On the road to Konoha, Yuji and Jiraiya leading the Konoha escort did not exchange much conversation. There was even a slight tension in the air between the two groups. After all, the two villages had been enemies not very long ago. And Konoha was now the Sand Village's only real industry competitor. Old grievances and new resentments were not the kind of thing that dissolved in a short span of time.
Jiraiya's purpose in leading the reception party was twofold: preventing any elements within the village from striking at the Sand Village group along the way, while also monitoring the Sand Village delegation's movements and guarding against the Fourth Kazekage making any quiet moves. And of course, observing the Sand Village personnel attending this visit.
In any case, the group traveled under an outwardly friction-free surface and arrived at Konoha several days later.
As they approached the great village gates, Yuji's group could already see the assembled senior figures of Konoha waiting and watching.
All those familiar faces were there.
Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato. Hiruzen. Danzo. Orochimaru. Shikaku and other clan representatives, all people Yuji had crossed paths with before.
Koharu, Homura, and Tsunade were also present, along with a number of clan family representatives from within the village.
But Uchiha Fugaku was not among them.
Yuji's eyes brightened slightly. He understood the implication.
"Fourth Kazekage."
"Hokage."
As both groups drew closer, even the most casual observer could detect the faint but unmistakable charge in the air. It could genuinely be called dangerous.
This was called an exchange gathering, and Konoha was technically the host, but when Yuji actually arrived leading the Sand Village delegation and appeared before Hiruzen and the others, certain people on Konoha's side were visibly struggling to contain their emotions.
Because in their eyes, the Fourth Kazekage was their great enemy. The person responsible for deaths they had not forgotten. During the Third Great Ninja War, a considerable number of Konoha clan members had died at Yuji's hands. And he had taken Hyuga and Uchiha bloodlines. That degree of resentment was not easily dissolved.
Yuji did not glance at the hostile eyes directed at him. He smiled and walked toward Minato with his hand extended.
In all honesty, Yuji had been genuinely surprised that Minato had been willing to send this invitation to the Sand Village in his capacity as Hokage.
Namikaze Minato truly lived up to his reputation as an all-rounded ninja. That all-rounded quality was not limited to combat strength. It extended to his mind and his ability to navigate politically.
Having just taken the Hokage seat, to have already pushed through this exchange gathering and managed to suppress the openly hostile sentiment within the village toward the Sand Village, even with Hiruzen and others supporting him, was not a simple thing to accomplish.
"It has been a while," Minato said with a warm smile, his expression showing none of the friction that existed between them.
"Congratulations. I had a feeling even before now that you would become the next Hokage of your generation," Yuji said pleasantly.
To any outside observer the two of them looked like old acquaintances. Not like people who had been trying to kill each other.
But everyone present understood clearly. The Yellow Flash whose name had resounded through the ninja world during the Third Great Ninja War, this Hokage of theirs, had one person he had simply never been able to defeat. The Fourth Kazekage standing in front of him right now. He had in fact been thoroughly outpressed in their engagements, and had at least once been in genuine danger of losing his life.
"You flatter me. Compared to you, I still have a long way to go," Minato said with genuine modesty.
"The Third Hokage," Minato said, stepping to the side to lead Yuji forward to greet the others.
Yuji looked toward Hiruzen, smiled, and extended his hand.
"This is actually our first meeting in person. That puppet-wielding little devil with the armor, he did not come along?" Hiruzen shook hands and glanced over the Sand Village contingent behind Yuji.
Clearly Sasori had left a deep impression on him. During the war, Sasori had matched him in combat with his own strength alone, and at that point Yuji had already pulled back from the frontline. Though if anyone in Konoha had the deepest grievances toward Yuji specifically, it was certainly Hiruzen. Yuji had outmaneuvered him on multiple occasions.
"He is not here," Yuji replied simply.
He then exchanged brief greetings with Koharu and Homura and the others in sequence.
When he reached Danzo, he simply treated him as invisible air and walked past without acknowledgment.
Even with his composure, the skin on Danzo's face could not quite hold still.
