Those who stir up trouble can sleep soundly, while those who follow the trend are afraid there isn’t enough trouble.
Everyone is swept along by their own interests and concerns. That is simply how life works.
Sarutobi had been dancing in his armor for an entire day, and he was exhausted. After descending from the altar, Hiruzen did not pay any attention to anyone. He simply walked away, leaving everyone with a path to follow.
"I’m getting old. I’m getting old."
The moment he had distanced himself from the crowd, Sarutobi even pounded his aching lower back.
"If I were still young, I could dance all day and still have enough energy to give a speech afterward. But I can’t do that anymore!"
Sarutobi complained about how merciless the years were.
Shinnosuke was a good son. Seeing his father like this, he immediately used his sturdy body to support his father’s aging frame. At the same time, he signaled the five members of the Sarutobi family to block the gazes of the shinobi clans who were still watching his father.
"Father is still strong despite his age. You simply exerted yourself too much today. Even I would be exhausted after dancing like that for an entire day."
As he spoke, he gently massaged Hiruzen’s lower back.
"It’s fine that you didn’t give a speech today. The ceremony will last for more than ten days. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to speak."
A son who knew how to comfort his father was a good son.
Sarutobi looked at Shinnosuke, then glanced toward Naka Shrine, and smiled.
It was a benevolent smile, one filled with genuine human warmth rather than the monotonous benevolence he habitually displayed.
"Shinnosuke, as long as Uchiha Kei remains alive, I cannot rest easy. But your father is powerless now. I no longer have the ability to kill him myself. Remember this: if you ever get the opportunity in the future, you must kill him."
Seeing how seriously Hiruzen spoke, Shinnosuke nodded in agreement.
Yes, Father. I will remember this.
After making his position clear, Shinnosuke still felt somewhat dissatisfied.
He was his father’s pride. In Hiruzen’s eyes, there was no one more outstanding than him.
Except Uchiha Kei.
Whenever Sarutobi mentioned this man at home, he always used him as a negative example to instruct Shinnosuke.
The Third Hokage would meticulously recount every action Uchiha Kei had taken. He would then analyze the immediate benefits those actions had brought, as well as the long-term losses they had incurred.
In Sarutobi’s description, Uchiha Kei was someone who abandoned righteousness for petty gains, someone who was unwilling to risk himself when undertaking great things—a textbook example of being fierce in appearance but cowardly at heart, brave enough to seek glory but lacking the ruthlessness to accomplish anything truly great.
And yet, time and again, the person who gave his father the greatest headache was precisely this Uchiha Kei.
"Father, as you said, that brat is merely short-sighted. Why worry yourself so much over him?"
Sarutobi shook his head. Holding his son’s hand, he answered a different question altogether.
"Shinnosuke, when your father was young, I suddenly rose to a position of great power. Do you really think it was that easy to establish my authority? Reaching where I am today was the result of patience and compromise. I am a politician who excels at calculation."
As he spoke, the Third Hokage patted the back of Shinnosuke’s hand.
"I look down on Uchiha Kei not because he is truly as worthless as I make him out to be. It is because he is also a politician—but a politician unlike me. He is a politician who only fights for the present."
Sarutobi became somewhat angry as he spoke.
"That bastard believes in the principle that anyone who doesn’t take advantage of an opportunity is a fool. If you compromise with him, he’ll take that as an invitation to push his luck even further."
The Third Hokage raised his head and looked at the son who now stood a head taller than him.
"Shinnosuke, do you know the greatest difference between a politician and a revolutionary?"
Shinnosuke shook his head. Sarutobi patiently continued.
"Remember this. The difference between a politician and a revolutionary is whether they have the courage to flip the table."
Sarutobi stopped walking.
He looked at the heads of the minor shinobi clans who had been following in his footsteps, then gazed toward Naka Shrine in the distance.
"My son. Do not fear any threats from Uchiha Kei. No matter how many reforms he carries out within the Uchiha Clan, no matter how aggressive and intimidating he appears, do not be afraid. At the end of the day, Uchiha Kei is still a politician. And politicians are beneficiaries of the existing order. Only by maintaining the existing order can he maintain his rule."
