Lately, a mysterious rumor had somehow begun spreading through Konoha. Every night, a little boy of six or seven supposedly appeared out of thin air in the Hokage's office. Some had seen him sitting quietly to one side, reading a book. Others had seen him chatting with Lord Hokage. Some even said the boy helped Lord Hokage handle official business! But come daytime, the child vanished as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth. Not a trace of him could be found, as though he had never appeared at all.
Everyone was unnerved, but nobody dared ask the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, about it. The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had been famously kind and approachable with everyone. Even if someone accidentally upset him, he would simply smile and forgive them. But the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, was completely different. He always wore a stern expression, and anyone who offended him could expect punishment at best, or be dealt with on the spot at worst! So everyone kept their distance from him, staying as far away as they could.
Now that a child of unknown origin was appearing beside him every night, it naturally drew attention from all sides. Stranger still, no one in all of Konoha had ever seen the child before, and no amount of asking around could uncover where he came from. Like a ghost, he appeared at the same time every day and vanished just as punctually when the time came.
Those who had seen the child remembered him vividly. Why? His unworldly bearing was nothing like that of an ordinary person. He looked just like an immortal banished from the heavens to the mortal world, unforgettable after a single glance.
The Hokage's hidden guards had been the first to see him, and somehow the news gradually spread from their ranks. Before long, the heads of the great clans could no longer sit still. They often found excuses to report to the Hokage, deliberately timing their visits in the hope of catching a glimpse of the mysterious child. They got their wish: the boy was sitting alone on the Hokage's desk, earnestly handling official business! The clan heads were stunned. After returning home, they could neither eat nor drink in peace, and each had only one thought: they had to get to the bottom of the child's origins! Just like that, the matter spread like wildfire through Konoha.
A few of the bolder clan heads worked up the courage to ask Hokage Tobirama Senju, only to receive a stern rebuke. "Don't go prying into things that are none of your business, or you'll regret it!" Far from quelling the great clans' curiosity, this prompted some of the bolder clans to secretly order their members to keep a close watch on every movement at the Hokage Building.
For a time, Konoha's great clans were consumed with curiosity about the mysterious boy, and all sorts of outlandish guesses spread through the village. The most common claim was that he was Tobirama's illegitimate son, the Senju Clan's carefully nurtured candidate for the next Hokage.
That day, in a room in the Uchiha Clan Compound, a group of shinobi sat together in a somewhat tense atmosphere. At the head sat the Uchiha's newly appointed clan head, Uchiha Tomioki. He was remarkably handsome, but the two faint tear troughs on his face, his shoulder-length black hair, fair skin, and fierce gaze gave him an air of decisiveness and ruthlessness. His eyes swept over the assembled clan elders like knives as he said, "Let's hear what everyone thinks. What should we do about the child beside the Hokage?"
The second elder, Uchiha Homura, frowned and spoke first. "I'll start. This child definitely isn't the Hokage's illegitimate son. Don't we know what the Senju Clan is like? They're devoted when it comes to love. Tobirama Senju hasn't married all these years. That's enough to prove this boy can't possibly be his child."
At that, a sinister look flashed across first elder Uchiha Setsuna's face. "Then we have even less reason to let the child live!" he said coldly. "If he isn't Tobirama's child, he can only be the next successor the Senju Clan is raising. I don't want to see another Senju Clan figure as formidable as Hashirama Senju or Tobirama Senju appear."
The Uchiha elites below immediately erupted in discussion, everyone talking at once. One shinobi said dismissively, "He's only a child. Is it really necessary to get rid of him?"
"I don't agree with killing a young genius from another clan!" another Uchiha shinobi shouted in rebuttal.
"If we fight, we fight openly and honorably. We Uchiha aren't afraid of any powerful enemy!" someone else shouted, standing up with a proud expression.
Most of the proud Uchiha elites could not accept killing a genius from another clan. To the core, they could not allow themselves to become that kind of person.
Uchiha Tomioki looked around and saw that most of the clan's shinobi opposed killing the child. He waved a hand helplessly and said, "Then let's end today's meeting here. We Uchiha have our own limits. As for the child, we'll have our clan's genius, Uchiha Sakai, challenge him and test him out, to see just how much of a genius he really is."
Uchiha Setsuna was furious. He glared fiercely at everyone and muttered, "The clan's shinobi are too softhearted. That's why they've always been led around by the nose by the Senju brothers. If a Kekkei Genkai clan produces a super genius, that person can take on an entire clan alone! If we don't snuff him out in the cradle, we'll never have another chance to deal with him once he grows up."
Uchiha Tomioki frowned and replied impatiently, "Let's wait until Kagami's challenge is over! We don't even know if he's a genius yet. Wouldn't provoking the Senju Clan rashly just be asking for trouble? Meeting adjourned!"
Uchiha Setsuna watched everyone file out of the meeting room, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes. He thought viciously, Tobirama Senju, if you dare make a fool of me, you'd better be ready for my revenge! I'll start by wiping out your clan's future hope. I'm going to kill that child, and even if the Sage of Six Paths himself comes, he can forget about saving him!
Meanwhile, at the clan head's residence in the Hyuga Clan Compound, Tennin Hyuga stood in the hall with a stern expression. Facing four branch family shinobi kneeling before him, he coldly ordered, "You four, keep a close watch on that child's every move. If you get the chance, deal with him. Understood?"
The four Hyuga Branch Family shinobi bowed in unison, their foreheads touching the floor. "We will obey the clan's orders and complete the mission even if it costs us our lives!" they answered together. Then they rose, turned, and hurried away to carry out the dangerous mission.
