I Ignite, You Regret?

"Danzo! I am the Hokage!" Hiruzen Sarutobi blurted out instinctively.

"Hiruzen, you will regret this! Wait... no, you've already abdicated! Don't you dare try to pressure me with that title!" Danzo retorted before his brain caught up with his mouth. It took him a few seconds to realize that Hiruzen had already passed the mantle to Namikaze Minato. He wasn't the Hokage anymore, not by a long shot!

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Hiruzen, so you have a day like this too?

"Er, even though I've stepped down, I am still the former Hokage! Is this how a Konoha elder speaks to his predecessor? Do you have an issue with the First and Second Hokage, Danzo?" Hiruzen regained his composure. It seemed he wasn't the incumbent anymore, but he hadn't held power in Konoha for all these years just by relying on a title!

"Hiruzen! You... you only know how to play these dirty tricks? You know that isn't what I meant!" Danzo glared at him, frustrated.

"I am standing on the side of righteousness! When it comes to dirty tricks, who could possibly outdo your Root?" Hiruzen said with a pointed look. It seemed that without the Hokage title, he had to smear Danzo a little to keep him in check.

"Hmph! Everything Root does is for the sake of Konoha. My conscience is clear!" Danzo insisted stubbornly.

"Truly clear? Would you like me to take Minato for a tour of Root?" Hiruzen applied the pressure.

"Hmph! We are here to discuss the matter of Uchiha Shisui. Other irrelevant things can wait!" Danzo changed the subject, effectively backing down.

"Shisui? Shisui is a good child. I believe he will carry on the will of Kagami Uchiha and make the right choice," Hiruzen persisted. He didn't have Wood Release as a trump card, and he had no idea that Danzo had already cultivated Tenzo to use it. He had no choice but to pin his hopes on Shisui.

A few days passed, and the major powers of the ninja world had gained a rough understanding of what had transpired in Konoha.

"Hmph! Konoha truly is overflowing with talent. First, Namikaze Minato appears, and now this Uchiha Gen! But with the narrow-mindedness of Hiruzen and his cronies, can they really tolerate someone like Uchiha Gen? Heh!" Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, sneered as he looked at the intelligence report in his hands.

"Is there no end to this? Konoha's new talent keeps popping up like weeds. The Land of Fire really is a blessed piece of land!" Ay, the Fourth Raikage, looked at the report on his desk and secretly considered whether he should escalate the localized war against Konoha. At this point, the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire had yet to sign a ceasefire agreement. In the original timeline, it wouldn't be until Hinata was old enough to walk that the Kumogakure Delegation would come, unwilling and with ulterior motives, to sign a so-called peace treaty.

Even with that treaty, Kumogakure never intended to stop the fighting. In the end, Hiruzen was both cowardly and ruthless enough to use the corpse of Hizashi Hyuga to beg for peace, despite the obvious framing.

That was essentially rubbing Konoha's face in the dirt. It was only because Hiruzen's decades of experience as Hokage were so deeply rooted, and because he was ruthless enough toward his own people, that he managed to suppress the dissatisfaction of others. Otherwise, a move like that would have gotten him ousted long ago.

"What? The Nine-Tails incident was suppressed by a boy named Uchiha Gen?" Ebizo of Sunagakure gasped. He didn't know how strong the Nine-Tails was, but it was certainly stronger than the One-Tail, and even the One-Tail required the combined efforts of Sunagakure and the Kazekage to suppress! Yet, Konoha's Nine-Tails had been subdued by a sixteen-year-old boy alone! It was unbelievable.

"If I had known, I would have forced that Uchiha to stay in Sunagakure! He has become a major threat," Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, said with a hint of regret.

You really know how to brag! Even Shukaku's Air Bullet isn't as full of hot air as you. Is this a matter of whether we could have kept him? Are you perhaps too confident in your own strength? Chiyo thought with disdain.

Our Sunagakure really is getting worse with every generation. If only Sasori were here!

Land of Water, Kirigakure.

"Fourth Mizukage, are you certain? In this situation, we are going to fight a two-front war against the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind?" Hozuki Reitetsu, the head of the Anbu, looked at the small figure before him, cold sweat dripping down his face.

"Rest assured, Reitetsu. Konoha is currently facing the Kumogakure front; they have no combat power to spare against us. As for Sunagakure? They aren't even worth mentioning! For the survival of our descendants, this war must be fought! If you don't fight, your descendants will have to!" the Fourth Mizukage said firmly.

"Yes, Mizukage-sama!" Although Hozuki Reitetsu was dissatisfied, he dared not defy the orders of the man who enforced the Bloody Mist Policy.

Hmph, hmph! It's not like my own people are the ones dying anyway. No matter how many of these Kirigakure monsters die, it's never enough! A world without Rin deserves to be destroyed!

Land of Fire, Konoha.

"Third Hokage, you summoned me?" Eleven-year-old Uchiha Shisui had already graduated from the Ninja Academy early and was currently a full-fledged Chunin with one year of field experience.

"Shisui, your Sharingan has reached the Two-Tomoe stage, hasn't it?" Hiruzen smiled kindly at his own creation.

"Reporting to the Third Hokage, it reached the Three-Tomoe stage a few days ago because of the Nine-Tails incident. I would rather not have such evil power!" Thinking of the fallen comrades and civilians, Shisui felt deep sorrow. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan that awakened under such circumstances felt wrong to him. Coupled with Hiruzen's years of brainwashing and suggestion, Shisui had developed the belief that his power was unclean and that his eyes were stained with the blood of his comrades. While he didn't yet believe the Uchiha clan itself was evil, the idea that the Sharingan was evil had already taken root in his heart.

"Shisui, although the power of the Sharingan is evil, I believe you will use this power for good. After all, you are the descendant of Kagami!" Hiruzen looked at the naive boy with grandfatherly affection.

Three-Tomoe already? How terrifying! Shisui is only eleven, right? Uchiha Gen didn't have the Three-Tomoe at eleven! Does this mean Shisui's talent far surpasses Uchiha Gen's? To be safe, the brainwashing must go deeper. It must be strengthened!

"Yes, Third Hokage, I will certainly use this power well to make a greater contribution to Konoha!" A look of earnest determination appeared on Shisui's youthful face.

"Good, Shisui, as long as you have that heart. I called you here because Kirigakure has stepped up its invasion of the Land of Fire. I want you to go and gain some experience. While you're at it, notify Fugaku and have him arrange for some forces to support the Kirigakure front. With the village fighting on two fronts against the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water, we truly have no manpower left to spare. I'm afraid the Uchiha will have to shoulder this burden." Hiruzen laid the groundwork before revealing his true purpose. After all, how could an eleven-year-old child escape the political maneuvering of a man with decades of experience?