Konoha.
The Hokage Building.
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in a wide wooden chair, a pipe clenched between his lips—the same one that had accompanied the original body for many years—as he focused intently on reviewing documents.
At the bottom of his gaze, there was a trace of strong curiosity.
Before he could read for long, however, the office door handle was twisted roughly. Almost simultaneously, a perfunctory knock sounded, and a man with bandages wrapped around his head, leaning on a cane, strode in.
Shimura Danzō was holding in his anger.
Recently, Hiruzen had fallen seriously ill, confined to bed with a high fever for several days, and had set aside part of his work.
It had only been a few years since the end of the Second Shinobi World War, and the village had not yet fully recovered from the smoke of battle…
Such behavior was far too slack!
He absolutely had to give this Hokage a proper wake-up call in his capacity as Hokage Advisor!
Danzō instinctively prepared to shout the name "Hiruzen," triggering the smooth little opening he had used for many years.
But then he saw the other party suddenly look up, his gaze playful.
Danzō's heart tightened, and he subconsciously stopped in his tracks.
What was going on?
Hiruzen, who had just recovered from a serious illness, seemed to have become younger. His sitting posture and frame were noticeably more upright than before.
Was it an illusion?
"I was wondering who it was."
Hiruzen calmly tapped his pipe against the edge of the desk. After a brief pause, he said, "So it turns out the Hokage…"
He deliberately stressed the last word: "…Advisor has come?"
Danzō's expression darkened.
At the moment of that pause, his thoughts unexpectedly wavered.
After all, Hiruzen had never addressed him by the title of Hokage Advisor.
So was there a possibility—however small, but still a possibility that ought to exist?
—Could it be that the monkey finally realized today that I am the one most suited to be Hokage, and that today he intends to pass the position to me?
But the moment the word Advisor was deliberately stressed, Danzō immediately understood—Hiruzen was expressing dissatisfaction!
"Hiruzen…"
Danzō frowned, his fingers unconsciously tightening as the document bag in his hand creased slightly.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means you've been doing good work lately."
Hiruzen smiled, looking almost gratified.
"Root keeps expanding. The per-person funding and equipment standards have already surpassed those of the ANBU…"
"You've added trench coats to their attire, adopted masks that look even more ferocious than the ANBU's, and you, the Hokage Advisor, have absolute authority over them…"
"Konoha's Root bears the Shimura name, does it not?"
Danzō's thoughts raced.
Something was wrong…
Very wrong—wrong in nine out of ten ways!
By all logic, he was secretly carrying out already-banned Wood Release experiments.
Hiruzen should not be confronting him right now.
At the very least, he should wait until he had noticed and confirmed that results had been produced.
Only then would this Hokage move to seize the fruit born in darkness—and then hand down a punishment, neither too heavy nor too light.
In this process, even if the expansion of his personal authority exceeded the framework of a Hokage Advisor, it was the price he paid for that darkness.
This was the tacit understanding the two had shared for many years.
And now—was Hiruzen going to tear up this agreement?
Was he not afraid that he would stop pursuing Wood Release altogether?!
If Hiruzen were to take action himself, as a branch standing in the light, would he dare to shoulder this blame?
"Hiruzen, I am doing this for Konoha!"
Danzō emphasized loudly, "Root lurks in the darkness, facing the harshest environments and missions. Naturally, that requires large amounts of manpower and resources!"
"As Hokage, what you should be considering is the village's future and the Shinobi World Wars that are certain to come—not quibbling over minor issues within Root. This is meaningless internal strife!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen slowly rose to his feet, pipe in hand, and paced over to Danzō.
He gave him a disdainful smile to his face and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
The pungent smoke made Danzō clench his fists at once!
This was far too humiliating!
Even if Hiruzen was Konoha's Hokage, he could not treat him, the Advisor, like this—
But the words that followed left this so-called "Darkness of the Shinobi World" stunned.
"Do you think I'm condemning you?"
Hiruzen shook his head and forcefully patted the shoulder of this old friend of his.
"I'm reminding you—you've taken the wrong path!"
Danzō knit his brows tightly. "What wrong path?"
Hiruzen waved his hand roughly.
"Your desire to become Hokage—among the Five Great Shinobi Villages and down to the nameless ninja clans, who doesn't know about it?"
"But in this state of yours, how could you become Hokage?"
"You're always moving through the darkness. As the head of a special department, you possess privileges that ordinary shinobi fear."
"But the further you go down this path, the farther you drift from the position of Hokage."
"For example, why did the Second Hokage have the Uchiha clan take sole responsibility for the Police Force?"
Danzō's expression became extremely complicated.
How could he not understand this reasoning?
