Outside Konoha, deep in a secluded forest.
Without warning, the space in the air twisted, forming a pitch-black vortex.
Obito Uchiha, wearing a tiger-striped mask, strode out of it. His single scarlet Sharingan swept over the brightly lit village in the distance.
"Konoha... The illusion of peace. It's truly disgusting."
His voice was hoarse, carrying the affected solemnity of a youth and a deep-seated hatred.
He had been observing in secret all this time.
The deadlock over Konoha's transfer of power was exactly the kind of chaotic omen he was glad to see.
According to his plan, after Namikaze Minato succeeded as Hokage, he would seize the Nine-Tails at the moment Kushina's seal weakened during childbirth. He would let the strongest Tailed Beast's fury burn Konoha's hypocritical peace to ashes, taking revenge on his teacher, the fastest shinobi in the Ninja World, who had failed to arrive in time to save them and had caused Rin's death.
Minato's death would be the perfect spark to ignite the conflict between the Uchiha and the village.
Then, amid despair and hatred, he would descend as "Uchiha Madara," guiding his foolish clansmen toward the next step of the Eye of the Moon Plan.
"Rin... Soon, I'll create a world with you in it. A perfect world where no one ever has to lose anyone again."
Obito murmured to himself, obsessive fervor shining in his single eye.
He believed he was the chosen agent of destiny, the sole savior of the Ninja World.
However, he had no idea that the "script" he cherished had already been tossed into a shredder by the true protagonist.
Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned wearily against his chair, puffing on his pipe, one after another, as smoke filled the entire room.
Two scrolls, secretly delivered by Anbu, lay before him.
Their contents sent a chill through even this Hokage, a man who had lived through three Shinobi World Wars.
One documented in detail how, during the Second Shinobi World War, Mitokado Homura had deliberately suppressed a distress signal to protect his squad's mission, indirectly causing Iwagakure to wipe out three hundred allied shinobi from Kusagakure.
The other listed the many crimes Utatane Koharu had committed over decades: using her authority to suppress civilian shinobi's technological development, lining her pockets with the budget, and bolstering her own family's power.
The evidence was conclusive, with witnesses and physical proof. There was no denying it.
"Who... Who dug up these old scandals?"
Hiruzen's voice was dry.
Those two had been his companions for decades and Konoha's highest-ranking advisors.
Their downfall would mean more than the destruction of their personal reputations. It would deal a devastating blow to the credibility of Konoha's leadership.
Just as he was fretting over the matter, someone knocked on the office door.
"Lord Hokage, Lord Danzo requests an audience."
"Let him in." Hiruzen snuffed out his pipe.
A moment later, Shimura Danzo, bandages wrapped around him and a cane in hand, walked in expressionlessly.
Of course, this was merely a perfect puppet controlled by Lin Feng.
"Hiruzen, I see you've received them." Puppet Danzo spoke calmly, as if discussing something trivial.
Hiruzen looked up sharply, a glint flashing in his cloudy eyes. "Danzo, was this your doing too?"
"Me?" Puppet Danzo scoffed. "I'm not that bored. But it doesn't matter who did it now. What matters is how we handle it."
Hiruzen fell silent.
He knew that if these two documents were exposed, they would stir up a storm throughout Konoha.
"The Daimyo of the Land of Fire... received a copy too." Puppet Danzo slowly uttered the words, each one striking Hiruzen's heart like a heavy hammer.
Hiruzen's face instantly darkened.
"Konoha is in a sensitive period of transition right now." Puppet Danzo walked to the window and looked down at the village. "Minato is outstanding, but his roots here are shallow. The Uchiha Clan is restless. If a scandal like this breaks out among the leadership now..."
He left the rest unsaid, but the threat was unmistakable.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Hiruzen asked in a low voice.
"A dignified solution." Puppet Danzo turned around. "To ensure a stable transfer of power in Konoha, we have no choice but to make the painful sacrifice of a few people's interests. Koharu and Homura must step down. They should voluntarily resign as advisors, citing poor health. That's the only way to protect them and save face for Konoha."
Hiruzen clenched his fist inside his sleeve. He knew Danzo was right.
"And then?"
"Then Minato succeeds as the Fourth Hokage." Puppet Danzo's tone abruptly changed. "But to reassure the Uchiha Clan, who are unsettled by the appearance of 'Uchiha Madara,' and to demonstrate the new Hokage's vision and magnanimity, I propose that, starting with the Fourth Hokage, we establish two Hokage Assistants to balance the power of Konoha's clans."
Hiruzen's brow furrowed. "Fourth Hokage Assistants?"
"That's right." A glimmer flashed in Puppet Danzo's single eye. "One of them should be the Uchiha Clan's leader, Fugaku Uchiha."
"Impossible!" Hiruzen objected instinctively. "Bringing the Uchiha into the heart of power is too risky!"
"Risky?" Puppet Danzo sneered. "The greatest risk is pushing them into opposition! Hiruzen, your policy of appeasement is outdated. Better to channel them than to block them. Give them a legitimate position and tie them firmly to Konoha. That's far safer than confining them to the edge of the village. It'll also show the other shinobi clans that they have a chance to rise. Competition brings stability."
