The Third Hokage Visits

By the time he woke up, it was already evening.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he sensed someone beside him.

When he recognized the visitor, he quickly sprang to his feet and said, "Lord Hokage, what brings you here?"

He never would have guessed that Hiruzen Sarutobi would come to his home, let alone wait there for so long.

What was this all about?

The Third Hokage waved for him to sit down.

Once they were seated, the Third Hokage offered Shiraishi Yoshijo the pipe in his mouth. "Want a puff?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo glanced at the pipe with undisguised distaste, then took out a cigarette of his own and lit it.

You had that thing in your mouth just a moment ago, and now you want to stick it in mine? You don't find that disgusting, but I do.

The Third Hokage didn't seem embarrassed. Instead, he smiled and said, "Kaori came to see me today. She insisted on kicking you out of the hospital. I talked her out of it after a lot of effort."

"What do you think about that? Can you tell me?"

Was he trying to have a heart-to-heart?

Shiraishi Yoshijo scratched his head and replied, "I haven't really thought about it. The director told me to change my clothes, cut my hair, and quit smoking. I refused, and things ended up like this."

The Third Hokage sighed. "Are you still grieving over Eisawa's death?"

"No. I'm doing much better now."

"That's good. Can you tell me what happened when Eisawa died?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo gave the Third Hokage a puzzled look. What was the point of talking about it now that he was dead?

"Uncle was in good spirits when he died. He ate and drank, and I wanted to have a drink with him, but he got angry and wouldn't let me."

"After he entrusted a few things to me, he killed himself. He didn't suffer. He went peacefully."

The Third Hokage listened, his expression turning thoughtful before a smile appeared on his face. "That's good. That's good."

He took a puff and exhaled a cloud of smoke, then looked at Shiraishi Yoshijo. "Did Eisawa tell you why he killed himself?"

"He wasn't going to live much longer anyway. Lord Hokage should know that this is the fate of our clan."

"What do you mean, he wasn't going to live much longer?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo froze for a moment. He then remembered that the only person in the village who knew about Shiraishi Eisawa's failing health was Takemoto Shuichi. That old man would never spread the news.

"He was gravely injured after returning from that mission. He's been clinging to life with Sealing Technique ever since."

The Third Hokage fell silent for a moment. "Is that so? He really had a hard time of it."

"So you joined the hospital because you wanted to save his life?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo nodded. There was no point hiding it anymore.

The Third Hokage smoked in silence. Shiraishi Yoshijo began smoking too, one cigarette after another.

After a while, the Third Hokage finally spoke. "You're a good kid. These past two years must have been hard on you. You even developed Medical Ninjutsu on your own. If you'd told me sooner..."

He trailed off. He knew Shiraishi Eisawa would never have told him about it.

"I'm thinking of establishing a Medical Team at the hospital. What do you think?"

"Sounds good."

"Does it?" The Third Hokage turned to look at him. "Then would you be willing to serve in the Medical Team?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo fell silent.

If he joined the Medical Team, Yakushi Nonō would undoubtedly join as well. How would that be any different from staying at the hospital?

"No, thank you, Lord Hokage. Now that Uncle is dead, I have no reason to stay at the hospital. I want to rest at home for a few years."

"Rest for a few years?" The Third Hokage's expression darkened. "Yi Cheng, tell me honestly. Do you no longer want to serve Konoha?"

Serve Konoha? The harder I work, the more you people want to kill me. Why are you such a rotten old man?

Shiraishi Yoshijo ranted inwardly. The Third Hokage wasn't old at all yet, but that image of a rotten old man had already been firmly imprinted in his mind.

He was beginning to understand why the Third Hokage had come to his house.

The reason was simple: the Third Hokage needed to know where he stood, whether he was willing to serve Konoha.

If he refused, the Third Hokage would have a hard time mobilizing the clans led by Takemoto.

But if he agreed to serve Konoha, the Third Hokage could use him to mobilize those clans.

Konoha today was nothing like the village after the Third Shinobi World War, when the clans had dwindled. The village was now practically in the clans' hands.

Shiraishi Eisawa had once said that the Hokage was merely a spokesperson for the clans' interests. He had even taken action against Danzo. That showed just how powerful the clans were now.

Without those forces, Konoha's strength would shrink dramatically. That clearly didn't fit the Third Hokage's political strategy.

Danzo, of course, wouldn't care. He'd be more than happy to kill Shiraishi Yoshijo, then absorb all the clans behind him, who were scattered and disorganized.

The Third Hokage was a clear-eyed man. He knew very well that Danzo's actions could provoke the clans into revolt.

Even if the clans really did rebel, the Third Hokage could put them down. But that would surely leave Konoha severely weakened.

That was something the Third Hokage couldn't tolerate, even if it was only a possibility.

Once he understood all this, Shiraishi Yoshijo felt a headache coming on.

