Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Founder of the Wood Era

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage of Konoha, had been in office for over a decade. He might not have been a particularly ambitious reformer, but he had certainly worked diligently.

During the First Shinobi World War, when the Second Hokage died at the hands of Kumogakure, Hiruzen had taken over as Third Hokage at a time when the village was on the brink of defeat. His first act after taking office was to sign a ceasefire agreement with Kumogakure. Then he traveled from one battlefield to another, leading Konoha's shinobi in defeating the invading enemies.

In peacetime, he had also been the one to carry forward the political system left behind by the Second Hokage, developing a village on the verge of collapse into what was now, in practice, the strongest in the Shinobi World. He could certainly be called the founding father of Konoha's revival.

What's more, he was the first Hokage of Konoha who hadn't come from the Senju Clan. If they went by the customs of his previous life, then after his death, following the rule that "ancestors earn merit, and forebears earn virtue," the posthumous temple name "Wood Ancestor" would surely suit him very well.

After all, apart from his lechery and the foolish mistakes he would make in the future concerning Orochimaru, Naruto, and the Uchiha, Sarutobi Hiruzen had truly devoted himself to Konoha until his dying breath.

During the Nine-Tails Attack, his wife died. During the unrest, his son and daughter-in-law died. He became estranged from his only younger son. Even his own death came while he was protecting Konoha.

From Konoha's perspective, Sarutobi Hiruzen could certainly be considered a capable Hokage.

But right now, this mild-mannered Hokage was in a rare state of utter confusion.

He'd gotten up in the morning, eaten hot pot and sung a song, and before he'd even had a chance to sit down and relax with his Crystal Ball, he'd suddenly learned that he'd become the public enemy of the Shinobi World!

And he hadn't even heard the news from anyone in his own village. He'd learned it from the Daimyo's Envoy!

Hiruzen's first thought was, Oh no. Did that old bastard Danzo get himself into trouble again?

His second thought was, How am I supposed to clean up this mess for him?

After all, as Hokage's aide and Konoha's "Shinobi no Yami," Danzo had to be given credit where it was due: he was very good at his job.

At this point in time, Danzo was still in his prime. His ambition for the Hokage Position wasn't yet so intense, and his differences with Hiruzen weren't especially serious. Aside from regularly suppressing the Uchiha, diverting funds to build up his own little squad, and occasionally opposing Hiruzen, there wasn't much wrong with him.

On the contrary, as the leader of Root, he had truly made shinobi from other villages tremble at the mention of his name.

The Danzo of this period was still a far cry from the madman he would later become, the one who'd graft a dozen eyes onto his arm and fuse it with Wood Release Cells. With his handsome face, he even enjoyed unexpectedly good standing among the common people, and calls for him to become the next Hokage never ceased.

So at this point, Hiruzen's first instinct was to protect his old comrade.

Shimura Danzo, who had been summoned, was just as bewildered.

What the hell did I do?

After the two men stared at each other in confusion and carefully went over the details of what had happened, Hiruzen finally confirmed that Danzo really hadn't been behind it.

"Would you look at that! Aside from you, there's actually someone else in the Shinobi World who can come up with such a vicious trick..."

Hiruzen couldn't help marveling at it, looking as if he'd seen something extraordinary.

Having never witnessed the power of public opinion, Hiruzen wasn't particularly alarmed. The matter looked serious, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the information had been made up.

Take claims like Konoha having a military budget of fifty billion, fifty thousand active-duty shinobi, and five thousand Jonin. If Konoha really had that kind of strength, Hiruzen would have sent troops to wipe out Kumogakure himself without anyone needing to suggest it.

Did they really think he didn't hold a grudge?

And then there was the claim that he had secretly hypnotized the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and manipulated the country's politics. It was ridiculous. What would he even gain by manipulating them?

And that title at the end, "Fire Emperor"... Tsk. Why was he inexplicably tempted by it?

Suppressing the ripples in his heart, Hiruzen quickly composed himself. He didn't take the whole thing seriously at all; he even had time to tease his old comrade.

Unlike Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo had spent a long time underground. His brows were furrowed, and his reeking body had caught the scent of a conspiracy.

It was the scent of one of his own kind.

Though he hadn't yet used public opinion to kill Hatake Sakumo, his natural instincts as a schemer let him sense the danger behind these rumors.

"Hiruzen, this thing may be a joke, but the rumors have already caused an uproar across the Shinobi World. If other villages join in—especially if the other four great villages use this as an excuse to unite and put pressure on us—it'll be a serious problem for Konoha."

Hiruzen froze. He hadn't considered that angle, but he immediately realized Danzo's concern wasn't unfounded.

There was Kumogakure, always watching Konoha like a hawk and looking for a chance to stab them in the back. And there was the restless Ōnoki of Iwagakure, who surely wouldn't pass up such a perfect opportunity.

Things were better on Shamon's end in Sunagakure; he wasn't the sort to stir up trouble. Kirigakure had just announced its isolationist policy, so they could be set aside for the time being...

"Besides, according to my intelligence, these rumors first spread from the Land of Water. So the mastermind behind them is very likely Kirigakure!"

As expected of Konoha's intelligence chief, Danzo had found the source of the rumors in no time.

And when it came to Kirigakure, Danzo couldn't help thinking of a piece of intelligence.

"A month ago, that genius from Kirigakure became Minister of Foreign Affairs. A month later, Kirigakure made a major move. If it had been anyone else's idea, they would have put it into action long ago. Judging by the timing, this rumor campaign must have been personally orchestrated by Kirigakure's 'Timely Rain.'"

"At twelve years old, he led a team that defeated a squad commanded by a Jonin from the Hyuga Branch Family head-on, and he has this kind of mind, too. Hozuki Shingetsu really is a remarkable young man!"

Thinking of the reports on the young heir of the Hozuki Clan, Hiruzen couldn't help but sigh.

But while Hiruzen was marveling at Hozuki Shingetsu's strength, Danzo was marveling that someone so young could come up with such a ruthless scheme.

Just like he had been when he was young.

Such a sinister plan, carried out with such decisiveness, and with such complete disregard for the consequences—how could someone in this world be so much like him?

"So, how should we respond?"

When it came to dealing with this kind of tactic, it was only natural to hear from the expert: Shimura Danzo.

After all, every snake had its own path, and every rat its own. Danzo was the one with experience in dealing with this kind of low trick.

And Shimura Danzo didn't let Hiruzen's "trust" go to waste. He quickly rattled off a whole list of solutions, including but not limited to muddying the waters and creating a diversion.

While firmly denying the rumors, they could quickly spread narratives like "the Kumogakure threat" and "the Sunagakure threat." The main thrust of these claims was simple: scare people senseless.

Kumogakure had a hundred thousand elite Jonin returning from overseas, all sworn to sweep across the Shinobi World. The Land of Earth had discovered a gold mine, and Iwagakure's military budget would reach five hundred billion next year. Sunagakure had invented a new Secret Technique that hypnotized anyone who came close. The Mizukage of every generation had faked their deaths, and they were now plotting to overthrow the Shinobi World.

The point was that all these villages were treacherous, and every one of them had the strength to start a Shinobi World War. Konoha, a lover of peace, was struggling against these evil forces to protect the peace of the Shinobi World, even at the cost of earning a bad name.

They would play the part of the tragic hero to the hilt.

At the same time, they could spread a few rumors of their own. The Land of Water had isolated itself because it had discovered the Sage of Six Paths' death site. After an earthquake in the Land of Earth, they'd found the jutsu legacy of the Koga Clan, a top clan from the Warring States Period, inside a cliff face. There was Gold Dust in the Devil's Great Desert of the Land of Wind, and everyone who knew about it had made a fortune.

The goal was to distract people—especially the bored nobles who had nothing better to do—with juicy tidbits.

One had to admit, the old bastard Danzo really did have a few tricks up his sleeve. Even if he gave up being the Hokage's aide and switched to writing novels, he wouldn't go hungry.

Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction as he read through it. He was just about to wave his hand and sign off on Danzo's plan when he noticed his old comrade had drifted off, apparently lost in thought.

"Danzo, Danzo!"

It was only when Hiruzen called out to him that Danzo snapped back to attention.

"You weren't plotting some new scheme again, were you?"

Looking at his old comrade, Hiruzen—who knew him well—seemed to realize something. His eyes narrowed.

"...How could I? What gives you the right to slander me?"

"So you were plotting something!"

Come on. Just as Danzo knew Hiruzen well, Hiruzen also knew his old teammate inside and out. Their relationship had reached the point where, if Danzo so much as stuck out his backside, Hiruzen knew exactly when to slap it.

