I Have a Bunch of Relatives Who Want to Be Hokage Chapter 27

But Shimura Danzo had not maintained his hostility toward the Uchiha Clan simply because of their strength.

He had not forgotten how, after the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, sacrificed himself for the village, the clan had rejoiced wildly and eagerly tried to lay claim to the village's highest authority.

The Senju of the Forest, also one of the founders, had not acted that way.

If the Senju of the Forest had not still been around at the time, he and Hiruzen might not have been able to hold their ground.

The other ninja clans had also been restless back then; they simply had not been as undisguised as the Uchiha.

From then on, the Uchiha Clan had repeatedly jumped about with their crude methods, attempting to challenge the authority of the Hokage Building. Yet they had never understood that the clan least likely to ever produce a Hokage in all of Leaf Village was the Uchiha Clan. No one wanted to see a Hokage bearing the Uchiha name.

However, the First Hokage had turned becoming Hokage into the shared dream of everyone in Leaf Village, and the Uchiha were no exception. Shimura Danzo knew this well. Rather than a dream, being Hokage was more like a faith.

Wasn't he deeply trapped in it himself?

Thus, that clan had become the village's greatest hidden danger.

The sooner such a matter was resolved, the better. Unfortunately, geniuses continued to emerge from the Uchiha Clan, and they were united enough.

Still, Shimura Danzo had yet to make up his mind about this. After all, among this generation of Uchiha, there had appeared someone like Kagami again. Shimura Danzo had also felt regret in his heart for that companion who had died young.

Your descendant really does resemble you. If you were still alive, would things be different now?

When he had first seen Kagami's descendant, even Shimura Danzo's heart of stone had wavered slightly.

But that was all.

He could not bring himself to trust the Uchiha.

One who dwelled in the darkness of the ninja world had no right to trust others.

After leaving the Hokage Building, Shimura Danzo returned to his lair under the escort of Root ninja.

After sitting down in his office, Shimura Danzo did not immediately deal with the documents on his desk. Instead, he heavily struck the ground with his cane.

"Where is Orochimaru? Has he forgotten his mission? Hiruzen assigned him to be my guard. I want to see him now."

Someone quickly departed into the darkness.

Only then did Shimura Danzo begin handling the documents.

Orochimaru had been getting more and more out of line lately.

Among Hiruzen's disciples, Orochimaru was the only one he could not understand. But he knew one thing: Orochimaru could not do without his support.

Just as he had once been the only high-ranking official to support Orochimaru's bid for Hokage, in this village, he was Orochimaru's only ally.

Though that had been done out of necessity.

And yet that brat Namikaze Minato had ended up taking the position.

What a joke.

After a while, a tall, thin figure emerged from the darkness.

"Danzo." Orochimaru's figure looked sinister within the shadows, but that sort of presence had no effect on Shimura Danzo.

"Were you conducting experiments again?" Shimura Danzo looked at him coldly. "You still dared attend the meeting after finishing an experiment? If I hadn't ordered someone to clean up after you, you would have been discovered."

"This batch of materials was not suitable for prolonged storage. It would affect the results," Orochimaru said blandly. "Besides, I am not your subordinate. You only need to provide the materials."

"Heh..." Shimura Danzo put down his pen, his gaze cold and gloomy. "Orochimaru, don't try that with me."

"What did you call me here for?" Orochimaru neither confirmed nor denied it.

"What did you think of that Uchiha from today?"

"Oh? Is he the next material?"

"Have your experiments damaged your brain? I'm asking whether it's possible to bring him over to my side."

"Getting an Uchiha to join the ANBU? My teacher would never agree to that." Orochimaru immediately lost interest.

Root had initially been nothing more than a training institution for the ANBU. But because Sarutobi Hiruzen's personality and abilities were insufficient to properly manage intelligence work beyond the village's borders, that ANBU function had been taken over by Shimura Danzo and incorporated into Root's responsibilities.

By now, Root had effectively become independent, existing in a state of mutual noninterference with the ANBU, with only a nominal subordinate relationship remaining.

The expansion of its duties had brought a shortage of personnel. Through Shimura Danzo's efforts, the various ninja clans had also provided talent, but that did not include the Hyuga Clan or the Uchiha Clan.

Now that Shimura Danzo was growing older, the increasing complexity of intelligence work beyond the village's borders made him feel more and more that the forces currently at his disposal were still insufficient.

If he had Uchiha or Hyuga... no, Uchiha alone would be enough.

The Hyuga Clan might not truly be suited to Root's work.

Special operations beyond the village's borders were also one of Root's functions, and in that regard, the Hyuga Clan was far inferior to the Uchiha Clan.

