In Konoha: Starting by Slapping the White Fang

After he grew older, his grandfather passed away as well.

So he had no burdens upon transmigrating here.

But what annoyed him most was that he had transmigrated into Hiruzen Sarutobi's time in office.

And it was still the early years of his rule!

He could have transmigrated to the period when Senju Hashirama or Tobirama Senju were in office.

Or to the later days of the Konoha 12, when the Elder Council was about to die off!

One had to know that during the reign of Konoha's four-man Elder Council—Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura—

it was absolutely the longest and most corrupt dark age in Konoha's history.

Setting everything else aside, when it came to screwing over their own people, no one in ninja history could rival them.

They were weak as hell toward outsiders, but internally, they were always ready to begin a hunt.

In last year's war, the Senju had nearly been schemed into name-only existence.

And if he had not intervened today,

this Kage-level Hatake Sakumo might have been gone in a couple of days.

Even Gengetsu, a transmigrator with a god's-eye view, was speechless.

Damn it, what kind of eyesight did Tobirama Senju have to choose a bunch of disciples like this?

"Your strength is decent, but your political wisdom is so stupid I can barely stand to look at it."

Gengetsu said contemptuously.

"W-What do you mean?"

Hatake Sakumo blinked in confusion.

"Do you really think those ninja are attacking you because you failed the mission to save Sarutobi Shinnosuke?"

"Wasn't that the reason?"

Hatake Sakumo asked in bewilderment.

Gengetsu rolled his eyes, too lazy to keep arguing with this dense fool.

At the end of the day, it was because Hatake Sakumo was not part of Hiruzen Sarutobi's faction.

And during the Warring States period, the Hatake Clan and the Sarutobi Clan had been enemies.

Gengetsu's and Hatake Sakumo's grandfather, the Hatake clan head during the Warring States period, had been killed by Hiruzen Sarutobi's father, Sasuke Sarutobi.

How could Hiruzen Sarutobi possibly not be wary of that?

Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength had inevitably entered a period of decline due to age.

It was about time to start considering a candidate for the next Hokage.

Before this incident involving Hatake Sakumo, he had been the most favored candidate.

How could that possibly make Hiruzen Sarutobi happy?

There had to be someone fanning the flames behind this slander.

Gengetsu did not know what role Hiruzen Sarutobi had played in it.

But that Pot King was almost certainly involved.

After all, if Hatake Sakumo really became the Fourth Hokage, it would do the four-man Elder Council no good.

They might even face Hatake Sakumo's retaliation.

Under such circumstances,

having their relatives, descendants, or successors take over as Hokage was the best choice for them and their clans.

And thinking about it more carefully,

the death of one Hatake Sakumo would not really count as a major loss to the current Konoha.

Because Hiruzen Sarutobi was still at his peak.

Though Shimura Danzō would become weak as hell later on, he still retained Kage-level strength for now, even if he was about to decline severely.

The Sannin currently stationed at the front lines had also successively reached the Kage level.

Not to mention that Minato Namikaze had already begun to show his brilliance.

With so many experts, this was Konoha's peak era, aside from the time Senju Hashirama and Madara Uchiha joined forces.

No amount of recklessness could bring it down.

It was unquestionably the number one village in the ninja world.

But by the era of the Konoha 12, those powerful figures

had died, left, or defected.

By the time Orochimaru launched the Konoha Crush Plan,

the village that had once been the number one ninja village had only Hiruzen Sarutobi left at the Kage level.

The Elder Council were exactly the kind of people who could ruin a perfect hand.

His silence was terrifying.

After several years apart,

the two brothers, Hatake Sakumo and Gengetsu, finally had a heart-to-heart talk.

Gengetsu once again warned Hatake Sakumo to use his brain before doing things and consider whether there might be hidden darkness behind them.

Hatake Sakumo, meanwhile, told Gengetsu the specific details of the S-rank Mission he had failed before—

the assassination of the Second Kazekage!

At the time, the war between Konoha and Sunagakure had entered its final stage.

Hatake Sakumo personally went to the front lines and killed two Elite Jonin from Sunagakure's Puppet Corps.

They were Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.

This dealt a severe blow to Sunagakure.

By that point in the war,

Sunagakure should have withdrawn its troops.

But the deaths of her son and daughter-in-law drove Chiyo mad, and she insisted on continuing the war, even developing new poisons to restrain Konoha.

To prevent the situation from worsening further,

Hiruzen Sarutobi issued an order.

Led by Hatake Sakumo and Sarutobi Shinnosuke, an elite squad was to be formed.

They would take a detour through the Land of Rain and enter the Land of Wind.

Their mission was to assassinate the Second Kazekage!

There was no need to say what happened afterward.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke was too weak and suffered severe injuries.

And to save him, Hatake Sakumo had no choice but to abandon the mission.

In some respects,

Hatake Sakumo was indeed responsible for failing to end the war with Sunagakure.

But Gengetsu thought that if someone had to take responsibility, then Sarutobi Shinnosuke should bear all of it, damn it!

If he had not been weak as hell and held everyone back, would there have been so much trouble?

It was like Jing Ke's failed assassination of the Qin ruler, where so many people placed the blame on Jing Ke.

They forgot that if Qin Wuyang had not choked at the crucial moment,

things might have turned out very differently.

"Hatake Gengetsu, Hatake Sakumo, Lord Hokage summons you."

Early the next morning, just as the sun rose above the horizon,

Gengetsu put on his farmer's straw hat as usual, preparing to pull up the radishes that had ripened in the field.

Hatake Sakumo also planned to relax for once. He rolled up his sleeves, picked up a bucket, and prepared to water the crops.

A squad clad in gray vests and wearing Animal Masks appeared beside the fields and spoke coldly.

Hatake Sakumo paused. He immediately stopped what he was doing and noticed the subtle difference between these visitors and the Root masks from yesterday. He thought to himself:

Anbu!

Had Lord Hokage personally sent people for them?

Gengetsu acted as if he had not heard them and continued pulling radishes.

Then he tossed them to Kakashi, who was waiting nearby, and said:

"Take them to the river, wash them clean, and slice them up. I want to pickle them."

"Uncle, um..."

Kakashi held two radishes in his arms and signaled to Gengetsu with a cold-sweat-covered look.

"Hatake Gengetsu! Didn't you hear me?!"

Seeing that Gengetsu had no intention of acknowledging him,

the Anbu Squad Leader who had called out felt humiliated and raised his voice in an angry roar.

"When speaking to someone stronger than you, remember not to forget the gap between you."

Gengetsu slowly turned his head.

The instant his face turned toward the squad of Anbu ninja,

they all felt as if an invisible beast as massive as a mountain had crouched before them, glaring at them with a savage face.

In an instant, the faces behind every Anbu member's mask were drenched in cold sweat.

"Gengetsu, don't casually release your killing intent."

Hatake Sakumo reminded him.

"I'm used to it. I can't change it right away."

Gengetsu chuckled twice and returned to the house, where he took out two blades.

He tossed the short blade named White Fang to Hatake Sakumo. "Let's go."

Today, he had no choice but to go see Hiruzen Sarutobi's monkey face.

"There's no need to bring weapons when meeting Lord Hokage, is there?"

Hatake Sakumo said as he accepted his blade.

"Your naivety will get you killed."

Gengetsu was thinking that Hatake Sakumo had no idea how Shisui Uchiha would die in the future.

The moment they stepped through Konoha's main gate,

the Anbu squad originally responsible for escorting and monitoring them vanished without a trace.