Isn't our family just a background character family?

"Tobirama! Calm your temper. Can't you see there's a child here?"

Upon hearing his older brother say this, Senju Tobirama finally noticed the white-haired little boy in the room.

He shot a look at Kumonaka Torikaze, and Kumonaka Torikaze understood exactly what Senju Tobirama meant.

He immediately stepped forward to take the envelope Senju Hashirama was handing over and tucked it away: "Lord Hokage, Lord Tobirama, I shall take my leave now."

Senju Hashirama smiled: "Ah, go on then. Make sure to grow up well, carrying on your father's will!"

Kumonaka Torikaze nodded, then turned and left the Hokage's office.

The moment he closed the office door behind him, the sound of loud venting erupted from inside.

"Uncle, do you know why Lord Tobirama is so angry?"

The Senju clansman scratched his head and said: "It seems one of Lord Tobirama's plans failed, but I don't know the specifics. It's not something we're meant to know, anyway."

????

So it was you old geezer who pulled the strings all along! And you even gave me a look? Pfft!

Although he had found the culprit, he had to hold it in, maintaining an innocent, harmless smile on his face: "Thanks, Uncle. I'll be heading home now."

After leaving the Hokage building, he could finally complain openly: "You really are something, Second Hokage! Just wait thirty years, and I'll show you what it means to have the village kids bully an old man who has lost his strength!"

"Of course, now is definitely not the right time. With one Water Style: Water Mop, he'd send me straight into the sewers."

Just kidding—is creating water on flat ground something just anyone can do?

"Better head home first and see what's actually in my father's will."

With that, he headed toward the Kumonaka Clan compound.

"Brother! My plan failed! The spy died on the way here! It must be the evil Uchiha Clan!" Senju Tobirama said viciously inside the Hokage's office.

Senju Hashirama held his forehead upon hearing this: "What does this have to do with the Uchiha Clan? Besides, acting like this is ultimately detrimental to peace."

"Hmph! I am merely taking precautions. Furthermore, it was Kumogakure that sent the spy; I was just acting on the situation, but I didn't expect someone to sabotage it! Don't let me find out who it was!"

Senju Tobirama had once accidentally learned that Kumogakure had sent a spy to Konoha.

He had intended to capture the spy once they entered Konoha to interrogate them for intelligence on Kumogakure, but the plan had ultimately failed.

Watching his brother go full throttle, Senju Hashirama could only say helplessly.

"Since that's the case, then go ahead and do what you must. I trust your intellect."

Hearing his brother say this, Senju Tobirama's anger finally subsided.

His brother's way of thinking was too naive; the current peace was merely the result of other ninja villages being intimidated by Konoha's strength.

If anything were to happen to his brother, he feared they would be attacked from all sides in an instant!

"By the way, which clan is that white-haired child from?"

"Ah, he is from the Kumonaka Clan. I observed that he has already refined chakra, and in greater amounts than the average ninja."

Senju Tobirama nodded as well; he had observed Kumonaka Torikaze carefully the moment he saw him.

The chakra contained within that small body was already no weaker than that of a first-rate ninja in the village.

If he could receive proper guidance, he would definitely be a pillar of Konoha's future!

"It seems the Kumonaka Clan is set to rise again."

"Yes," Senju Hashirama said earnestly.

"If it weren't for the fact that Kumonaka Yama never learned his family's secret ninjutsu, I fear the Kumonaka Clan would never have joined Konoha."

"That is the drawback of a single-line inheritance. Does Brother have any thoughts on this child?"

Senju Hashirama pondered for a long time: "He is gifted. I have the intention to take him as a disciple, but I still need to observe his character."

"Then let it be so. If both his talent and character are excellent, we shall take him as a disciple."

"Achoo!" On his way home, Kumonaka Torikaze felt his ears burning.

He sneezed immediately: "Who is talking about me behind my back? It wouldn't be the Hokage, would it?"

Kumonaka Torikaze was naturally unaware of the conversation inside the office.

But he didn't think the First Hokage would fail to see that he already possessed chakra; on the contrary, that was his goal.

If he wanted to live a peaceful life in Konoha, there was no better title than being a disciple of the Hokage.

Look at those two old extras, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

Even though they were a bit senile and had made a mess of Konoha, they didn't have any real ambition!

They just lacked the capability, yet they still lived safely until the Boruto era.

Even if you were the head of a powerful clan, you still had to call them Elder when you saw them.

That was why Kumonaka Torikaze chose to show off just a little bit in front of Senju Hashirama.

However, leaving Konoha in the hands of people with so little ability could only be considered a helpless move by the Second Hokage.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen, could be called a hero of the ninja world in his youth, but the elderly Third was truly nothing to write home about.

Walking along while grumbling to himself, he soon arrived at a large estate.

The buildings within the estate were all carved with a white crane soaring through layered clouds.

This was the crest of the Kumonaka Clan, the Unchu Crane Emblem.

The clan grounds were quite large; he had heard that Kumonaka Yama had fought to secure them.

The old man himself, however, had passed away back in the third year of Konoha.

Because there were no servants, the massive estate felt very desolate.

But Kumonaka Torikaze was used to it; even when his parents were still alive, there were only three people in the house.

It was no different from how it was now.

Entering the house and finding a place to sit, Kumonaka Torikaze opened his father's will.

He was very curious about what could have been written that required a special instruction to wait until he was six years old to read it.

Gently unfolding the letter, the first things he saw were his father's hopes for his son's future, along with greetings and apologies.

'Torikaze, you are six years old this year. Have you grown any taller? Forgive your father for only being able to meet you in this form.'

Looking at the will left behind by his father, there wasn't a single word of "love" between the lines, yet Kumonaka Torikaze could clearly feel his father's deep affection.

"Old man, it must have been hard for someone as inarticulate as you to write so much."

In Kumonaka Torikaze's memories, Kumonaka Yama had always been a man of few words.

Whether toward his son or his wife, he rarely spoke much.

Kumonaka Torikaze read quickly, and this was the first time he realized his father was actually such a sentimental person.

Although usually taciturn, his love for his wife and child was not lacking in the slightest.

Suddenly, the words of advice came to an abrupt end.

The final remaining paragraph made Kumonaka Torikaze rub his eyes in uncertainty, but it was still clearly written there.

'Torikaze, there is a hidden door in my bedroom.'

'Remove the painting covering it, and you will see the secret ninjutsu that our Kumonaka Clan is most proud of—Cloud Release!'

'If you can master it, the Kumonaka Clan will rise once again!'

Confirming that his eyes were not playing tricks on him, Kumonaka Torikaze was stunned for a moment.

???

"The ninjutsu of the Kumonaka Clan? Cloud Release? Aren't we just a background character clan with a little bit of money? Is it not what I thought it was?"