In Konoha, where lights shone in countless homes, an urgent message from the front lines turned the village—still basking in peace—into a place of turbulent undercurrents.
The central district flanking the Hokage Building in the heart of Konoha was occupied by the Senju and Uchiha clans.
A single clan's vast grounds could easily fit the Ino-Shika-Cho and the Sarutobi and Shimura clans, with room to spare.
After receiving the news, the Senju Clan urgently summoned its members to discuss the matter. In the meeting hall at the heart of their compound, a dignified and elegant mature woman, whose imposing presence commanded respect, slowly entered.
The Senju, who had been whispering and murmuring among themselves, immediately sat up straight with respectful expressions. It was as if they had found someone to steady them, and the unease and fear in their hearts began to fade.
The mature woman was the wife of Hashirama Senju, sister-in-law of Senju Tobirama, a fearsome Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and a princess of the Land of Whirlpools who excelled at Sealing Jutsu—Mito Uzumaki.
With the Yin Seal Jutsu, which allowed her to preserve her youth, Mito Uzumaki still looked as she had in the prime of her physical abilities.
She had the red hair characteristic of the Uzumaki Clan. Her long hair fell to her waist and was tied into two buns, and she wore an ornament resembling a crown, befitting her status as a princess.
A purple diamond-shaped mark, representing the Yin Seal, adorned her forehead. Charmlike ornaments dangled from her two buns, swaying gently beside her ears as she walked.
Mito Uzumaki wore a white kimono as she took the seat of honor in the meeting hall. With both hands resting on her abdomen, her slightly taut clothes subtly outlined her mature, voluptuous figure. Her stern, commanding gaze swept over the gathered clan members.
This mature woman possessed the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline secret technique, the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, and had gained the ability to sense malice after becoming the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. She easily sensed the crowded jumble of emotions within everyone.
She looked around the spacious hall, which had once been large enough for a hundred Jonin to sit together and speak freely. Now, here in Konoha, the Senju Clan had dwindled to a handful of members, with only a dozen or so who possessed Jonin-level strength.
Their legitimate bloodline, descended from the Clan Head's line and potentially capable of awakening the divine power of the Wood Release bloodline, had fallen into such dire straits that it was on the verge of dying out. The Senju of the Forest, with nearly a thousand years of history, had visibly begun to decline.
Now the Uchiha have produced another young Mangekyo. With the Uchiha Clan poised to press their advantage, the Senju Clan's path ahead will be treacherous.
Mito Uzumaki was beset by countless worries, but not a trace of negativity showed on her beautiful, dignified face. She spoke slowly.
"Everyone already knows the situation. Tobirama has fallen, and the Uchiha Clan, riding high after killing the Second Raikage, certainly won't let go of the Third Hokage's position. Speak your minds freely."
"Mother, there are too many suspicious details here. Lord Tobirama had the Flying Thunder God Technique—how could he have died at Kumogakure's hands? And what a coincidence that the entire Kage Guard under his command was wiped out, with only Uchiha Takeyasu returning victorious. It's so convenient, it treats everyone like idiots!"
The speaker was Senju Moriki, Tsunade's father. His hands clenched on his knees, his face alight with fury and killing intent. "That wicked Uchiha brat must have killed Lord Tobirama!"
During Senju Tobirama's rule, distancing and opposing the Uchiha was the politically correct stance. With Senju Moriki, the eldest son of the main branch, saying this, the other clan members immediately erupted in agreement.
"Enough. This is the clan's meeting hall, not the Uchiha's council. What kind of behavior is this? Do you want the Uchiha next door to laugh at us?"
"Oh, right. They're already laughing."
Mito Uzumaki's words, tinged with displeasure, silenced the room. Everyone lowered their heads.
In the utterly silent hall, Mito Uzumaki looked at her son, Senju Moriki. His ambitions reached for the heavens, yet he was impulsive and foolish. Hashirama Senju and Senju Tobirama had both deemed him unfit to become Hokage, and Senju Tobirama had even refused to take him to the battlefield. He had been left with only the responsibility of continuing the family line. Mito asked him calmly, neither pleased nor angry, "Moriki, do you have any evidence?"
"The evidence is in that Uchiha brat's mind!"
Senju Moriki spoke with an air of confidence. "Just have someone from the Yamanaka Clan search the Uchiha brat's memories, and everything will come to light."
His seemingly reasonable argument left Mito Uzumaki speechless. She already knew her son had virtually no sense of the bigger picture, and all her efforts to teach him over the years had gone to waste.
Senju Moriki had inherited his father Hashirama Senju's naive tendency to assume things would go his way, but not Hashirama Senju's Wood Release bloodline, which had earned him the title of God of Shinobi.
So there were things Hashirama Senju could do that Senju Moriki could not.
Why is she looking at me like that again? I'm doing this for the Senju Clan!
Under Mito Uzumaki's disappointed gaze, Senju Moriki clenched his teeth, his heart sinking. He began to realize that many things had changed since his father's death. Now, with his uncle Senju Tobirama's inexplicable death, the thread inside him was already fraying, liable to snap at any moment.
"Don't talk about searching Uchiha Takeyasu's memories outside this room. And tomorrow, his status as a Rogue Ninja will be officially revoked at the Hokage Building."
Mito Uzumaki spoke calmly, with an unmistakable note of finality. "You must remember that he is the hero who killed the Second Raikage, and one of the few powerful figures in Konoha—or even the entire Ninja World."
"If you meet him, you must respectfully address him as Lord Takeyasu!"
Senju Moriki lowered his head and said nothing. He understood that once Mito Uzumaki made up her mind, even Hashirama Senju and Senju Tobirama would sometimes yield to her. Every suggestion he made would only be rejected by her.
After Senju Tobirama's death, Senju Moriki became the Clan Head of the Senju Clan. He would use his own methods to get justice for his uncle's death.
"Understood, Mito-sama."
"Without evidence, we won't spread anything that could harm Konoha's unity."
"The Senju Clan really isn't in a position to clash with the Uchiha head-on right now."
A veteran of the Senju Clan who had survived from the Warring States Period spoke up. "But the Uchiha Clan is eyeing the Third Hokage's position. We still can't hand it over to the Uchiha. Who do you think in the village would be suitable to succeed as Third Hokage?"
"No one is suitable for the position."
To everyone's surprise, Mito Uzumaki revealed the plan she had carefully considered.
"No matter who takes the position right now, the Uchiha Clan won't accept it. If we appoint someone as Hokage, a large-scale armed conflict could break out. You all know the power of the Mangekyo."
Having felt the world-ending might of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha during the Battle of the Valley of the End, everyone nodded grimly.
"Moreover, the Uchiha Clan is a shinobi clan that rose to prominence through blood and fire. If we can't wipe them out completely, no one can guarantee that the Uchiha won't awaken several Mangekyo amid all their love and hatred."
"If things go badly, the Uchiha could win at a terrible cost, and Konoha would be destroyed."
"Which of you could accept that outcome?"
Seeing that everyone fell silent, Mito Uzumaki continued evenly, "Only a result that leaves the Uchiha Clan utterly convinced can put an end to the dispute before it even begins."
The Senju elder understood what she meant, and his eyes lit up. "Mito-sama, are you saying we should hold a Jonin assembly?"
"Exactly. Let all the Jonin vote on the most suitable candidate for Third Hokage."
Mito Uzumaki spoke evenly. "We'll do it openly and fairly, leaving the Uchiha Clan with nothing to say."
As she said this, everyone had more or less guessed the outcome. Their gazes turned toward Mito Uzumaki with even greater respect and delight.
The Hokage Position would remain in the Senju Clan's hands!
Before you continue