The Third Hokage's headache! [Five updates, please bookmark to boost the rankings~]

This left the Uchiha High Command utterly baffled, but they had nothing to say.

There really was a history between Hiko and Kagami Uchiha. Their relationship had once been terrible, but with the Third Hokage stepping in, no one could deliberately pin certain problems on Hiko anymore. That would only make them seem petty and unreasonable, as though they were even targeting their own clansmen.

As the days passed, Hiko's life became a simple routine: school, training, home. Those were the only places he went.

As time went on, Teacher became increasingly convinced that he had not misjudged Hiko. Hiko was growing at an astonishing pace, though his slower progress in certain areas made Teacher regretful. Hiko would not accept his goodwill, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The Third Hokage saw all of Hiko's efforts. He greatly admired Hiko's diligence, and all attention toward him was carried out in secret. Of course, Anbu members occasionally followed Hiko as well.

The only thing giving the Third Hokage a headache was how to arrange Hiko.

Originally, the only people receiving special attention were Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya. They could simply be assigned to the same squad, but now there was an extra Hiko!!!

Three-man squads had been established through years of experimentation and planning by the major ninja villages. At this time, every village arranged its graduates into groups of three, forming a squad. Such squads would include one support ninja.

The best arrangement was to include a Medical Ninja, but Medical Ninjas were scarce in every village and could not possibly be distributed evenly. Left with no choice, the villages used support-type ninjas as replacements.

Of course, this was not absolute. Some special squads were formed by combining more than three people.

Putting all four together would seem rather strange, but if one person were separated out, leaving aside who it would be, where should that person be assigned?

If one person in a squad grew quickly while the others progressed slowly, problems would inevitably arise over time.

That could turn a complete squad into a Rogue Team.

This was something the Third Hokage did not want to see.

But if they were not separated, how should he arrange them?

It was a headache-inducing matter. If handled well, everything would be fine. If handled poorly, it could lead to major trouble.

Photos of Hiko, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya were laid out one by one across the desk. The Third Hokage stared at them as he slowly smoked, once again filling the Hokage's Office with curling smoke.

The Hokage was Konoha's highest authority, and many people wanted to climb into that position.

But it was not an easy seat to hold. Its authority was indeed immense, but it could work a person to death. Especially in times of war, the busiest person was not someone on the Frontline, but the Hokage.

If anything was done well, people would praise it as expected. The Hokage was the village's highest authority—if he did not take responsibility, who would?

But once anything was handled poorly, problems would come. The villagers' discussions alone could drive a person to collapse.

The Third Hokage had once faced criticism after the Ninja War broke out and the village suffered enormous losses. In the end, he had no choice but to step down and hand the position of Hokage to Minato Namikaze. Sometimes, the higher one stood, the harder one fell.

Yet countless people coveted this position, especially members of Konoha's major clans, with the Uchiha being the foremost among them!!

Konoha had been founded jointly by the Senju and the Uchiha, yet the First Hokage and Second Hokage had both been members of the Senju Clan. By the time of the Third Hokage, the Uchiha still had no chance at the position. This left the Uchiha deeply dissatisfied, and their various hints had become painfully obvious.

Unfortunately, because of the many examples from the past, along with Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's prejudice against the Uchiha, the Uchiha became increasingly marginalized within Konoha.

It was not only the Uchiha. Even the other major clans, including the Senju Clan, could not escape it.

A clan that grew too powerful might influence the Hokage's authority. Marginalization was inevitable sooner or later; the only difference was whether it came earlier or later, and whether it was done with a little humanity or none at all.