Senior Kakashi, I've come to help you become Hokage

Uchiha Obito was quite talented, though his talent could likely only be fully unleashed under conditions of extreme despair.

Rather than calling the Uchiha clan a cursed clan, it would perhaps be more accurate to call them the clan of love.

Only when the person they love dies before their eyes does the Sharingan awaken; such an event is enough to drive many ordinary people to insanity.

Leading Uchiha Obito out of the Ninja Academy, I caught sight of Uzumaki Kushina waiting at the school gate at a single glance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kushina."

Typically, genin form a squad immediately after graduation to begin ninja activities, but Uzumaki Kushina was different.

She had been deliberately overlooked during the team assignments; without a fixed squad, she had no missions.

A civilian ninja might worry about starving to death without missions, but Uzumaki Kushina, possessing the financial backing of the Senju, had no need to worry about her stomach.

Uzumaki Kushina shook her head slightly, "I only just arrived."

That was a lie; she had been waiting for quite a while.

"I invited Hatake-senpai and Duy to go eat barbecue tonight, care to join?" I asked, though my right hand had already taken hold of Uzumaki Kushina's, pulling her toward the barbecue restaurant.

Uzumaki Kushina naturally did not struggle, following along at a slow pace, looking for all the world like a young wife.

Although Uchiha Obito wasn't the brightest, seeing the two of them, he knew he was the third wheel; he silently turned a corner and headed toward his home.

The carefully marinated beef slices made a "sizzling" sound on the scorching grill, a bit of oil seeping out from the edges, bubbles of sauce bursting under the high heat as pure white steam rose, the gentle temperature bringing the aroma of the beef wafting toward us.

Just as the first slice of beef turned the color of cooked meat, the door to the private room opened; Hatake Sakumo and Might Duy arrived right on cue, as if they had timed their arrival perfectly for when the meat was ready.

The timing was so perfect that we could eat hot beef without having to grill it ourselves.

In your dreams!

Uzumaki Kushina picked up a slice of beef and placed it into my small bowl.

"Apologies, we're a little late."

Hatake Sakumo sat down right in the seat in front of me.

Unlike Hatake Sakumo, who wore an expression of being accustomed to this, Might Duy appeared extremely reserved.

His usual mission pay could never support him eating at a place like this, and his status as a genin was vastly different from that of an Uchiha clan head; especially seeing Hatake Sakumo, the pressure in his heart grew even greater.

I noticed the state of this honest man, a faint smile on my face as I stood up and pressed him into his seat.

"Duy, don't be so formal. We're friends, aren't we?"

That's the one good thing about a hot-blooded idiot; a single sentence is enough to make him burst into tears.

"Yes! We are friends!"

Tears streamed uncontrollably from beneath his thick brows.

To be honest, seeing it in person was still a bit nauseating.

At the very least, the barbecue didn't taste quite as good anymore.

But everyone here was a ninja; we just endured it until it passed.

After I sat back down and put down my chopsticks, I stared at the meat slices gradually curling under the charcoal fire, "The war might be starting again."

Hatake Sakumo's gaze sharpened, "The Sand Ninja shouldn't have the capacity to organize a war in the short term."

During the last war, he had killed the parents of Sasori of the Red Sand, and within the ranks of the Sand Ninja, those two were nearly peak combatants, the strongest puppet masters aside from the Kage.

It wasn't just a matter of high-level combat power.

The entire Land of Wind was essentially desert, which resulted in the Sand Ninja being the most resource-deprived of all the great nations.

The last Shinobi World War had consumed almost all their capital from the past few years; they couldn't collect sufficient resources in a short time like Konoha could.

Furthermore, the Sand Ninja likely couldn't adjust their mindset in such a short period.

That short blade diffusing a faint, pure white chakra glow on the battlefield had already become their nightmare.

"According to reliable intelligence, the possibility of the Mist Ninja joining the war is very low."

"It is highly likely to be a two-front war against the Iwagakure Ninja and the Cloud Ninja again."

"In order to cultivate the next Hokage, Orochimaru leading the team on the Cloud Ninja front is likely already a foregone conclusion."

I flipped the beef slices, mentioning the intelligence nonchalantly.

Given the current lack of supplies for the Cloud Ninja, the personnel dispatched certainly wouldn't be numerous; the early battles would be a total windfall of merit for Orochimaru.

Such merit would clearly not be handed to me.

Once the intensity of the war escalated in the later stages, the Third Hokage would clearly drag the Uchiha in to fill the meat grinder.

"As for the commander, I don't think that's something we can decide, is it?" Hatake Sakumo asked softly.

Usually, the appointment of a commander was designated by the Hokage.

There was no point in us discussing it here.

Might Duy felt a bit redundant; what did this have to do with a genin like him?

"I hope Hatake-senpai can take on the position of commander against the Iwagakure Ninja; the Uchiha will fully support you, Hatake-senpai."

Hatake Sakumo caught the implication behind his words.

The meaning of "full support" was simple and clear: the Uchiha clan intended to back him to become the next Hokage?

He raised an eyebrow, looking at Uchiha Yuji with a hint of surprise.

Uchiha Yuji placed a slice of freshly grilled meat into his small bowl. "The resistance against an Uchiha becoming Hokage is simply too great. It doesn't just come from the Hokage's own faction; clans like the Hyuga would also move to prevent the Uchiha from expanding their influence."

The Hyuga clan might be laid-back, but when it came to their fundamental interests and reputation, they would never sit idly by.

They possessed self-awareness; since no one in the Hyuga clan was qualified to sit in the Hokage's seat, then the Uchiha absolutely could not be allowed to sit there either!

That the Hyuga were inferior to the Uchiha? They would never admit to such a thing!

Sarutobi Hiruzen would naturally never hand over a position as important as battlefield commander to an Uchiha.

If they were to achieve too much merit, he would find it truly difficult to control this incomparably sharp blade.

"Rather than letting it benefit someone else, I believe that a senior who views his comrades as more important than the mission sitting on the Hokage's throne might bring new changes to this Konoha, which is gradually decaying."

Hatake Sakumo's mind was, in truth, quite stubborn.

Konoha was only so big; in the original story, Hatake Sakumo actually knew clearly who was slandering him.

If it were Uchiha Yuji's way of thinking, since you slandered me, I would just kill you—a dead person can no longer speak, after all.

Once that happened, whatever I said, you wouldn't be able to refute it.

Yet Hatake Sakumo was unwilling to raise the White Fang against a fellow villager; to prove that he had done nothing wrong, he would rather choose to commit seppuku to prove himself.

But he had never considered it.

The Pot Kage never once viewed him as a comrade from the same village.

But if Hatake Sakumo were to sit in the Hokage's seat, he would absolutely use his own flesh and blood, giving his all to protect the village's comrades.

Even in the face of a fatal attack, he would surely stand before his comrades without a moment's hesitation.

Even if they were Uchiha, he would do the same.

His stubbornness was endearing, the kind of stubbornness that made people like him.