The Third Hokage's Headache! [Fifth Update, Please Bookmark to Boost the Rankings~]

This left the Uchiha higher-ups utterly confused, but with nothing to say.

The tension between Hikaru and Kagami Uchiha did exist. Their relationship had once been very poor, but with the Third Hokage stepping in, no one could deliberately pile problems onto Hikaru just to make themselves look petty, unreasonable, and even hostile toward their own clansmen.

As the days passed, Hikaru's life became a simple routine of school, training, and home. Those were the only places he ever went.

As time went on, the teacher became increasingly convinced that he had not misjudged Hikaru. Hikaru was growing at an astonishing pace, though his slower progress in certain areas left the teacher regretful. Hikaru would not accept his goodwill, however, so there was nothing he could do.

The Third Hokage saw all of Hikaru's efforts. He greatly admired Hikaru's diligence, and all his attention remained hidden. Of course, Anbu agents occasionally followed Hikaru as well.

The only thing giving the Third Hokage a headache was how to arrange Hikaru.

Originally, the only ones receiving special attention had been Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya. They could have been assigned to the same squad, but now there was an additional Hikaru!!!

Three-man squads had been established through years of experimentation and planning by the major ninja villages. At the time, every village grouped its graduates in threes, forming a squad. Every such squad would include a support ninja.

The best arrangement was to assign a medical ninja, but every village had far too few medical ninjas to distribute them evenly. Left with no other choice, the villages had to use support ninjas instead.

Of course, this was not absolute. Some special squads were formed by combining more than three people.

Putting all four together would seem strange, but if one of them were separated, setting aside who it should be, where should that person be assigned?

If one person in a squad grew quickly while the others lagged behind, problems would inevitably arise over time.

That could turn a complete squad into a ragtag team.

That was something the Third Hokage did not want to see.

But if they were not separated, how should they be arranged?

It was a headache-inducing matter. If handled well, everything would be fine. If handled poorly, it could lead to serious trouble.

Photos of Hikaru, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya were lined up across the desk. The Third Hokage looked at them as he slowly smoked, once again filling the Hokage's Office with haze.

The Hokage was Konoha's Highest Authority, and many people wanted to climb into that position.

But it was not an easy seat to hold. The power was immense, that was true, but it could work a person to death. Especially during wartime, the busiest person was not someone on the front lines, but the Hokage.

If anything was handled well, then it was simply expected. You were the Hokage, the village's highest authority. If you did not take responsibility, who would?

But once something went wrong, the problems began. The villagers' gossip alone could drive you to collapse.

The Third Hokage had once faced criticism after the Ninja Wars broke out and the village suffered enormous losses. In the end, he had no choice but to step down and hand the Hokage position to Namikaze Minato. Sometimes, the higher one stood, the harder one fell.

Yet countless people coveted that position, especially members of Konoha's major clans. The Uchiha were the worst of them all!!

Konoha had been founded jointly by the Senju Clan and the Uchiha, yet both the First Hokage and the Second Hokage had been from the Senju Clan. Even by the time of the Third Hokage, the Uchiha still had no chance at the position. This made the Uchiha deeply dissatisfied, and their hints had become painfully obvious.

Unfortunately, due to various precedents from the past, along with the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama's prejudice against the Uchiha, the Uchiha became increasingly marginalized within Konoha.

It was not just the Uchiha. Even the other major clans could not escape it, including the Senju Clan.

If a clan became too powerful, it could potentially influence the Hokage. Marginalization was inevitable; the only difference was whether it came sooner or later, and whether it was done with a little humanity or none at all.

[Brothers who enjoy this, Libao is begging for bookmarks! For the rankings, and so I can keep going~~ Libao asks for nothing else, only the motivation to keep persevering~~ And your support is Libao's motivation~~]