Clear-Headed Awareness

To most people in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi was perhaps a good man, perhaps even a good Hokage.

But to Genkawa Uchiha, he was no different from any other politician.

Politicians had dirty hearts. That was the same in every world.

One could not decide someone was a good person simply because Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared kind. Some matters needed to be viewed from multiple angles.

Without Hiruzen Sarutobi's indulgence, there would have been no Shimura Danzō's darkness. Without Shimura Danzō's darkness, the Ninja World would not have suffered so many tragedies later on.

Although even without Shimura Danzō, the ninja wars would still have happened, and tragedies would still have occurred.

But Shimura Danzō's evil was the hardest part to judge.

And all of it stemmed from the Hokage standing before him.

"Genkawa, I know you're a good child. I hope you can think more about the village."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sensed the resistance in the youth before him. Rather than getting angry, he spoke with earnest patience.

He continued, "You fought the Nine-Tails, so you understand why it appeared. The person who released the Nine-Tails and caused the deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife was an Uchiha. That cannot be denied. Under these circumstances, we must give the rest of the village an explanation."

"If possible, I too would wish none of this had happened. But the Uchiha must pay a price for it. That is also what most of the village agrees with."

Genkawa Uchiha's expression remained calm, as though the words had nothing to do with him.

"So what? It's enough to drive the Uchiha from the village to its outskirts?" he asked.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. "This decision is actually meant to protect the Uchiha as well. At the very least, it can be considered a cooling-off period."

Genkawa Uchiha nodded. "All right, I understand."

Hiruzen Sarutobi inwardly relaxed slightly. "Then you agree with this too, correct?"

Genkawa Uchiha said, "Mm, I agree. Sounds great."

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression visibly ease, Genkawa Uchiha added, "But it has nothing to do with me. My surname is Uchiha only because my parents named me Uchiha. The Uchiha are the Uchiha, and I am me. So however you higher-ups choose to punish the Uchiha has nothing to do with me."

As he spoke, he lost interest in arguing with the old man and headed toward his home.

"Punish them however you like, as long as you don't drag me into it."

Several Anbu beside Hiruzen Sarutobi closed in, surrounding Genkawa Uchiha. Some had already placed their hands on the hilts of their blades, while others lowered their bodies into attacking stances.

But Genkawa Uchiha simply passed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, his words never stopping.

"Ever since the Second Hokage, you higher-ups have always targeted the Uchiha. That idea has been inherited by all of you. I can already foresee that if this continues, the Uchiha's future is destined for destruction. So before that destruction comes, don't disgust me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed the moment those words left his mouth.

He had never expected such words to come from Genkawa Uchiha, a mere youth.

Those words directly tore apart certain things the higher-ups had always upheld. More importantly, the one saying them was not even fourteen years old. That was rather frightening.

"Genkawa Uchiha!"

Rarely this stern, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned around and stared directly at his back. "Those are not words someone your age should be saying. So... who taught you that? Fugaku Uchiha?"

Genkawa Uchiha stopped and turned around as well, completely ignoring the people surrounding him.

"Fugaku Uchiha?"

Genkawa Uchiha scoffed.

"Don't make me laugh. If someone like him could say something like that, the Uchiha wouldn't have ended up in this sorry state."

"What, Third Hokage? Do you think someone my age shouldn't have this kind of understanding?"

"Or should I be the sort of Konoha ninja who mindlessly believes in the Will of Fire, wants only to dedicate himself to the village, and becomes a tool in the hands of the higher-ups?"

He smiled and continued, "Or do you think an outlier like me is not a normal Uchiha, and that I make you higher-ups feel threatened?"

"Come on, Third Hokage, tell me. What exactly should I do? Is it so hard for you to accept that I haven't been brainwashed by you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi met his gaze, seemingly trying to see something in his eyes. But all he saw was calmness.

Only at that moment did Hiruzen Sarutobi truly recognize how unusual the youth before him was.

There were good sides and bad sides to it.

The good side was that the youth's understanding far surpassed that of ordinary people. He was not limited by clan or family, and he saw problems with exceptional clarity.

The bad side was that he held no affection not only for the Uchiha, but for the village higher-ups as well. He also had no recognition whatsoever of the Will of Fire.

He was a complete outlier—not only to the Uchiha Clan, but to the village as well.

And the latter was especially obvious.

That made things difficult.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's original plan had been to communicate with him and turn this outlier among the Uchiha into a bridge between the village and the Uchiha.

That way, they could avoid greater divisions, or even conflict, between the Uchiha and the village.

It would have been even better if they could make him side with the village during the process.

After all, an innate Sage Body was truly unusual. If they could bring him over to the village's side, the village would undoubtedly gain a powerful fighting force in the future.

But now, it seemed that plan could not be carried out.

Because the youth before him had his own understanding, and it could not be changed.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was organizing his words, hoping not to provoke even more resistance from him, the youth spoke again.

"Didn't the Anbu from before tell you what I said? I'm not a ninja. I have no obligation to obey orders from the village higher-ups, especially yours. Whether the others move is their business. This is my home. My house was left to me by my parents, and I own it."

He smiled as he spoke.

"So if you want me to move away like the other Uchiha, it's simple. Go find the Feudal Lord and have him issue an order."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression shifted slightly at those words.

At that moment, he keenly felt just how troublesome Genkawa Uchiha was.

Because his words had directly exposed the nature of the Hokage's authority.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi and the village higher-ups forced Genkawa Uchiha, they would have no legal standing. Genkawa Uchiha was not a ninja, but an ordinary villager. They had no right to order him, much less force him.

If they truly did so and the matter blew up, ordinary villagers would inevitably become wary, and the other ninja clans would draw unfavorable conclusions as well.

After all, in every major ninja clan, the true majority was still made up of ordinary people without the talent to become ninjas.

After saying all that, Genkawa Uchiha ignored Hiruzen Sarutobi's ugly expression. He turned around and directly shoved aside the two people blocking his path.

"What the hell are you posturing for? Get out of my way. If you've got the guts, just make a move, trash."

Then he left without looking back.

He opened the door, went inside, and shut it without another word, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others outside.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was exceedingly grim. Only now did he truly understand how difficult Genkawa Uchiha was to deal with.

For some reason, he actually felt a trace of sympathy for Fugaku Uchiha.

With someone like that around, Fugaku Uchiha must have lost quite a bit of hair in his daily life.

Shaking his head and casting aside those meaningless thoughts, Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the tightly shut door and frowned.

"Hokage-sama, should we take action?" one Anbu ninja took the initiative to ask.

The others held much the same attitude.

Genkawa Uchiha's actions just now had shown them absolutely no respect. Ninjas might be tools, but being humiliated so directly still made them angry.