Elsewhere, in a meeting room in the Sarutobi Clan Compound, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was hard to breathe. Sasuke Sarutobi frowned, his face full of worry. "According to our investigations over the past few days, this child never normally shows himself in Konoha. It's as if the Senju Clan suddenly conjured him up with a magic trick. But there is one suspicious candidate: that child in Senju Yasuhei's family on Hokage Street, the one known as the 'Gold-Swallowing Beast.'"
Dansuke Shimura couldn't help smiling at that. "Most of the thirty-six Senju branches are hidden among Konoha's villagers, so we have no idea who's appeared in which branch," he said teasingly. "But Konoha's famous sickly child is an exception. Although he rarely appears in public, he's very well known. He even showed himself on Hokage Street three months ago, and that caused quite a stir! I heard he'd completely recovered. I sent people to investigate these past few days, and they confirmed that the sickly child was no longer at Tenpuku's house. In my opinion, there's a ninety percent chance the child beside Tobirama Senju is Konoha's 'Gold-Swallowing Beast.'"
Shikaboshi Nara looked grave. After a moment's thought, he said, "I saw the child once in the Hokage's office, and I'll never forget the impression he made on me. First of all, his unworldly bearing isn't something an ordinary person could have. It's very much like Hashirama Senju's. I think it's highly likely the child has a Perfect Sage Body. And I saw him sitting at the Hokage's desk, helping handle Konoha's documents! That means the child is definitely the next successor the Senju Clan is focusing on raising."
Momiji Yamanaka picked up the thread, still shaken. "I've been in the Hokage's office and seen the child too. He gave me one look, and I felt as though I'd fallen into an ice cavern. I broke out in a cold sweat, as if an ancient ferocious beast were staring me down. Everyone knows I practice secret soul techniques and am especially sensitive to danger. But facing this child actually felt like facing the First and Madara Uchiha. It was terrifying."
Kazuo Yamamoto's eyes widened. "From what you're saying, won't this child become the next God of Shinobi?"
Shikaboshi Nara nodded heavily, his expression even graver. "More than the God of Shinobi. In my opinion, he's practically a combination of the First and Second. At the very least, that's what the Senju Clan is raising him to become. If he's allowed to grow up without trouble, I'm afraid none of us will have a chance to rise while he's alive. I've carefully studied every document he handled, and after analyzing them repeatedly, I concluded that his political talent will definitely be no worse than Tobirama's."
A sinister look appeared on Kazuo Shinozuka's face. "Then he has to die!" he said through gritted teeth. "We need to find a chance to assassinate him before he grows up."
Shikaboshi Nara shook his head helplessly and sighed. "It's not that easy! Tobirama Senju is always by his side, and every time the boy appears or leaves at night, he uses the Flying Thunder God Technique. As for the daytime, I think he may be with Hashirama Senju, which gives us even less chance to strike."
Dansuke Shimura stamped his foot anxiously. "Then what are we supposed to do? We can't just stand by and watch him grow up, can we?"
Sasuke Sarutobi gritted his teeth and said viciously, "What we do know is that this child has to die! Everyone, hurry and think of a way to deal with him without hurting our clans. We all know that a genius who hasn't grown up isn't a true genius yet."
Shikaboshi Nara pondered for a long while before speaking slowly. "Let's not act rashly for now. First, we need to find out everything we can about this 'Gold-Swallowing Beast.' There's no need to rush to kill him. The first class of the ninja school will graduate soon, and Tobirama Senju is bound to take on students then. That's the most important thing for us to focus on right now. I hope all of Tobirama Senju's students will come from our clans. That way, there'll be an eighty percent chance that the Third Hokage will come from one of our clans."
Dansuke Shimura frowned and pressed him. "What about this 'Gold-Swallowing Beast,' then? We can't just ignore him, can we?"
Shikaboshi Nara waved a hand. "At the moment, we really don't have a good way to deal with him. The Senju Clan protects him too closely. Unless we're willing to expose ourselves and launch a surprise attack, but the cost would definitely outweigh the gain."
Sasuke Sarutobi looked at Shikaboshi Nara pleadingly. "Clan Head Shikaboshi, you're exceptionally resourceful. Please, come up with an idea for us!"
Shikaboshi Nara's eyes shifted as a plan came to him. "Here's what we'll do. First, have the younger members of our clans test him out. We can start with Miss Biwako. Once we've learned everything we can about the boy, we'll wait until the Hokage takes on students. He won't have as much time to look after the little boy then. We'll keep watching, and when he shows an opening, we'll strike a fatal blow. We have to make that one strike count and leave him no chance of survival!"
Sasuke Sarutobi slapped the table and said excitedly, "That's what we'll do! Each of our clans will prepare a few elite shinobi and give them special training. We'll form a suicide squad and have them ready to strike at any time!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. And so, a plot against the mysterious child quietly began to take shape in Konoha.
Tsubasa, meanwhile, spent every day fulfilled and happy, completely unaware that a crisis was drawing closer to him. Every day, he rose at the first light of dawn to practice Moving Stance Training, followed by Taijutsu exercises. Once he finished, he enjoyed a lively breakfast with Hashirama Senju's family. After breakfast, he studied Ninjutsu, practiced swordsmanship and Shurikenjutsu, and occasionally took part in combat practice. When the day's training was over, he ate a hearty dinner, then followed Tobirama Senju to the Hokage Building to study. After returning from the Hokage Building, he went to his bedroom to refine Chakra, absorb Natural Energy, and accumulate spiritual power. Every day, he could feel himself improving at a speed visible to the naked eye. Immersed in this happy time of cultivation, he could never have imagined that, in Konoha's shadows, dozens of clans were joining forces to plan his assassination.