Hiruzen Sarutobi sat alone in his room, eyes closed, resting in silence.
He had not gone to bed.
He knew very well that he would not be able to sleep anyway.
Too much had happened today. So much, in fact, that even he felt he had behaved unlike his usual self.
"Perhaps… I was simply too angry."
Hiruzen thought to himself.
Clearly, he still could not let go of what had happened earlier.
Ordinarily, a man like him—someone who always prioritized the bigger picture—would never act rashly.
But today, he truly had been pushed too far.
First, Danzō—the very man Hiruzen had gone so far as to protect, even at the cost of handing over ANBU and making concessions to the Uchiha—had turned around and stabbed him in the back.
Then he discovered that Danzō had actually sent out that Wood Release test subject to assassinate him.
And the worst part was this:
Senju Hikaru had been standing right there beside him.
That was practically the same as handing this terrifyingly powerful, ruthlessly sharp, endlessly calculating young man yet another handle to put a leash around them.
And Hikaru, naturally, was not the sort to let such a chance pass. He had thrown fuel onto the fire without the slightest hesitation.
Under those circumstances, Hiruzen had simply been unable to endure it any longer.
And in truth, he had had another purpose as well.
On one hand, he had to show his stance.
If he appeared weak—if his response lacked absolute resolve—then that leash really would tighten around his neck.
He had to make Senju Hikaru understand one thing clearly:
even if their side had weaknesses exposed, that did not mean Hikaru could take whatever he wanted.
On the other hand, Hiruzen had also wanted to test the boy properly—
to see just how far he had really grown.
That was why he had acted.
Even if, looking back on it now, it did seem rather impulsive…
he did not regret it.
"Still… that boy's strength is truly beyond reason."
Hiruzen let out a low sigh.
He had always known Hikaru would be strong. In a direct fight, especially without careful preparation, Hiruzen had never expected an easy victory.
And reality had proven exactly that.
But what he had not expected—
was that he would lose so thoroughly.
So completely.
So utterly without the ability to fight back.
He still did not know when Hikaru had managed to place a Flying Thunder God mark on him.
Even when Hikaru had not used Flying Thunder God, Hiruzen's techniques had still accomplished very little against him.
In Hikaru's hands, Wood Release had displayed its might to the fullest.
Hiruzen had even used a Five Nature combination attack, and still he had failed to break through Hikaru's Wood Release.
Of course, he understood why Hikaru was so troublesome.
It was because Hikaru had merged the defining traits of the First and Second Hokage into one person.
If Hikaru had only been proficient in Flying Thunder God, then Hiruzen could have used Multi Shadow Clone Technique to counter him.
With enough clones acting together, he would have been able to create an opening and injure Hikaru.
But Hikaru also wielded Wood Release.
If Hiruzen gathered too closely, Deep Forest Emergence might come crashing down on him, and his death would be even uglier.
Likewise, if Hikaru had only possessed Wood Release, Hiruzen could have fought him through ninjutsu exchanges and looked for an opening to strike.
But all of that was fantasy.
That boy had no obvious weakness at all.
"Compared to Lord Second and Lord First, he's still far behind.
But combine the characteristics of both of them in one person…"
Hiruzen closed his eyes briefly, then sighed again.
"…and he becomes something unimaginably difficult to deal with."
No one could face such an opponent without feeling a headache coming on.
Still, headache or not, Hiruzen had already made up his mind.
Once he returned to the village, he would immediately gather people and begin systematic research.
Senju Hikaru was not Senju Tobirama.
And he was certainly not Senju Hashirama.
That fact gave Hiruzen confidence.
So long as they thoroughly studied Hikaru's fighting style, his habits, the seals that could counter Flying Thunder God, and methods to suppress or neutralize Wood Release—
then defeating Senju Hikaru would not remain impossible.
As Hokage, he commanded a vast amount of resources.
He had no intention whatsoever of facing Hikaru in a duel.
Since the founding of the hidden villages, shinobi had become increasingly focused on teamwork, tactical coordination, and structured combat.
Perhaps that was because no one in the current era possessed the overwhelming, almost absurd individual power of the Senju brothers or Uchiha Madara.
But Hiruzen did not think that development was a bad thing.
Shinobi, too, had to move with the times.
Just look at the samurai—clinging stubbornly to outdated ideals of honor, already drifting toward the margins of history.
That alone was proof enough.
"I'll put that matter into motion the moment I get back.
I absolutely cannot delay.
Otherwise, Senju Hikaru really will have us on a leash."
