Life After the Moon Disappeared

Could I have become the Third Hokage without my father's connections?

Sarutobi Hiruzen, hailed as the most outstanding disciple of Leaf Village's generation, knew very well that among his contemporaries, there were indeed other talented individuals, at least not by much, and those differences could be overcome through training.

However, those people's fathers clearly did not possess the strength to attract the attention of both the God of Shinobi and the Leaf Village Asura.

This is called selecting the best from the best, and it's about being responsible to the village.

This is easy to choose. Back then, in Hidden Leaf Village, excluding Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, the order of strength was Senju Tobirama, Senju Kite, and Sarutobi Sasuke.

At that time, Sarutobi Sasuke became the representative of many allies because of his great strength and noble character. To be precise, the Sarutobi Clan faction actually started with Sarutobi Sasuke.

Choosing Sarutobi Sasuke's most beloved and talented child is the core principle of unity in the Will of Fire, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Moreover, the three Senju Clan brothers also gave others a chance. Senju Tobirama established the Tobirama Squad, and Senju Kite specially trained Shimura Danzō. In the end, no one objected to the result, which was fair to the greatest extent possible.

"Father, reminiscing about the past again?" Asuma Sarutobi, seeing his father's expression, walked into the study and sat down opposite him. "I'm not trying to be mean, but why are you always reading those books instead of looking after your grandson?"

"I call this self-reflection," Sarutobi Hiruzen glared.

Young ninjas always seem to be looking to the future, but to be honest, very few of them are truly able to learn anything from history—after all, few ninjas care about history.

Even though the Senju Clan brothers and Uchiha Madara have reappeared in the world through the Impure World Reincarnation, most young people will only see their immense power and not anything else.

"Alright, so what have you figured out from your self-reflection?" Asuma Sarutobi said dismissively.

In his opinion, the old man was just showing off because the book was written by a sycophant.

In terms of quality, it's far inferior to the book "The Years of the Fourth Generation" published by the administrative department.

Can you really compare the stuff written by a "victim" and a "sycophant"?

"Never mind, what do you want from me?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen his hand dismissively. He felt that it was pointless to say anything to his youngest son, who didn't know anything about history; it was the same as discussing calligraphy and painting with Uchiha Fugaku.

"I heard about what happened today in the office. Old man, your performance won't do. You're the Third Hokage, you know."

"Heh..." Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled. "Is the Third Hokage so great?"

"If you don't think it's amazing, why do you read that book Tenten?" Asuma Sarutobi cast a disdainful glance at him. "Why are you still so pretentious at your age?"

"Can you please stop talking about the book?" Sarutobi Hiruzen blushed, clearly annoyed.

Although the relationship has improved, the younger son is still not considerate at all.

Grandchildren are the cutest.

"Well, anyway, I think it's a good thing." Asuma Sarutobi shrugged.

"Oh?" Sarutobi Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "Which aspect are you referring to?"

"Of course it's the Leaf Village Asura!" Asuma Sarutobi said, his eyebrows dancing with excitement. "With the village's strength, those flashy, shameless women outside won't dare to cause trouble. And now that the Fifth Hokage is back, I submitted a report today."

"Hmm, what report did you submit?" Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't in a hurry to dismiss his youngest son's idea, because he knew the worst blow would come from the Hokage Building.

He thought so because he knew his son very well—he was no match for the people in the office.

"Our current strength is unmatched by any other village, and we have more ninjas than before. Of course, it's not just us; the other villages are too, especially Cloud Village, who are even more lacking in missions..."

"You want to suggest that the Hokage abolish underground Bounty Exchange?" Sarutobi Hiruzen interrupted his youngest son's pointless preamble, already having picked up his pipe.

Asuma might think this is a new proposal, but it was brought up twenty years ago. The reason at the time was that some Jonin felt that there weren't enough missions in their own villages, and it was necessary to abolish the underground Bounty Exchange diverted missions.

"Yes," Asuma Sarutobi readily admitted, "They actually dared to put up bounties on Konoha Ninja, how could we tolerate that?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at his stupid son with a half-smile, thinking to himself that if this wasn't his own son, he probably wouldn't even be able to become Jonin.

Jonin isn't just about being able to kill people.

The Jonin Council is an organization that brings together Jonin to coordinate their deployment during wartime and avoid pointless squabbles. In peacetime, however, it is specifically responsible for handling squabbles.

To ensure that the Jonin don't feel like they're just arguing, but rather that they're providing essential and crucial guidance for the development of the ninja village, every Jonin in Jonin Council has a mechanism to submit strategies to the Hokage —a green channel for submitting reports. This makes every Jonin feel close to the Hokage. The Hokage Building even has a dedicated office responsible for reviewing the format and content of these reports, ostensibly for preliminary review.

That way, even if the report doesn't get submitted, it won't be the Hokage's problem.

