Clash with the Third Hokage

Hokage Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat back in his broad chair, picked up his pipe, slowly filled it with tobacco, lit it, and took a deep drag.

Wispy blue smoke rose, blurring his deep, complex expression.

A long moment passed.

The Third Hokage looked at the black-haired youth before him, his voice gentle:

"Yo, about the power you used today... Wood Release!"

"As far as I know, since the First Hokage's time, no one in Konoha has truly mastered this Kekkei Genkai!"

"How did you do it?"

The Third Hokage cut straight to the point, without any roundabout talk, clearly taking this matter very seriously.

Yo looked up: "Lord Hokage, I'm not sure myself!"

"When I tried to fuse the water and earth chakra natures, I accidentally discovered I could produce Wood Release with life force. After more practice, it just came naturally!"

The secret of the Sage Body was definitely something he couldn't reveal. Even if he said it, Hiruzen Sarutobi probably wouldn't believe him.

After all, he was an Uchiha!

The Third Hokage listened quietly, his eyes behind the smoke as calm as an ancient well.

He didn't believe a single word of Yo's explanation.

But he had no proof.

And he couldn't forcefully interrogate a Kage-level shinobi who had just suppressed a Tailed Beast.

The Third was old!

And the village's high-end combat power—some dead, some traitors—truly had few left who could bear the burden.

If he pushed Yo into rebellion now, the consequences would be unthinkable!

The Third Hokage shifted his tone, adding a hint of emotion:

"Wood Release... the power the First Hokage used to pacify the chaotic era, establish Konoha, and subdue the Tailed Beasts."

"Seeing you use Wood Release today, this old man... it's like seeing the First Hokage's shadow again!"

The Third paused, his gaze turning somewhat meaningful:

"With the strength you've shown today, you already have the potential to rival, or even surpass, the Hokages of the past!"

"Even these old bones of mine now... probably aren't your match anymore."

The Third Hokage gave a self-deprecating laugh, his voice warm, and said with a smile:

"Yo, with such talent and power... are you interested in becoming Hokage and protecting the village?"

Hokage?

Yo sneered inwardly. The test had come, and so directly!

"Lord Hokage jests!"

Yo smiled: "As a Konoha shinobi, who wouldn't yearn to become a Hokage acknowledged by everyone?"

In Yo's view, so-called shinobi were nothing more than dogs of those in power!

Summoned when needed, dismissed when not!

To escape this identity, there were two paths: either become the shadow of a village, or become the strongest!

Yo wanted to become the strongest, but that was clearly not so easy.

The Eternal Mangekyo, the Rinnegan, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, the Ten-Tails...

Not one of these was easy to obtain.

Before becoming the strongest, if he could first become Hokage and shed the identity of a dog, Yo would gladly agree.

"Yes, the Hokage is the village's highest leader; everyone aspires to it!"

The Third followed his words, but his tone gradually turned serious: "But Yo, do you know what the word 'Hokage' truly means?"

Before Yo could answer.

The Third continued: "The Hokage's duty... is protection!"

"Protect the village!"

"Protect everyone!"

"For that, even giving one's own life is worth it!"

The Third Hokage's eyes suddenly sharpened: "Yo, this old man asks you—do you have that resolve?"

The air in the office seemed to freeze, suffocating.

Facing this soul-piercing question, Yo's smile remained unchanged.

"Lord Hokage, when I become Hokage, I'll naturally take on the responsibility of protecting the village!"

That wasn't a lie!

When he became Hokage, he'd be Konoha's boss, its top dog!

The villagers would be his subjects; the ninja, his dogs! His tools!

Every blade of grass, every brick and tile in the village, even the dog at the village gate... would be his property.

Of course he'd protect Konoha!

So...

Yo's logic was: become Hokage, then protect the village.

Not protect the village, then think about becoming Hokage.

"Become Hokage first, then protect the village?"

The Third Hokage's face darkened: "Are you saying that if you can't become Hokage, you won't protect this village?"

This logic!

This mindset!

It deeply disappointed the Third Hokage, because it ran counter to the Will of Fire!

Severing power from responsibility, treating protection as a byproduct of authority!

This line of thought was too dangerous!

Facing the Third's suddenly stern, scrutinizing gaze, Yo just smiled, a trace of mockery in it.

