As the sun's last rays sank below the horizon, Konoha Village, hailed as the foremost ninja village in the Shinobi World, had once again passed through a day that seemed to be peaceful, as always.
This village, founded by Senju Hashirama, the First, and Uchiha Madara, the Konoha Devil, through their unmatched strength, had inherited the might of both the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan.
It had not only adopted the Senju Clan's excellent structure, with its many branches and expertise in nearly every field of ninjutsu, but also possessed powerful bloodline abilities. Two of the Three Great Dojutsu were in Konoha.
Powerful as it was, the Land of Fire sat at the very center of the continent, controlling major trade routes and occupying the most fertile land. That made it a catalyst for war. Konoha was always involved in the Shinobi World Wars—or sometimes the whole point of a war was to defeat Konoha.
Compared with the Land of Fire, the other nations were truly barren. Just look at the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning. How could they accept that?
So the biggest headache for every Hokage was how to maintain a balance among the Five Great Nations. Naturally, making one or two allies was essential. They couldn't really fight two, three, or four nations at once, could they? That would be like asking for a beating.
Fighting two was barely manageable. Fighting three meant risking your life. But fighting four... Konoha might be powerful, but even it had its limits.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was hailed as a Shinobi Hero of his generation. He was deeply troubled. Even though night had fully fallen, he still stood on the platform, staring down at all of Konoha, lost in thought.
The worries of the battlefield were far less troubling to him than the threat of an internal crisis.
Konoha's strength came from its vast size, but that very scale brought another problem: whether its internal factions could remain united.
It was a serious problem. The conflict between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan had not ended simply because they joined forces to build Konoha. In fact, the First, Senju Hashirama, and Uchiha Madara soon fell out, and the Uchiha Clan quickly took up Madara's cause.
As the Senju faded from the picture, the conflict eventually grew into a clash between the Uchiha Clan and the village's entire leadership. Because of the Second Hokage's policies, the Uchiha were confined to the Police Force and kept away from the higher ranks. As one of Konoha's founding clans, they were deeply dissatisfied.
But the Uchiha weren't the only clan in Konoha. There were countless large and small clans, all entangled in conflicting interests. It was all something the Hokage had to worry about.
"My hands... they really can't do this anymore..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was nowhere near as old as he would be more than a decade later. His strength was still unquestionably the greatest in Konoha. Orochimaru, who would one day deal Konoha a devastating blow, was still a Konoha ninja—or perhaps even a "good person" at this point.
Orochimaru had not yet begun his unscrupulous pursuit of forbidden techniques for eternal life, nor had he started experimenting on human subjects. Though cold by nature, he was still fighting for Konoha and training the next generation of ninja.
But Orochimaru wasn't the first of the Sannin to run into trouble. The Third Hokage was sighing endlessly over the matter even now.
The reason was simple. Of the Sannin, Orochimaru was the strongest in combat, but Tsunade was the most important to the village.
Because of Tsunade, Konoha had overhauled its ninja combat formations and gained the best overall fighting force among ninja squads.
Because of Tsunade, Konoha's medical capabilities had suddenly leaped far ahead of their previous level, which had been much like that of the other nations. Konoha became the best in the Shinobi World, and the ninja death rate plummeted, directly raising the village's overall strength.
It was also because Tsunade was so well connected: she was the First's granddaughter, with a broad network and a great reputation. As long as she remained in Konoha, the village could stay stable.
But now Tsunade could no longer serve Konoha. After her younger brother, her lover had also gone to meet the Buddha. That sort of thing was common during wartime, but this woman was clearly more sensitive beneath the surface than she appeared. Faced with such a blow, she had broken down...
She had developed a fear of blood. She could no longer fight, or even do her own job as a medic.
Medical work for ninja involved blood most of the time. You couldn't just soak everything in medicine and call it a day...
Perhaps realizing this, Tsunade had finally decided to leave. Even Orochimaru and Jiraiya couldn't stop her.
The Third Hokage hadn't tried to stop her either. He knew what Tsunade was like.
But that was exactly why he was so troubled...
