Hyūga Tenzō felt somewhat dazed.
As the helmsman of a thousand-year great clan, how could he possibly believe in the Will of Fire?
The continuation of a family did not rely on such empty words!
It relied on duplicity, betrayal, ruthlessness, and turning one's face without warning…
But human nature was complex.
Even if one did not believe, when something beautiful appeared before one's eyes, one would still instinctively pause.
Emotion, respect, and self-actualization—after having enough to eat and wear—were goals that humans genuinely pursued.
"Hokage-sama, what you say is absolutely right!"
Tenzō steadied his emotions. "Tenzō and the Hyūga clan will certainly remember this going forward!"
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
He did not believe that a couple of simple sentences could make Tenzō submit on the spot.
That was unrealistic.
Old foxes like this required slow communication and exchange to build a foundation of mutual trust.
Not only did one have to offer sweetness—deterrent pressure could not be neglected either.
"For shinobi clans that survived from the Warring States period, some lingering aftereffects are understandable,"
Hiruzen said with a genial smile. "Back then, among ninja it was winner-takes-all. The losing side basically had only one road left—clan extermination. It was very hard for trust to form."
"But now we are in the era of nations and villages. Konoha is everyone's Konoha. Some old ways of thinking should not be brought into the new era, lest they cause unpleasant misunderstandings and put the village in a difficult position."
"What do you think, Tenzō?"
"Thank you for your understanding!" Tenzō nodded repeatedly. "You see, having gone through war, my thinking slipped back into a mistaken path again. Some of what the elders instilled in me from childhood runs very deep."
"I will certainly lead the Hyūga clan in serious self-reflection!"
Hiruzen gave Tenzō a way out.
Tenzō, following the slope, slid down smoothly, tossing the blame onto the previous generation's old clan head—his own father.
In any case, the man was already dead; carrying the blame was just carrying the blame…
Hizashi rolled his pale eyes in annoyance. This old fellow really knew how to turn heaven and earth upside down!
A faint glint flashed through Danzō's eyes.
How was it that even words meant as a reprimand sounded more agreeable coming from Hiruzen's mouth than from his own?
'No, I have to learn this…'
'How did he phrase it just now?' Danzō recalled Hiruzen's words, silently reciting them, when suddenly a good idea emerged.
A good memory was not as good as a bad pen.
If he copied these sentences down for that monkey and memorized them day and night, wouldn't he then master this set of skills as well?
Danzō's lips curled upward, proud of his own cleverness.
'Foolish Hiruzen—go on and brazenly expose your advantages!'
Danzō muttered to himself inwardly, 'I will absorb every one of your strengths and become the strongest Hokage…'
Hiruzen shot Danzō a strange look.
What was he muttering about? Like he was reciting a spell…
A shinobi not acting like a shinobi—was he planning to become a monk instead?
"First, let's talk about the problem with Kirigakure."
"It's certain that Kirigakure is about to launch a major purge. The Third Mizukage has been holding back for a long time."
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe. "Let me tell you about the First, Second, and Third Mizukage. There are some points in this that can be exploited."
Hizashi looked curious, full of anticipation.
Young people were always curious about the secret stories of the older generation…
Danzō gave a dry chuckle. He did know some of it, but he did not think there were that many points that could be operated on.
Tenzō was also very interested.
Although he was also a veteran, there were differences even among veterans…
"The Third Mizukage's roots run very deep."
"He used to be the guard of the First Mizukage, Byakuren. At the First Five Kage Summit, among the Kage's guards who attended the summit, everyone except him became the Second of their respective villages."
"Isn't that interesting?"
Tenzō nodded unconsciously.
He was almost a handpicked Second—so how did he become the Third instead?
Hiruzen laughed inwardly.
Why did he know these things?
Because the original body's succession had also been bizarre. Although he knew there was no conspiracy in it, to outsiders…
The Kage's guard unit lived, but the Kage died.
Not to mention in that era not long after the Warring States period—even in today's shinobi world, Senju Tobirama's mentality was still hard for most shinobi to understand…
So back then, his accession was Schrödinger's "legitimacy."