"And this must be Tsunade, one of the Three Legendary Sannin. Your reputation truly precedes you."
Yuji stepped forward and stood before Tsunade.
"Your reputation is well deserved. You flatter me, Lord Kazekage. I am actually quite curious about you myself," Tsunade replied.
"This diplomatic visit between our two villages is a rare opportunity. When you have time, perhaps we could exchange thoughts on medical ninjutsu," Yuji said.
After saying this, Yuji shifted his gaze and exchanged a brief silent glance with Orochimaru.
Orochimaru offered a peculiar smile in return.
Yuji smiled back lightly.
The time Orochimaru had slipped into the Sand Village to attempt an assassination felt like yesterday in his memory. And now he himself had risen to Kazekage, while Orochimaru had lost his competition with Minato and come up short.
"Please, come inside," Minato said, gesturing and leading Yuji's group through the great Konoha gates.
The moment the Sand Village delegation entered the village, every one of them felt the pressure immediately.
It was apparent that Konoha had done some degree of crowd management for the occasion. But lining both sides of the street, large numbers of people had still gathered, civilians and ninja alike, drawn by curiosity about the Sand Village group and this Kazekage.
More significantly, there was open hostility in the air.
Even knowing this Sand Village visit was nominally about establishing friendly diplomatic relations, the eyes directed at them were sharp and unforgiving. There was no cheering, no applause. The atmosphere pressing down on the scene was heavy and low.
This made some of the younger and less experienced members of the Sand Village delegation feel the weight of it considerably.
But the veterans like Shimizu, Pakura, and others simply wore expressions of complete indifference, as though those hostile gazes simply did not register.
Yuji continued making light conversation with Minato as they walked. But the corner of his eye swept the crowd and locked onto two small children standing among the onlookers.
One of them had short hair and appeared slightly older, not yet ten years old. The smaller child beside him looked at most a year older than Temari.
The reason Yuji noticed these two specifically was first that they wore the classic Uchiha clan attire. The second reason was that two Konoha Anbu suddenly appeared and quickly shepherded the two children away from the scene.
Scanning the surrounding area, Yuji could find no other trace of any Uchiha clan members.
"Confined to their district?" The thought passed through his mind.
Almost certainly. This was a precautionary measure against the Uchiha clan attempting to move against the Sand Village delegation, and specifically against the Kazekage. So Konoha had taken targeted action and placed the Uchiha clan under movement restrictions.
The dangerous ones were adults. Young children under restriction would not pose a significant threat. But two small children had still managed to slip through to the scene.
Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.
Yuji recognized both of them.
In the original story, Shisui's name and his legendary Body Flicker technique had spread throughout the ninja world. Although still young, during the final stages of the Third Great Ninja War and in the skirmishes that followed the ceasefire, Shisui had demonstrated extraordinary talent and strength, making him yet another of Konoha's recognized geniuses.
But now, because of Yuji's own presence, this war had ended cleanly and decisively. The post-ceasefire period had not generated the frequent friction and small-scale conflicts that would normally have given Shisui a stage to showcase his abilities. So at minimum up to this point, Uchiha Shisui's name had not yet made a mark in the ninja world.
But Yuji suspected that Konoha's senior figures, including those within the Uchiha clan itself, certainly understood just how frightening Shisui's potential was.
"Even though I am essentially the Uchiha clan's greatest enemy right now, these two small ones looked at me with completely calm eyes just now. No obvious hatred. Interesting," Yuji thought with a quiet internal smile.
The Uchiha clan actually wielded considerable influence, and to have them confined to their district with a simple order meant that the clan head Uchiha Fugaku had probably already been run over thoroughly by those above him.
Furthermore, personally inviting their greatest enemy to Konoha as a guest was almost certainly something the Uchiha clan found completely unacceptable at its core.
But this had been driven by the Fourth Hokage Minato's will, with all of Konoha's senior leadership reaching a collective resolution that the Uchiha clan was simply not permitted to oppose.
Or perhaps more accurately, Konoha's senior leadership simply did not care what reaction the Uchiha clan had.
For a bloodline as proud as the Uchiha, this was an outright humiliation.