The reason for doing this is to prevent the Jonin from messing around with the Hokage whenever they have nothing else to do. As long as they feel involved, that's enough, since the Hokage doesn't really care about them, but the Hokage needs them to be happy.

Jonin of Kage Level are not included; they don't need to report and can go directly to the Hokage's office to argue with the Hokage.

"Asuma, do you know who runs these underground Bounty Exchange?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked this question as a matter of habit.

"Of course, it's those rats that can't stand the light of day..." Asuma Sarutobi started to say, but then he noticed something was wrong with the old man's expression and was shocked. "You actually ran it?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed violently and choked.

"What do you mean I own it!?" The great Third roared in fury, "You're Jonin, how dare you talk nonsense?"

"You scared me! I almost thought I wasn't your biological son." Asuma Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief. His head was still hanging on the Bounty Exchange floor. If the old man had run it, that would have been too ruthless.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a sip of tea, then picked up his pipe again.

Seeing his youngest son's expression, he didn't mention that the five major clients of the underground Bounty Exchange were actually from the five major villages, and that there were no other clients besides these five.

Strictly speaking, the so-called underground Bounty Exchange are not a unified organization. Apart from all being called Bounty Exchange, they are generally in a state of interdependence.

"I won't go into who opened it, since I can't be sure myself," Sarutobi Hiruzen carefully chose his words. "But I can roughly guess what the response will be after you submit this report."

"Oh, tell me quickly!" Asuma Sarutobi exclaimed excitedly.

Although he thought his old man was boastful and indecisive, liked to beat around the bush, and often spied on people while denying it, he had to admit that the old man was extremely familiar with those corrupt bureaucrats in the Hokage Building.

"First, they will tell you that they have received your report and have started studying it, but they have many other things to do, so it will take some time."

"Yes, yes, that's what they said." Asuma Sarutobi was even more excited.

"A few days later, you'll go and ask about the results, and they'll say that your intentions were excellent, no one had discovered this problem yet, and it was indeed the right thing to do, but such a forceful approach might have issues and lead to negative consequences."

"Isn't that too weak?" Asuma Sarutobi frowned. "I've thought this through carefully."

"Very good, you can still maintain your stance." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. "Then they won't advise you on what to do anymore, but will tell you when it's more appropriate to do it, for example... now is not the right time, the reasons are very complicated, etc. Usually by this time, most Jonin's enthusiasm has faded." Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke. "After all, they're just writing it for fun."

"I'm not kidding!" Asuma Sarutobi felt the old man was implying something about him, so he firmly expressed his determination, "How many Konoha Ninja have lost their lives because of this evil organization? I can't stand by and do nothing."

"Very good, they will reply to you again, explaining the difficulties that will arise in implementing this plan now. They will analyze it for you from technical, administrative, and diplomatic perspectives, with the diplomatic aspect being the most prominent, particularly focusing on relations with allies. If all goes smoothly, even if you contact them whenever you have free time, it will probably take several years to push this forward, enough time for you to shift your interest to other areas."

Upon hearing this Asuma Sarutobi could no longer contain his disappointment.

"That's it? What if I still insist?"

"Hmm... Considering the Fifth Hokage's situation, you'll probably receive a reply like, 'The village is about to face the election of the Sixth, and they can't guarantee that this policy will be implemented before the new Hokage takes office,' something like that."

Asuma Sarutobi was stunned, while Sarutobi Hiruzen had already begun to focus on the smell of burning tobacco.

"This is too much..." A certain Jonin, who had a huge beard but was completely clueless about the true nature of the Hokage Building, felt utterly bewildered.

He had no doubt that the old man in front of him was trying to fool him.

Moreover, he was certain that this routine was something the old man had come up with himself; it was too convincing.

Good strategies will always be used.

Asuma Sarutobi might not understand the politics of the Hokage Building, but he does understand those people sitting in those offices—they really are that despicable!

"Never mind your report." Sarutobi Hiruzen put down his pipe, his expression turning serious. "How do you Jonin Council actually view Uchiha Madara? Not everyone is as naive as you, is they?"

"What do you mean by naive?" Asuma Sarutobi was dissatisfied. "Of course, most people are happy. The changes a powerful ninja brings to the village are obvious. Isn't the Fifth Hokage the best example?"

"The Fifth Hokage didn't rely on his fists, at least not entirely." Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. "You young people of this generation didn't experience the hardships Leaf Village, so you don't understand Uchiha Madara at all."

"You're talking about when he had a conflict with the First Hokage, right?" Asuma Sarutobi said dismissively, "With the Fifth Hokage around, the village is safe. Besides, back then everyone was rejecting the Uchiha Clan, wasn't it? Things are different now."

"What do you mean everyone rejected him?" Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed. "Do you think the Uchiha Clan back then was the same Uchiha Clan you were when you were a child? If it weren't for the First Hokage's immense prestige, Uchiha Madara would definitely have become Hokage. Even so, he still did it."

