A Bitter Heart Needs Only a Little Sweetness

On Konoha's commercial street, Kei was quite happy as he watched Oboro eat Three-Color Dango with a blissful look on her face.

Noticing Kei's gaze, Oboro hesitated a little. In the end, she held out one of the skewers in her hand and tentatively asked, "Would you like some too, my lord?"

She seemed to be offering Kei some dango, but her tone and expression gave her away. She had no intention of sharing at all.

Watching the girl, who was like a child when it came to keeping her snacks to herself, Kei could only sigh helplessly.

He could only coax her like an adult soothing a child. "Go ahead and eat. I don't like dango."

Oboro couldn't understand. "How could anyone not like sweet dango?"

Kei smiled at her disbelieving expression and affectionately ruffled her hair. "Because only people with bitter hearts like sweets!"

That made Oboro even more confused.

I'm not bitter at all. I'm happy. In a few years, I'll become Lord Gennosuke's bride. Could anything in the world be happier than that?

She had no idea that Kei wasn't talking about her. He meant the two groups of people who had blocked his party on the commercial street, one in front and the other behind.

In front were Orochimaru and Mitaraishi Anko, master and apprentice.

Behind them were Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi, father and son.

Mitaraishi Anko and Itachi both loved Three-Color Dango, but their lives were filled with tragedy.

Looking at the scene before him—such a loving master and apprentice, such a kind father and filial son—and thinking of what lay ahead for them, Uchiha Kei couldn't help but sigh.

That sighing expression made Orochimaru, who was facing Kei, feel a chill in his heart.

As expected, someone who has risen to such a high position at such a young age is no ordinary person. Has even this child seen how awkward my situation is now?

I made a name for myself as a young ninja by standing against the Demigod of the Ninja World. I led Konoha to victory in the Second Shinobi War, fighting on multiple fronts. The village hasn't forgotten me, but few people remember my accomplishments.

Now, even that staged battle in which both villages supposedly won has earned everyone's praise. Peace has made people forget who brought it to them.

I, Orochimaru, a Second Shinobi War hero born to commoners, am actually being treated as an equal to Minato Namikaze.

I admit that brat has some ability, but what has he accomplished to deserve being mentioned in the same breath as me?

Ever since my friend's younger brother, my subordinate Nawaki Senju, died before my eyes, I've become more obsessed with researching immortality than with the Hokage Position.

But that doesn't mean Konoha can treat me this way. My demands are simple. I could accept my current situation if the village would just show me some respect.

But Konoha doesn't even want to grant me that.

Orochimaru knew that, despite his reputation, his gloomy temperament meant he wasn't the Hokage candidate in his teacher Third Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart. Jiraiya was the one his teacher wanted to become Hokage.

He's a commoner who's always been at the bottom of his class, hot-blooded and foolishly kind, yet still strong. What better propaganda could there be than making someone like that Hokage? It would make the growing number of commoner ninja in the village, thanks to the Ninja Academy, feel more connected to it.

It would give the cannon fodder the illusion that if they worked hard and fought for the village, they could become its future leader.

What a bright future. Sarutobi Hiruzen has already planned it all out for them.

But before the Hokage could start selling them that story, Jiraiya—already thoroughly misled by the Three Holy Lands, Mount Myoboku—had lost all interest in the Hokage Position and placed his hopes for peace in the Shinobi World on some so-called Child of Destiny.

That left the Third with no choice but to find someone else to groom.

So Minato Namikaze, just as hot-blooded, just as much of a commoner, just as sunny in temperament, and equally strong enough to command respect, had been promoted in a hurry.

All Minato needed now was a record of accomplishments. And that was easy enough to arrange.

Didn't every village need accomplishments to help its new leader rise to power? They could all tacitly agree to let each other rack up a few.

That wasn't a problem.

Orochimaru wasn't incapable of accepting it. He was more clear-eyed than Danzo, who was obsessed with the Hokage Position.

Or perhaps Orochimaru, whose position came from his own accomplishments and prestige, understood better than Danzo, whose authority had been bestowed by the Hokage, that power never flowed from the top down. It flowed from the bottom up.

If your subordinates recognized you as their leader, then you were their leader. If they didn't, then even if you held a leadership position, your orders wouldn't make it past your own doorstep.

He's just a future Hokage with no foundation. So what if he marries into the Uzumaki Clan? He still won't have anyone he can use.

And what if he becomes Hokage? He'll still just be a puppet in everyone else's hands.

Perhaps that was the difference between Orochimaru and Danzo.

Wherever Orochimaru went, he had plenty of followers. Danzo, on the other hand, had few people willing to listen to him unless he used a jutsu to control them.

So Orochimaru didn't care about the Hokage Position. But the village's damned politicians had no business dragging Jiraiya, of all people, into this.

That fool has no brains. He doesn't understand that even without him, the village's Council of Elders, Danzo, and the leaders of the various ninja clans would all push Minato Namikaze into the Hokage Position.

Who wouldn't want a hot-blooded, easily manipulated fool as their leader?

Minato's rise to power was what every faction in the village wanted. But Jiraiya's involvement left Orochimaru in an awkward position.

Cold Lord Orochimaru still had a tender side to him, and his comrades Tsunade and Jiraiya, who had fought beside him through life and death, occupied a large part of it.

But Jiraiya's efforts to pull strings all over the place with his disciple Minato Namikaze had driven a knife straight into that vulnerable part of Orochimaru's heart.

Orochimaru knew someone was using the fool as a pawn, so he was still willing to forgive him. But the people using Jiraiya as a fool left Orochimaru utterly disillusioned.

Orochimaru, leading Mitaraishi Anko by the hand, became lost in thought over a single glance from Uchiha Kei—and even blocked Kei's path.

Kei wasn't just accompanied by his guards. Some of his scattered subordinates were there too. Though they also belonged to the Konoha Military Police Force, they wore completely different black uniforms, with the words "Shinsengumi" on their armbands.

At the sight of their lord being surrounded from both sides, they couldn't just stand by, no matter the reason or whether one of the people involved was their clan leader.

And so a crowd of dark figures appeared on the rooftops lining the commercial street.

The Shinsengumi seized the high ground. Their thumbs had even pushed their katana and short swords partly out of their sheaths, and they were ready for a clash at any moment.

There was no helping it. Their lord was too reckless. At clan meetings, he was always shouting that if Konoha couldn't give the Uchiha Clan fairness, they should fight—fight to the death, fight hard, and win a battle that would make the Uchiha feared.

With a lord like that, they had no choice but to stay ready for battle at all times.

But they were really overthinking it. Kei had no intention of risking his life for the Uchiha Clan. He was only adopting the stance that pleased the Uchiha masses.

Until he figured out how Uchiha Itachi—and possibly Uchiha Obito, if he even existed—had wiped out more than a thousand Uchiha without anyone noticing, all Kei's talk of war was nothing but a verbal threat.

So don't look at what people say. Look at what they do. These days, everyone pays lip service to ideals while looking out for their own business.

But who would dare dismiss Kei's threats?

Just like now, nobody knew what was really going on. Yet it wasn't only the Shinsengumi under Kei who had grown tense. Orochimaru's subordinates had also taken up positions around the perimeter, even driving away the Anbu who had arrived.

The once-bustling commercial street—and Konoha along with it—immediately fell quiet.

Until they knew exactly why the two men had met today, nobody was in the mood to be happy.

And all of this was simply because Kei's guard Oboro loved dango, and she had happened to run into Orochimaru while he was out buying dango for his disciple.