After Makoto's twelfth birthday, time quickly moved into April.
It was once again the season for new student enrollment.
Just like last year, both generations of Hokage from Konohagakure attended the entrance ceremony. Although Hiruzen still sat in the Hokage's seat, he constantly reminded himself that he was only serving as a temporary Hokage, and thus handed the task of going on stage to encourage the new students over to Minato.
From this point alone, Hiruzen wasn't really someone obsessed with power. It was just that, with age, his temperament had softened—he had grown overly attached to the deep bonds formed over many years, even though he knew that his old friend had long since forgotten the original resolve they once shared in protecting Konoha.
As members of the Fourth Hokage's guard unit, Makoto and the others stood among the teachers behind the podium.
Although the guard unit was affiliated with the ANBU, they were different from regular ANBU shinobi. On certain ceremonial public occasions like this, there was no need to wear masks or ANBU uniforms.
They represented the younger generation of shinobi—role models meant to inspire the new students to train hard.
There weren't many new students this year. With the war over, the Ninja Academy had correspondingly reduced its enrollment size and raised its talent requirements.
There were no names Makoto recognized among them.
His own cohort had just graduated at the end of last month.
Because most talented students had already graduated early during the war, this year's graduates didn't include anyone particularly noteworthy.
The only name Makoto recognized was Umino Iruka.
This guy had solid fundamentals, but his combat ability was severely lacking. Like many students without outstanding talent, he had stayed the full six years before graduating.
In fact, that was a good thing. Quite a few students who had talent—but not enough exceptional talent—graduated early and soon died on the battlefield.
Even more fortunate was that, thanks to Makoto's intervention, Iruka's parents hadn't died during the Night of the Nine-Tails. His mother, Umino Kairi, had only been seriously injured. After recovering and being discharged, she withdrew from active ninja duty and became a full-time housewife, taking care of and educating her son.
So now, Iruka had both parents alive and a happy family. On that point alone, he already surpassed most Konoha shinobi.
Yet it was said that at school he still acted out and played the fool, trying to attract attention from his classmates.
Orphans have their own hardships—but having both parents can also mean the hardship of being disciplined from both sides.
The Umino couple were civilian jōnin and war heroes. Even when facing the Nine-Tails, they had charged to the front lines without hesitation, earning a strong reputation among the village's shinobi.
Although they loved their son deeply, they were at a loss regarding Iruka's mediocre ninja talent.
That was the root of young Iruka's troubles—and the reason he constantly acted out in school to draw attention.
While Minato was giving his speech to the new students, Makoto sensed a familiar presence approaching from behind.
"Kuroiwa-sensei, long time no see. Have you finished preparing for the new student intake?"
"Hello, Kuroiwa-sensei!"
Yūgao also greeted him. The person behind them was their former homeroom teacher from the academy—Inoue Kuroiwa.
Seeing his former prodigy students, Kuroiwa was delighted.
"Makoto, Yūgao—it's you two. Time really flies… six years have passed in the blink of an eye."
"You and Uchiha Shisui are my most outstanding achievements as a sensei. I really hope that among this year's new students, there'll be geniuses like you again."
Makoto smiled.
"Sensei, if Konoha produced geniuses like me every year, the other villages probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night."
"Hahaha, that's true. Since you all graduated early, your cohort that graduated last month didn't stand out much. Fortunately, there was still one genius among them."
"You mean Uchiha Itachi."
"Yes. The Uchiha Clan truly deserves its reputation as the number one clan in the shinobi world. Almost every graduating class's top student comes from them. Probably only geniuses like you and Hatake Kakashi can suppress Uchiha members of the same generation."
Makoto already knew this. Itachi had enrolled last year, but after just one year, he graduated together with the sixth-year students.
In times of peace, there was no need to graduate early at all. But his teacher, Funeno Daikoku, believed that staying in the academy any longer held no value for him. Fugaku didn't object, so no one else could really say anything.
It could only be said that this teacher's Will of Fire was lacking.
Didn't he understand that for the children of ninja clans, the real purpose of attending the academy was to build bonds with peers of their age?
...
Time moved into May.