Only after resolving himself did Hiruzen feel a little calmer.
He opened his eyes and rose to his feet, stretching slightly.
He had been sitting for most of the day, and his body felt stiff.
Now that he had sorted through the matter of Hikaru, he also needed to think carefully about tomorrow's meeting with the daimyō.
Though meeting the daimyō was not especially complicated in itself, the proper respect still had to be shown.
After all, nominally speaking, the daimyō was the highest authority in the Land of Fire.
More importantly, Hiruzen still had to decide how to secure enough money from the daimyō—
enough to satisfy both his own needs and Senju Hikaru's demands.
"What a headache."
He rubbed the space between his brows.
Originally, he had planned to handle the matter in a relatively restrained fashion.
Restrained meant asking for less.
His idea had been to get Hikaru just enough to satisfy the bare minimum—certainly not more than necessary.
But now, clearly, that approach was no longer possible.
Whether Hikaru would push for a higher price or not, Hiruzen could not say.
But he did know one thing:
this time, he had to pay enough.
Enough that Hikaru would leave satisfied.
"Mm?"
Just then, Hiruzen suddenly sensed a fluctuation of chakra nearby.
His whole body tensed at once.
Thump.
He spun around immediately.
Then he heard something heavy hit the floor, and his brows knitted together.
Looking closer, he saw that Hikaru had used Flying Thunder God to appear directly inside the room.
That alone already irritated Hiruzen.
He had found one Flying Thunder God mark on his body already—
but from the look of things, Hikaru had clearly left more than just one.
Silently shaking his head, Hiruzen forced himself not to dwell on it and shifted his attention from Hikaru to the figure lying collapsed on the floor.
The man was in miserable condition.
All four of his limbs had been crippled.
There were wounds all over his body, as if he had been thoroughly beaten and left half-ruined.
But who was he?
And why had he been beaten into such a state?
Hiruzen was Hokage and had access to an enormous intelligence network, but even so, it was impossible for him to remember every insignificant nobody by sight.
Especially not when the man in question had already been beaten until his face was barely recognizable.
"Hikaru, what is this?" Hiruzen asked, his voice low. "Who is he?"
"Him?" Hikaru smiled. "He's one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja serving the daimyō. His name is Kazuma."
"A ninja from the daimyō's side?"
Hiruzen nodded slightly. He had never held much affection for those people.
"Was he spying on us?"
"No," Hikaru replied, his smile deepening. "Something a bit more serious than that."
Then he sat down and continued casually.
"Tell me, Hokage-sama…"
"What would you say if I told you he's been collecting the Nine-Tails' chakra?"
Collecting the Nine-Tails' chakra privately was a serious matter—
and yet, in a strange way, it was not.
It was serious because everyone understood exactly how dangerous tailed beast chakra could be.
In the wrong hands, even a fragment of the Nine-Tails' power could lead to disaster.
And yet it was also not entirely extraordinary, because Konoha itself had long researched Nine-Tails chakra.
There was precedent.
Konoha had an entire research division. Bloodline abilities, specialized ninjutsu, unusual chakra phenomena—everything was studied there.
And honestly, every major village was more or less the same.
On this subject, all of them were masters of hypocrisy and mutual double standards.
If Hikaru were being honest, the Five Great Hidden Villages really did sometimes remind him of the so-called "five permanent good guys" from his past life.
Unfortunately, in this world, the "nuclear weapons"—the tailed beasts—had not performed particularly impressively.
Otherwise, the world would not have become what it was now.
Of course, the tailed beasts' disappointing performance was only part of the issue.
In Hikaru's view, the development paths and governance policies of the five villages were also far behind what he was familiar with from his previous life.
Still, that was not a bad thing for him.
A world like this made it far easier for him to complete his unique mission.
"Nine-Tails chakra?"
Hiruzen looked at Hikaru suspiciously.
Then he asked bluntly, "Are you planning to use this as an excuse to fleece the daimyō?"
"Hm?"
Hikaru blinked.
"What do you mean, 'fleece'? Hokage-sama doesn't believe me?"
"I believe you," Hiruzen said calmly. "Because I believe you're perfectly capable of building a convincing chain of evidence."
"After all, you yourself already carry traces of Nine-Tails chakra on you. Creating something like that wouldn't be difficult."
"…"
Hikaru clicked his tongue inwardly.
So it turned out the Nine-Tails chakra around him had never really been hidden at all.
He had thought he had concealed it rather well. After all, he had been carrying the little fox around without anyone openly noticing or saying anything.