Tsunade's departure had a huge impact. She wasn't the only one worried about it; Danzo was too...
The difference was that Hiruzen stood stunned on the platform, while Danzo was holed up in his underground base, furiously fiddling with his cane...
Both men sighed endlessly. How had Konoha ended up saddled with such a mess?
The one consolation was that Jiraiya had an outstanding student—the Yellow Flash. The Senju line had produced one expert after another, generation after generation. With that strength, the situation was still manageable.
"Knock, knock..."
A knock came at the door. The Third Hokage turned around. Even standing on the platform, he could hear everything in his office. After all, he was Konoha's strongest ninja. If he couldn't even hear that well, he'd have been wasting his time...
"Come in."
By the time he spoke, he was already seated at his desk again.
"Lord Hokage, sorry to disturb you."
The door opened, and Shiro Aoki walked in.
"Oh, Shiro..."
Hiruzen rubbed his pipe and smiled faintly.
"I hear Asuma is working under you. Thanks for putting up with him."
He knew Asuma had been assigned to a lower-level department, but he hadn't interfered. Asuma would eventually understand that Hiruzen hadn't given him the protection he thought he had.
"It's no trouble. I came to report something. Some time ago, two people from the Land of Water entered Konoha."
Shiro smiled. It really wasn't much trouble. He had only used a Shadow Clone and the Transformation Technique; no one had seen through it.
"I thought I should report it to you."
"Oh?"
The Third Hokage was a little surprised. Or perhaps he was simply curious.
It wasn't unusual for people from the Land of Water to seek refuge in the Land of Fire or the Land of Lightning. But if Shiro Aoki, a jonin, had come to report something like this, then either he was making a fuss over nothing, or the people in question had some special value.
"What kind of people are they? What made you go to all this trouble?"
"I'm afraid I don't know the full details. But I can confirm that one of them seems to possess a particularly powerful Kekkei Genkai. He can fight using techniques that use ice as their medium. They said they fled the Land of Water and wanted to join the village."
"A particularly powerful Ice Release... If you put it that way, it must be more than an ordinary technique. You came here to ask me to verify it, didn't you?"
The Third Hokage carefully recalled what he knew about the Land of Water.
There were other people in the Shinobi World who used ice, but surely this wasn't that clan. The daimyo of the Land of Water had even ordered the Mist Ninja to hunt down that clan. There was no way they could have escaped...
As a student of the First and Second Hokage, the Third Hokage still remembered the First's Wood Release vividly. By now, that kind of technique had nearly vanished from Konoha. Though there were still ninja who could use Wood Release, it was nothing like the First's.
That was why he paid close attention to unique techniques born from similar circumstances. As far as he knew, the Yuki Clan's Ice Release in the Land of Water was the only fused technique closest in nature to the First's Wood Release.
Both possessed exceptionally unique abilities. Ice Release was inferior to Wood Release in its ability to counter different environments and in sheer power, but its techniques were trickier to deal with.
"What are their names?"
After a moment's thought, the Third Hokage asked. He needed to make sure. If they really were who he thought they were, he wouldn't mind confirming it in person.
"One is called Kaguya Ogata. The other is Kagetsu Qi. He's the one with the Kekkei Genkai I mentioned. His original surname was Yuki, but he changed his name because he has Kaguya Clan blood."
"Yuki... I never thought anyone could escape. Though even I have only heard of them; I've never actually seen one."
The Third Hokage stood up. It seemed he really would have to confirm it with his own eyes. They truly were members of the Yuki Clan.
Konoha's knowledge of the Yuki Clan mainly came from intelligence gathered during the civil war in the Land of Water. But that investigation had been limited. They only knew that the Yuki Clan was famous in the Land of Water for its Ice Release and its special abilities.
The intelligence division had passed along some records about Ice Release, but without witnessing it firsthand, there was bound to be some exaggeration.
"Lord Hokage, you know that clan?"
Shiro thought he had been right to report this. The Third Hokage's expression showed that his assessment of Qi had been correct. He really did have a powerful Kekkei Genkai.