Yo didn't directly answer the Third's question; instead, he asked with a laugh:

"Lord Hokage, you mentioned protecting the village and protecting comrades!"

"Then let me ask you this: five years ago, the Uchiha Clan, massacred to the last, were they not part of the village?"

"Shouldn't the Uchiha Clan have received the Hokage's protection?"

"If they should!"

"Then please, Lord Hokage, tell me: on that night five years ago, when the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, who exactly were you, the Hokage, 'protecting'?"

This barrage of questions struck like thunderclaps, exploding in the Third's ears.

The air in the office instantly dropped to freezing point. The Third's hand, gripping his pipe, went stiff.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre was Konoha's highest-level taboo, a sin that the sunlit village could never show the world!

And now... it was being brought up again, in such a sharp manner, by an orphan of the Uchiha.

"The Uchiha Clan matter... is very complicated, with far-reaching implications. And the culprit is confirmed—your elder brother, Uchiha Itachi. He..."

The Third instinctively fell back on the old official rhetoric, trying to brush Yo off, to fool him.

"Lord Hokage!!!"

Yo suddenly raised his voice, cutting the Third off directly.

He stepped forward, meeting the Third's eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade: "Lord Hokage, look closely!"

"The one standing before you now is not a three-year-old child, ignorant of the world, who can be easily fooled by a few grand principles and lies!"

"I hope you won't fob me off with such ridiculous excuses!"

"You..."

The Third choked at this near-insubordinate, fierce retort, his fingers tightening around his pipe.

In his forty years ruling Konoha, no one had dared to defy him so mercilessly.

Yet facing Yo's sudden burst of edge, this wily old Hokage was, for once, at a loss for words.

Yo was no ordinary person—he'd just used Wood Release to suppress Shukaku!

Yo's voice grew colder, every word dripping with venom:

"Five years ago, the Uchiha Clan was slaughtered in a single night—men, women, old, young, not one spared!"

"As for the true truth behind this, I think you, Lord Hokage, and certain high-ranking officials in the village!"

"Know it far better than I, a mere orphan who survived by luck!"

"The Uchiha's coup plot? Their inherently evil, wolf-like ambition? Threatening Konoha's safety and stability?"

"Heh..."

Yo let out a scornful laugh: "Those are just shoddy excuses, dressed up in grand terms, to pacify the villagers and cloak that bloody massacre!"

The Third's face darkened, turning very ugly. His hand gripping the pipe clenched so tightly his knuckles went white.

Yo continued: "The Uchiha Clan's greatest mistake wasn't any evil or ambition!"

"Their only mistake!"

"Was losing the political struggle against the village's high-ranking officials!"

"That's all there is to it!"

Yao stared directly at the Third Hokage's face, each word striking like iron:

"The victor is king, the loser a bandit—survival of the fittest! There's nothing more to say!"

Yao's expression was cold: "That's why I train like mad, desperately trying to grasp power—not for the village's sake!"

"But so that... when someone else puts a blade to my throat again, I have the strength to fight back!"

"So..."

"Hokage-sama, spare me the grand talk of the Will of Fire and protecting the village!"

"Those words might fool a kid like Naruto!"

Yao curled his lips into a smile, looking straight at Hiruzen Sarutobi, and said:

"If my words displease you, Hokage-sama!"

"Then you can kill me just like you wiped out the Uchiha Clan five years ago!"

With that.

Yao strode away without looking back.

The Third Hokage watched his retreating back, his fists clenching and unclenching.

He understood.

Uchiha Yao had gone out of control!

This man was utterly selfish, with thoughts that were difficult to rein in, completely at odds with the Will of Fire!

Whether someone like this would harm the village was hard to say.

But for him as Hokage, it was certainly not a good thing.

How should he deal with Yao?

If he could, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have taken Yao down on the spot.

But unfortunately.

The Third couldn't do it.

He was sixty-nine this year, nearing seventy, his body functions fully degraded, his Chakra reserves sharply diminished.

And Yao... had just suppressed the One-Tail Shukaku, displaying power that could shake the entire village!

If he forced a confrontation.

The final outcome would only be him, the Hokage, getting killed!

After all, Kage killed by their own village ninjas were not few in number.

Take the Second Raikage, for example.

He was killed by his own subordinates, the brothers Kinkaku and Ginkaku!

"I really am old!"

The Third smiled bitterly.