute authority. The Third chose to share power with Danzo—that was The Third's decision. The Fourth never intended to do so, so naturally, the current system followed The Fourth's preferences.
Later on, it was already absurd to think that Danzo could obtain the list and detailed information of the Anbu. It was definitely the Third who set the disaster in motion, leaving the Fifth to clean up the mess.
From this perspective, the Third Hokage was truly quite a failure.
Haseo might not have cared much for the title of Hokage, but he still followed the basic rules.
Another major issue in Konoha was the Uchiha problem. Right now, internal village conflicts were overshadowed by wartime tensions, but that didn't mean the Uchiha issue had disappeared.
The Uchiha still remained a fiercely independent and incompatible clan.
However, such a truly enormous issue wasn't something Haseo felt like getting involved in right now… It was simply too complicated.
Trying to adopt an open attitude to talk about trust with the Uchiha clan and preach the Will of Fire?
At this point, it was already far too late. Politics and power couldn't possibly be that naive. Were the Uchiha the same as the Uzumaki back then? Could they truly speak of trust with Konoha?
A clan outside Konoha being more trusted than one within itself—there definitely was something wrong there. This was a significant issue created jointly by the Uchiha's attitude and Konoha's policies.
In any case, things would just stay as they were for now. Haseo would consider dealing with it once he had the time, a solid plan, and didn't have to worry about getting dragged through the mud.
While Haseo was messing around slightly in Konoha, wars raging outside were heating up intensely and escalating further… Indeed, once certain people stopped running rampant across battlefields, the ninja world somehow managed to create a weird sort of "harmony" in warfare.
At this time, all the villages simultaneously came to the same thought:
Exactly, exactly—that's how ninja wars were meant to be fought all along. Everything before was just nonsense.
Anyway, Haseo quietly stayed put in Konoha for half a year like this, after which the new Hokage leadership structure gradually solidified, completely erasing the impact left by the Third Hokage's death.
After the forty-year-long winter passed in Konoha, the village entered autumn of year forty-one in the blink of an eye.
During this period, the tacit truce among the three great ninja villages was broken. Particularly between Iwagakure and Kumo, their battles were no less intense than those previously against Konoha.
On this day, the Konoha Eastern Front—which had been keeping an eye on Mist—began pushing westward. Konoha's fronts against Suna, Iwa, and Kumo were once again subdivided, forming a "three-on-three" battlefield situation.
Even though Danzo Shimura had various flaws, when it was time for him to work, he still had no choice but to follow orders… If he wasn't the Hokage, he must obey the Hokage's commands. This was a fundamental principle for Konoha ninja.
Meanwhile, Haseo returned to the Kagenami Underground Base—a place he hadn't visited in years.
P.S.:
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