He knew exactly how many clans supported him and how formidable their power was.

Though he might appear to be on his own, once Shiraishi Eisawa had taken him around to visit those clans, he'd already established channels of communication with them.

When he was at the hospital, he hadn't thought he needed anyone to protect him. No matter how brazen Danzo was, he couldn't openly kill him in Konoha.

If Danzo really did that, Konoha would be on the verge of collapse.

The clans that supported him would never tolerate it. They might not rebel, but they would certainly pressure the Hokage to hand Danzo over.

Danzo might be able to control the clans once they had declined in the future. But if he had to face them alone now, even his own Shimura Clan might abandon him.

Besides, such a move would send a message to the other neutral clans: the Hokage wanted to control the clans.

None of the clans could tolerate that.

Either the Hokage would step down, or Konoha would become divided from top to bottom. Anyone who thought the civilian ninja could hold Konoha together now was living in a dream.

For civilian ninja to get ahead, they had to risk their lives for the Hokage to earn the resources to train.

It was different for the clans. If you were born into a clan, you generally had no shortage of those resources.

Maybe you lacked talent and weren't valued by your clan, but given time, you'd still be better off than those civilian ninja who had to risk their lives for every opportunity.

That was the true reality behind Konoha's peace.

Class divisions always existed. Even pigs in the same pen grew at different rates.

The fast-growing ones had been fed well from the start. The slow-growing ones had been pushed aside from birth.

But growing fast wasn't necessarily a good thing for a pig. Shiraishi Yoshijo felt like the fastest-growing pig in Konoha right now.

The butcher Danzo had started sharpening his knife ages ago.

Fortunately, he wasn't a pig. A real pig would probably walk right under the butcher's blade for a single mouthful of food.

He'd survived the butcher's blade again and again only because the other pigs protected him.

But nothing in this world came without something in return.

If he really stayed home, eating his fill and waiting to die, those pigs would likely shove him out and send him straight to Danzo's blade.

Unless he had power enough to crush everyone, like Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.

Otherwise, why would the other pigs risk their lives for him? Did he really think a pig's life was worthless?

Shiraishi Yoshijo was worried. He'd reached the point where he had to protect the other pigs' food supply.

Those clans would wait until he came of age at most. If he still showed no intention of protecting them once he was an adult, they'd probably abandon him.

With that thought, he decided to lay his cards on the table with the Third Hokage.

"Lord Hokage, are you really willing to let me serve Konoha?"

The Third Hokage froze, then stared at Shiraishi Yoshijo. "You're already a Konoha Ninja. No one can stop you from serving Konoha."

"Then what's going on with Yakushi Nonō? Lord Danzo might have other plans."

Shiraishi Yoshijo knew that some matters had to be dealt with swiftly and decisively. Playing along would only encourage others to push their luck.

"Yakushi Nonō?"

The Third Hokage understood at last. This child wasn't nearly as easy to fool as he'd thought.

Danzo had already established Root, and Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had chosen the people to join the hospital.

It would be easy for Danzo to plant someone there to keep an eye on Shiraishi Yoshijo.

He hadn't known about it, and the two advisors hadn't told him.

Yet Shiraishi Yoshijo had noticed as soon as the woman was sent over.

The Third Hokage's brows drew together. He was secretly astonished by the clans' power.

Root's establishment was a top secret, even within the Anbu. How could this have happened?

Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't need to guess what the Third Hokage was thinking. He simply waited for a reply, unhurried.

The Third Hokage fell into thought. He knew Danzo's temperament well. Danzo was not the sort to give up easily.

He could perhaps transfer Yakushi Nonō elsewhere, but Danzo would surely send someone else to keep an eye on Shiraishi Yoshijo.

Some things could only happen once. If it happened again, the trust between him and Shiraishi Yoshijo would be gone for good.

If Shiraishi Yoshijo stopped trusting him, he would become a political opponent outright.

"Yi Cheng, join the Anbu. I'll assign someone I trust completely to form a squad with you. If you're not comfortable with that, you can choose the others yourself. I'll decide the captain."

This was the third time the Third Hokage had asked him to join the Anbu. Shiraishi Yoshijo thought it over, then asked instead of refusing, "Who did you choose as captain, Third Hokage?"

"Sakumo!"

The Third Hokage called out the name, and a figure appeared before them like a ghost.

"Lord Hokage."

With his distinctive white hair and the short sword on his back, Hatake Sakumo made Shiraishi Yoshijo's eyelid twitch. He'd kept his sensory ability active ever since the Third Hokage arrived.

Yet he hadn't sensed this man hiding anywhere.

And that speed just now—was it an ordinary Body Flicker Technique?

Shiraishi Yoshijo wasn't sure, but that speed had been almost as fast as his Lightning Body Flicker.

His Lightning Body Flicker had plenty of limitations, but Hatake Sakumo made that speed look effortless.

It was astonishing.