That Hannya Group had actually dared to pull a honey trap scam on Leaf Village last time. They had to be wiped out, or where would Leaf Village's prestige remain?

Those rats were quite good at hiding. With the power of the Sharingan, they could surely be found quickly.

They had to die as soon as possible—and as miserably as possible!

"Though I don't know what you are planning, you know the Uchiha Clan's temperament very well, don't you?" Orochimaru licked his lips. "Otherwise, I would have made my move long ago."

"Forget it. There's no talking sense into you. The laboratory will be moved, so keep yourself in check for a while." Shimura Danzo truly regretted bringing Orochimaru in now.

That guy was becoming more and more unrestrained.

But without Orochimaru, the experiment would never have progressed this far.

Damn it!

After ending his unpleasant conversation with Orochimaru and watching one of the Three Ninja, a Kage-level powerhouse, walk away without a care, Shimura Danzo decided to deal with the Hannya Group first.

Just as he was considering how to argue things out with Sarutobi Hiruzen, a Root ninja appeared before him and dropped to one knee.

"Speak."

"Lord Danzo, the Third Hokage has arrived with Fuguki Suikazan of the Mist Hidden Village. They say they have an urgent matter to discuss with you?"

"I don't have time to discuss reparations with the Mist Ninja again. Did they say what this is about? If it's compensation, tell them there's nothing to discuss about the money. If we can't reach an agreement, then we'll fight again."

"The Third Hokage said it concerns the Fourth Mizukage. Fuguki Suikazan wishes to cooperate with Leaf Village and investigate the truth."

"Bring him in at once!"

Hokage Won't Do Either

The talks between Leaf Village and the Mist Hidden Village lasted a full month. Both sides racked their brains to secure the greatest possible benefit for themselves. Yet from the second round of negotiations onward, no one from the Uchiha Clan was allowed to participate.

Uchiha Shingen did not care much about this. Their earlier participation had been entirely due to Nara Shikaku. Clearly, the Hokage Building was keeping strict guard against it, absolutely unwilling to give the Uchiha Clan any opportunity to take part in decision-making on Leaf Village's major affairs.

Senju Tobirama's principle of "exchange," reinforced throughout the era of the Third Hokage, had already developed into a powerful inertia. Its strength lay in how it made everyone—including the Uchiha Clan itself—accustomed to this state of affairs.

This once again confirmed Uchiha Shingen's view: if the Uchiha Clan wanted to change its political standing in Leaf Village, relying on the Fourth Hokage's "closeness" would not work.

Closeness was merely a means. Namikaze Minato and the Third Hokage's faction were part of the same lineage; the people making up that faction were still the same people, and their fundamental policies would not change.

It had nothing to do with how they felt about the Uchiha Clan. Everyone was simply used to it.

Namikaze Minato was used to it, and so was the Uchiha Clan.

Still, on the day the first round of talks ended, several members of the upper ranks came to speak with Uchiha Shingen and asked about the contents of the meeting.

For the Uchiha Clan, this certainly was not something that could make them happy.

On the battlefield against the Mist Ninja, the Uchiha Clan had been the main force on the front lines. Yet when it came to formal negotiations with the Mist Hidden Village, they did not even have the right to sit in and listen. They had only managed to squeeze into the first round because of Nara Shikaku's temporary decision. Their unhappiness was entirely justified.

If they did not attend the meetings, they would not know the real outcomes of the negotiations. Naturally, they could not fight for benefits either, and could only protect the share that was rightfully theirs.

The Uchiha Clan had a large household and a great many dependents. No one would ever complain that their family had too much wealth.

With more wealth, they could support a larger population and train more ninja.

Back then, among Leaf Village's ninja clans, the Senju of the Forest and the Uchiha Clan had the most flourishing populations and the greatest number of ninja. Now, however, the Sarutobi Clan was number one, the Hyuga Clan was second, and the Uchiha could only rank third.

The Hyuga Clan aside, anyone who understood the situation knew how the Sarutobi Clan had grown to its current scale over the years.

Still, the Uchiha Clan had finally matured somewhat. Even after learning that the Land of Water's reparations would be around two billion, they did not go around making a fuss.

Otherwise, the Hokage Building only needed to say, "There are expenses everywhere in the village; it wasn't only the Uchiha Clan who lost people," and they could naturally slap the Uchiha with the label of "insatiable greed."

That sort of thing had happened countless times before.

Uchiha Shingen was quite pleased that the Uchiha elders had finally grown up. Otherwise, with his current persona as a teenager, having to keep telling a group of uncles and old men not to be impulsive, to stay calm, to act mature...

