Mistakes and Misunderstandings Are Life

The firelight flickered, and Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe, but the dancing flame sputtered twice and died. His very existence seemed to rely on the desperate, rhythmic breathing of this aging old man.

Sarutobi could accept the "god-making" movement; it had been a success without any real danger. For years, the difference between him and his old associate, Shimura Danzo, was that the old man always wanted to control everything and could never accept events unfolding outside his grasp.

Once a plan was set, Danzo always felt everyone should play their part according to his script.

But Sarutobi had long since seen through it: life is not about getting what you want; it is about the twists and turns of fate.

To set a goal to accomplish something and then, through a series of accidents, actually achieve it—that was already good enough.

In this war, Sarutobi had three goals.

First, to shift the internal conflicts of Konoha Village outward, using foreign war to divert everyone's attention and foster internal unity through external pressure.

Second, to address the lack of successors in Konoha by molding a few war heroes to fill the talent void.

Third, to leverage the momentum of a great victory to force the ninja clans to integrate, showing those who wouldn't even send their kin to the Ninja Academy that Konoha Village now possessed the power to check, or even surpass, them.

If they still stubbornly refused to join Konoha, then Konoha would no longer need them.

For so many years, Konoha had remained nothing more than a cluster of dozens of ninja clans, not a cohesive whole, with each clan valuing its own secret techniques above all else.

This was detrimental to the development of Konoha.

Sarutobi felt it was time for a change, to let Konoha witness the power of civilian ninjas.

Large numbers of sustainably trained, inexpensive civilian ninjas were the primary combat force on the battlefield, whereas clan ninjas, nurtured with vast resources, were no longer suited for the current world.

Sarutobi even understood that even someone as powerful as a Kage might eventually collapse and die if forced to fight ten thousand ninjas.

Training ten thousand civilian ninjas was difficult for the village, but not impossible. Moreover, such training often brought unexpected surprises, as a few exceptionally gifted individuals might emerge from the ranks.

But training a Kage? That was a matter of doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate.

Therefore, universal education for all of Konoha, with a focus on nurturing talent, was the true path. In Sarutobi's eyes, clans that only cared to cultivate their own were decadent.

Yet, people are selfish. If Konoha focused on training clan ninjas, the clans would naturally welcome it.

But asking the clans to contribute their people, effort, and money to train civilians? That was something the clans could not accept.

Sarutobi had thought of many ways to force their integration.

For instance, having clan ninjas serve as Jonin instructors to lead newly risen clan subordinates and fresh graduates from the Ninja Academy, using time to forge emotional bonds between them.

A group might possess collective biases, but individuals are just ordinary people. Humans have emotions, and those emotions only need time to be cultivated.

Sarutobi believed that given time, the clans would inevitably see the merits in Konoha's civilians. Once they acknowledged them, the obstacles to future progress would diminish.

Next, Sarutobi would rely on the victories brought by civilian ninjas to earn them great prestige, perhaps even promoting a civilian-born ninja hero.

In this way, he would push through a Konoha law: henceforth, barring special circumstances, anyone wishing to attain the rank of Genin must be a graduate of the Ninja Academy.

This would bring the clans and civilians closer together; years of shared camaraderie would eventually form bonds.

Currently, while the clans sent their descendants to the academy, it was merely a formality—a way for those destined for Konoha's political scene to check a box.

At home, they continued to train their own clan enforcers, unwilling to contribute anything to Konoha's education.

As for the candidate to force the clans to join the Ninja Academy, Sarutobi had already settled on Minato Namikaze.

A civilian ninja with extraordinary talent.

He was grateful for the Flying Thunder God Technique developed by the Second Hokage.

The First Hokage was right; it was indeed a forbidden technique. It was simply not a jutsu meant for human control.

Space-time ninjutsu lacked any real universality.

If it were merely for point-to-point movement, the Body Flicker Technique, while slower than the Flying Thunder God, was sufficient for a ninja's needs. A technique with such high difficulty that offered little practical combat improvement was meaningless.

However, Minato Namikaze was a man with a unique talent among civilians; he had actually developed the technique into a point-to-multi-point application.

His reaction speed, which surpassed that of ordinary people, allowed him to appear at different locations on the battlefield simultaneously and react according to the specific circumstances of each point.

This was something no other ninja could achieve. It was likely that after him, the Flying Thunder God Technique would be lost, as Sarutobi had yet to see a second person capable of such a feat.

Even the Second Hokage, who developed the technique, had only used it as a means of travel.

Thus, Sarutobi conceived the idea of promoting this newcomer. Besides, the boy was a civilian who had married the daughter of a major ninja clan.

Surely the clans wouldn't be so repulsed by him; at the very least, the smaller clans would find it difficult to reject him.

Now, all that was needed was a great victory.

Prestige is a fickle thing. If a ninja lacks illustrious battle achievements, their strength will not be feared. And a ninja who is not feared will always be targeted by someone, eventually dying at the hands of some unknown entity.

Was Hanzo of the Salamander, known as the Demigod, truly that powerful?

In reality, it was merely a status fostered by the Five Great Nations to ensure a buffer zone between them, but it had cemented his prestige and created his legend.

The Sannin, when they were young and unrefined, might not have been his match, but now, any one of his three disciples—who bore the title he had bestowed upon them—possessed strength not inferior to his own.

That is the power of prestige.

It is intangible, yet it always plays an unimaginable role.

With his extraordinary talent and suitable status, all Minato lacked now was the prestige to back it up.

Originally, Sarutobi had hoped that this reputation would be built by the efforts of numerous Konoha civilian ninjas, with a large number of Konoha ninjas serving as the main frontline force, interspersed with ninjas from the ninja clans acting as spectators, ultimately culminating in the prestige of the battlefield commander, Minato Namikaze.

However, an accident occurred this time; the mass-produced civilian ninjas brought not victory, but collapse.

It even led to the rout of those ninja clan members alongside them.

If not for Minato Namikaze possessing the ability to turn the tide of battle, I fear I might have botched this entirely.

A narrow escape, truly a narrow escape.

Although it differed greatly from what I had imagined, the result remained unchanged.

Konoha still welcomed a great victory, and this great victory ultimately forged the legend of Minato Namikaze.

Presumably, those ninja clans saved by Minato on the battlefield will naturally feel grateful to him and, in future matters, will likely stand by his side to some extent.

Now, all that is missing is a grand performance in Konoha Village.