Third Hokage's Thoughts

Dawn broke.

After ending an entire night of running, Uchiha Qingfeng had long since lost his shoes somewhere. Barefoot, he collapsed onto Hokage Rock.

A whole night. You had no idea how he had gotten through that night.

Looking over the entire Leaf Village, bustling and thriving, he thought of how many people had sacrificed their lives to protect this hard-won peace, including his parents.

At some point, Might Guy had also arrived and sat beside Uchiha Qingfeng.

"This is what we have to protect."

Might Guy was rarely this serious, but he received no response.

He reached out, grabbed Uchiha Qingfeng by the shoulders, and began shaking him. "A night of youth cannot simply be abandoned! We should strike while the iron is hot and run another hundred laps!"

Uchiha Qingfeng came back to his senses. As Guy let go, he went with the motion and lay down on the ground.

"My youth has already burned out. Next time, for sure."

Might Guy looked seriously at the boy he had only just met. Even his shoes had been run off somewhere, and his bare feet bore the marks of an entire night.

"Let's eat first. Then we'll seize youth by the tail and have another round."

In the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi put away his ninjutsu after confirming that Uchiha Qingfeng was fine.

The Third Shinobi War had ended. The Land of Lightning and the Land of Water had surrendered, while Konoha had been severely weakened.

Konoha had negotiated peace with the Land of Earth and signed a peace treaty. The price was the resignation of the Third Hokage, who had remained in the rear throughout the entire Third Shinobi War.

Jiraiya had traveled the Ninja World in search of the Child of Prophecy, while Tsunade had left Leaf Village due to her hemophobia. Of the Third Hokage's disciples, only Orochimaru had participated in the Third Shinobi War. The result had been nothing more than a bitter victory, so bitter that even Hiruzen Sarutobi had to step down.

Danzō Shimura, the commander-in-chief at the front lines and Konoha's hardline war hawk, had been powerless against three enemies at once. Even genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy had been sent to the battlefield. In the end, they could only make peace with the Land of Earth to end the war. But when he learned that the terms of peace required the Third Hokage to resign, he secretly rejoiced. As the front-line commander, who else but him could become the Fourth Hokage?

Though Hiruzen Sarutobi was unwilling, there was nothing he could do. If the war continued, Konoha's shinobi ranks would suffer a generational gap. The lack of fresh blood would be even more terrifying.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had already considered the candidate for Fourth Hokage.

Uchiha Kagami, the only Uchiha to inherit the Will of Fire, was already dead. Most of the remaining Uchiha clan members had failed to earn his approval. Besides, Second Hokage Tobirama Senju had once said, "The Uchiha clan must be guarded against." Thus, from beginning to end, the position of Hokage could never fall to an Uchiha clansman.

Tsunade and Jiraiya had no interest in becoming Hokage. Of his remaining disciples, only Orochimaru was left. Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi had found this disciple increasingly difficult to understand. Recent Anbu reports stated that Orochimaru had been using enemy shinobi for live experiments, forcing Hiruzen Sarutobi to give up on his once-favored disciple.

As for Danzō Shimura, the two of them had both been Tobirama Senju's disciples, so it was not impossible for him to become Hokage. But his methods were unsuitable for governing the village, leaving only one candidate.

Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya's true disciple, had perfectly inherited the Will of Fire. He had also married the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki. A hero of the Third Shinobi War, he met every requirement. Hiruzen Sarutobi had long since settled on him.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat unwilling and had yet to finish many of the speeches he had prepared, for Konoha's future, he could only do this. Besides, Minato was still young and needed his guidance in many areas.

Minato Namikaze had already been notified to lead his vanguard unit back to the village ahead of the others. All sides were restless over the position of Hokage. Having Minato return early was meant to build momentum for the hero in advance, so that before the other units returned, the decision could be finalized in one stroke.

Uchiha Qingfeng knew nothing of these high-ranking plans. Right now, he was merely a background character.

Under Might Guy's reluctant gaze, he bid Guy farewell, went home to take a bath, and changed out of his sweat-soaked clothes.

He had skipped dinner and still had not eaten breakfast. Though his spirits were high, he was genuinely starving. Cooking was impossible. He would never cook in this life. He could only go out to eat and barely sustain himself.

Ever since being humiliated yesterday, the Trident Four Brothers had taken turns keeping watch outside Uchiha Qingfeng's door. At last, they saw Uchiha Qingfeng return home, and Uchiha Lei quickly went to notify the other three brothers.

Uchiha Qingfeng carried 1.2 million ryo, ready to try the young Ichiraku Ramen. The moment he stepped out the door, he saw Trident blocking the entrance.

"Uchiha Itachi helped you yesterday. Let's see who will help you today."

"Enough nonsense. Beat him up first."

At Uchiha Ishi's command, the four brothers rushed in and surrounded him.

"You really are impossible to shake off. But today, I'm no longer the same person I was before."

Uchiha Qingfeng directly activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and looked at the Trident Four Brothers.

One-Tomoe Observation Eye.

Two-Tomoe Replication Eye.

Three-Tomoe Genjutsu Eye.

However, Uchiha Qingfeng had not mastered a single ninjutsu yet. He was merely using it to scare the four of them. Since even the Uchiha Elder knew about it, there was no need to keep hiding it.

When the Trident Four Brothers saw that Uchiha Qingfeng had awakened his eyes, they had no intention of lingering and immediately turned to flee.

"Scaring people really works. Why aren't you saying, 'Don't bully the poor young man,' today?"

Though the four brothers heard Qingfeng's taunting words, they ran without looking back. Fleeing from eyes comparable to a jonin's was nothing shameful.

Uchiha Qingfeng deactivated his Sharingan and continued walking outside.

This scene shocked Uchiha Itachi, who had been hiding in the shadows. Earlier, he had happened to see the troublemaking four brothers hurrying away. Seeing that they were headed toward Qingfeng's home, he remembered what had happened yesterday and decided to follow them.

After Uchiha Qingfeng's final taunt yesterday, Itachi had decided that today he would let Qingfeng suffer a small lesson before stepping in to help. He had not expected to see a Three-Tomoe Sharingan instead.

Itachi knew the Sharingan extremely well. It was the Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai, and it was through those eyes that the clan had earned its formidable reputation.

Even he had not awakened his eyes yet. He had never expected that the orphan who had been bullied yesterday would possess three tomoe today. Uchiha Itachi could not make sense of it.

But no one could answer his doubts now. His father had yet to return from the battlefield, and Shisui Uchiha was likewise still at the front lines.

The person involved surely knew the answer. Glancing at Uchiha Qingfeng as he gradually walked away, Uchiha Itachi followed him directly.

Uchiha Qingfeng arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.

"One bowl of tonkotsu ramen."

"Alright, it'll be ready soon."

This was the first time an extremely reclusive Uchiha clansman had come here for ramen. Shouda had to seize the opportunity, so he put all his effort into serving a bowl of ramen that looked, smelled, and tasted excellent.

Just as he picked up his chopsticks, another voice came from beside him. "One serving of shio ramen."

Uchiha Qingfeng found the voice very familiar. He turned to look, and it really was Uchiha Itachi.