Uchiha Kei was pushed into the operating room.
He had no instructions to give his subordinates.
He was simply too weak—so weak that he no longer had the energy to properly assess either himself or his enemy.
In the past, he could only make a rough estimate of how powerful Sarutobi was, but at least he had a clear understanding of how weak he himself was.
Now, however, his frail body had left him without even the energy to determine exactly how much strength he still possessed.
"Stay safe. Wait for me to come back!"
Those were Kei’s final words before entering the operating room.
He had given his subordinates no explicit orders.
For now, doing nothing was better than acting rashly. It was better to wait for the Third Hokage to make the first move and seize the moral high ground.
Time was on Uchiha Kei’s side.
Wasn’t the strength of Meditative taijutsu precisely that it could be used to nourish and preserve one’s health?
Kei could afford to wait.
The Third Hokage, however, was running out of time.
The Uchiha’s power was expanding like a whale swallowing everything in its path. If nothing was done soon, it would reach the point where the Hokage’s orders could leave Konoha but no longer have any effect beyond its borders.
This was largely the achievement of the Kōga and Iga Groups.
Kei was responsible for managing the more than two hundred Uchiha under his command, but he had no idea that his subordinates had been gradually devouring larger and larger portions of the Land of Fire.
The speed of this expansion was much like a pyramid scheme.
At first, it was difficult to notice.
But the further it developed, the larger the base became.
By now, the Uchiha had already developed something resembling a shogunate system.
Kei was the shōgun standing above everyone else.
The Ten Kōga and Ten Iga formed his inner circle of elite retainers and court nobles, serving as the daikan-shū, while the Kōga and Iga Groups beneath them were scattered throughout the territory as lesser feudal lords.
Large tracts of land were allocated to them.
They, in turn, divided the land into estates and distributed them among rogue shinobi and missing-nin.
These missing-nin and rogue shinobi became the minor lords serving beneath the feudal lords.
Three or five missing-nin would form a lord’s household.
They had learned from the Uchiha how to improve and cultivate the land, transforming it into fertile farmland.
But surely you couldn’t expect a feudal lord to work the fields himself.
So large numbers of refugees were gathered and settled there.
The shinobi world would never lack poor people who had no way to survive.
Could a small lord’s estate really support a hundred or so people by itself?
Don’t be fooled by the fact that Uchiha Kei had fewer than three thousand shinobi.
Because of this system, in just a few short months, the territory under Kei’s rule had already become home to a bustling population of two hundred thousand people.
The refugees settled down and built new lives for themselves.
Everyone had a piece of property to call their own.
The feudal lords collected taxes, but the tax burden was extremely light—far lower than in other places.
After all, the lords weren’t particularly dependent on agricultural income to fund extravagant lifestyles.
Instead, they relied on shops to siphon wealth from Konoha’s commercial activity.
And if all else failed, the shinobi could always undertake missions for Lord Kei. It was a high-income profession, after all.
And this was only the beginning.
Once these refugees became completely settled, they would marry, have children, and produce the next generation.
And once that new generation grew up, the Forty-Nine Iga Institutes would be anything but a joke.
Compared with Uchiha Kei himself, the Third Hokage was even more frightened of the "Forty-Nine Iga Institutes."
Did this academy really have no sense of propriety?
How could they casually teach ordinary people the skills shinobi relied upon to make their living and survive?
Give Uchiha Kei ten years, and he could bury Konoha beneath an army of expendable soldiers.
Moreover, the "Forty-Nine Iga Institutes" weren’t producing expendable cannon fodder.
They were producing genuine, properly trained shinobi.
So time was on Uchiha Kei’s side.
The Third Hokage could no longer tolerate this.
Inside the Hokage Building, the pieces from the chessboard that had been knocked over still lay scattered across the floor.
The Third Hokage hadn’t bothered to pick them up.
Nor had anyone else picked them up for him.
ANBU operatives appeared again and again, only to disappear just as quickly.
"Lord Hokage, the rogue shinobi gathered by the Uchiha are entering Naka Shrine in batches. Once they enter, they never come back out."
