Hiruzen Sarutobi's Ambition

"Dad, how is Kazan?"

Shinku Yuhi returned soon after.

He hadn't refused his daughter's request. He also wanted to see what the genius who had beaten both the Uchiha and the Hyuga looked like.

"Don't worry, he's fine." Shinku Yuhi rubbed his daughter's head.

Young love?

It was hardly unusual in the Shinobi World.

Being a ninja was one of the shortest-lived professions. With the risks so high, ninjas often settled down while they were still young.

No one could guarantee they wouldn't die in battle tomorrow.

Shinku Yuhi had been young once, too. He didn't think it was a big deal.

"Is he really okay?"

"Yes. Lord Hokage seems to think highly of him. The heads of the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans both demanded that Kazan be punished, but the Third Hokage protected him."

Geniuses were always treated differently.

Besides, the Third Hokage's thinking wasn't hard to guess.

A knowing look flashed through Shinku Yuhi's eyes.

From Orochimaru and Jiraiya to Minato Namikaze, and now Kazan.

It was clear that Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to raise up a commoner Hokage and truly unite the village.

Both previous Hokage had come from the Senju Clan. That had given the clan unrivaled standing in Konoha.

Second Hokage Tobirama Senju had chosen not to pass the position to one of his descendants, but to Hiruzen Sarutobi instead.

The Second Hokage must have realized that if the village was to grow, Konoha could not remain the Senju Clan's Konoha.

Now the Third Hokage was simply carrying out the Second Hokage's will to the end. He wanted everyone to see that Konoha belonged not to the great shinobi families, but to all its people.

If everything went according to Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan,

the distinction between Shinobi Clans would blur in Konoha's future.

Families like the Uchiha and Hyuga might even marry into other Shinobi Clans, or among commoners.

"That's great! I'm heading out, Dad. Tell Mom I won't be home for dinner."

"Where are you going?"

"To help Kazan repair the houses!"

You don't know a damn thing about fixing houses. How are you going to help?

Shinku Yuhi shook his head but didn't call his daughter out.

Meanwhile,

Kazan had, unsurprisingly, been sentenced to repair the streets and houses again.

He was getting better at it. If he ever quit being a ninja, he could work in renovations.

With skills like these, he'd never go hungry.

After beating Asuka Hyuga, he'd once again been shielded by Hiruzen Sarutobi, just as expected.

It can't be just because he sees potential in me. That old man Hiruzen Sarutobi probably wants to weaken the other Shinobi Clans' power in the village.

In both the manga and the anime, Hiruzen Sarutobi was always portrayed as a kindly old man willing to give everything for the village.

But that was only the surface. Too much about him couldn't be explained.

Take the Senju Clan, Konoha's founding family.

Konoha had come into being largely because other Shinobi Clans were drawn to Hashirama Senju's strength and charisma.

While he lived, the whole village adored him, Konoha flourished, and he alone was enough to keep the entire Shinobi World in check.

But shortly after his final battle with Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End, he died of illness. The First Shinobi World War erupted almost immediately.

His successor was his younger brother Tobirama Senju. Tobirama lacked Hashirama Senju's power to sweep across the Shinobi World, but his ideas on construction and governance benefited Konoha for decades.

And yet,

the Senju Clan, which had produced two Hokage, swiftly vanished from the historical stage after the First and Second Hokage died.

The Senju Clan hadn't been wiped out; it had simply withdrawn. But being driven to abandon its lofty place in Konoha said plenty.

The clan head at the time had probably realized that if the Senju didn't retreat, they might truly become history.

Once the Senju Clan stepped out of Konoha's spotlight, the village's other "founder," the Uchiha, was next.

Unfortunately, the proud Uchiha didn't know when to back down. They even tried to rebel, and ended up exterminated.

Black Zetsu's involvement might explain some of it, but to resurrect his mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki, he needed the Rinnegan to appear.

He was among the last beings who would want the Senju and Uchiha to go under.

So it was hard not to suspect Hiruzen Sarutobi of pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a true inheritor of the Will of Fire.

But his excessive emphasis on protection and peace had led him to overlook the darker side time and again.

His Will of Fire stressed sacrifice and passing the torch, trusting the next generation, and breaking down clan barriers to create a Konoha for everyone.

In short, Hiruzen Sarutobi might not have been ruthless enough, but he knew how to play politics.

"Kazan!"

Kurenai Yuhi's voice broke into his thoughts. Kazan looked up and saw her jogging toward him from the other end of the street.

When she reached him, she complained, "Why did you get into another fight? You're not hurt, are you?"

"No. I'm perfectly fine."

"Don't fight anymore. Dad says the Uchiha and Hyuga are both furious with you."

Of course they are. I climbed over their geniuses to get here.

"It probably won't happen again."

After thrashing the Uchiha and Hyuga, Kazan had completed another Hidden Achievement.

It wasn't "Famous Throughout Konoha," though. It was "Sweep the Otsutsuki Descendants 1."

Another Hidden Achievement with multiple stages.

To finish it completely, he'd probably have to beat up the rest of the Otsutsuki descendants.

Kaguya Otsutsuki was the Progenitor of Chakra. Before she was sealed away, she had two sons through Coexistence.

Hamura Otsutsuki and Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

Those two were the ancestors of the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans, as well as Kaguya Otsutsuki's direct descendants.

Later, Hamura Otsutsuki and Hagoromo Otsutsuki had descendants of their own, giving rise to other bloodlines.

Those included the nearly extinct Uzumaki Clan, Kirigakure's Kaguya Clan, the brothers Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure, and the Byakugan Clan living on the moon.

This achievement wasn't exactly easy, but it wasn't impossible, either.

The easy part was that, with Garp's fighting strength, beating up the Otsutsuki descendants would be a breeze.

The hard part was that quite a few of those descendants were already pushing up daisies.

He couldn't remember when the Kaguya Clan had been wiped out. He only knew that, later on, there seemed to be just one survivor: Mei Maro... no, wait, Kimimaro!

The brothers Kinkaku and Ginkaku had already been sent to join their ancestors by Second Hokage Tobirama Senju. He didn't even know whether they'd left any descendants.