"They're quite famous in the Land of Water. In theory, that Ice Release is as powerful as the First's Wood Release. By the way... have you fought them?"
The Third Hokage watched Shiro with interest. If Shiro had fought them, it would make for a useful reference.
"His defense is certainly impressive. I used Fire Release once. Since my opponent was only a child, I held back, but the defensive power of that ice wall still surprised me. It completely blocked my Fireball Jutsu."
Shiro shrugged.
"How much did you hold back? And how strong is that child now?"
The Third Hokage's eyes gleamed.
"Maybe fifty percent at most... As for the child, he's only a Genin. An ordinary Genin definitely couldn't block it. If he didn't dodge, he'd be burned to death."
Shiro considered his words carefully.
"I think it's probably because he hasn't had anyone to teach him. His teacher, Kaguya Ogata, only knows Taijutsu. He probably taught himself ninjutsu, and likely has a family scroll."
"Kaguya Ogata... Shiro, have you fought him?"
The Third Hokage suddenly asked.
"I haven't... But he's only a Taijutsu specialist. Honestly, I think the child is much more important. They're master and student, so I didn't press the matter."
Shiro shook his head.
"That was the right call. Still, that Ogata once managed to retreat safely from a fight with Hatake Sakumo, and Sakumo thought highly of him. His Taijutsu may not measure up to the Eight Inner Gates or Gentle Fist, but it has its own distinctive style."
The Third Hokage smiled and added some tobacco to his pipe. It was almost empty...
"You've certainly made a valuable discovery this time. If those two really came to join the village, then the village will treat them well! Go speak with the intelligence division and have them investigate thoroughly, but make sure the two are treated well too. We don't want them to get a bad impression of the village."
He added,
"First impressions often decide a great many things."
"Then I'll take care of it."
Having received the Third Hokage's answer, Shiro left the office, leaving Hiruzen alone to puff on his pipe.
"The Yuki... The Yuki... Hmm..."
Even after Shiro had left, the Third Hokage didn't get up. He had far more to consider than Shiro did.
The addition of Ice Release, a powerful Kekkei Genkai, would be extremely important to the village. But every village had to be careful when dealing with bloodlines.
This wasn't just about increasing the village's combat strength. It also concerned the structure of its internal factions. Fortunately, Qi was only one person for now. But in the future, he would have descendants, and those descendants would gradually form a new bloodline clan.
The existing structure would be difficult to change. Konoha had to start planning now for how it would accommodate Ice Release in the future.
Still, Qi didn't have a ninjutsu teacher. That was a useful opening, one he could work with...
The Third Hokage remembered that Ice Release came from combining the chakra nature transformations of Water and Wind, just as Wood Release combined Water and Earth.
In other words, Qi needed a teacher skilled in either Water Release or Wind Release...
Since the Second Hokage's time, Konoha hadn't had any particularly powerful Water Release users. It did have several skilled Wind Release users...
The village's best-known Wind Release users were the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, and Danzo. Orochimaru was also highly skilled in Wind Release.
Who should he choose...
Danzo was out of the question. They were both working for Konoha, but understanding one another didn't change the fact that their ideals clashed. Hiruzen didn't dare take that risk. Or perhaps, deep down, he was convinced that the moderate approach was the only way forward.
Namikaze Minato already had three students, and he was active on the battlefield. He seemed like a good choice.
But Orochimaru was a good option too. After all, he was Hiruzen's closest student and his favorite. Besides, Minato's specialty was Space-Time Ninjutsu, not elemental techniques, while Orochimaru seemed more accomplished in Wind Release...
Most importantly, Orochimaru had a broad perspective and few students. He also had more time available.
"Someone come in."
Having made up his mind, the Third Hokage called toward the door.
"Lord Hokage."
The door opened, and the Anbu guard stationed outside stepped in.
"What are your orders?"
"Is Orochimaru still in the village?"
"Yes. Lord Orochimaru and Lord Jiraiya don't have any missions at the moment. They're both waiting in the village."
"Call him here. I have a mission for him."