Seeing Shinnosuke nod repeatedly, Sarutobi asked,
"Do you understand?"
Shinnosuke didn’t understand.
But he continued nodding anyway.
Whether he understood or not, his father would eventually make him understand.
When it came to teaching his son, Sarutobi was patient.
A full political lesson unfolded between father and son.
The essence of politics was the distribution of interests. The essence of a politician was to be an allocator of those interests.
A politician’s job was to distribute the interests of every member of society, while policies were the rules of the game governing that distribution.
Currency, military force, propaganda, and law were the four tools in a politician’s toolbox.
And breaking the existing rules governing currency, military force, propaganda, and law was never something politicians did.
Using those rules was what politicians were supposed to do.
The lesson was vivid, filled with both theory and practical examples.
Unfortunately, Sarutobi’s group was moving farther and farther away from the crowd, and Hiruzen gradually said less and less.
The Hokage’s sensory abilities were still remarkably sharp. Something seemed to have happened among the festival-goers that displeased him.
Today, the Sarutobi Clan had not only organized a grand ceremony, but had also arranged food and lodging for those who wished to celebrate in Konoha.
The minor clans that had long since allied themselves with the Sarutobi Clan—such as the Izuno, Kazamatsuri, Ise, Ebi, Yūhi, and Morino clans—had joined the festivities without needing any instructions.
But the clans that usually maintained good relations with the Sarutobi Clan, such as the Ino–Shika–Chō alliance, found themselves in an awkward position.
They had not communicated with the Sarutobi Clan beforehand.
Joining the celebration now would make them lose face, while refusing to join would cost them politically.
They could neither stay nor leave.
Fortunately, someone’s actions at that moment gave everyone a way out.
The Sarutobi Clan had displayed its strength, frightening not only the Uchiha of Konoha but virtually everyone in the village.
There were, however, a few exceptions.
Orochimaru was one of them.
More precisely, Mitarashi Anko was completely unfazed.
"Master, let’s go eat some dango!"
Little Anko had treated the entire day as a summer outing. Singing, dancing—it was all so much fun.
The only unpleasant part was that the Third Hokage was terrible at dancing.
Everything else was great.
The food was delicious, too.
As for the undercurrents swirling beneath the festivities—
Was any of that something a five- or six-year-old girl needed to worry about?
She had managed to get away from the annoying Hotaru Sister and monopolize her master all by herself.
Could there be anything happier than that?
There could.
Of course there could.
It was having her master take her out for dango.
Such a small request was naturally something Orochimaru would agree to.
He took Anko’s hand and left.
And from that moment onward, Sarutobi began speaking less and less in the distance.
Orochimaru’s departure gave everyone an excuse to step down gracefully.
Most of those who wanted to celebrate continued doing so, while those who wanted to leave now had a legitimate reason to depart.
Jiraiya watched Orochimaru walk away, his heart filled with complicated emotions.
In the end, he still followed after Sarutobi’s group.
Tsunade found a nearby tavern and continued her hard-drinking lifestyle.
Minato had also wanted to follow them, but Kushina happened to feel unwell at precisely the right moment. Minato abandoned his original plan and hurriedly escorted his wife home.
The Konoha Village that had appeared united from top to bottom had once again split apart.
Only Sarutobi, walking farther and farther away, continued reminding Shinnosuke:
"It’s fine, Shinnosuke. I already placed a lethal weapon in Uchiha Kei’s hands. As long as Uchiha Kei dares to make a move, that weapon will be the fastest means of bringing him down."
The Third Hokage repeated those words over and over.
He was reassuring Shinnosuke.
But he was also reinforcing his own confidence.
"Shinnosuke, I’ve already laid this entire web for you. As for how you’ll reclaim the position that belongs to you from the hands of the future Hokage, that will depend on your own ability."
"Watch carefully. Learn carefully."
After reflecting on his entire life, Sarutobi’s confidence returned.
Over the decades, Konoha had faced countless powerful enemies. So many people stronger than him had ultimately fallen beneath his feet.
Uchiha Kei would be no exception.
"No matter how powerful someone is, there is always a way to defeat them. There is no such thing as an invincible person in this world."
The Third Hokage firmly believed this.
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