The Forest of Death.
A familiar small house.
Outside, insects that formed a barrier had been arranged.
"Shiken, your clan's barrier insects… you actually managed to pass them down."
Hyūga Hiyasu activated his Byakugan and carefully examined the insects positioned at various nodes.
Black tadpole-like markings connected together, and with the output of chakra, the barrier was fully formed.
"It's just a trick. These insects themselves don't have the ability to create a barrier. I simply made them stay in those positions. True barrier insects are the pinnacle of the Aburame clan's Secret Technique. The conditions required to create them are far too harsh. I still haven't figured out how to make them, so I can only use them like this. It works fine for everyday use, but on the battlefield, with all the disturbances and movement, it wouldn't work well."
Aburame Shiken explained.
"Getting insects to stay perfectly still is already impressive. Is there some secret to it?" Hiyasu asked.
"Candy."
"…That simple?"
"Yes."
"Hahaha, as expected of you, Shiken."
So the most advanced ninjutsu often had the simplest principles?
...
A moment later, Inuzuka Ryoha, Uchiha Kamito, and Senju Hideki arrived one after another.
"Ryoha, you called us here this time. Go ahead—what do you want to share?" Shiken asked.
"The situation has changed. Our progress can move faster now."
Hyūga Hiyasu asked eagerly, "What do you mean? Did you get some new intelligence?"
Hiyasu was anxious. Among all of them, his progress was the slowest. The entire branch family of the Hyūga clan followed his lead, but the main family was truly a headache.
As for Senju Hideki, there was no need to say much. Only two or three remnants of the Senju clan remained, and he was the only one who still cared deeply about the clan.
The Inuzuka clan? No need to worry about that guy Ryoha.
The Aburame clan? The current Aburame clan head had basically become Shiken's errand boy. It was absurd—whenever Shiken wanted to buy something, he just made a list and had the clan head purchase it.
The Uchiha… that was a clan of lunatics.
But as the saying goes, you can't understand the thinking of madmen. Even though Uchiha Kamito's progress was currently similar to Hiyasu's, who knew—maybe one morning he'd wake up and suddenly become the one with the fastest progress.
They had originally planned to form a mutual protection alliance among the ninja clans. Hiyasu absolutely could not be the one dragging everyone down.
Inuzuka Ryoha knew this matter was extremely important, so he spoke seriously, breaking from his usual demeanor.
He recounted the conversation he had with the Inuzuka clan head last night.
The other three listened carefully.
Uchiha Kamito said, "So what you're saying is that the ninja clan leaders obey the Third Hokage so blindly because they've all been fooled? They're clan heads—how could they not see through something like this?"
Kamito found it hard to believe.
Within the Uchiha clan, they had long known that Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't possess the strength of the First Hokage or Uchiha Madara, so dissatisfaction had already been brewing.
But the other ninja clans obeyed Sarutobi Hiruzen far too faithfully, including the Senju clan.
That was why the Uchiha never openly voiced their discontent. Each of those clans was troublesome on its own. Together, even the Uchiha would struggle.
Of course, the Uchiha would never admit they couldn't win.
In this world, the Uchiha were the strongest. Hmph.
"It's very possible," Aburame Shiken said thoughtfully. "The Uchiha clan produced Uchiha Madara, so naturally they know Sarutobi Hiruzen doesn't have that level of strength. But the other clans don't.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen was appointed Third Hokage by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. The Senju clan naturally supports him with everything they have.
"With that in place, no one will tell the other clans that Sarutobi Hiruzen is actually just a façade. When the ninja clans see both the Uchiha and the Senju obeying him, they naturally follow suit."
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
"Using the other ninja clans to pressure the Uchiha into submission, while using the Uchiha to intimidate the other clans. What a clever calculation," Uchiha Kamito said.
"Or you could put it the other way around," Inuzuka Ryoha added. "Intimidate the Uchiha while forcing the other clans to submit. Either way, every power in Konoha ends up obeying him as Hokage."