And Danzo's reaction proved it.

In fact, Danzo had indeed been thinking about something just now. With the slander against Konoha already spreading so widely, why waste the momentum the enemy had worked so hard to build up for them?

Why not make the fiction real, using the turmoil to secretly cow the smaller villages into submission?

And if he thought further ahead, they could use this opportunity to intimidate the Daimyo with the threat of war.

Just look at the Daimyo. What kind of slander were they spreading about Konoha now?

Why were they slandering Konoha? Because Konoha was too strong, so the others had to band together to suppress it. This incident was only a preview of what was to come.

If Konoha gave in now and cut its military budget, wouldn't that delight its enemies and hurt its friends?

In Danzo's opinion, they shouldn't just refuse to cut military spending—they should increase it substantially!

Once Konoha's strength had grown, they could see who'd dare to stick their heads out!

Even if their enemies formed an alliance, there would always be one or two, three or four, who took the lead. They only had to sweep away the instigators, and no one would dare say another word. Then the dilemma would resolve itself. Wasn't that perfect?

But Danzo knew this approach wouldn't work on his old comrade.

Hiruzen had always put stability first. How could he risk leading Konoha to the top of the Shinobi World that way?

After all, the risks were enormous.

If the four countries really went all out against Konoha, they could form a coalition and encircle the village the day after Konoha announced a budget increase. Before the massive military budget could be turned into strength, Konoha would have no chance of winning.

Even with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Mito, still around, Konoha would still lose.

Besides, Danzo feared it would arouse the Daimyo's suspicion.

The current Daimyo had personally witnessed the might of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. If they pushed him too far and planted seeds of unnecessary suspicion in his heart, that would be a disaster for Konoha, whose situation was currently stable.

Hiruzen didn't dare gamble, nor did he want to. He only wanted to follow the safe, steady path. He didn't know how to take crooked paths, and he didn't want to.

There was no doubt, though, that those crooked paths could bring enormous rewards.

"And that's what I'm here for... Hiruzen. You're a leaf basking in the sunlight, while I'm a root buried deep underground."

The thought filled Danzo with a tragic sense that while he was trapped in petty schemes and wasting his life, Konoha enjoyed peaceful days—and he alone bore the burden of carrying the village forward.

He even felt a flicker of yearning once more for the Hokage Position that might once have been his.

If I'd been the one to step forward and stay behind back then, would Sensei have chosen me?

The thought flashed through his mind, then Danzo quickly tucked it away, as if it had never existed.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen was still warning Danzo not to take matters into his own hands without permission, but Danzo cut him off with a single remark.

"Come on, Sarutobi, you know me. If I really wanted to do something, it'd already be too late for you to say this."

"You..."

Seeing Hiruzen's face turn red, Danzo quickly changed the subject to avoid riling up his old teammate any further.

Knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses, he knew that if he brought up this topic, Hiruzen would forget his earlier displeasure.

"I wasn't plotting anything just now. I was only thinking about the Uchiha."

As the subject they disagreed on most fiercely, he was sure that once he turned Hiruzen's attention there, it would be his turn to take the lead—and Hiruzen would forget what had just happened.

He hadn't expected to make things worse instead. The moment Hiruzen heard the name Uchiha, he became even more convinced of what he'd suspected.

"The Uchiha? And you expect me to believe you weren't plotting something?"

"..."

Danzo was speechless. Damn it, I was so focused on arguing that I forgot about that.

But was he really that obvious?

He thought he'd hidden his hostility toward the Uchiha pretty well!

With Danzo feeling more than a little frustrated, he simply skipped the middle part of their argument and went straight to the usual conclusion, where they disagreed as always.

"Sarutobi, you'll regret this!"

"Danzo, I'm the Hokage!"

Bam!

"How many times have I told you? Close the door properly!"

As everyone knew, the timeline of the Naruto world—especially the timeline surrounding Senju Tobirama—was very inconsistent. Although Kishimoto had clearly established in the manga that Senju Tobirama should have died around Konoha Year 36, during the Second Shinobi World War, with Sarutobi Hiruzen succeeding him, this obviously conflicted with some of the earlier lore in Naruto. It was a case of "changing the story after the fact." So, based on the general understanding and some of the ideas for the later parts of this book, this novel placed Senju Tobirama's death during the First Shinobi World War.