High-Level Meeting, the Advisor Duo Who Felt a Bit Superfluous

Seeing Uchiha Itachi willing to sacrifice himself for the Village and take the initiative to meet the dangerous Masked Man, the Third Hokage was very satisfied.

Itachi is truly an Uchiha with a Hokage Mindset; his character is so noble, he thought to himself.

Looking at Uchiha Youhu, however, he seemed a bit too sunny. Not only did he spread rumors wantonly at the Uchiha Clan Meeting, but after joining the Anbu, he would constantly call him "Lord Hokage" while demeaning the Uchiha in every way possible.

He would say things like the entire Uchiha clan combined wasn't worth his little finger, or that the old guys in the clan were nothing but trash.

Sometimes, the Third Hokage even wondered if he cared too much about the Uchiha. Could the Uchiha really amount to anything?

Recalling his wandering thoughts, the Third Hokage rested his chin on his hands and said:

"Youhu, your suggestion is quite good."

"Itachi, I have also seen your determination to head into danger for the sake of the Village."

"However, hunting the Masked Man is no trivial matter. I need to consult with other high officials before making a decision. You should all return to your duties for now and avoid alerting the enemy."

"Once the Village has truly decided to deal with the Masked Man, I will send someone to notify you."

Kakashi understood the Third Hokage's meaning. The Hokage did not want to make a move against the Masked Man for the time being. Without a way to counter his space-time ninjutsu, it was better to ignore his existence.

Otherwise, it would only cause meaningless panic within the Village.

Youhu detested being told to "wait for notification." It reminded him of the miserable experience of submitting resumes in his past life. In his heart, he despised the Third Hokage for being too weak, which was exactly why Konoha had turned into what it was today.

A ninja clan like the Uchiha that refused to follow the Hokage's orders should be whipped into shape.

It was a real pity that he hadn't been able to set Uchiha Itachi up.

Wait... when did he develop this damned Senju Mindset? Was it because he had joined the Anbu and become a glorious member of the Anbu?

When he got back, he would have to properly write some "Izuna's Inheritance" to balance it out.

Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. It was true that he wanted to meet the Masked Man, but he did not want to meet him while being watched by the Hokage and the Anbu.

He had too many questions in his heart that he wanted to ask the Masked Man.

Konoha Conference Room.

Shortly after Youhu and the other two left, the Third Hokage felt that the matter of the Masked Man was too important for him to handle alone. Therefore, he sent people to invite the three Hokage Assistants to discuss it together.

After a while, the three Hokage Assistants arrived at the conference room.

The three Hokage Assistants of Konoha were:

Mitokado Homura, whose combat prowess in his youth rivaled the Third Hokage, and Utatane Koharu, the only female disciple of Tobirama.

And Danzo, who would forever miss his chance to become Hokage.

After arriving at the meeting room, Danzo sat down opposite the Third Hokage and took the initiative to challenge him: "Hiruzen, I heard you allowed Uchiha Youhu, who has been spreading rumors, to join the Anbu?"

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately caught the attention of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

Although they were busy with official affairs, they had heard of Youhu's reputation. They knew that the recent rumors in the village regarding the Third Hokage and the Uchiha Clan Head had originated from this kid.

When they first heard these rumors, they assumed it was Danzo's doing.

After all, when tracing the origins of many baseless rumors in the village, one could always find their old friend lurking in the depths of the darkness.

It wasn't until they heard the rumors about the Third Hokage and Danzo that they concluded this matter had nothing to do with Danzo.

The relationship between the Third Hokage and Danzo was somewhat complex; calling it ambiguous or bickering wouldn't be wrong, but while such things could be enjoyed in private, bringing them into the public eye was purely asking for trouble.

Instead, the fact that the Uchiha named Youhu could know such inside information about Konoha's high officials was truly terrifying.

The Third Hokage did not evade the question, stating bluntly: "Youhu is a good-hearted child, he just has a bit of a careless streak. Plus, because of this incident, he was ostracized by the Uchiha, so I let him join the Anbu..."

Danzo let out a cold snort and attacked: "Hiruzen, are you getting old? He dared to slander both you and me; who can guarantee he isn't a spy planted by Fugaku?"

The Third Hokage frowned and countered: "Didn't you also recruit Uchiha Itachi?"

"Uchiha Itachi is different. He hides a profound darkness within his heart, making him very suitable for the Root. I can even use Itachi to influence the Uchiha Clan in return."

"Are you implying that my judgment is inferior to yours, and that I cannot use Youhu to influence the Uchiha?"

"Don't you already have Shisui? Isn't Shisui enough?"

"..."

Watching the Third Hokage and Danzo fall into an argument, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were long accustomed to it.

Ever since they became disciples of Teacher Tobirama, these two had been arguing like this. It had been going on for decades, and there was no sign of it stopping.

In the past, they believed it was the bond of the Will of Fire; now, well... it was hard to say.

Danzo had never married, and the Third Hokage had no intention of remarrying after his wife passed away. With the two of them bickering every single day, it was no wonder such rumors had emerged.

The reputation of the Hokage faction had been ruined by these two.

After waiting for a while, Utatane Koharu said impatiently: "Hiruzen, you called En and me here, it shouldn't be for a trivial matter like an Uchiha joining the Anbu, right?"

"Koharu is right, I almost forgot the main business."

The Third Hokage regained his serious expression, took out his crystal ball, and replayed the previous recording for the other three to see.

Seeing the Masked Man cross the Konoha barrier and appear near Naka Shrine using Space-Time Ninjutsu, the expressions of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu turned solemn.

They remembered the Nine-Tails' Rampage from several years ago; it seemed the person fighting Namikaze Minato back then was this very individual.

So, the mysterious Masked Man who had attacked the village all those years ago had appeared near Konoha once again. No wonder Hiruzen had urged them to get to the Hokage Building as quickly as possible.

Danzo's focus was entirely on Naka Shrine and the Sharingan. He had found powerful evidence to refute Hiruzen.

"Hiruzen, I told you before: the Nine-Tails' Rampage back then was inseparable from the Uchiha."

"Now, the culprit of the Nine-Tails' Rampage is looking to cooperate with the Uchiha again. If another Nine-Tails' Rampage occurs, do you intend to use the Reaper Death Seal this time?"

"Hand Youhu over to me. I will make him a sharp sword to deal with the Uchiha."

The Third Hokage glanced at Danzo. After replaying the footage in the crystal ball, he said with a calm expression:

"The Masked Man was discovered by Youhu. After finding the Masked Man's traces, he came to me immediately, and he strongly requested to exterminate the Masked Man."

"I am sorry, Danzo."

"Facts have proven that Youhu is different from other Uchiha. He possesses the Will of Fire and puts the interests of the village first, just like Kagami Uchiha did back then."

"Hiruzen, you..."

Danzo was momentarily speechless. He felt that the Third Hokage trusted Youhu a bit too much, yet he couldn't find any fault in it.

For Youhu to risk his clan being viewed with suspicion just to report the Masked Man's movements to the Hokage—that was truly something an ordinary Uchiha could not do.

To put it nicely, it was a yearning for the village and the Will of Fire; to put it bluntly, it was being overly naive.

And based on his understanding of Hiruzen, Hiruzen loved this kind of naive Uchiha the most.

In the end, all Danzo could manage to choke out was:

"Hiruzen, you will regret this sooner or later."

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

Although there was no dramatic scene of someone storming out, upon hearing this classic exchange between their two old friends, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura felt that their presence here was somewhat redundant.

Can you two please stop living up to the stereotypes people talk about in rumors?