Uchiha: Starting as Tobirama's Jinchuriki

No, the power of Hokage isn't a hot potato. When did you, Old Deng, become so unwilling to accept it?

Weren't you quite good at using checks and balances before?

Danzo Wōshimura, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and your disciples, all clearly and subtly divided power, playing the game like grandmasters. How come things have suddenly reversed...?

But with the level of support Hiruzen Sarutobi is showing now, what more can be said!

In an instant, even Hiruzen Sarutobi's reputation began to change in Konoha. The previous criticisms of him for being hesitant, timid, and lacking the spirit of a true ninja disappeared, and everyone began to look at the Third Hokage with new eyes.

But no one knew how happy Hiruzen Sarutobi was inside...

Hiruzen Sarutobi had always been under immense psychological pressure regarding the Fourth Shinobi World War.

As the Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi possessed abilities, but they weren't particularly strong; among geniuses, he was truly just "average."

He was a genius among ordinary people, one in ten thousand, but compared to the previous two Hokage, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, he was on a completely different level.

In contrast, the Third Raikage of Kumogakure and Onoki of Iwagakure were extremely difficult opponents. They either possessed lightning armor that ordinary elemental escaping techniques could not penetrate, a physical body strong enough to fight tailed beasts, or they wielded the terrifying bloodline limit, Dust Release, which could dissolve everything.

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked himself honestly, if he were to encounter the Third Raikage and Onoki, his chances of winning would be terrifyingly low.

His most proficient Five Elements Escape Techniques, even when combined with techniques from composite ninjutsu, were difficult for the Third Raikage to break through. Conversely, the Third Raikage's strength and speed made it difficult for him to use the Reaper Death Seal to perish together with him.

Onoki was even more troublesome. His Dust Release made it impossible for Hiruzen Sarutobi to exchange ninjutsu with him, and his Earth Release ability allowed him to create distance, making him exceptionally difficult to deal with.

Even the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure possessed the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, which provided a boost in certain terrains.

Needless to say, Hanzo's power back then was comparable to an enhanced version of Sakumo Hatake, who used poison mist to attack multiple targets, and was effective against any ninja whose physical strength was not great.

As for the Third Mizukage, there's not much to say, but Kirigakure has quite a few bloodline limits...

In particular, Kumogakure possesses the Six Paths Treasures, which are difficult to defend against, and has mastered the perfect Jinchuriki technique. Iwagakure has been biding its time for twenty years, and the number of its ninjas is astonishing. It is said that the Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails have also made initial progress in mastering the power of the Tailed Beasts.

In the dead of night, Hiruzen Sarutobi would repeatedly calculate the fighting strength of each village in his mind, and then often suffer from insomnia until dawn.

During the First Shinobi World War, with Tobirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki in charge, the other hidden villages dared to launch a collective attack on Konoha first. However, after their momentum was disrupted, they fought each other individually.

Now, Konoha only has him left. So, can Konoha withstand the first wave of combined attacks from the other hidden villages?

Clearly, he couldn't withstand it; under such immense pressure, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't display the prowess expected of a ninja hero.

But now, Hiruzen Sarutobi's confidence has returned...

Although he, the Third Hokage, was not very capable, his teacher was amazing!

Thirty years of meticulous planning, gathering the chakra and cells of Madara Uchiha, Izuna Uchiha, the Uzumaki clan, and his own, and possibly even the cells of the First Hokage and the bloodline limits of other hidden villages, resulted in the ultimate monster, Uchiha Aoshui—

The true Nine-Tails of Konoha!

In this situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already figured it out. Since he wasn't good enough, he should just quickly and cleanly hand over the power to his teacher. What was there to think about?

If Hiruzen Sarutobi were to hold power now and have shady dealings, he would always remember the day he was beaten to a pulp by Aozumi, losing an eye, an arm, and being imprisoned with double seals, and a chill would creep down his spine.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had no confidence he could survive the reckoning brought on by his teacher.

"Lord Qingshui, Orochimaru and Hiruko have arrived..." Uchiha Yatsushiro quietly walked to his side and said softly.

Qingshui nodded, gesturing for the two to sit down.

Aokiji also had the intention of recruiting these two genius scientists from Konoha, and today's Root preview meeting was also to let these two people see the Root's prowess.

