Entirely Dependent on Personal Effort

Let's take a look at what the Seventh Hokage is actually made of: the son of the Fourth, the grand-student of the Third—is the position of Hokage just going to keep rotating among your little clique?

If I were an Uchiha, I would have staged a coup too!

It seems the dead knot of the Uchiha coup is impossible to untie. An increasingly powerful Uchiha clan would inevitably demand a greater say in governance, but the Hokage's faction would never relinquish power to them.

When Minato was young, his magnanimity might have been enough to accommodate the Uchiha clan, but as he aged, the older Namikaze Minato would have been forced to consider his descendants and the future of Konoha. An unstable and radical group like the Uchiha had to be eliminated!

Many things in this world are destined from the very beginning. Given the personality and strength of the Uchiha, they were fated to be the head of a chicken, never the tail of a phoenix!

The main issue is that the Uchiha clan's strength is too consistent! You have to remember, Naruto is also known as the Legend of the Eyes! The Uchiha clan's strength is their original sin. It's fine to be powerful, and it's fine to be someone else's subordinate! But if you remain powerful, and you remain powerful even after outliving your boss, then you have a big problem!

As long as Senju Hashirama was around, the Uchiha clan had no issues, but once he died, even Senju Tobirama struggled to keep them in check. Let alone Hiruzen Sarutobi. Therefore, the Uchiha clan's annihilation was destined from the start!

No boss can tolerate such a subordinate, especially one who is somewhat unruly! A tiger can never act like a dog to guard a house; the Uchiha clan's initial self-positioning was wrong from the start!

Even without Hiruzen Sarutobi, the subsequent rulers would never have let this unruly and powerful group off the hook!

After this bit of mental gymnastics, Uchiha Gen's resolve to secure a wealthy woman became even firmer! The Uchiha must find another way out. He cannot view things through the lens of the original work and expect to find a sword by marking the side of a boat. Even without Uchiha Itachi, there would eventually be an Uchiha "Cat" to carry out the purge. The real problem is the Uchiha's current living environment!

After generations of subtle influence, the position of Hokage in Konoha Village has become much like the succession of a Daimyo. The only difference is that a Daimyo inherits through bloodline, while a Hokage inherits through the master-disciple relationship!

It seems fair that anyone has a chance, but the problem is that the decision of who to take as a disciple rests entirely on the Hokage's own whims. This is even more disgusting than the Daimyo succession system! At least a Daimyo has to consider the opinions of his ministers. Does a Hokage need to consider the opinions of his subordinates? Can't tell who's the boss and who's the lackey? I need to look at your expression to decide who I take as a disciple? Are you teaching me how to do my job?

"Eh? Yukie Fujikaze? That's not right, I think the lead actress is named Shizuka Kudo!" Kurenai Yuhi looked at Uchiha Gen and introduced, showing that her preparation was very thorough!

"Fine, then let's go together. I've been wanting to see a movie for a long time anyway!" As for Pakura, there was no rush. The information received said to depart tomorrow, and with the speed of his Spirit Transformation Technique, he could get there in minutes! It wouldn't hurt to take the time for a movie.

Besides, if his memory served him right, Kurenai hadn't spoken to him more than a few times. For her to suddenly invite him to a movie? There was definitely something fishy going on!

Could it be that Kushina was pulling some strings? Taking the initiative to play matchmaker? But that was impossible! Given Kushina's attitude at the time, and knowing full well that Asuma was pursuing Kurenai, she would never play the villain in such a situation!

Moreover, given Kurenai's personality in the original work, she wouldn't be this bold and proactive! Even if she liked him, her original personality would limit her to, at most, manufacturing a chance encounter on the street.

A direct approach like this! Suspicious! Extremely suspicious! Excluding all the above, who could make Kurenai take the initiative? Using the simplest method of elimination, the only ones who could command Kurenai were the high-ranking officials of Konoha. Although he had asked Namikaze Minato to help introduce him to Kurenai, Minato's current personality wouldn't allow him to do something that would ruin his own character.

Besides, Minato had just taken office and still needed to rely heavily on the Third Hokage! Forcing a girl who was currently being courted by Asuma onto someone else would undoubtedly be a slap in the face to the Third Hokage!

As for the others who could order Kurenai around, it didn't matter who they were; anyone with eyes could see they were all in the same boat (right, Shisui? Itachi?).

He wanted to see what kind of tricks these guys were playing. Such a thing shouldn't have escaped Hiruzen Sarutobi's notice. That old man Hiruzen was really going all out! If Asuma found out, he would probably kill his foster father in a heartbeat!

Konoha Youth Cinema?

That cinema didn't seem to have that name in the original work! Why does it have such a "Guy-like" vibe to it?

"Miss Koyuki, why have you come out again? This is a dangerous time, and that rebel is searching the whole world for you! Come back with me quickly!" Sandayu Asama anxiously pulled the living ancestor toward the exit. Who knew if any of Dotō Kazahana's spies had infiltrated Konoha! If he hadn't been long-time friends with the owner of the Konoha cinema chain, the other party wouldn't have risked taking in a fugitive wanted by the Land of Snow!

"It doesn't matter. This is Konoha in the Land of Fire. If even Konoha can't protect me, where else can I run? Alright, Master Sandayu, don't disturb me from watching the movie!" Koyuki Kazahana waved her hand indifferently. Her father was already gone; what meaning did this boring world have? Just let it be!

Hm? What a coincidence? To run into these two here!

No, it couldn't really be called a coincidence. In the original work, this was exactly when Kakashi brought them back. And from the fact that Koyuki Kazahana worked as an actress, it was clear that her backer in Konoha was related to the film industry. Otherwise, there were plenty of beauties; why would anyone bother supporting a temperamental Koyuki Kazahana who was always flaking out?

Furthermore, considering the various illicit trades in the acting industry and the education Koyuki had received since childhood, if you tried to make her entertain wealthy patrons, she would probably surrender to Dotō Kazahana in a heartbeat! Koyuki was, after all, the face of the Land of Snow. If Dotō knew someone was forcing her to entertain guests, hmph, even if he wanted to kill her, he would kill you first...

Therefore, it could be inferred that Koyuki Kazahana must have a backer in the Konoha film industry. Since film was still an emerging industry, only major cities in various countries had cinemas! Even Konoha only had this one!

He wondered if the cinema Naruto and the others visited in the original work was a new one or if this one had just changed its name! It was likely a new one. Given the state of the Ninja World, even if the owner changed, as long as they stayed in the same business, they wouldn't easily change the name; after all, you don't want to lose your old customers! In business, who would ever complain about too much foot traffic?