Before Asuma Sarutobi could say anything more, Sarutobi Hiruzen his hand, indicating he no longer wanted to try to persuade his youngest son.

"Well, things have come to this. We can only hope that the Fifth Hokage has the will to live. Hopefully, nothing bad will happen."

Chapter 146 The Days After the Moon Disappeared

Uchiha Madara's "return" was clearly not viewed favorably by everyone, which was inevitable.

Especially some elderly people, such as Sarutobi Hiruzen.

However, considering that there are very few elderly people like this, and that the Hokage's power in Hidden Leaf Village is practically Infinite, this matter did not cause much of a stir.

Ultimately, the negative impacts of Uchiha Madara's actions on Hidden Leaf Village in this timeline didn't even have a chance to materialize, at least not compared to Uchiha Sasuke in the original timeline. Uchiha Madara's historical status in Leaf Village, however, is something Uchiha Sasuke can't compare to.

Most importantly, it was Kaguya Otsutsuki's "assistance".

This ancient princess is a very special existence in Hidden Leaf Village. Although she is ostensibly a senior member of the Hyuga Clan, it is no secret at the Jonin level.

If Leaf Village could accept even this ancient princess, then it would certainly accept Uchiha Madara.

At least Uchiha Madara didn't demonstrate the ability to revive people or move the moon at will.

Therefore, when a living Uchiha Madara walked out of the Hyuga Clan Compound, many people's focus unconsciously shifted to the matter of "resurrection".

That means they still have some integrity; some things they only think about but don't actually do.

Back in the late Warring States period, when Leaf Village was first established, people didn't even know how to write the word "integrity." There would definitely be people who would first turn their ancestors' coffins upside down and then carry them to the Hokage to beg for resurrection.

Anyway, if you succeed, you'll gain a powerful living ancestor; if you fail, it's just a matter of burying it again.

Uchiha Shingen was pleased that the people of Leaf Village still possessed some integrity, as no terrifying scenes worthy of being filmed as ghost movies had appeared, even though he had made contingency plans.

At this moment, he was at the entrance to the Hyuga Clan Compound, welcoming the newly reborn Leaf Village Asura.

When Uchiha Madara walked out of the Hyuga Clan Compound and saw Uchiha Shingen, he didn't show any particular surprise. Instead, he turned back to look at the place where Madara had come from.

But considering his unfocused gaze, he was probably not looking at what was in front of him.

Uchiha Shingen guessed that he was probably looking at Kaguya Otsutsuki's palace, at Kaguya and Black Zetsu.

Black Zetsu dragged Uchiha Madara into a trap and then slipped away halfway through. Given Uchiha Shingen's understanding of Uchiha Madara, he simply couldn't believe that the old man had no thoughts at all.

He was chased for over half a year simply for killing one of his cats.

Even if you're fast enough and have two strong brothers, you're still gone.

Petty? Uchiha Madara, he wasn't petty at all.

However, considering that Uchiha Madara eventually reappeared as a living person, their final outcome must have been relatively satisfactory.

On this point, Uchiha Shingen had no doubt about Black Zetsu's professional abilities.

"Clan Chief Madara, welcome back." Uchiha Shingen stepped forward, his words brief and to the point.

Uchiha Madara nodded without saying anything more.

Then he headed towards the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Uchiha Shingen waved to the Kage Guard who had followed him, and these ninjas, all from the Uchiha Clan, wisely withdrew.

Or you could say you're going home to deliver the news.

Uchiha Shingen quickened his pace and caught up with Uchiha Madara again.

Uchiha Madara was clearly not used to having someone walking alongside him, and he frowned slightly.

"Clan Chief Madara, what are your plans next?" Uchiha Shingen asked.

"Nothing," Uchiha Madara, clearly avoiding the question.

Based on his previous personality, now that he has fully recovered his strength, he would definitely seek out Uchiha Shingen for a sparring match, but now he has absolutely no interest in such things.

Before he got carried away, Uchiha Madara was actually a person who lacked passion for battle.

He enjoys fighting because he is an Uchiha Clan.

He lacks passion because he is Uchiha Madara.

He killed countless people throughout his life, his blood flowing like rivers, but it was all for the sake of opposing war.

After nominally answering Uchiha Shingen's question, Uchiha Madara fell silent and simply walked away with his head down.

Uchiha Shingen did not force him and followed him all the way back to the clan's territory.

After entering the clan's territory, Uchiha Madara did not slow down, seemingly with a clear purpose.

He headed in the direction of the amusement park.

Clan territory is actually an old term; strictly speaking, clan territory no longer existed during the ninja village era.

However, the medium to large ninja clans that managed to survive did maintain a communal lifestyle. To facilitate their lives, they established many supporting facilities. For children, they had their own schools, which were not necessarily only used to train ninjas, but also their own playgrounds for children to play in.

When Uchiha Madara entered the amusement park, many children were playing under the supervision of their parents.