Ninja Academy
"Akamaru, hurry up.... If we are caught, then we are done." A child's voice rang out as Itachi saw a child and a dog carefully moving through the bushes.
'Is it Kiba and Akamaru?'
"Child, where are you going?"
"Ahh.... Akamaru, run.... I will hold him bac— who are you?" Kiba, who was scared of being caught, was screaming bravely when he noticed that it wasn't Iruka's voice but an unfamiliar one.
"Me? I am just a nobody.... Just, I didn't expect the Inuzuka Clan heir to skip school...."
"I didn't. I just do not want to attend those boring lectures. Akamaru and I were going to train, right Akamaru?"
"Woof."
"Once we successfully learn Fang Over Fang, we can definitely defeat that showoff Sasuke and be one step closer to becoming Hokage."
"Oh, do you want to become Hokage?" As Itachi said this, he remembered the embarrassing scene in the Fourth Great Ninja War. After Kiba's declaration of his dream, no one gave any response. Even Akamaru was shocked.
Naruto, the good guy who was usually very competitive, didn't even feel threatened. As for Hashirama and the others, they didn't even give a side-eye or a single word of encouragement.... After this, it was understood that even Akamaru can become Hokage, but Kiba can't.
"Yes, I, Inuzuka Kiba, will become the Fifth Hokage."
"Sigh...."
"Why are you acting disappointed... do you think I can't become Hokage?" Kiba asked angrily after seeing Itachi sigh.
"Kiba, right? You must understand that the basic requirement for becoming Hokage is strength. Absolute strength. Are there any Inuzuka Clan members who are as strong as the current or previous Hokage?"
"...No."
"Then, with the same jutsu and techniques, how can you surpass or compare with the current and previous Hokage and protect Konoha from the Kage of other villages?"
"This..... then do you have another way?"
Hearing this, Itachi looked at Kiba hesitantly.
"Just say it. I can definitely do it."
"Sigh, Kiba, do you know that Konoha is in a very bad situation? It's surrounded by enemies on all sides and is at its weakest. Although things have improved a little, if this continues, then Konoha might really get destroyed...."
"How can that be? You... you are lying."
"After the death of the Fourth Hokage, Konoha has been facing a lack of successors. The Third Hokage came back into power in his old age and said that he was only a temporary Hokage and would resign after Konoha was stabilized and a new Hokage was elected. Look, nine years have passed, and Konoha is more than stabilized, but regarding a new Hokage... there is no news. It's because there is no capable candidate, or maybe he is just holding onto pow—"
"Impossible, Grandpa Hokage is not like that."
"I know. That's why I said it is the situation of Konoha."
"Why... why are you telling me these things?" Kiba, hearing so many secrets, became alert and suspicious. Why would anyone tell all this to a Ninja Academy student?
"As expected of the talented academy student of our Konoha. Looks like I have to show my true form." As Itachi said this, he slowly transformed into a middle-aged man with long black hair wearing red-plated armor.
"You.... you are...."
Seeing Kiba's shock, Itachi—no, Hashirama—smiled gently.
"I am the will of Hashirama Senju, the most important secret of Konoha. Young man, I have been observing you for the past few days, and you just passed my final test. Vigilance is a ninja's greatest ally, and you restrained your curiosity and were able to ask questions, which shows that you have the mindset of a Hokage."
"First Hokage-sama!!!" Hearing the praise, Kiba forgot all vigilance and even the things Itachi had said, bowing down in respect.
"Young man, do you know why I am here?"
"I am listening, Hokage-sama."
"I want to select you as the next successor of Konoha, but.... even before becoming Hokage, you must sacrifice many things. You still have time. If you back down now, I will not stop you. But after you hear the following things, you can't back down. What's your decision, young man?.....Think carefully."
"Hokage-sama, since joining the Ninja Academy, I have been ready to sacrifice everything for Konoha. Just say the words."
"Hahaha, I didn't misjudge you, Inuzuka Kiba. Then, do you know how the Senju and Uchiha Clans were destroyed?"
"I heard about the Uchiha Clan. It was exterminated by the Uchiha Clan traitor.... As for the Senju Clan, I do not know."
"The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, exterminated the Senju Clan."
"Whattt!!! How is this possible?" Kiba's trust, which had just begun to increase, once again fell into the abyss.
"At the end of the First Great Ninja War, Tobirama, along with his six disciples, went to have peace talks with Kumogakure. But during the meeting, Kinkaku and Ginkaku, wielding the Six Paths Tools, ambushed both sides along with their twenty elite ninjas.
The Second Raikage died in the ambush, but Tobirama, with his Space-Time Jutsu, was able to escape with Hiruzen and his companions. However, they couldn't escape far, and thus Tobirama sacrificed his life for his students. You must know this incident."
"Yes."
"Later, Hiruzen became the Third Hokage, but unfortunately his strength was still not enough to take over Konoha and deter the other nations. If he had that much strength then they wouldn't have to run from The Golden and Silver Horn brothers. So he used a forbidden tool that the Senju Clan had sealed hundreds of years ago."
"A forbidden... tool?"
"Indeed, a forbidden sealed tool. Hundreds of years ago, a demon was born. His name was Beelzebub. It had a strange curse—it could never fill its stomach and was always hungry. Then it met a human who gave his own soul as food in exchange for revenge. After eating that soul, it felt complete. Since then, it has been devouring souls.
Seeing such cruelty, all the ninja clans united and finally killed it, but human greed knows no bounds. One human made a cursed artifact from it. If you sacrifice a human's soul and body to it, it will give that person boundless power. But it also corrupts that person.
Hiruzen used that sealed artifact to consume all the Senju Clan members on the condition that he would protect Konoha for the rest of his life."
"This... how is this possible.... Even then, he could have just given it the souls of enemy nations, right?" Itachi wasn't surprised by Kiba's cruel words. Kiba's focus was on the life of Senju members not how cruel this method is.
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