It was only his usual reputation that barely carried him through.
And precisely because of that, he had studied many similar cases, treating them as references—seeking a bit of peace of mind.
"Kirigakure's succession system is very interesting."
"They believe the 'strongest' shinobi in the village is the Mizukage, and they established corresponding rules."
"It means that when a Mizukage succeeds to the position, everyone else has the right to challenge him. If he loses, then he must lose the position of Mizukage."
"This was originally meant to emphasize a martial spirit. Normally, no one would do this."
"But Hōzuki Gengetsu was not a normal person."
Danzō and Tenzō nodded in deep agreement.
Hōzuki Gengetsu—one of the shinobi world's famously battle-crazed fighters.
During the First Shinobi World War, for the sake of some utterly trivial spoils, they crossed seas and mountains, only to find the Second Tsuchikage, Mū—ending in a mutual death without a decisive battle.
Once blood rushed to the head, everything else was forgotten.
"If there is a clear gap in strength, then letting the strongest person serve as 'Kage' is perfectly justifiable."
"But if the gap is only a hair's breadth, then among the candidates for 'Kage,' multidimensional abilities such as organization and governance must be taken into account," Hiruzen said.
The Hyūga father and son nodded, not taking it to heart; the Hokage position had little to do with either of them.
But Danzō took it in.
Who was this aimed at?
In terms of strength between himself and Orochimaru… it did seem that they were indeed quite close.
Even if he had recently been pushing himself in Wind Release training, to be honest—youth was a real advantage.
To pull ahead of Orochimaru by an entire tier was unrealistic…
'Is this a subtle way of telling me the standards for selecting the next Hokage?' Danzō thought to himself, deciding to copy this sentence into his little notebook as well.
"Hōzuki Gengetsu is dead, and it has been more than twenty years since the Third Mizukage took office. Yet he still intends to launch the Bloody Mist—this can only indicate one thing."
"That is, the forces opposing him within Kirigakure have been growing more and more numerous."
"So numerous that he can no longer keep them in check. He can only use the Mizukage position as bait, lure out those shinobi clans with ambitions, and then deal with them one by one—wiping them out completely."
Danzō pondered. "If that's the case, wouldn't Kirigakure fall into immediate internal chaos? What he would be facing are forces powerful enough to overturn him."
"Not necessarily. It depends on his level,"
Hiruzen said with a genial smile. "If he knows how to win over one group while striking another, it should work."
"First, incite the Kaguya clan to harbor hostility toward the Hōzuki clan that has designs on the Mizukage."
"Wait until the two of them both suffer heavy losses, then look for the next batch of ambitious shinobi clans and have them continue fighting—cycling like this over and over."
"This is Kirigakure's logic: letting fists do the talking. In the short term, no one will say much."
"When those bloodline clans are finally gasping for breath, if they still refuse to submit, then the resentment generated by the struggle will need a pressure valve. At that point, it's just right to let the non-bloodline shinobi vent their anger on them."
"After doing this, although Kirigakure's population will drop by quite a bit, broadly speaking, they should become obedient."
As Hiruzen said this, his gaze happened to meet Tenzō's.
The head of the Hyūga clan felt the hairs on his back suddenly stand on end.
He had the distinct feeling that the Hokage was not actually talking about Kirigakure's story…
'Just an illusion—just an illusion!'
Tenzō comforted himself inwardly. 'This is Konoha. Konoha speaks of the Will of Fire!'
"Of course, I'm just speaking casually."
"If one were truly to do this, the details would need constant refinement. Besides, I have always detested using such methods to solve problems," Hiruzen said with a smile, waving his hand.
"Not only is it backward, it also fundamentally runs counter to the Will of Fire… don't you agree, Councilor Tenzō?"
"What you say is absolutely correct!"
Tenzō's heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly replied with deference.
Seeing this, Danzō could not help but sigh inwardly: 'This monkey really does have some of Tobirama-sensei's bearing now…'
'Fortunately, I received the sensei's true teachings—I won't be led around by the nose. An ordinary person really couldn't withstand him!'
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