Yamanaka Chujiu's Master Plan

After seeing Uchiha Shisui off, Yamanaka Chujiu stayed in the Forest of Death until nightfall, cleaned up the scene, and slowly walked home.

He spent the entire afternoon deep in thought, and the more he pondered, the more he felt the sheer power of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi controlled the Anbu, the Mission Department, the Administration Department, the Intelligence Department, the Barrier Squad, the Sealing Squad, the Ninja Academy, and various other sectors; the power in his hands was even greater than it had been before he stepped down.

Especially now, with the sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage, the Third Hokage had naturally reclaimed the authority of the Hokage, leaving him only one step away from a successful restoration.

Taking that step would be simple.

Hiruzen Sarutobi only needed to put on the Hokage hat, don the Hokage haori, step onto the balcony of the Hokage Building at nine in the morning, and shout:

"I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, have returned!"

The restoration of the Third Hokage was just that simple.

But did Hiruzen Sarutobi dare to do it?

He did not.

Such a rash restoration would inevitably trigger resentment throughout the village; even the civilian ninjas who had previously supported him would feel a thorn in their hearts, an indescribable discomfort.

The reason the people were not convinced was that Hiruzen Sarutobi was simply too old!

The Third Hokage himself once said: Only by gaining the recognition of everyone in Konoha can one become Hokage.

That statement was correct.

But he failed to mention that in the ninja world, the prerequisite for gaining recognition is having sufficient strength—proving to everyone that you can take on ten opponents at once and are the invincible, strongest ninja.

You must be able to fight and kill first, and only then can you handle the nuances of human relationships.

Back when he first became the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi was at his peak, yet he still wasn't strong enough to avoid being questioned by the ninja clans and villagers.

It wasn't until his three students shone brilliantly in the war, achieving legendary feats and earning the title of the "Legendary Sannin," that things changed.

The Legendary Sannin proved Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength, and the throne of the Third Hokage finally stabilized.

As time passed, Hiruzen Sarutobi, approaching sixty, was once again met with public doubt.

Ninjas dug up the old account of the White Fang of the Leaf's suicide, expressed dissatisfaction with his command during the Third Shinobi World War, and opposed his policy of waiving reparations from Sunagakure and Iwagakure.

Hiruzen Sarutobi announced his retirement and pushed Namikaze Minato to the position, calming the boiling public opinion and skepticism.

However, the Third Hokage's restoration after Minato's sacrifice proved that he never truly understood why he had been forced to step down in the first place.

It wasn't because the Third Shinobi World War was fought poorly.

No matter how poorly Konoha fought, they were still the victors of the war, while the defeated Sunagakure and Iwagakure suffered far heavier losses than Konoha.

The suicide of the White Fang of the Leaf wasn't the key either; what temple doesn't have its share of ghosts who died unjustly?

The impact of the White Fang's suicide was indeed severe, but didn't Sunagakure sell their war hero Pakura to Kirigakure, and didn't Iwagakure even exile their own jinchuriki?

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave up spoils of war and reparations for the sake of peace, which caused strong dissatisfaction among Konoha's ninjas, but the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, had even given away seven tailed beasts to other villages for the sake of peace.

All five great ninja villages had done many absurd things, yet were the Fourth Kazekage or the Third Tsuchikage forced to step down?

Did anyone express dissatisfaction with the First Hokage's reckless behavior?

When all is said and done, Hiruzen Sarutobi's predicament was simply that he could no longer hold the stage.

The villagers of Konoha, the ninjas of Konoha, the ninja clans of Konoha, and even his enemies all felt he could no longer fight and kill, which was why all these old grievances were being dredged up.

However, one must admit that Hiruzen Sarutobi's luck was truly exceptional.

To maintain his grip on power, he specifically chose Namikaze Minato as the Fourth Hokage, and he happened to pick a powerful ninja who was highly obedient, possessed a grand perspective, and had off-the-charts charisma.

Namikaze Minato's strength might not have surpassed Orochimaru's; both were "super-model" ninjas—one undefeated, one immortal—so the result of a battle between them would certainly have been a draw.

But Minato's fighting style was just too cool!

Strength is a temporary matter, but being cool is a lifetime achievement.

A high-speed ninja like Namikaze Minato could kill a jonin who was a tier below him as easily as slaughtering a chicken.

This wasn't just a matter of superior combat performance; it also exerted a much greater deterrent force on the enemy!

After the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato took office, even though Hiruzen Sarutobi continued to hold the real power and every policy remained exactly the same, everything changed for the better.

The Uchiha stopped causing trouble, the villagers and ninjas stopped questioning him, and even the arrogant Fourth Raikage stopped acting out.

Everyone knew that no matter what kind of mess Hiruzen Sarutobi created, the young Namikaze Minato could cover for him.

Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly old; as long as they endured for a few years, he would be forced to retire, and that much time was something they could afford to give.

But then Namikaze Minato died, and the restored Third Hokage even exiled Orochimaru.

With the loss of hope, the hearts of Konoha were scattered, and the team could no longer be led.

The Hyuga clan grew distant, the Uchiha clan rebelled and was ultimately wiped out, and the result was that everyone watched Hiruzen Sarutobi die without a single person reaching out to help.

Nagato said: "Those who do not understand pain have no right to talk about peace."

Objectively speaking, there is truth in those words.

The Third Hokage's restoration succeeded, and the Root exploded into a monster specialized in internal strife, running rampant within Konoha.

Everyone felt the pain cut to the bone, and only then did they realize who the common enemy was, subsequently forming a consensus that Hiruzen Sarutobi had to die.

Since the restoration could not be stopped, Yamanaka Chujiu decided to go in the opposite direction, using the Uchiha's resistance to provoke the Third Hokage into accelerating the restoration, thereby condensing the consensus against him ahead of schedule.

Then, he would guide that consensus to converge in support of Orochimaru, forming a Fifth Hokage faction with him at its core.

Once Orochimaru, who was also a student of the Hokage, matured, the corrupt Third Hokage faction would naturally be replaced.

Yamanaka Inoichi was so shocked after hearing Chujiu's plan that he was completely dazed.

He pointed a trembling finger at his younger brother: "How could you have such treasonous thoughts?"

"That is the Third Hokage, the Hokage himself!"

Yamanaka Chujiu narrowed his eyes and looked at his older brother, asking: "So what if he is the Hokage?"

"Is the Hokage a god? Does becoming Hokage mean one can never make mistakes, cannot be questioned, and cannot be overthrown?"

"Admit it, brother! You cannot stand Konoha under the rule of the Third Hokage!"

"The Konoha you yearn for is the one bathed in the radiance of ideals when the First Hokage was in power!"

"It is the Konoha that continued to prosper under the rational planning of the Second Hokage, or even the Konoha full of hope when the Fourth Hokage was in power."

"It is definitely not the Konoha under the Third Hokage's rule, where everyone is shrouded in the shadow of failure, threatened by the so-called Execution Line, and where even ten-year-old children are sent to the battlefield!"

"Open your eyes and look, brother!"

"The Senju Clan of Konoha no longer exists, and Konoha's ally, the Uzumaki Clan, no longer exists either!"

"Ninja clans like Hatake, Kurama, Shiranui, Gekko, and Kato are either down to a single survivor or have already vanished."

"Brother, do you really think our Yamanaka Clan won't end up on that same path to ruin?"

Yamanaka Inoichi's face turned ashen, and after a long silence, he managed to choke out: "I will meet with Uchiha Mikoto tomorrow."