Orochimaru smiled and nodded to Aoshui.

Orochimaru was very dissatisfied with the Third Hokage's arbitrary decision regarding the Hokage position, ignoring his meritorious disciple and forcibly appointing Tsunade as Hokage's assistant and Aozumi as the leader of Root. He was even so anxious that he took action against Shimura Danzo.

Orochimaru previously believed that Hiruzen Sarutobi would never truly punish Danzo Shimura...

But the reality surprised him. In order to support Qingshui, his teacher went to extremes, even imprisoning Shimura Danzo, to make room for Qingshui in a high-ranking position.

While experiencing complex emotions, Orochimaru also began to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi in a new light.

Although his interests were affected, Orochimaru felt somewhat gratified. His teacher was no longer the muddle-headed, indecisive old man who had become muddle-headed due to his age, but had finally regained a trace of the decisive and ruthless demeanor of a ninja hero.

Orochimaru's feelings towards Aoshui were even more complicated.

On one hand, Orochimaru sees Aokiji as the best vessel for his pursuit of immortality, and wants to replace his idol Tobirama Senju and seize this perfect body by taking advantage of the situation.

On the other hand, Aoshizu was his rival for the Hokage position, and Orochimaru was secretly competing with Aoshizu.

However, Orochimaru was surprised by Qing Shui's attitude towards him.

After taking over the new Root, Aokiji sent an invitation letter to Orochimaru, expressing great politeness and admiration, stating that Orochimaru was a rare genius and scientist in Konoha and even the entire ninja world, and that he very much hoped to cooperate with him.

Unlike Shimura Danzo, he showed no coercion whatsoever and warmly invited Orochimaru to Root to attend a meeting, to see Root's current research equipment and facilities, and its future development direction.

If you think it's a good fit, then let's work together; compensation is negotiable.

If you feel restricted, then consider it a visit; offering some guidance is also beneficial.

This made Orochimaru feel very comfortable.

It's important to know that Aoshui is not just Aoshui; he can also be seen as half of Tobirama Senju.

Orochimaru has always regarded Tobirama Senju as his idol, and in the original timeline, he even called him "the Second Hokage whom I respect the most." As a junior on the path of science, he has always maintained his respect for this senior.

Even with Qingshui in such a powerful position, their polite and enthusiastic attitude made Orochimaru sigh that the difference in their styles and methods was too great.

Meanwhile, Hiruko, who was standing next to Orochimaru, nervously greeted Aoshui and sat down awkwardly to the side.

Hiruko, a ninja of the same generation as Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, is now a Jonin of Konoha.

However, he was not satisfied with being just a Jonin. He wanted to obtain the power of the "Sannin". In order to break through the limit of his talent, Hiruko developed the Oni-Garra Technique.

The so-called Oni-Garara Technique is a fusion ninjutsu that can fuse a ninja or summoned beast with one's own body, and can even fuse with a bloodline limit.

In the original timeline, Hiruko had once attempted to use celestial phenomena to fuse five bloodline limits at once and achieve perfect immortality.

But before the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War, Hiruko appeared to be an unknown ordinary Konoha Jonin.

However, Qingshui's enthusiastic invitation still arrived at his home.

After some hesitation, Hiruko, who had not been truly valued by the Konoha leadership, still arrived at Root with a heavy heart.

Aokiji glanced at Hiruko and said softly, "Welcome to the two senior Jonin of the village, who are here to observe and provide guidance at the Root's planning meeting for the Third Shinobi World War."

"Everyone welcomes you with applause."

A burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from all the elite ninja clans of Root, from the Uchiha and Hyuga to the Yamanaka, Ino-Shika-Cho, and Kurama clans…

Everyone looked at Hiruko with a strange yet respectful gaze.

Even though the person invited by the leader of Qingshui is just an ordinary Jonin, he must have something extraordinary about him!

Hiruko awkwardly waved his hand, feeling somewhat nervous under the respectful gazes of everyone present. Although he was a Konoha Jonin, all those present were elites from various ninja clans, far superior to him, a commoner ninja.

Orochimaru was also very pleased, but he naturally clapped lightly in response to the crowd.

Qing Shui slowly stood up, glanced around, and the applause quickly subsided.

"Gentlemen, with the establishment of the new Root, we are about to face the most arduous yet necessary task: dealing with the upcoming Third Shinobi World War..."