The whole picture would have been painfully awkward, and it could easily have made them fly into a humiliated rage and enter the second rebellious phase of their lives.

With life returning to normal, Uchiha Shingen continued the training routine he had followed for more than ten years.

Once he began using the new method, many of the difficulties he had faced before were resolved. This proved that the answer he had deduced through Indra and Ashura's chakra was correct and had not strayed too far from the truth.

From the perspective of heredity, the Sage of Six Paths had given the best to Indra. Unfortunately, Indra had not persevered.

Indra's descendants, the Uchiha, had surpassed Indra in every respect.

Thanks to the cheat called "loop," he had been given the chance to set foot on the right path once again.

However, that good mood lasted only until Uchiha Fugaku summoned him for another meeting.

After not seeing each other for a month, the clan head, who had welcomed another son, appeared to be in an exceptionally good mood.

His face was noticeably less stiff than usual.

But the moment he spoke, Uchiha Shingen's expression fell.

"Shingen, have you met Shimura Danzo? He has proposed to the clan that he wants you to join Root."

"Is that old man sick?" Uchiha Shingen was baffled. "Am I crazy? Why would I leave the perfectly good Police Force to work for Root?"

Although Root's pay was the highest among all public positions in Leaf Village, only a ghost would want a job that involved eating sand outside every day.

No one was going to make him leave Leaf Village's prosperous commercial district.

He was a man with spiritual needs. That little bit of money could not fill the emptiness in his soul.

"Did he approach you? Shingen, think carefully."

"Of course not. That former advisor is a standard anti-Uchiha type. Why would he come looking for me?" Uchiha Shingen did not recall anything of the sort. "Besides, our statuses aren't equal. If he wanted to approach someone, he should have approached you, Clan Head."

"I certainly wouldn't want him to approach me," Uchiha Fugaku said. "That man is formidable. When it comes to intelligence analysis, he is the best in the entire ninja world. Say a few extra words to him, and he can easily pry something out of you."

"Clan Head, that sounds awfully dishonest. Have you been hiding secret savings from your wife?"

"This is not the time for jokes." Uchiha Fugaku waved a hand. "Shimura Danzo's Root is very mysterious. All this time, it has recruited talent from ninja clans like ours through the Hokage Building, but the clan has always refused. That man is ruthless and merciless in his methods. No one wants their own child to become his subordinate."

"How did those ninja clans agree to it?" Uchiha Shingen found it puzzling as well.

No clan had ninjas to spare, and Root did not want ordinary ninjas—they wanted elites.

Although ninja clans had declined in this era, as long as they were not officially employed ninjas, they could simply refuse Shimura Danzo's demands. That was perfectly reasonable, without the slightest issue.

Though the Uchiha Clan held official positions, the Uchiha who commanded a department could still push back. While both belonged to military institutions, the Police Force was one of the six major departments, whereas "Root" was nominally only a subordinate body of the ANBU. Their ranks were not equal; there was no logic in a lower-level institution requisitioning personnel from a higher-level one.

"That's where Shimura Danzo is formidable. He personally approaches the people he wants, and those people are often persuaded by his ideals. That makes it impossible for their clans to stop them."

"Persuaded? The physical kind?"

"You mean coercion? No, he wouldn't do that. Shimura Danzo may not care much for rules, but he is very confident in this regard. His ideals actually have quite a market in the village, and they are highly appealing to young people who care about the village." Uchiha Fugaku sighed. "That's why I asked whether he had approached you."

"Not really. I've been at the training grounds every day."

"Then be careful lately. Since he has formally raised the matter, he will definitely come looking for you."

"Wait..." Uchiha Shingen was thoroughly displeased. "Why is he looking for me? If he wants someone, he should be looking for Shisui."

"He did approach him. The Third Hokage disagreed, so he switched to you."

Why, thank you so damn much!

Uchiha Shingen held back the urge to curse.

"Clan Head, how did the clan handle this in the past?"

"In the past? Our relationship was what it was, so we simply pushed back directly. But you know the current situation. He is asking for the clan's opinion through the Fourth Hokage." Uchiha Fugaku looked at Uchiha Shingen, his tone slightly teasing. "You're always telling people not to make relations too tense, so hasn't the clan held back this time?"

"Clan Head, don't joke with me. Seriously, I can't accept anyone putting a seal on me." Uchiha Shingen said, "I have a temper too. If I don't beat him to death, it means I didn't eat that day."

"Mhm. As long as you are unwilling, no one can force you." Uchiha Fugaku nodded. "If they want to take someone from the Uchiha by force, not even the Hokage can do it."

There was no way in hell he was going to work for Root!