Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of tobacco. "He's the only choice now. If it were Tsunade, she might stand a chance of competing with Uchiha Yi. He would show her that much respect. But Orochimaru doesn't have what it takes.
"Besides, Orochimaru himself doesn't want to compete with him. He's too powerful, quite possibly not far behind Madara Uchiha in his prime. Who could stop him?"
At that, Utatane Koharu fell silent. Fortunately, she had switched sides early. They could count themselves among his trusted supporters.
Looking at the Uchiha now, few of them acknowledged Uchiha Yi. Instead, it was older people like them who were supporting him.
Surely, if Uchiha Yi put himself in their shoes, he would have to give supporters like them positions when the time came?
The only unfortunate ones were Mitokado Homura and Shimura Danzō. They did not support Uchiha Yi and were even hostile toward him.
No, given the current situation, even if Mitokado Homura survived this ordeal, he would pay dearly.
"What do you plan to do about the Land of Water front?" Utatane Koharu then asked Hiruzen Sarutobi. "If Kirigakure is allowed to wreak havoc within the Land of Fire, we won't be able to justify it to the Daimyō. Your position will suffer greatly, too."
Someone had to take the blame for this. If the person who had devastated Kirigakure had not been Uchiha Yi, and if he had not been this powerful, Utatane Koharu would not have minded pinning it on him. In any case, the Hokage could not have a dark side. None of the blame could be allowed to touch him.
Just as Shimura Danzō had handled dirty business for Hiruzen Sarutobi all these years, something they all knew perfectly well.
To put it bluntly, keeping Naruto Uzumaki's