After seeing Uchiha Shisui off, Yamanaka Chujiu stayed in the Forest of Death until nightfall. Only then did he clean up the scene and slowly make his way home.
He had spent the entire afternoon turning things over in his mind. The deeper he thought, the more he realized just how powerful Hiruzen Sarutobi was.
Hiruzen Sarutobi controlled Konoha's Anbu, Mission Department, Administration Department, Intelligence Department, Barrier Squad, Sealing Squad, Ninja Academy, and other departments. The power in his hands was even greater than it had been before he stepped down.
Especially now, with the Fourth Hokage dead, the Third Hokage had naturally taken back the Hokage's power. He was only one step away from successfully reclaiming the position.
Taking that step would be easy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi only had to put on the Hokage's hat and robe, step onto the balcony of the Hokage Building at nine in the morning, and loudly declare:
"I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, have returned!"
That was all it would take for the Third Hokage to reclaim his position.
But would Hiruzen Sarutobi dare to do it?
He wouldn't.
Such a careless return to power would inevitably provoke resentment throughout the village. Even the civilian ninja who had supported him before would feel as if a thorn had been lodged in their hearts, leaving them deeply uncomfortable.
The people wouldn't accept him because Hiruzen Sarutobi was too old!
The Third Hokage himself had once said, "Only someone who has earned the recognition of everyone in Konoha can become Hokage."
That was true.
But he had left something unsaid: in the Shinobi World, earning that recognition required strength. You had to prove to everyone that you could take on ten opponents at once and were the strongest ninja, impossible to defeat.
First came fighting and killing; only then came the art of winning people over.
Back when Hiruzen Sarutobi had just become the Third Hokage and was at the peak of his strength, he still hadn't been forceful enough and faced doubts from both the ninja clans and the villagers.
It wasn't until his three students made a name for themselves in the war, achieving legendary feats and earning the title of the Konoha Sannin,
that the Third Hokage's seat finally became secure. The Konoha Sannin had proven Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength.
Time passed, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, now approaching sixty, once again came under scrutiny.
The ninja dredged up the old story of White Fang's suicide, criticized his command during the Third Shinobi World War, and opposed his decision to abandon reparations from Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
Hiruzen Sarutobi announced that he was stepping down and put Namikaze Minato forward as his successor, quelling the heated criticism and doubts.
But the Third Hokage's return to power after Minato's death proved he didn't understand why he had been forced to step down in the first place.
It wasn't because the Third Shinobi World War had gone badly.
Even if Konoha hadn't fought well, it had still won the war. Sunagakure and Iwagakure, as the defeated parties, had suffered far heavier losses than Konoha.
Nor was the White Fang's suicide the key issue. Every temple had its share of unjustly dead.
White Fang's suicide had certainly caused a scandal, but Sunagakure had sold its war hero, Pakura, to Kirigakure, while Iwagakure had even driven out its own Jinchūriki.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's decision to give up the spoils of war and reparations for the sake of peace had caused intense resentment among Konoha's ninja. But for the sake of peace, the First, Senju Hashirama, had even given seven Tailed Beasts to other villages.
All Five Great Shinobi Villages had done plenty of foolish things. Had the Fourth Kazekage or the Third Tsuchikage been forced from office?
And who had voiced any discontent over the First's reckless decisions?
After all was said and done, Hiruzen Sarutobi's problem was that he could no longer command respect.
The villagers, ninja, and clans of Konoha, even its enemies, all thought he could no longer fight. That was why people started bringing up all the ugly things he had done.
But it had to be admitted: Hiruzen Sarutobi had been incredibly lucky.
To keep his power, he had deliberately chosen Namikaze Minato as the Fourth Hokage. By sheer luck, he had picked a powerful ninja who was obedient, far-sighted, and immensely charismatic.
Minato's strength might not have surpassed Orochimaru's. They were both overpowered ninja: one never lost, while the other couldn't die. Their battles would surely end in a draw.
But Minato looked so cool in battle!
Strength was temporary; looking cool lasted a lifetime.
As a speed-focused ninja, Namikaze Minato could kill an elite jonin just as easily as a chicken if his opponent was even a little weaker than him.
That didn't just make him look stronger in battle—it also made him far more intimidating to his enemies!
After Namikaze Minato took office as the Fourth Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued to hold power, and not a single policy changed. Yet everything got better.
The Uchiha stopped making trouble. The villagers and ninja stopped questioning him. Even the arrogant Fourth Raikage stopped causing trouble.
Everyone knew that no matter how big a mess Hiruzen Sarutobi made, the young Namikaze Minato could clean it up for him.
Besides, Hiruzen Sarutobi really was old. They only had to put up with him for a few years before he'd have to retire. They could tolerate that much.
But then Namikaze Minato died, and the Third Hokage, back in power, drove Orochimaru away.
Konoha had lost hope. The people were divided, and no one could hold the village together.
The Hyuga Clan grew distant. The Uchiha Clan rebelled and was eventually wiped out. In the end, everyone simply watched Hiruzen Sarutobi die, and no one reached out to save him.
Nagato had said, "How can those who don't know pain have any right to talk about peace?"
To be fair, he had a point.
If the Third Hokage successfully reclaimed power, Root would explode in size, becoming a monster dedicated to internal strife and running rampant throughout Konoha.
Only after everyone had felt the pain firsthand would they realize who their common enemy was—and come together in agreement that Hiruzen Sarutobi had to die.
Since he couldn't stop the Third Hokage from reclaiming power, Yamanaka Chujiu decided to take the opposite approach: use the Uchiha's resistance to push the Third Hokage into reclaiming power sooner, bringing people together against him earlier.
Then he would guide that consensus toward supporting Orochimaru, forming a Fifth Hokage faction with Orochimaru at its center.
Once Orochimaru, a fellow student of the Hokage, grew strong enough, the rotten Third Hokage faction would naturally be replaced.
After hearing Chujiu's plan, Yamanaka Inoichi was so shocked he could barely think straight.
He pointed at his younger brother with a trembling finger. "How could you come up with such a treasonous idea?"
"That's the Third Hokage! The Hokage!"
Yamanaka Chujiu narrowed his eyes and looked at his elder brother. "So what if he's the Hokage?"
"Is the Hokage a god? Does becoming Hokage mean you can never make a mistake, can never be questioned, and can never be overthrown?"
"Admit it, brother! You can't stand Konoha under the Third Hokage's rule!"
"The Konoha you long for is the village bathed in the light of ideals when the First was in power!"
"It's the Konoha that flourished under the Second Hokage's rational planning, or even the hopeful village it was under the Fourth Hokage."
"It's anything but the Konoha under the Third Hokage's rule—a village shrouded in failure, where everyone faces the threat of the 'Execution Line' and even ten-year-old children have to go to war!"
"Open your eyes, brother!"
"The Senju Clan no longer exists in Konoha, and neither does Konoha's ally, the Uzumaki Clan!"
"The Hatake, Kurama, Shiranui, Gekko, and Kato clans have either been reduced to a single survivor or disappeared altogether."
"Brother, do you think the Yamanaka Clan won't meet the same fate?"
Yamanaka Inoichi's face turned ashen. After a long silence, he managed to say, "I'll meet with Uchiha Mikoto tomorrow."
Before you continue