The Hokage's Wisdom

After Uchiha Kurohane left with Yakushi Nonō.

A group of Jonin arrived at the scene with several Chunin and anxiously asked Sarutobi Hiruzen,

"Lord Hokage, have the enemies been dealt with?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen replied helplessly,

"This was a misunderstanding. It was just a few children fighting. We can end Konoha's state of emergency now. Go notify the others and have the villagers return to their homes. There's no need to evacuate anymore."

The Jonin and Chunin looked at the street, riddled with craters, and the scorched insect corpses scattered everywhere. They couldn't believe their eyes.

How could anyone call such a brutal battle a children's fight?

Were there really children that powerful in Konoha?

Still, knowing that the village hadn't been attacked by enemies, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

If an enemy dared to launch a direct attack on Konoha, they would undoubtedly be very powerful.

In fact, they believed only the Third Raikage would have the nerve to do such a thing.

The Third Raikage was famous for fighting Tailed Beasts hand to hand, and his name struck fear throughout the Shinobi World.

He was known as the man who possessed both the Strongest Spear and the Strongest Shield.

Ninja who fought him head-on had almost no chance of survival.

The Jonin and Chunin had all prepared themselves to die as they hurried over.

Now that they knew it had been a false alarm, they all felt they'd narrowly escaped disaster.

But then they grew curious.

"Which two children are that strong?"

Seeing the traces of battle at the scene, the Jonin all thought they couldn't compare.

They couldn't help thinking, That child is far stronger than I am!

If he's this powerful as a child, he'll surely be extraordinary when he grows up.

He's Konoha's hope!

Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his mouth to answer, but quickly realized the problem.

Uchiha Kurohane was far too powerful. When he grew up, he would certainly be capable of becoming Hokage.

But if anyone with great strength could become Hokage, there would be no way to control who took the position.

So after becoming Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen had discussed the matter with the three advisors and changed the criteria for becoming Hokage.

In the past, the next Hokage had been appointed by the previous one.

Before the First Hokage died, he appointed his younger brother as the Second Hokage.

Before the Second Hokage died, he appointed his student as the Third Hokage.

They had both been the strongest ninja in Konoha at the time.

So the criteria for becoming Hokage had been strength above all others, plus an appointment by the previous Hokage.

But now there was a problem. Sarutobi Hiruzen lacked the authority to manage Konoha on his own, and needed the support of the three advisors.

That meant the next Hokage's selection would also be influenced by the next generation of advisors.

If Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Shimura Danzō joined forces, their three votes against Sarutobi Hiruzen's one could appoint someone he didn't want to see become Hokage.

In other words, Sarutobi Hiruzen had lost the power to appoint the next Hokage.

To retain control over the next Hokage's selection, he offered a new interpretation of the Will of Fire.

Being strong wasn't enough to become Hokage. A candidate also needed to earn everyone's approval.

But how could a Hokage candidate earn the approval of the other people in the village?

That called for Sarutobi Hiruzen's greatest strengths: managing appearances and waging a war of public opinion.

Many people thought Sarutobi Hiruzen was a weak and incompetent leader who couldn't do anything right.

But in truth, he was an extremely skilled politician.

He had ruled Konoha for so many years, yet even though he knew every dark secret in the village, he'd never taken the blame for any of it. He'd pushed all the blame onto Danzo.

And in the end, he was still seen as a kindly old man. That political skill surpassed that of any other Hokage.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was the true political mastermind, concealing his abilities from everyone!

Take the incident where Hyuga Neji's father died, for example.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had demanded that the Hyuga Clan head die, which led to Neji's father knocking out Hiashi and choosing to sacrifice himself.

At the time, the Cloud Ninja had tried to kidnap the Hyuga Clan's successor. After Hyuga Hiashi killed the Cloud Ninja, they had demanded that the clan head hand over his head.

It was unreasonable and illogical, and it was morally wrong.

In essence, the Hyuga Clan had been persecuted by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

By all rights, the Hyuga Clan should have united against their enemy and hated Sarutobi Hiruzen.

As the victim whose father had been killed, the person Hyuga Neji should truly have hated wasn't Hyuga Hiashi or Hinata Hyuga, who was only three years old at the time. It was Sarutobi Hiruzen.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen had come through the incident completely unscathed, and Hyuga Neji had never blamed him.

That was what made Sarutobi Hiruzen so clever.

With such political wisdom, Sarutobi Hiruzen understood what it took to earn the entire village's approval.

People believed whatever you told them.

It didn't matter if you were a hero of Konoha who had earned countless merits on the battlefield and struck fear into your enemies.

If you didn't promote those deeds or let the villagers know about them, then the villagers wouldn't know.

So Sarutobi Hiruzen promoted the battlefield achievements of his three students, while saying nothing about the White Fang of the Leaf's accomplishments.

The situation now was the same.

If the Konoha Ninja learned how powerful Uchiha Kurohane was, he would become a strong contender for the next Hokage.

And because of the rift between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha's leadership, Sarutobi Hiruzen believed that an Uchiha could never be allowed to become Hokage.

After the old man worked all this out in an instant, he changed what he had been about to say.

"We're in the middle of a war. Ninja in the village fighting each other to the death undermines our unity. Their actions must not be publicized, and they must be punished."

"But they're still young children, and they don't yet understand the Will of Fire. So we'll act as if this incident never happened, and I won't hold them responsible."

"I don't want them to carry this stain with them in the future, either. Don't go asking who did it..."

Hearing this, all the Jonin and Chunin felt admiration for Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The Third Hokage's perspective was so far-reaching, so mature, and so kind.

He truly was Konoha's father!

After a pause, Sarutobi Hiruzen continued, his voice growing more emphatic.

"Don't think his strength is extraordinary, either. He just has a little more chakra, which lets him use Fire Release more often."

"Releasing Fire Release so recklessly not only damages Konoha's streets, but also wastes his chakra. If he fought like that on the battlefield, he'd quickly run out of chakra and be killed by the enemy."

"It's a common problem among children. They have a shallow understanding of ninja combat. The Ninja Academy needs to strengthen its training in this area... Never mind, that can wait. Go notify the others and end the state of emergency immediately."

With just a few casual remarks, Sarutobi Hiruzen completely changed the way the group of ninja saw things.

So the child wasn't strong after all. He just had a lot of chakra.

And his way of fighting was wrong. He wouldn't survive on a real battlefield!

The Jonin and Chunin no longer admired the talented child.

The Anbu also decided that Uchiha Kurohane was nothing special.

They all used the Body Flicker Technique to leave and carry out Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders.