Rebellion

Konoha.

The Temporarily Built Hokage Office.

Yamazaki Ryuji and Iruka had already left.

The Old Village Chief relit his pipe, wisdom gleaming in his eyes.

Now that he had been Reinstated, the Third Hokage had given many things much thought.

He had also begun reflecting on a question.

Why had he been Removed from Power in the first place? Why had he been left with no room to resist back then? It was as if he, the Hokage, Owed the entire world something.

Hadn't he merely lost a war, causing the village to Suffer Heavy Losses and many deaths? What had he done wrong?

Now that he had returned to this position, the Old Village Chief swore he would never walk the same path again.

Being forced to step down once had already dealt a severe blow to his prestige.

Such a thing must never happen a second time!

He was Konoha's Hokage, the spiritual totem of this village!

Fundamentally speaking, a Hokage being forced from office was proof of a village's unhealthy development!

After all, if such a thing happened, it meant the previous Kage's leadership had been wrong.

But how could a Kage be wrong?

The ones who had made the mistake were those who had driven him from power. Their thinking was what had gone wrong.

The Old Village Chief had attained enlightenment.

If their thinking had gone wrong, then it needed correcting. Educating those adults would probably be difficult, so he would start with the Next Generation!

And the Ninja School's role was the Top Priority!

Yamazaki Ryuji was quite the talent. Thinking of the proposal he had seen earlier, the Old Village Chief smiled faintly.

He had only offered a few pointers, yet that kid had grasped the key point of educational reform and had even given him quite a few surprises.

Anyone who failed future ideological and political classes could forget about graduating from the Ninja School!

Starting with the children, they would cultivate reverence for the Hokage. They would understand the Hokage's importance, admire the Hokage, and know what the concept of the Strongest Hokage meant. This suggestion truly suited his tastes.

That was why the most important uncut gems in the village were the unpolished Next Generation!

If the Next Generation was not properly educated, What to Do if they rebelled later?

If they were allowed to learn real history and discover just how powerful Konoha had once been, then compared it to the current village, how was he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, supposed to carry himself?

The Old Village Chief believed that after the reforms, as long as he endured for a few more years and waited for the new batch of Ninja School students to graduate, his prestige would soar. He might even indirectly gain the loyalty of the Next Generation from those great clans!

Sarutobi Hiruzen smoked as he gazed into the distance. He could practically see himself using the New Generation to seize Konoha completely in his grasp. The image of himself commanding the winds and clouds, directing the realm, was truly intoxicating.

Bang!

All of a sudden, the office door was rudely flung open.

The discordant sound shattered the Old Village Chief's beautiful dream, and the hallucination clearly brought on by being Obsessed with smoking vanished as well.

His ambitions interrupted, the Old Village Chief turned with a dark expression and saw that familiar face.

"Hiruzen! Something's happened—"

Danzo's face was full of urgency, as though his Buttocks were on fire.

"Get Out!"

But Sarutobi did not wait for him to finish, merely waving a hand toward the door.

"What Does That Mean?"

Danzo was Stunned.

"Knock first. Come In Again."

This time, the Old Village Chief did not intend to give Danzo any face. He intended to put Danzo in his place and make him understand that he had been Reinstated. He was the noble Third Hokage now, not someone whose door Danzo could kick open whenever he visited!

"Sarutobi, you—"

Danzo's face reddened. He was clearly displeased with Sarutobi's Show-Off behavior. Just as he was about to curse out the Old Village Chief, he met the Old Village Chief's imposing gaze.

Fine!

Don't you f*ing regret this!

Danzo left the office through gritted teeth. Knock and Come In Again?

Come in your ass!

He had received word from Root that the Uchiha were making a major move and had kindly come to warn him. He had never expected that just because he had entered in a bit of a hurry, Sarutobi would use his status as Hokage to Get him Out.

And he even wanted him to knock and come in again.

Have I given you too much face?

It would be best if the Uchiha rebelled outright and beat Sarutobi to death!

He, Danzo, was a man of standing. He was genuinely Konoha's upper echelon, and he had even come close to becoming Hokage. Why should he put up with this indignity?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and his steps quickened. He planned to sneak over later and watch the show, then emerge to build prestige once Sarutobi Couldn't Control the situation!

When his steps were hurried, mistakes were easy to make in the rush.

Without slowing down at the corner, a collision naturally occurred.

When Danzo steadied himself against the wall with a frown and looked at the person before him, his anger immediately flared.

But before he could speak, the person in front of him Attacked first.

"Danzo, are you blind?"

Sarutobi Asuma matter-of-factly raised his Middle Finger at Danzo.

He had learned this move from the True Man Guide that Big Brother Hitoshi had given him. Combined with the temperament he had possessed since his youth, when he could argue with his old man, he had already come to regard that book as a classic.

The move was formally called Narrow Passage, Show-Off Wins. It meant that when only one person could pass through, you had to Show Off first and make the other person back down in fear. That way, you won.

Asuma firmly believed in this and had practiced it constantly.

To ensure he would not get beaten up after Showing Off, he had even diligently trained his muscles.

But he had clearly Underestimated Danzo's current level of fury.

When the huge slap struck his face, he vaguely heard Danzo roar by his Ears.

"I'll f* your mother! If she hadn't died, I'd definitely turn those words into a verb!**"

Don't Look At Danzo like that.

Before he had entered his truly aged years, the destructive power of his huge slap was clearly not to be underestimated.

So when Asuma appeared in the Hokage Office with his head buzzing, apart from the vivid red handprint on his face, it was filled with bewilderment and confusion.

Sarutobi was clearly rather dumbfounded to see his son as well. After observing how badly Asuma's face had swollen, Sarutobi's expression darkened too.

"Who hit you?"

Was this merely slapping Asuma's face?

This was slapping the face of Sarutobi Hiruzen!

He had only just returned to his position. Who dared to give him so little face?

"Uncle Shimura hit me."

Sarutobi Asuma answered honestly. He did not even dare call Danzo by name, clearly having been cowed by that slap—or perhaps he had yet to recover from it.

After all, given Asuma's temperament, he would definitely retaliate sooner or later. For now, he had simply been intimidated by the huge slap.

"Danzo?"

Sarutobi frowned, thinking that Danzo was becoming more and more outrageous.

He was still waiting for Danzo to knock, yet his old companion had turned around and slapped his son instead.

Still, the Old Village Chief found it strange.

Whenever he put Danzo in his place before, even if Danzo became angry, he would not go this far.

What was going on this time?

Based on his understanding of Danzo, at most his old companion would say that he would regret it, perhaps in a slightly louder voice.

Besides, the Old Village Chief did not want to completely fall out with Danzo. He still had many things he needed Danzo to do. Putting him in his place had merely been a habitual gesture.

"Alright, I understand."

Unable to gauge Danzo's intentions, Sarutobi irritably waved a hand at Asuma, signaling for him to leave first.

But Asuma stood there with his brows tightly furrowed, looking as though he were deep in thought.

"Is there something else? Right, did you come to report something to me? Or did you only come because you got beaten?"

He could have mentioned something this minor at home. There was no need to make a special trip to the office, so Sarutobi found it strange.

"I remembered!"

Asuma suddenly jolted, strode over to his father, and grabbed his shoulders.

"Dad! I came to warn you!"

"The Uchiha have rebelled!"

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