It was just that, standing in the light, such authority within Konoha had in the past belonged exclusively to Hiruzen.
After all, there cannot be two suns in the sky.
And so Danzō could only grip the darkness in his hands more tightly…
After all, power in the darkness was still power. No matter how one put it, he was the Hokage Advisor—second only to one, above tens of thousands!
"Of course I know!"
Danzō spoke hoarsely. "What are you trying to say, Hiruzen? Bearing the darkness for the village—I do it willingly! A shinobi must possess the resolve to make sacrifices!"
"Let me ask you—do you want to be Hokage?"
Hiruzen suddenly smiled. "I'll only ask you this once, Danzō."
In the past, Danzō had believed that no one understood Hiruzen better than he did.
But today, he could not understand at all what this Hokage was trying to do…
'Yes—how could I not want it? I think about it day and night. I think about it every single day. I dream about it! I want to be that damn Hokage more than anything!'
Danzō roared inwardly.
But—
Facing a Hiruzen he could not fathom, the words reached his lips and yet were difficult to speak aloud.
Subconsciously, a scene from years ago surfaced in his mind—the moment when Senju Tobirama had asked who would stay behind to cover the retreat.
He had not dared to raise his hand when it came time to stay behind…
And now—did he not even dare to say that he wanted to compete to become Hokage?!
At this thought, Danzō took a deep breath and stiffly spat out a single word: "I do."
"Mm, that's an improvement over before."
Hiruzen nodded with a genial smile.
That tone left Danzō feeling deeply uncomfortable.
Do you think you understand me that well? Let me tell you—you don't understand me at all!
What is with that manner of speaking?
Do you think you're my superior?!
Even as he complained inwardly, his ears were pricked, listening intently.
"If you want it, I can help you—but I'm not designating you."
"I'm making this point clear to you."
Hiruzen returned to his seat and took a sip of hot tea.
"In the past, for certain matters involving Root, I was willing to provide you with official backing."
Danzō's breathing grew unconsciously heavier as confusion welled up inside him.
Hiruzen—was he actually going to take the blame for him?
Had the Shinobi World ceased to be the one founded by the Sage of Six Paths?!
Danzō could hardly wait for Hiruzen to continue speaking, yet Hiruzen unhurriedly went on drinking his tea.
He glanced at him, his chin lifting slightly.
The meaning was clear: my sincerity has already been shown.
Next…
It's your turn.
Danzō's thoughts spun rapidly.
Should he bring up the matter of that Wood Release experimental subject…
That was an exceedingly precious Wood Release shinobi!
However, Hiruzen's calm and unhurried demeanor made it impossible for him to gauge what was really going on.
"At Orochimaru's request, I cooperated with him on some Wood Release experiments."
Danzō chose his words carefully. "We paid a certain price, but the results were extremely encouraging. An experimental subject emerged who managed to withstand the intensity of the First Hokage's cells."
"That's what I came to tell you today."
This was a lie.
He had come to confront Hiruzen.
Hiruzen raised a hand, signaling Danzō to sit, and poured him a cup of tea.
He seemed completely unconcerned about Wood Release.
Danzō frowned slightly—that was Wood Release!
His thoughts immediately began to calculate.
Was Hiruzen waiting to name his price, deliberately acting indifferent to drive down the value of his confession… or did he truly already know?
The clear tea reached his mouth, but weighed down by tangled thoughts, it tasted utterly bland.
Hiruzen seemed as if he had not taken the Wood Release experiments to heart at all, smiling as he asked, "That all?"
"A few days ago, I requested a talented shinobi from the Aburame clan."
Danzō's tone grew increasingly irritated.
"Hiruzen, does that even count as an issue? If I don't demand people from those arrogant ninja clans, how is Root supposed to have combat strength? How is the Hokage faction supposed to establish authority?!"
Hiruzen burst out laughing.
"There you go again, getting impatient. You and I are old brothers—we haven't sat down together for a proper talk in a long time. I'm concerned about your work and your life."
"All these years, it really hasn't been easy for you."
Danzō sneered inwardly.
This monkey—why was he suddenly playing the sentimental card?!
Yet the rigid, corpse-like expression on his face unconsciously softened a little.
"Sometimes, seeing you build up armed forces within Root, and even go to great lengths to hide it from me…"
Hiruzen abruptly changed the direction of his words.
"I'm not angry—rather, I feel a bit of heartache."
"You also know that you're not within the normal succession line for becoming Hokage. Raising these private troops—perhaps you were thinking that if one day I were gone, you could still try your hand through the path of an armed coup?"
"And initiating research into Hashirama-sama's cells—aside from considering the village, you yourself also wanted to obtain that power, didn't you?"