"Lord Hokage, the daimyō’s advisers wish to meet with you. It’s regarding the abandoned lands in the Land of Fire."
"Lord Hokage, the memorial ceremony is ready. We’re only waiting for you to attend."
One trivial matter after another piled up before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He had had enough of being Hokage.
"It’s time for me to step down."
Hiruzen had already begun considering retirement.
Once Uchiha Kei was dealt with, he would select the Fourth Hokage.
To be honest, Hiruzen didn’t think any of the candidates were particularly satisfactory.
"Orochimaru is too cold-hearted. After witnessing the darkness of the shinobi world, he is still willing to protect Konoha, but he no longer believes in love or the continuation of the Will of Fire."
"His personality would actually be more suited to Danzō’s position."
"Minato Namikaze, on the other hand, believes in love and believes in the Will of Fire. But his background is too humble."
"With his connection to the Uzumaki Clan, he can still be treated as an honored guest among Konoha’s clans. But once he leaves Konoha and has to deal with the daimyō and nobles who provide Konoha with financial support, being the son-in-law of the Uzumaki Clan would not be an advantage. It would become a liability."
A shinobi clan that attempted to become a daimyō was something the daimyō throughout the entire shinobi world could never tolerate.
That was the path to destruction taken by the Land of Whirlpools.
"As for Shisui Uchiha, his status is sufficient. Unfortunately, he is simply too young."
"He’s about the same age as Uchiha Kei. He’s inexperienced and prone to acting on emotion. Still, at least he would be easy to control."
Among the candidates Hiruzen had selected as potential successors, there wasn’t a single one he was completely satisfied with.
The perfect successor in his heart was actually his eldest son, Asuma Sarutobi.
His eldest son was so outstanding.
He had witnessed the darkness of the world, yet still loved life.
He had extensive experience communicating with daimyō and government officials.
He knew when to stand firm and when to compromise.
Asuma also had a dream of becoming Hokage.
He wanted to build a hidden village where civilians had faith, the shinobi clans had hope, and Konoha possessed strength.
What a magnificent and noble goal.
If he hadn’t been Hiruzen’s own son, he would have been the perfect Hokage.
Unfortunately...
Unfortunately.
Hiruzen couldn’t pass the position of Hokage directly to his own son.
Nor did he dare to.
"Asuma still needs time to mature. Ideally, the position of Hokage should be passed to him by another Hokage."
"Come to think of it, Shisui may actually be more reliable than Minato."
At that thought, Hiruzen shook his head and banished the absurd idea from his mind.
"Shisui is obedient, certainly. But he’s still an Uchiha."
"Far too often, the people beneath you don’t look at what you’re doing. They look at the position you’re sitting in."
"If Shisui became Hokage, there would be no way to continue the plans against the Uchiha."
"Who would be foolish enough to believe that the Hokage intended to destroy his own clan? They’d simply assume he was setting a trap."
Sigh...
Life was full of things that didn’t go according to plan.
Hiruzen donned his Hokage’s ceremonial cloak and walked out of the Hokage Building.
He intended to hold a memorial ceremony for the warriors who had sacrificed their lives for Konoha.
Through the ceremony, he would rekindle the fighting spirit of the village and remind everyone that their peaceful lives existed only because of the sacrifices made by those who had come before them.
"We of Konoha..."
"Wherever the leaves dance, the fire will burn."
"The shadow of the fire will illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout."
"And when a shinobi wishes to protect those who are most precious to them, the true power of a shinobi will finally reveal itself."
The time has come for me, Sarutobi, to make the ultimate sacrifice.
I will personally take Uchiha Kei’s head and use my own life to bring this hatred to an end.
And I hope that my son will carry on my will and become the Fifth Hokage of Konoha.
The Third Hokage’s steps were somewhat desolate.
The armor beneath his ceremonial cloak had not been polished for who knew how long.
The silent streets stood beneath a pale sky.
An aging body carried the weight of one final dream.
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