Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 101 Kakashi Hatake's Stance

The Cloud Village ninjas have been infiltrating the Land of Fire for 15 days, penetrating nearly 200 kilometers into the country.

At this time, Konoha Village was like a dark cloud looming over the city, and the people were filled with fear and unease.

The frustrated Konoha ninjas recalled unpleasant memories, and their disappointment in the Third Hokage grew ever stronger.

Unlike in history, Konoha Village now has Natsume present.

Just as Xia Zuo said, he had accumulated enough credibility by resolving Konoha's crises in the past, and the Konoha ninjas believed that he could once again resolve the threat from Kumogakure.

This trust existed three years ago, but his age of only 14 made him less powerful.

Today, Xia Zuo is 17 years old. The trust he placed in three years ago shines brighter in comparison to the weakness and incompetence of the Third Hokage.

The Konoha ninja realized that Xia Zuo was a ready-made candidate for the Fifth Hokage.

Since Konoha Village has better options, the Konoha ninjas' tolerance for the Third Hokage will naturally decrease significantly.

In those short 15 days, the idea that Hiruzen Sarutobi should not become Hokage became a consensus among Konoha ninjas.

On the other hand, both Iwagakure and Kirigakure have also obtained specific information.

Seeing the Cloud Village ninjas' attack going so smoothly, they couldn't contain themselves and started to get restless.

Even the Hidden Sand Village, Konoha's theoretical ally, secretly sent a large number of Sand Village ninjas into the Land of Fire to conduct extensive activities between the Hidden Cloud Village and Konoha.

The situation in Konoha Village deteriorated rapidly, and it seemed that a war between the four great ninja villages besieging Konoha Village could break out at any moment.

Uchiha Shisui came to Xia Zuo's place again to complain.

He asked, almost in a daze, "Isn't Konoha Village our home? Am I wrong to think of myself as the master of Konoha Village?"

Xia Zuo replied, "Konoha Village was once the home of the Konoha ninja, and the Konoha ninja were once the masters of Konoha Village."

"It was true during the time of the First Hokage, it was true during the time of the Second Hokage, it was true in the first few years of the Third Hokage's term, and it was almost true during the short few months of the Fourth Hokage's term."

Shisui took a deep breath and asked, "Can Konoha Village go back to the past?"

Xia Zuo answered with absolute certainty, "Yes, Uchiha Shisui, you have to believe me, believe in everyone."

"The ninjas of Konoha all hope that the Fifth Hokage's Konoha will be exactly what they dream of."

Hearing Xia Zuo's promise, Uchiha Shisui's heart was filled with hope, and he asked eagerly:

"

"Lord Xia Zuo, what can I do?"

Xia Zuo said solemnly, "Shisui, you will bear a huge responsibility from now on. I will work with you to resolve the crisis in Konoha Village."

Uchiha Shisui was extremely excited and filled with hope. He left first as ordered by Xia Zuo.

After he left, Uchiha Izumi emerged from the shadows.

Looking in the direction Shisui had left, she asked curiously, "Brother, do you think Brother Shisui will be able to anticipate our upcoming plan after he goes back?"

Xia Zuo smiled and said, "I already said I would tell him directly, because I didn't expect him to find out in advance."

"Sigh, that idiot Shisui, he's so stupid it's reassuring."

Uchiha Izumi smiled helplessly, "This kind of Elder Uchiha is both lovable and reassuring, much better than the previous Elder Setsuna and Elder Yomo."

Xia Zuo asked, "Quan, is there anyone who disagrees with our plan?"

Uchiha Izumi curled her lip: "How could I possibly disagree?"

"Hehe, I only let slip a little bit before everyone started cheering."

"Then everyone started complaining, complaining that you only decided to take action today, letting the Cloud Village ninjas be arrogant for so long."

Xia Zuo shook his head and laughed, "Quan, you're a silly little sister too."

"Could all of us ninjas combined make up half of the 20,000 ninjas in Konoha Village?"

"Could all of us Jonin combined make up more than half of the participants in the Jonin Tournament?"

Uchiha Izumi shook her head.

In the past two years, she has been working on behalf of Xia Zuo to contact the Konoha ninja clans, and has formed alliances with almost all the ninja clans.

Under their influence, the Konoha ninjas gradually reached a consensus.

Xia Zuo silently usurped the Third Hokage's power in all departments of the village, including the Anbu, preparing for his disappearance.

Yes, the Third Hokage was sidelined.

However, Xia Zuo's allies, following his instructions, continued to actively cooperate with the Hokage's work, creating the illusion that Hiruzen Sarutobi held great power.

During the two years that the Third Hokage was being sidelined, Xia Zuo and his group did reveal some weaknesses.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi has really aged; his energy, focus, and political acumen have all declined drastically.

Even when Xia Zuo's alliance showed weaknesses, Hiruzen Sarutobi completely ignored them and failed to notice the problem.

Xia Zuo was able to pass the test so smoothly thanks to one of the most important and crucial ninjas in his alliance—Hatake Kakashi.

Before the Uchiha clan was massacred, and before Xia Zuo allowed Yuzuriha Naruto to take revenge on the villagers, he specially wrote a letter and sent it to Hatake Kakashi.

In his letter, he described what was about to happen, guiding Kakashi Hatake through the entire process of Konoha Village suppressing and eliminating rumors targeting Naruto Uzumaki.

Although Xia Zuo didn't say a word about Hatake Sakumo, Hatake Kakashi was certain that when his father Hatake Sakumo was rumored to be involved more than a decade ago, the village had the ability to dispel the rumors instead of being forced to watch him commit suicide.

The Third Hokage lied to Kakashi Hatake.

In addition to the Third Hokage's massacre of the Uchiha clan and his cowardice and concessions when facing the Hidden Cloud Village, Kakashi Hatake genuinely despised the Third Hokage.

Ultimately, he accepted Xia Zuo's invitation and joined the alliance against Hiruzen Sarutobi.

With Kakashi's change of allegiance, the Anbu fell into the hands of Shaza.

At that time, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and others were all dumbfounded.

They thought that by recruiting Kakashi Hatake, Xia Zuo could gain a powerful elite Jonin and the opportunity to infiltrate the Anbu.

Who knew, they would get their hands on the entire Dark Division.

The ninja clan leaders couldn't understand why Kakashi Hatake, who was only a captain in the Anbu, was able to command the Anbu, while there were three other captains who were on par with him.

Actually, this was the result of Hiruzen Sarutobi's own cleverness.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son and daughter-in-law died unexpectedly in battle, and his second son Asuma ran away in a fit of pique, there were no trustworthy and powerful Sarutobi clan ninjas to take charge of the Anbu for the Third Hokage.

To protect his authority within the Anbu, Hiruzen Sarutobi deliberately refrained from appointing a head or deputy head of the Anbu.

He assigned each of the four captains of the Anbu to a specific area and rotated their duties regularly to maintain a balance of power among the Anbu ninjas.

But power doesn't simply disappear by leaving a position vacant.

As the most capable Kakashi Hatake continuously solved the problems and difficulties of the Anbu, he naturally won over the other three company commanders and naturally gained actual command of the Anbu.

With the defection and destruction of Root, Kakashi's last obstacle in the Anbu disappeared, and even the Second Training Division, which was formed by incorporating Root, was taken over by Kakashi.

Therefore, when Kakashi Hatake betrayed the Third Hokage, the Third Hokage became blind and deaf.

Everything he sees and hears is pre-screened by Kakashi, so how could he possibly discover the problem?

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