"'Fist is power'—that isn't wrong. But in Konoha, if you completely equate the two, then you're straying from the path that Hashirama-sama and Tobirama-sensei laid out for us…"
The atmosphere grew heavy.
When a Hokage points out that a subordinate harbors thoughts of seizing power by force, that is without question the most severe accusation.
And for Danzō—
Hiruzen seemed to understand him a little too well…
The two of them drank their tea, remaining silent for a long time.
"I never thought that way," Danzō finally said slowly.
"Hiruzen, just tell me what you intend to do."
"After all, you are the Hokage…"
But to his surprise, what came was not a reprimand from Hiruzen—but a promise.
"Danzō, in the honor of being Tobirama-sensei's disciple, I give you my word: from now on, I will regard you as one of the formal candidates for Hokage."
The weight of those words was immense.
So much so that Danzō blurted out urgently, "Hiruzen—are you serious about this?!"
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and, with his other hand, pointed at the portrait of Tobirama on the office wall.
In an instant, Danzō's heart burned hot.
"Since you've stepped onto the right path, then you must operate under the sunlight, Danzō…"
Hiruzen sipped his tea. "Keep a few capable hands in Root. Hand the rest over to me for unified assignment."
"There's no need to worry. I will prepare an official position for you."
The main act had arrived!
Danzō's mind calculated at high speed.
Of course he would not think that Hiruzen was suddenly acting out of pure kindness—guiding him onto the right path while still letting him keep that many men.
And this opening price could actually be considered fair.
If Hiruzen were a bit more ruthless…
With only this much strength in hand, what kind of waves could he, this so-called Advisor and the head of Root, possibly stir up?
Just the Third alone—
Danzō did not want to admit it, but the monkey could really fight!
Ino–Shika–Chō, his three disciples, Hatake Sakumo, and the major ninja clans gathered under the name of the Hokage…
Even the Uchiha clan—if they were brought in to suppress him, they would have to run themselves ragged for that damned monkey!
As long as Hiruzen was alive, pressing him down would be far too easy.
"Hiruzen, as for Root, I think it would still be—"
Danzō took a deep breath, attempting to bargain.
Hiruzen raised his index finger, signaling him to be silent.
"Danzō, you need to consider this from the Hokage's standpoint. If you were the Hokage, how would you treat Root?"
Danzō fell silent.
In the current Konoha, the Hokage's power was still far from unlimited.
But for someone like him—Hokage Advisor and Root leader, both dependent on Konoha's legal order—it seized him by the throat.
Moreover, Tobirama-sensei was being used as a guarantee…
To lay the matter of competing for Hokage out in the open, and to give him a promise of fair competition—
The weight was sufficient.
"I understand."
Danzō placed a scroll on the desk.
"As for some matters involving Orochimaru, I'll explain those to you as well, Hiruzen…"
"I will handle the matter of Root."
"But the matter you promised me…"
With that, he cast Hiruzen a long, deep look and strode toward the door.
After taking two steps out of the office, Danzō looked at the open doorway, a thought stirring in his mind.
Though unwilling, he still turned back and closed the door.
If this were in the past…
He would never have closed the door for that monkey!
Not slamming it shut would already have been restraint enough!
But times were different now.
A measure of respect that ought to be given to this old man still had to be given…
With a sour expression, Danzō turned back and pulled the door closed.
Hiruzen watched the door shut, a faint smile on his face as his brow lifted slightly.
Clearly, he was no longer the original Sarutobi Hiruzen…
He had once been a seasoned bureaucratic veteran, a senior policy insider who had spent decades navigating institutional power. Just as his career was surging forward, misfortune struck, and he found himself trapped by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
He could only pursue treatment actively, and in his downtime, read bits of historical commentary to relax his mind.
A few days earlier, the algorithm had recommended a video essay that drew parallels between Naruto and real-world political systems.
The comparisons were superficial, but they were clever enough to leave an impression—even on someone unfamiliar with the series. He watched several in a row before drifting into a drowsy sleep.
When he woke up, he discovered that he had arrived in this world of shinobi—having become the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen!
This body was no longer youthful, yet it contained power far beyond anything he had ever known.
Moreover—
Although he knew only scattered, uncertain fragments about this world's future, he had a trump card to rely on.
With a slight shift of thought, a page surfaced in his mind—clean white, a formal header, and crisp black text laid out with unmistakable authority.
[Authority], [Diplomacy], [Economy], [Education], [Military].
Five indicators were displayed side by side.
And just after completing the conversation with Danzō, at the base of the word "Authority," a faint trace of gold quietly spread—like a progress bar.