Sarutobi Hiruzen's Heart-Pounding Day

The moment Minato Namikaze returned to the village with the momentum of a great victory, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that the situation was secure.

Now, he only had to wait for Konoha to begin promoting Minato's battle achievements, followed by a grand celebration that would allow the ninjas returning from the front lines to feel the glory of fighting for Konoha.

It would make those ninjas who had not participated in the war yearn for such glory.

Finally, everyone would gather in front of the Hokage Building, and he, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, would deliver another speech regarding the Will of Fire.

"Where the leaves dance, the fire burns on. The light of the fire will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout."

To translate that into plain language: the youth are the hope of the future, and the older generation must trust and protect them. The sacrifices of the older generation are not meaningless; rather, they inspire the youth to become the pillars that will shoulder the future.

As for why it is always the young who go to the battlefield while the elders in high positions remain in Konoha living in decadence, that is not the point.

The point of propaganda is the propaganda itself.

The elders have fought for Konoha their entire lives; surely they deserve to enjoy themselves!

Saying and doing are two different things. Is it that I, the Third Hokage, am unwilling to die a heroic death? If Konoha had need of it, I would die appropriately, but right now, the village needs me.

Since the establishment of the Konoha Ninja Academy, this was the largest battle fought primarily by academy graduates. How they performed on the battlefield was not important.

After all, we won. As for how we won, no one would know for a while, and even if they found out later, it would certainly have been artistically embellished.

Sarutobi firmly believed in this; the victors would never publicize their own unsightly aspects.

When the time came, this victory would surely be framed as a crushing triumph for Konoha under the leadership of Minato Namikaze.

Clearly, this was the moment to demonstrate Konoha's iron-blooded resolve to the ninja clans.

It was time to let these high-and-mighty fellows witness the power of Konoha's unity.

Usually, these civilian ninjas were scattered throughout Konoha and seemed unremarkable. But now, having returned from the battlefield, once they gathered together, they could truly exert immense pressure.

When a hundred men gather, they can drive carts and lean on canes; when a thousand gather, they block the clouds and sky; when ten thousand gather, heads are shattered and guts are spilled.

The gathering of these several thousand ninjas even gave the ninja clans the illusion of dark clouds pressing down on the city.

These were not soldiers of the Daimyo who had put down their hoes to pick up weapons; no matter how you looked at it, these were ninjas.

Even Jonin had moments where they could die at the hands of Genin if they were careless.

With so many ninjas, Konoha was truly about to change.

Watching the clan heads and elders of the Konoha clans through his Telescope Technique, seeing them dumbfounded by the Konoha celebration, Sarutobi felt a sense of satisfaction. Those who were always dissatisfied with his policies had finally witnessed his true strength.

He imagined they would restrain their recklessness from now on.

Today, he would let them know that he used their clan ninjas only to give them face; it was not because he had no one else to use.

Look at those proud Uchiha, looking furious yet helpless.

Anger is the expression of the incompetent.

Hm?

The Uchiha have mobilized; they are heading to the commercial district.

It's fine; perhaps they want to join the celebration to demonstrate the Uchiha's friendliness.

This is a sign of them backing down.

What? Orochimaru has appeared as well, meeting with the newly appointed Uchiha clan head.

It's fine. Although Orochimaru has always had his own ideas over the past few years, he is, after all, part of the Hokage's lineage. With shared interests, he would never suffer a loss regardless of the circumstances.

Bound by sentiment and the urgency of interests, Sarutobi could not think of a reason for Orochimaru to betray him.

Besides, look, hasn't Minato Namikaze appeared at the right moment as well?

With Minato's charisma, he is the best standard-bearer for the Will of Fire.

This group of outsider Uchiha was never that close to the Konoha Uchiha to begin with. If they could be infected by the Will of Fire, then the next Conflict of the Abyss and Yellow Springs would surely fall upon the Uchiha once again.

What should he call it?

Uchiha Itachi Stirs the Waves?

Not bad, not bad!

It is only a pity that he cannot listen to Minato's interpretation of Konoha's Will of Fire up close.

Hm!

What is happening? Why is the crowd so indignant?

The Uchiha—they are naturally so annoying. Look, haven't they stirred up public anger again?

From now on, Konoha will have less and less room for the Uchiha.

I hope they know what's good for them.

Wait, what is happening now? After everyone finished cursing the Uchiha, shouldn't they be filled with righteous indignation and gather at the Hokage Building to ask him to uphold justice?

Why have they suddenly gone silent?

Hm?

What happened? Why isn't Minato Namikaze the one giving the speech? Why has he been replaced by that Uchiha Kei?

What kind of evil ideology is he spreading to Konoha?

As expected of the wicked Uchiha.

They are always so detestable.

Should I stop him?

The Hokage was caught in a dilemma.

Although he prided himself on knowing everything about the Uchiha, he had never met this suddenly emerged Uchiha Kei.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen's understanding of Kei through intelligence reports made him inexplicably reluctant to see this boy.

It was a loathing that came from the bottom of his heart.

Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, who lived by the adage that an old man who refuses to die is a thief, could not fathom where this disgust originated.

He understood Uchiha Fugaku; that man who appeared tough was actually weaker than a woman at heart. He could suppress him without a sound, rendering his displays of toughness worthless.

Yet, the intelligence on Uchiha Kei left Sarutobi bewildered. This child's way of thinking seemed completely incompatible with a ninja.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had repeatedly imagined a conversation with Uchiha Kei in his mind.

Whether he approached it with warmth or force, he could never convince himself that he had triumphed over Kei ideologically.

Such mental rehearsals were not without basis.

Judging by Kei's daily actions, he possessed a complete and well-defined code of conduct.

And this code of conduct was something Sarutobi could not comprehend.

A lack of understanding might just be a difference in perception, but it also made Sarutobi realize that to conquer a person with a complete ideology, one needed a clash of even more perfect ideas.

If he were to engage such a person with a set of false, unrefined ideas, he would be refuted until he was left in tatters.

At that point, the ideology that had inspired all of Konoha would be thoroughly unmasked by this young Uchiha, who would then trample it underfoot and grind it into the dirt.

That was not something Sarutobi wanted to see.

Or perhaps, he simply dared not use ideas he couldn't even convince himself of to battle Kei.

Because once it reached that point, if he could not defeat this child ideologically, he would have no choice but to eliminate him physically.

That, in itself, was not the most terrifying part.

What was terrifying was that Sarutobi could bully Uchiha Fugaku in such a manner, certain that the clan head lacked the courage to go down with him.

However, he dared not use such methods to bully this child; the results of Root's ill-timed actions in the past had made that clear to Sarutobi.

Uchiha Fugaku was a man who would sacrifice himself for the sake of the Uchiha.

But that guy named Uchiha Kei was someone who would sacrifice everything for the sake of his own life. Never mind the Uchiha—even Konoha was within the scope of what he would sacrifice.

That wasn't what was scary; what was scary was that there was truly a group of people following him, willing to sacrifice themselves for him.

That was just too damn infuriating!