The Hokage's Son

After Orochimaru left, Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered in secret for a while, then gave an order to summon all his trusted subordinates in ANBU.

It had to be said that the former Hiruzen Sarutobi had possessed greater talent for political maneuvering than for ninjutsu.

The Third Hokage had been called the Professor of Ninjutsu, though most of what he knew were rather unremarkable techniques, useless against true experts.

Yet the lethality of combined ninjutsu against low-ranking ninja was beyond question. They were indisputable battlefield weapons of mass destruction.

When it came to crafting his public image, he could not be said to have done it perfectly, but aside from a select few, everyone in Konoha, from top to bottom, acknowledged Hiruzen Sarutobi.

In the villagers' eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi was powerful and upright, a great Hokage who had given them a good life.

In the eyes of most ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also worthy of respect.

Only the small number of ninja who had truly been harmed by power knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi was Konoha's greatest darkness.

Glancing at the documents on his desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to leave them for Orochimaru to worry over.

He left the Hokage Building and strolled through Konoha's streets.

"It's Lord Hokage!"

The children grew excited when they saw Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Will of Fire had permeated every aspect of life, and the shared dream of most Konoha children was to become Hokage.

"Lord Hokage! I'll become an outstanding ninja like you someday too!"

A snot-nosed little boy broke free from his mother's hand and ran up to Hiruzen Sarutobi, his voice brimming with longing.

"My apologies, Lord Hokage."

The woman, dressed like a housewife, hurried over. Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi, she could not help feeling somewhat nervous and constrained.

She knew exactly what her child was capable of. He was mischievous every day and dead last at the Ninja Academy as well.

She and her husband, a mere Genin, were both ordinary people. They simply could not offer their child much help.

All she could do was pray that war would not come, that her child would not be sent to the battlefield so young.

Hokage? That was far too distant...

Almost instinctively, Hiruzen Sarutobi reached out and patted the boy's forehead.

"Work hard toward your dream. I believe you can succeed!"

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi left, leaving behind a stunned boy and a crowd of people discussing the scene.

"Yuta, don't fool around like that again."

"Mom, I'll definitely become Hokage!"

Looking at her son, her smile was a little bitter. Perhaps...

Hiruzen Sarutobi no longer had the mood to continue wandering around Konoha and quickly returned to the Sarutobi Clan residence within the village.

The sheer grandeur of the Sarutobi Clan mansion showed Hiruzen Sarutobi's influence in Konoha.

Konoha's largest clans were undoubtedly the Senju and the Uchiha, followed by secret-technique clans such as the Hyuga Clan and Ino–Shika–Cho.

But the Senju Clan had already vanished, blending into Konoha. This was also the fundamental reason Konoha continued to produce talented commoners without end.

Yet the Senju Clan's sacrifice had not achieved the expected results.

The Senju brothers, Konoha's First and Second Hokage, had originally intended for Konoha's remaining clans to follow the Senju's example, abandoning their clans and bloodlines to fully integrate into Konoha.

Such a Konoha would surely grow ever stronger.

At that thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head. Hashirama Senju had truly been too naïve.

The ideal was beautiful, but reality was cruel.

Leaving aside the corruption of Konoha's Third Generation leaders, such as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, the differences in talent between people alone had doomed this idea to fail.

The powerful Senju Bloodline had indeed allowed Konoha to produce many talented commoners afterward, but most of Konoha's clans possessed secret techniques that could not be passed on to outsiders.

Take the Inuzuka Clan and Aburame Clan, for instance. The bodies of both clans had changed in accordance with their summoned beasts and secret techniques.

Over generations of inheritance, the Inuzuka Clan's bodies had developed canine traits, while the Aburame Clan even had to modify their bodies in order to house more insects.

How could such secret techniques be passed on? Even if those clans set aside their prejudices and allowed commoners to learn them, it would still be a loss far outweighing any gain.

The secret techniques of Ino–Shika–Cho required talent in Yin–Yang Release as well.

Hashirama Senju's vision was ultimately nothing but empty talk.

"Father."

After returning to the residence, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son, Shinnosuke Sarutobi, respectfully greeted him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had two sons: Shinnosuke Sarutobi and Asuma Sarutobi.

To be honest, neither son had much talent as a ninja.

Shinnosuke Sarutobi was currently a Jonin, while Asuma Sarutobi was not in Konoha. After clashing with Hiruzen Sarutobi two years earlier, he had left Konoha and become one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja protecting the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

The daimyo were ordinary people, but whether in the Land of Fire or any other nation in this world, ordinary people vastly outnumbered ninja.

Ninja carried out assassinations but did not engage in production, and their daily lives were inseparable from ordinary people.

Because of the existence of ninja, the daimyo actually treated ordinary people fairly well. They did not excessively exploit them, and there was no slave class within the social structure.

Furthermore, before ninja existed in ancient times, it had been these nobles who ruled the populace. Their legacy continuing into the present had created the current situation.

Although training a ninja was not particularly difficult, few people possessed the talent to become one.

This caused Konoha and the Land of Fire to guard against each other while also relying on one another.

Simply put, for nations such as the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, ninja were military forces, experts above Kage Level were weapons of mass destruction, and the Tailed Beasts were strategic nuclear weapons.

Thus, wars between ninja never ceased, while relations between nations remained relatively peaceful.

Asuma Sarutobi, the Hokage's son, had gone off to become one of those meaningless Twelve Guardian Ninja. He truly did not understand what was important.

Still, when Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of Asuma's talent, he let out a sigh.

The Sarutobi Clan's greatest strengths lay in two areas. The first was the Five-Style Ninjutsu, which encompassed all five elemental natures. The second was their ability to summon the Monkey Demon Clan.

Summoned beasts also came in different grades. The Enma could not only transform into a weapon, but also form hand seals and perform ninjutsu independently, as well as partially transform his body.

Through long years of training with Hiruzen Sarutobi, he had developed a unique combat style.

Neither Asuma Sarutobi nor Shinnosuke Sarutobi had earned the recognition of the Monkey King Clan, which showed that their talent was indeed limited.

More than once, the former Hiruzen Sarutobi had considered training both of his sons to become Hokage.

He wanted to bind the title of Hokage completely to Konoha and turn the Konoha ninja village into the Sarutobi Clan's private garden.

Unfortunately, if one wanted to become Hokage, insufficient strength simply would not do.