Qingshui snapped his fingers, and a huge map of the ninja world appeared out of thin air behind him.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed; even he had never seen such mastery of illusion techniques before.

Kurama Kuroku shook his head helplessly. Qing Shui's illusion technique was even more skillful than his own, the heir of the Kurama family.

Beside the ninja world map, projections of powerful figures from other hidden villages appeared one after another—

The Kage of each village, high-ranking advisors, Jinchuriki, and ninjas with Kage-level strength...

"We need to recognize that in the future war, Konoha will most likely be besieged by the four great hidden villages."

Qingshui slowly said, "Even if we are not besieged, Konoha's current strength will always attract the covetous eyes of these wolves and tigers from other villages. Therefore, we must beat them so badly that they will be afraid and dare not look Konoha in the eye!"

"But the problem is, how do we beat them into submission?"

Aokiji changed the subject, exchanging glances with the ninjas present: "Although the ninjas of Konoha are all excellent, it is foolish in my opinion to rely solely on courage and ruthlessness to throw lives away."

"Konoha's ninjas are precious, and I don't want to see anyone become worthless cannon fodder..."

The ninjas present nodded silently.

As Aozumi said, being ruthless and brave is useless. For example, Shimura Danzo brainwashed the Root ninjas into ruthless tools, but when they encountered the Anbu of another village, they still did not have a significant advantage in combat power.

In the ninja world, ninjas from all villages are not lacking in the courage to fight to the death.

Orochimaru smirked, increasingly eager for Qingshui's next words.

If they're not risking human lives and have even invited this scientist from Konoha, then they're definitely going to pursue development on the scientific side...

"Therefore, Konoha can no longer rely on the traditional methods of ninja warfare; we must begin a transformation!"

Qingshui waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Our Root branch must take the lead in technological innovation and fight a modern ninja war!"

"In my view, modern warfare should have the following characteristics—"

"First, the battlefield is extensive and three-dimensional. After the five hidden villages and even the entire ninja world joined the war, the battlefield area was vast, the front and rear boundaries were unclear, and large-scale battles affected the entire territory and outer space of both sides. The battlefield situation was complex and ever-changing, and the struggle for the initiative on the battlefield was fierce, requiring even faster response."

Behind Qingshui, the map of the ninja world changed, showing the ninjas present just how complex the enemy situation would be if Konoha were to fight four against one.

The expressions on everyone's faces were grim; the pressure brought by the four villages joining forces was unimaginable.

"To address this, the Nara clan's Root ninjas need to be responsible for receiving, transmitting, and summarizing intelligence. I will continue to improve the Yamanaka clan's sensory ninjutsu to ensure they can receive comprehensive intelligence about the war. Tsunade's slug splitting technique can also serve as a corresponding means of communication for seamless intelligence gathering."

Nara Shikaku's eyes gleamed with thoughtful consideration as he stood up and said, "The Nara clan will provide the most comprehensive intelligence gathering and analysis for Root and Konoha!"

Qingshui nodded: "Okay, sit down first..."

"Secondly, mobility and continuity. Ninja units are highly mobile, increasing the likelihood of encounters and breaking the day-night cycle. This will have an impact on politics and the economy, and ultimately, intelligence is needed to address these issues."

"I need the spy force to intensify its infiltration of other hidden villages, and the ninjas of the Yamanaka clan must fully decipher the intelligence captured in their minds to grasp the enemy's movements."

Shan Zhongfeng immediately stood up: "Lord Qingshui, the Shan Zhong clan will not necessarily fulfill your request!"

Yakushi Nonou added, "Please rest assured, Lord Aomizu, leave the enemy's movements to me..."

After Aozumi improved the Yamanaka clan's techniques, Yamanaka Fu, Yamanaka Inoichi, and other Root ninjas were extremely confident that they could even break through the seal on the mind of a village's Kage.

When Yakushi Nonou received the money from Kakuzu, her sense of belonging to Root was greatly strengthened.

She was a little confused. All I wanted was for the children in the orphanage to be well-fed and clothed. What was this Finance Minister from the root region, whom she had never met before, going to do with tens of millions of taels at once?

That's way too much!

So, to repay this kindness, the walking priestess went all out, leading the Root spies to work day and night.

Qing Shui nodded.