Another ninja disappearance case occurred within Konoha.
Inside the Hokage building, in one of the meeting rooms frequently used by the so-called "Konoha F4," Hiruzen, Homura, and Koharu sat quietly waiting.
Before long, Danzō walked in. Seeing the serious expressions on his three old friends' faces, his brows furrowed. He felt like he was being interrogated as a criminal.
What kind of setup was this? Were they dissatisfied with him recently recruiting members from various clans into Root?
But he had no choice—his elite Root forces had been nearly wiped out in a previous operation.
Hiruzen spoke first.
"Danzō, do you know what Orochimaru has been doing recently? Has Root been involved in his activities?"
Danzō sneered.
"That's a joke, Hiruzen. He's your disciple, yet you come asking me?"
"Just answer honestly."
Danzō replied irritably, "I don't know. I've been busy rebuilding Root lately—I haven't paid attention to him."
Koharu said coldly, "Danzō, several disappearance cases in the village recently have all pointed to Orochimaru. He's already suspected of betraying Konoha. And you're still covering for him?"
Danzō exploded.
"I'm covering for him? What nonsense are you spouting? He's not my disciple! And back then, it was you people who sent him to Root to monitor me. Now you're saying I'm protecting him? Ridiculous!"
Hiruzen's gaze locked onto him.
"Danzō. I'll ask you one last time—were you involved in Orochimaru's actions?"
Danzō denied it flatly.
"Absolutely not."
"You'd better not be. Also, I've heard that Root suffered heavy losses last year, which is why you've been recruiting everywhere under my name. I suggest you stop. Root does not need to be rebuilt. Use your current manpower to handle intelligence work in the shinobi world—that's enough."
"Monkey, what do you mean by this? Root must be rebuilt! Konoha cannot be without Root's protection!"
"This is an order."
"You… you'll regret this."
"I am the Hokage!"
"Hmph!"
Danzō stormed out, slamming the door.
But beneath his furious exterior, he was thinking something else.
It seemed Orochimaru had already been exposed. Hiruzen would likely move against his beloved disciple very soon. He needed to return immediately, erase all evidence, and completely sever ties with that snake.
He couldn't let the flames reach himself. If he wanted to become Hokage, he absolutely couldn't have the stain of harming comrades—at least not on the surface.
Danzō couldn't understand Orochimaru.
There were plenty of shinobi and civilians in the world—if he needed experimental subjects, he could simply capture them from outside. Why target people within the village? It was madness.
Even back when they secretly restarted the Wood Release experiments, those children had all been brought in from outside. They had never dared to lay a hand on children within the village.
This wasn't about morality—it was about a bottom line that could not be crossed within Konoha.
After Danzō left, Homura spoke: "I don't believe he was telling the truth."
Koharu added, "He's always been like this. We shouldn't have assigned Orochimaru to Root in the first place. Danzō's methods are too dark—he's already twisted Orochimaru's thinking."
Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe, thinking of his once most beloved disciple.
Could Danzō really have influenced Orochimaru?
No.
He didn't believe so.
Orochimaru's own mindset had long since fallen into darkness—he just didn't know when it had happened.
Homura turned to Hiruzen.
"What should we do now? If the evidence is conclusive… are we really going to deal with Orochimaru?"
Hiruzen didn't answer.
He simply tapped the table three times.
A masked ANBU appeared instantly in the meeting room.
This was his eldest son, who commanded the remaining forces of his personal ANBU unit, and had been investigating Orochimaru's activities recently.
"Have you confirmed everything?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama. We've identified all of Orochimaru's laboratories—both inside the village and on the outskirts."
"Where is he now?"
"In a laboratory southwest of the village. He entered this afternoon and hasn't come out."
"Good. I'll go personally and see what he's doing. Also, inform Gekkō Kumomi—have him lead his ANBU unit to seal the other laboratories."
"Yes, sir!"
After issuing the orders, Hiruzen removed his Hokage robes, revealing the old-style combat attire underneath.
Orochimaru was his disciple.
He had to handle this himself.
If everything proved to be true…
Then he would clean house.
Even if the one he had to eliminate—was the disciple he had once cherished the most.
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