"As for the other assistant position..." Puppet Danzo tapped his chest with his cane. "I'll take it. I'll use Root to deal with the darkness Minato can't resolve in the light of day. He'll handle the light, and I'll handle... the cost. At the same time, this arrangement will keep the Uchiha from gaining too much power!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at Danzo. In his old friend's eyes, he saw an ambition—and a sense of unfamiliarity—he had never seen before.
Danzo's proposal was radical, yet it formed a strangely complete logical circle.
It would resolve the advisors' scandal, stabilize the Uchiha, put Minato in power smoothly, and satisfy Danzo's own hunger for authority.
It was like a net that had been woven long ago, and he seemed to have no choice but to follow its threads.
"I'll... consider it," Hiruzen finally said, sounding powerless.
Puppet Danzo said no more and turned to leave.
The moment he stepped out of the Hokage Building and disappeared into the shadows, the corner of his mouth curled almost imperceptibly.
Everything was under Lord Madara's control.
Three days later.
Konoha convened an emergency meeting of its senior leadership.
The final decision stunned everyone.
Hokage Advisors Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura voluntarily resigned due to their advanced age and poor health.
Namikaze Minato officially succeeded as the Fourth Hokage.
At the same time, the position of Fourth Hokage Assistant was created, with Shimura Danzo and Fugaku Uchiha appointed jointly to help the Fourth Hokage handle village affairs.
The news sent the whole of Konoha into an uproar.
The Uchiha Clan was happier than anyone.
Their leader had entered the heart of power! It was an honor they hadn't enjoyed in decades!
Cheers rose throughout the Uchiha Clan Compound. The clansmen, long held down, seemed to see the dawn of their clan's revival.
All of this was being broadcast in real time to Obito, far beyond the village, through the eyes of a White Zetsu.
In the forest, Obito clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"H-how could this happen?"
His scarlet eye was filled with disbelief and confusion.
The script was wrong!
Completely wrong!
Why hadn't the village become even more divided by the power struggle? Why had they instead reached a "reconciliation" unlike anything before, and grown more united?
Why would that man, Fugaku Uchiha, be content with serving as an assistant?
Why would that old fox Danzo voluntarily support the Uchiha's rise?
Countless questions circled in his mind, plunging the mind he was usually so proud of into chaos.
He had planned to exploit the Uchiha's resentment over being ostracized and easily turn them into his pawns after the Nine-Tails Incident.
But now their clan leader had become a Hokage Assistant and returned to the heart of power. Who would listen to the nonsense of this "old ancestor"?
His plan had been undermined at its very foundation from the start!
"No... No, something's wrong..."
Obito forced himself to calm down.
"This must be a conspiracy by Konoha's leadership! A delaying tactic to placate the Uchiha! Yes, that has to be it!"
He kept trying to convince himself.
"Once the Nine-Tails Incident happens, Teacher Minato will die, and Kushina won't survive either... Konoha will fall into enormous chaos, and this fragile political balance will collapse at the slightest touch!"
"When that happens, the Uchiha will still be the prime suspects! My plan... My plan can still continue!" "Once I act, everything will go back to the way it was. Everything will be all right!"
Obito's gaze turned vicious once more.
No matter what changes had taken place within Konoha, he had decided, the Nine-Tails Incident would happen on schedule!
He would use absolute power to forcibly steer this flawed "script" back in the direction he wanted!
"Just you wait, Konoha..."
"Soon, when you face true suffering, you'll understand how ridiculous peace is."
Obito's figure slowly sank into a spatial vortex and vanished.
Meanwhile, far away in the Land of Water, atop the Mizukage Building in Kirigakure.
Through a Water Mirror constructed with the Rinnegan, Lin Feng watched Obito trying to convince himself, his face full of rage and humiliation.
"Heh. He's rattled."
He chuckled, picked up the fine tea Kisame had just served him, and took a sip.
"Lord Madara, that masked Uchiha brat is part of your plan too, isn't he?" Black Zetsu emerged from the shadow behind him, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"He's just a clown blinded by hatred and lost in a world of his own fantasies." Lin Feng set down his teacup and gave his calm assessment.
"Still, even a clown can stir things up sometimes. Let him make a fuss. It'll give me a chance to see just how much substance the Yellow Flash of Namikaze Minato really has."
Lin Feng turned his gaze back to the Water Mirror, toward Konoha.
In the image, the succession ceremony was underway.
Namikaze Minato stood on the platform, wearing a brand-new Hokage Haori. His golden hair shone in the sunlight as he received cheers from villagers throughout the village.
Behind him, Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled with satisfaction.
Farther back, Shimura Danzo and Fugaku Uchiha stood side by side, one with a face as still as water, the other with a solemn expression.
This was arguably the strangest—and most "harmonious"—transfer of power in Konoha's history.
"Everything's ready."
Lin Feng stood and walked to the edge of the rooftop, overlooking Kirigakure, whose harbor was already beginning to take on a modern appearance.
"Obito, your Nine-Tails Incident was doomed to end in total failure from the start."
Before you continue