Now he realized the truth:
people had noticed.
They simply had no intention of saying it aloud.
Which, in the end, fit perfectly with the odd position of Nine-Tails chakra research—serious and not serious at the same time.
For most people, privately collecting Nine-Tails chakra would be a grave offense.
But for someone like Hikaru, a high-ranking Konoha shinobi, it barely counted as a problem.
Of course, if he were only an ordinary ninja, things might have been very different.
But now he was already part of Konoha's upper echelon.
"So it really wasn't me," Hikaru said with a small shrug.
"I only collected Nine-Tails chakra in order to study how Wood Release suppresses tailed beast chakra."
"So far, the results are promising."
"But control? I still can't fully manage that yet. Not for now."
"Oh? Suppression alone is already a good result. Looks like your research is going well."
Hiruzen believed him immediately.
If a Senju—especially one who had awakened Wood Release—didn't take an interest in Nine-Tails chakra and attempt to suppress or control it, that would have been far stranger.
He had no intention of asking where Hikaru's Nine-Tails chakra had come from.
Nor did he intend to demand Hikaru hand over his research results.
He knew perfectly well that was impossible.
And he certainly was not foolish enough to try threatening Hikaru over it.
Hikaru, as ANBU Minister, absolutely knew about Konoha's research division.
Hiruzen had no interest in stirring up trouble for himself.
The fact that he had never spoken of it before meant he would not start now.
At most, he could offer a warning.
Or perhaps a subtle reminder.
"Still, Hikaru… don't play with fire too carelessly.
You may end up burning yourself."
"Thank you for the warning, Hokage-sama. I know."
Hikaru nodded, then pulled out a scroll and tossed it over.
"Setting that aside, let's talk about the real matter.
This scroll belongs to him. He collected it himself."
"After I arrived here, I sensed traces of Nine-Tails chakra. At first I thought I'd imagined it."
"But when I followed the trail, I found this."
"And more interestingly, he showed up behind me almost immediately and attacked me."
Hikaru paused there.
Hiruzen's eyes brightened slightly.
Even without further explanation, everything was already clear.
The daimyō wanted to reclaim real authority. Hiruzen had always known that.
Unfortunately for the daimyō, success had never truly been possible.
Hiruzen knew about the Twelve Guardian Ninja organization.
He had even considered infiltrating it.
One possibility had been to send someone trustworthy into their ranks, gather intelligence, and eventually seize control from within.
In fact, his own son was a suitable candidate.
Asuma was at exactly that rebellious age.
Hiruzen could see the respect in the boy's heart—but he could also see the dissatisfaction. Asuma admired him, yet disliked his methods.
The boy had begun acting more and more according to his own convictions.
It was not yet severe, but Hiruzen knew how to use such things.
A little rebellion in a child was not necessarily bad.
And Hiruzen believed that one day Asuma would understand the Will of Fire.
If things developed properly, Hiruzen could arrange for Asuma to enter the Twelve Guardian Ninja, embedding his own influence inside them.
But now, things looked different.
This Kazuma, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, had privately collected Nine-Tails chakra.
That was no small problem.
Though it somewhat disrupted the plans Hiruzen had only just begun considering, those plans had existed only in his thoughts.
Nothing concrete had yet been put into motion.
So under the circumstances, adapting to the present need was clearly the wiser choice.
"This scroll really is his? He collected it himself?"
Hiruzen stared at the scroll, then asked again, more seriously than before.
"Hikaru, you know this is important."
"Of course it's his."
Hikaru smiled, but his expression sharpened slightly.
"Although I do play harmless little tricks from time to time, there are certain matters I would never lie about."
"Good. That's enough."
Hiruzen's face grew solemn as well.
"It seems the daimyō has been misled by unsavory people at his side."
"Indeed. Who would have thought it would come to this?"
Hikaru raised a brow.
Then a warm, almost effortless smile spread across his face.
He took a teacup and set it before himself, then placed another before Hiruzen.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, picked up the teapot and set it over the brazier. With a faint pulse of chakra, the fire beneath it sprang to life.
Steam soon began to rise.
Still, Hiruzen did not pour the tea immediately.
He tapped the table lightly and said, "We cannot allow the daimyō to continue being misled by petty schemers."
He sighed, sounding almost sorrowful.
"The Nine-Tails' chakra is too dangerous. If something goes wrong, even the daimyō himself could be in danger."
"Yes. Nine-Tails chakra must be tightly controlled."
Hikaru smiled in agreement, though there was something almost wistful in his tone.
