"That is Sarutobi Hiruzen. He is the Third Hokage of Konoha Village."
"Hiruzen-senpai?" Yahiko and Minato exclaimed in surprise together.
The reason Minato called him Hiruzen-senpai was that there was a huge age gap between them; Hiruzen was old enough to be Minato's father, so it was inappropriate to call him 'Big Brother.'
[T/N: The author used to have him call him big brother.]
Naori was not surprised. Minato and Yahiko might not know, but she certainly did.
Before she and Torifu were chosen as Hashirama's disciples, Hiruzen was the most outstanding among Tobirama's several apprentices. He excelled in both strength and leadership.
If Torifu had not been around, he would have likely been the one to become the next Kage. But after Torifu became the Hokage's disciple, he quickly demonstrated his talent and strength, which made Hiruzen seem less exceptional, and he was naturally passed over.
In this world, without Torifu, Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally became the Hokage.
"Hiruzen's strength is formidable; he just rarely takes action after you all mature."
Torifu then added, "The Sarutobi Hiruzen of this world won't be weak either. No one who becomes a Hokage is simple."
Minato immediately nodded when he heard this. "I understand, Big Brother. I was just a little surprised. I considered many people, but I never thought it would be Hiruzen-senpai."
The four watched Kushina cook for a little while longer before preparing to leave.
Led by Torifu, they quickly toured Konoha Village, and the locations of the various major clans became clear.
It was completely different from their Konoha Village; the layout of this Konoha Village was still very old-fashioned, and the clans had not moved their compounds.
"There's something I need to ask," Naori said.
"Go ahead."
Naori pondered it over but could not figure it out: "Even if Master and Tobirama-sama in this world have passed away, the Senju Clan should still exist. Nawaki and Tsunade should also be here, so why can't I find the Senju Clan?"
Minato and Yahiko had the same question. They had circled Konoha Village but found no sign of the Senju Clan's compound.
Torifu himself knew that the Senju Clan had long since integrated into the general populace and disappeared, but he could not reveal it.
Torifu believed this was a somewhat misguided decision made by Senju Hashirama—to allow the Senju Clan to scatter into thousands of households to maintain the cohesion of the entire Konoha Village. However, this caused the immensely powerful Senju Clan to gradually decline, which was definitely a loss for the village.
Even if Hashirama and Tobirama were dead, there was still Tsunade. As the princess of the Senju Clan, her strength was extraordinary, and she could absolutely lead the Senju Clan to a revival.
But Hashirama directly removed the clan name entirely, leaving no recourse for any potential aspirations.
Konoha Village was the same before the Senju Clan integrated and remained the same after the Senju Clan integrated. There were basically no significant changes, and the level of cohesion was also the same.
"Torifu, do you know what happened? Did Master ever mention anything to you when you were young?"
The Uchiha Clan was isolated because of the establishment of the Konoha Military Police Force by Tobirama-sama. Therefore, Naori suspected that the disappearance of the Senju Clan might also be related to them.
Torifu knew everything, but he could only shake his head. This feeling was awkward, but he endured it.
"I think so. I vaguely remember Master saying that he wanted the Senju Clan to integrate into the village, abandon their surname, and completely blend in."
Naori, Minato, and Yahiko were all baffled by this. What did this mean?
Integrating a clan into Konoha Village? What was the use of that? It would not bring any long-term benefits to the village, and it was entirely less practical than having a clan that could train high-level combat forces for the village.
"But why didn't it happen later?" Yahiko asked curiously.
Torifu shrugged dismissively: "I talked him out of it. Master only had that idea when Konoha Village was peaceful."
"Later, a conflict with the Land of Lightning arose, and Master dropped the idea."
Good grief! Living in the same world day-to-day, one could not notice anything. But comparing it to this alternate world, Torifu had done far too much! It was thanks to him that two ancient and influential great clans avoided the fate of being wiped out.
Naori also smiled at this point. So Torifu had done so many things; this was the first time she had realized it.
All the changes Torifu made were for the better; their Konoha Village was flourishing. In contrast, this Konoha Village, while seemingly peaceful, was turbulent beneath the surface.
The accumulated resentment between the clans and the villagers could easily ignite an explosion. At that point, it would be difficult to clean up the aftermath and would require bloody massacres to erase the consequences of mistaken decisions.
"Konoha Village wouldn't have been able to develop as well as it has now without you."
This was Naori's heartfelt statement. When she saw this Konoha Village, she felt a profound sense of oppression. It was not just the matter of the isolated clans, but the entire Konoha Village seemed to be shrouded in a dark cloud, making it difficult to breathe.
Torifu humbly waved his hand when he heard this. "No, I just did a tiny little bit."
It was indeed a tiny little bit. The changes, both large and small, in Konoha Village since Torifu took over had been rapid, and Torifu had invested a significant amount of effort into Konoha Village.
Various facilities, appliances, the network... and so on—all kinds of public welfare facilities were implemented immediately as soon as they were ready for use. Amado was almost constantly producing new products.
This was how Konoha Village's electrical appliances were successfully sold overseas, instantly becoming popular worldwide in just a few days, with everyone watching Tales of a Gallant Hero and playing games.
In this Konoha Village, a refrigerator was already considered a luxury item. Only the Hokage's and the major clan leaders' homes had one, and technological development was also poor.
"War also delayed a lot of development time and money; we should all understand that. After becoming Hokage, I have come to understand things much better," Torifu explained.
Their Konoha Village had not experienced much war, perhaps only two or three times. Two of those times involved Blaze, who came looking for trouble, and eventually turned into ashes, which helped them travel to this world.