"Exactly," Shiken said. "This scheme is extremely risky. If the relationship between the Uchiha and the other clans were even slightly better, or if the Senju clan came forward and revealed that he doesn't have the First Hokage's strength, Sarutobi Hiruzen's entire plan would collapse.
"But the Uchiha's personality means they would never take the initiative to show goodwill toward other clans.
"As for the clans themselves—there's the reclusive Aburame clan; the Inuzuka clan, who seem wild on the surface but are actually extremely meticulous and even a bit cautious inside; and the Hyūga clan, whose internal unity is lacking. None of them would actively contact the Uchiha.
"Then he secured the Nara clan—the smartest ones, who might have seen through everything. By winning them over, he also secured the Yamanaka and Akimichi clans.
"After that, the only potential variable left was the Senju clan, so he simply allowed it to gradually decline. That's why the Senju clan ended up like this."
As Senju Hideki spoke, his face grew darker and darker.
Boom.
A surge of chakra burst into the sky.
The surrounding floor cracked under the pressure.
"Hideki, control yourself! The barrier won't hold!" Shiken shouted while maintaining the sealing technique.
"Hideki, get a hold of yourself."
A hand landed on Hideki's shoulder, helping suppress the overflowing chakra.
It was Uchiha Kamito, whose Sharingan had already evolved into the three-tomoe form.
"Kamito, thanks. Everyone, sorry about that. It won't happen again," Hideki said apologetically.
"Let's continue," Shiken said. "The biggest flaw in Sarutobi Hiruzen's plan is his strength. As long as he personally fights once, the clan leaders will realize he isn't that powerful—at least not at the level of the First Hokage."
"So he keeps building the image of being the strongest Hokage," Inuzuka Ryoha said with a feral grin.
"Like the saying goes, rumors never appear out of nowhere. Even though it would be easy to test the truth, everyone thinks they're clever and waits for someone else to be the first to try."
"No wonder Sarutobi Hiruzen hasn't fought since becoming Hokage," Hyūga Hiyasu said.
"According to the original story, during the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha's famous figures were Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, and the Sannin.
"In the Third Shinobi World War, it was the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato.
"When Orochimaru defected, Hiruzen faced him but still didn't attack.
"When the Cloud Village attempted to steal the Byakugan—such blatant provocation—he only dared offend the Hyūga clan and handed over Hyūga Hizashi's corpse.
"And later on, he had almost no control over Shimura Danzō.
"Under this assumption, everything that once seemed unreasonable suddenly becomes reasonable.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen simply doesn't dare fight with his full strength."
"But what about the First Shinobi World War?" Shiken asked. "Back then there were no Sannin and no Minato. Who did he rely on?"
"It was the Senju clan—and Uzumaki Mito," Hideki said.
"The last peak of the Senju clan was in the First Shinobi World War.
"After the Second Hokage died in battle against the Cloud Village, the Senju clan directly wiped out the Cloud Village's elite—Kinkaku and Ginkaku's unit.
"That was also the only time Uzumaki Mito personally took action in the ninja world. She released the full Nine-Tails.
"The Nine-Tails chakra possessed by Kinkaku and Ginkaku came from that battle.
"Afterward, the Third Raikage arrived and captured the severely injured Kinkaku and Ginkaku, crushed the rebel forces, and finally retreated under the overwhelming presence of Uzumaki Mito, announcing the Cloud Village's withdrawal from the First Shinobi World War."
Hideki revealed secrets known only to the elders of the Senju clan.
"So the Cloud Village returned home and began frantically cultivating jinchūriki and researching large-scale destructive weapons," Kamito concluded.
"After the Second Mizukage and Second Tsuchikage killed each other, the Land of Water and the Land of Earth withdrew from the war.
"Now the Land of Lightning has also withdrawn.
"With the Land of Wind never participating to begin with, the Land of Fire—standing alone at the end—somehow ended up winning the First Shinobi World War.
"And Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had done almost nothing, became the Third Hokage who led the Land of Fire and the Hidden Leaf Village to victory."
After Kamito finished summarizing—
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
It all connected.
Everything finally connected.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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