"If the daimyō's own bodyguards are stealing from under his nose…"
"I believe the Twelve Guardian Ninja ought to be dissolved entirely. What do you think, Hokage-sama?"
"I was thinking the same."
At last, Hiruzen smiled too.
He picked up the teapot and poured tea into both cups.
"The tea here is mediocre. We'll have to make do."
"Once the Twelve Guardian Ninja are dissolved, what does Minister Hikaru suggest next?"
Suggestions?
Hikaru almost laughed inwardly.
So it was finally time for the real discussion.
The division of interests.
In truth, this was exactly why Hikaru had come tonight.
And Hiruzen's willingness to move so directly did not surprise him in the least.
Though the two of them stood on opposite sides inside Konoha—and might even draw blades against one another there—outside the village, or whenever Konoha's greater interests were involved, cooperation was entirely possible.
Hiruzen embodied that principle perfectly.
His ability to set aside conflict with Minato during the Nine-Tails incident had already proven as much.
And for Konoha's benefit, he could clearly do the same now.
Of course, Konoha's benefit and his own benefit were deeply intertwined.
So now the real negotiation had begun.
"How about ANBU?" Hikaru asked after taking a sip of tea.
"I believe ANBU can protect the daimyō perfectly and ensure no threat ever reaches him."
"A good proposal, but…"
Hiruzen also sipped his tea before continuing.
"ANBU is in the middle of expansion. Minister Hikaru has not yet completed that process."
"Do you truly have the manpower to spare?"
"If there are difficulties, then we overcome them, Hokage-sama."
Hikaru shrugged lightly.
"ANBU has never been afraid of hardship."
"But assigning ANBU directly may leave the daimyō with a bad impression—that he is being watched, or even controlled."
Hiruzen set his cup down carefully.
"We must consider appearances. After all, he is the daimyō."
That almost made Hikaru laugh.
Who truly cared that the man was the daimyō?
If not for the fact that he held the purse strings—and had thus far behaved with reasonable obedience—he could have been replaced long ago.
All that really mattered was that someone of the same bloodline remained in the seat.
Nothing more.
Still, Hikaru knew he could not monopolize the arrangement entirely.
If only one side "protected" the daimyō, then it would become far too easy for that side to dominate him completely.
And at that point, who truly controlled the daimyō's money would become a very real question.
Neither side would allow that.
So after considering it properly, Hikaru said, "In that case, we can divide the task equally. Each side takes half the responsibility."
"I'll have to thank Hokage-sama in advance for sharing the burden with me."
"That is the most reasonable arrangement."
Hiruzen nodded.
"ANBU still needs to focus much of its attention on the village."
"Besides that, what else does Minister Hikaru have in mind?"
"There are indeed a few other matters."
Hikaru picked up the teapot and refilled both cups.
Then he paused briefly before continuing.
"As ANBU expands, the cost of maintaining it naturally rises as well."
"That means I will need more funds."
"Let's put it this way: currently, ANBU's budget only supports the equivalent of three medium companies."
"With expansion, that ought to become the equivalent of three full battalions. That seems reasonable, doesn't it?"
"Of course, the logistics divisions, reserve forces, intelligence branch, and administrative branch will all require increased budgets as well."
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Hiruzen nearly choked on his tea.
He stared at Hikaru in disbelief for several seconds before asking sharply, "You call that reasonable?"
"Konoha doesn't have that kind of money. Don't get ahead of yourself."
"I know Konoha doesn't," Hikaru replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Otherwise, why would we have come here?"
"So," he continued smoothly, "shouldn't the daimyō pay a protection fee if we are to protect him?"
"And besides that, one of the daimyō's own ninja privately collected Nine-Tails chakra. Shouldn't compensation be paid to cover the losses this causes us?"
"After all, sealing and processing Nine-Tails chakra requires the deployment of sealing specialists."
"That means Konoha's public resources are being consumed."
Hikaru might not have considered himself especially gifted at extracting money, but he certainly was not bad at it either.
In essence, all he had to do was give the daimyō a proper pretext—
and then build pressure from there.
Since they held the stronger position, he had no concern at all that the daimyō would refuse to take it seriously.
Hiruzen's eyes flickered slightly.
He turned the teacup in his hand, lost in thought.
But he did not think for long.
Soon, he raised his eyes to Hikaru and spoke again.
"Konoha fought the Third Shinobi War with one village against four."
That sounded almost like a test.
Hikaru understood it immediately.
