Let's see what the Seventh Hokage is made of: the Fourth Hokage's son and the Third Hokage's grand-disciple. The Hokage Position just keeps going around and around among your little circle, huh?
If I were an Uchiha, I'd stage a coup too!
Looks like the Uchiha Clan Massacre was inevitable. As the Uchiha Clan grew stronger, they naturally needed a greater say in things, but the Hokage's faction would never hand power over to them.
When Minato was young, he might have been tolerant of the Uchiha Clan. But as he got older, Namikaze Minato had to consider his descendants and Konoha's future. A volatile, radical group like the Uchiha had to be wiped out!
A lot of things in this world are decided from the very beginning. With the Uchiha Clan's temperament and strength, they were destined to be the biggest fish in a small pond. They could never settle for being the second-best!
The real problem was that the Uchiha Clan's strength was so consistent! Naruto was basically the legend of the eyes, after all! The Uchiha Clan's strength was a sin in itself. It was fine to be powerful, and there was nothing wrong with serving someone else. But if you stayed powerful, even after outliving the boss, then you had a big problem!
As long as Senju Hashirama was around in Konoha, the Uchiha Clan had nothing to worry about. But once Senju Hashirama died, even Senju Tobirama had trouble keeping them in check, let alone Hiruzen Sarutobi. So the Uchiha Clan Massacre had been inevitable from the very start!
No boss could tolerate a subordinate like that, especially one who was so unruly! A tiger couldn't guard the house like a dog. The Uchiha Clan had gotten their own place in the pecking order wrong from the start!
Even without Hiruzen Sarutobi, the leaders who came after him wouldn't have spared such a powerful, unruly group!
After thinking it through, Uchiha Gen was even more determined to kidnap a rich woman! The Uchiha had to find another way out. He couldn't keep trying to navigate by the original story, like carving a mark into a boat to find a sword. Even without Uchiha Itachi, there would still be an Uchiha Cat to wipe out the clan. The real issue was the Uchiha's current living conditions!
After several generations of subtle influence, the Hokage Position in Konoha was now pretty much like a hereditary title passed down by a daimyo. The only difference was that daimyo inherited their positions through bloodlines, while Hokage inherited theirs through a master-disciple relationship!
On the surface, anyone could claim that it was all for the greater good and that anyone had a chance. The problem was that the Hokage alone decided whom to take as a student, which was even more disgusting than a daimyo's inheritance! At least daimyo had to consider their ministers' opinions. Did a Hokage have to consider his subordinates' opinions? Have you forgotten who's in charge here? I can take whoever I want as my student. Why should I care what you think? Are you telling me how to do my job?
"Huh? Yukie Fujikaze? No, that's not it. I think the lead actress is called Shizuka Kudo!" Kurenai Yuhi explained to Uchiha Gen. It was clear she'd done her homework.
"All right, let's go together. I've been wanting to see a movie too. It's been ages!" As for Pakura, there was no rush. The message said she'd leave tomorrow, and with his Spirit Transformation Technique, he could get there in no time. He could spare the time for a movie!
Besides, if his memory served him right, Kurenai Yuhi had barely spoken to him before. Why would she suddenly invite him to a movie? There had to be a catch!
Had Kushina stepped in and tried to set them up? But that couldn't be it! Given Kushina's attitude at the time, and the fact that she knew Asuma was pursuing Kurenai Yuhi, she'd never have played the villain in this situation.
And Kurenai Yuhi's personality in the original story wasn't that bold and forward either! No matter how much she liked him, at most she'd have arranged to "bump into him" on the street. That was already about as far as she'd go!
But coming right to his door like this? Suspicious! Very suspicious! If none of those possibilities fit, who could've gotten Kurenai Yuhi to come find him? A simple process of elimination left only a few of Konoha's higher-ups who could give her orders. Namikaze Minato had promised to introduce him to Kurenai Yuhi, but with the way he was now, he wouldn't do something that would ruin his reputation.
Besides, he'd only just taken office and still had to rely on the Third Hokage. Forcing the woman Asuma was seeing on someone else would be a slap in the Third Hokage's face!
It didn't matter which of the remaining people who could give Kurenai Yuhi orders was behind this. Anyone with eyes could see they were all on the same side. (Right, Shisui? Itachi?)
He'd like to see what they were up to. Something like this shouldn't have escaped Hiruzen Sarutobi's notice. That old Sarutobi really was willing to pay a steep price! If Asuma found out, he'd probably kill his adoptive father with his own hands in a heartbeat!
Konoha Youth Cinema?
The cinema in the original story hadn't been called that, had it? The name had a real Might Guy flavor to it!
"Miss Koyuki, why have you come out again? It's dangerous right now. That rebel is searching for you everywhere! Come back with me!" Sandayu Asama anxiously tugged the living calamity in front of him, trying to lead her back. Who knew whether Kazahana Dōtō had planted spies in Konoha? If Sandayu weren't longtime friends with the owner of Konoha's chain of cinemas, the man wouldn't have risked sheltering a wanted criminal from the Land of Snow.
"It doesn't matter. This is Konoha, in the Land of Fire. If even Konoha can't protect me, where could I go? Now, Lord Sandayū, don't keep me from seeing the movie!" Kazahana Koyuki waved him off carelessly. Her father was dead. What meaning did this boring world have anymore? She'd just take things as they came!
Huh? What a coincidence, running into those two here!
Actually, it wasn't much of a coincidence. In the original story, Kakashi had brought the two of them back around this time. And from the fact that Kazahana Koyuki became an actress in the original story, it was clear she had a backer in Konoha who was involved in the film industry. There were plenty of beautiful women around, after all. Why else would anyone promote someone like Kazahana Koyuki, who was moody and always stood people up?
What's more, given the education Kazahana Koyuki had received, would she really entertain rich men for money? If you asked her to do that, wouldn't she surrender to Kazahana Dōtō in a heartbeat? No matter what, Kazahana Koyuki was still the face of the Land of Snow. If Kazahana Dōtō found out someone was making her entertain clients, well... Even if he wanted to kill Kazahana Koyuki, he'd kill you first...
So from all this, it was safe to conclude that Kazahana Koyuki had a backer in Konoha's film industry. Since movies were still a new industry, only the major cities in each country had cinemas! Even Konoha had only the one right in front of them!
Who knew whether the cinema Naruto and the others went to in the original story had just opened or this one had changed its name! It was probably a new one. Given the way business worked in the Ninja World, even if a place changed owners, it wouldn't change its name easily as long as it stayed in the same line of work. You didn't want to lose your regular customers! What business owner didn't want more foot traffic?
Before you continue