"Which means Konoha proved it can protect the Land of Fire and defend the daimyō's authority from being violated."
"So it is only natural that Konoha should not bear the losses alone."
"I believe any daimyō would agree with that logic."
Hikaru deliberately emphasized any daimyō.
Hiruzen nodded at once.
"Exactly."
He said it with conviction.
"And besides that, while we proved ourselves, we also suffered great losses. That in itself proves our investment in cultivating shinobi is still insufficient…"
"So we need more money to train more shinobi."
Hikaru smoothly took over.
"Which means the daimyō's financial support for Konoha should be increased by fifty percent…"
"Sixty percent."
Hiruzen cut him off immediately.
"Sixty percent. That is the figure our calculations support."
"Only then can we properly continue protecting the interests of the Land of Fire."
"Correct. Sixty percent."
Hikaru's smile widened even further.
"In the end, the daimyō's money exists for the sake of the Land of Fire."
"And if it is placed in our hands, the purpose remains the same."
"We are simply willing to shoulder greater pressure."
"Exactly. We are willing to shoulder greater pressure."
Hiruzen nodded with a smile, then raised his teacup into the air.
"For the Land of Fire?"
"Of course, Hokage-sama."
Hikaru raised his own cup and smiled as well.
"For the Land of Fire."
The cups clinked lightly in midair, producing a crisp, ringing sound.
"You two disgustingly fake bastards almost made me throw up."
Back in Hikaru's room, the little Nine-Tails' voice echoed inside his mind, clearly revolted by the conversation between Hikaru and Hiruzen.
No matter how he looked at it, he could not understand how two people who were practically enemies to the bone could suddenly act like brothers.
What made him even more nauseated was that their sudden harmony had been entirely for the sake of exploiting someone else.
His little fox brain genuinely struggled to keep up.
"That isn't hypocrisy," Hikaru said lazily as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"It's called shared interests."
"Even if someone is your enemy politically, that doesn't mean you can't cooperate when your interests align."
"And then after cooperating, you go back to trying to kill each other?"
the little fox asked.
"More or less."
Hikaru shrugged.
"That's what it means to be on opposing sides. Those kinds of contradictions aren't easy to resolve."
At that point, the little fox poked his head out over Hikaru's shoulder.
Because Hikaru had never sealed him away, he had a fair amount of freedom.
He often slipped out in chakra form.
Still, Hikaru did not mind.
At the very least, the little fox was smart enough to know he could not reveal himself in front of other people.
"So," Hikaru continued, lifting a scroll from his pouch, "didn't you want the big guy's chakra? I brought it back safely."
The true purpose behind taking Kazuma down had always been this:
feeding the little fox so he could grow stronger.
Right now, Hikaru's status screen looked like this:
Name: Senju Hikaru
Gender: Male
Birthday: March 24, Konoha Year 34
Rank: Elite Jōnin (system evaluation under base state with no additional abilities)
Chakra Reserves: Kage-level
Bloodline Development: Intermediate
(Senju Secret Techniques, Beginner Yang Release Secret Technique)
Jinchūriki: Nine-Tails (Beginner; can grow by devouring large quantities of special chakra; planting an intermediate Nine-Tails fruit will also allow growth)
Seeds:
Beginner Fire Release Seed (90%)
Intermediate Sealing Seed (40%)
(unsown or unplantable seeds not displayed)
Fruit: None
Mission: Become the true Big Boss of the ninja world (Unique)
Progress: 18%
Hikaru's goal in collecting Nine-Tails chakra was clear:
he wanted to strengthen the little fox.
The only real uncertainty lay in how that growth should happen.
Using fruits to evolve him was one route.
But the line about devouring "special chakra" was still vague, and Hikaru had not fully pinned down what counted.
Would senjutsu chakra work?
He did not know.
Still, that uncertainty did not bother him too much.
If the ideal method remained unclear, he could simply fall back on the most straightforward one.
After all, that was how he had been handling things all along.
He was used to it by now.
"That big guy's chakra…"
The little fox swayed his head slightly, then asked curiously,
"How long do you think it'll take before you can process it? I mean, refine it into something I can actually absorb."
"No idea," Hikaru admitted after thinking for a moment.
"But probably not too long."
"Now that it's in our hands, there's no need to worry too much."
The little fox lay across Hikaru's shoulder and did not answer.
That much was true.
Still, he did want to grow stronger as soon as possible.
He wanted, in his own way, to be useful to Hikaru too.
And without either of them saying it aloud, the two of them understood the same thing—
the road ahead was only just beginning.
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