Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 18 Family First

Without mentioning Danzo's efforts for becoming Hokage.

In the office, Men Yan and Xiao Chun did not leave immediately.

Unlike Danzo, who could leave without giving Hiruzen a piece of his mind, they were Hokage advisors and would be assisting Hiruzen in handling matters in the future. Making too much of a scene with Hiruzen would not be good for their situation.

After all, their prestige in front of other ninjas relied on Hiruzen's title as Hokage.

"I'm sorry, Hiruzen..."

The two sincerely apologized to the Third Hokage, saying that they had spoken rashly and had no intention of disrespecting the Third Hokage's status.

The third generation waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, you can all go out now, I want to be alone."

"Alright, call us if you need anything."

After Momo and Koharu left, only the Third Hokage remained in the large Hokage office.

"Should we establish a root system?"

The Third Hokage pondered the matter. He did not completely reject Danzo's proposal. The threat posed by the Uchiha clan had always existed, and even if Danzo hadn't brought it up, he would have been prepared.

But... Danzo's desire to replace him is obvious to him, and he knows it very well.

The reason why Danzo didn't get a high-ranking position after becoming Hokage was entirely his doing.

Why wasn't Danzo allowed to infiltrate the Hokage's upper echelons?

It's because this guy, like the Uchiha clan, is also thinking about getting rid of him so he can become Hokage himself, so they don't give him a chance to climb up.

If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have refused to give his former best friend, with whom he had shared life and death, a high-ranking position so that he could enjoy the benefits of becoming Hokage.

However, after all these years, with his position as Hokage becoming more and more secure, the Third Hokage felt that perhaps he could grant Danzo some authority.

Moreover... what Root was going to do was destined not to bring Danzo any good reputation.

Without everyone's approval, it would be impossible for Danzo to replace him as Hokage.

Compared to Danzo, the Third Hokage felt that the Uchiha clan, both now and in the future, posed a greater threat to his position as Hokage.

With this in mind, the third generation made a decision.

……

"Chief, you wanted to see me."

The Shimura clan's ancestral home was located on the east side of the village, near the Sarutobi clan's ancestral home. At this moment, in the main hall of the ancestral home, an Anbu ninja wearing a white wavy striped mask knelt on one knee before Danzo.

Danzo is now the head of the Shimura clan.

Although the Third Hokage forbade Danzo from holding a high-ranking position in the Hokage hierarchy, many members of the Shimura clan held positions in various departments of Konoha. These ninjas were all personally promoted by the Third Hokage.

Among them, there are three ninjas from the Shimura clan in the Anbu alone.

Given the unique nature of the Anbu, a ninja clan typically only selects one person to join; having more than one would weaken the Hokage's control over the Anbu.

The present-day Konoha is essentially still an alliance of individual ninja clans.

In addition to the label of Konoha, Konoha ninjas also carry the label of their ninja clan, and when faced with interests, the label of ninja becomes even more important.

Therefore, in order to reduce the influence of other Konoha ninja clans on the Anbu, no more than two ninja clans will appear in the Anbu.

However, three members of the Shimura clan joined the Anbu.

This demonstrates the Third Hokage's trust in the Shimura clan's ninjas.

However, this is understandable, as the Shimura and Sarutobi clans have been allies since the Warring States period, supporting each other all the way to the present day, and their friendship is very deep.

The current clan leader, Danzo, and the Third Generation were childhood friends, their relationship being much better than that of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu and the Third Generation.

Therefore, Danzo, who was not a Hokage advisor, could freely enter and leave the Hokage's office without anyone stopping him, and now he even summoned clan ninjas serving in the Anbu to inquire about his whereabouts.

"Who did the Anbu bring back last night?"

Like the two Uchiha brats last night, or rather, many people share the same thought: everyone wants to know why someone was personally escorted back to the Anbu base by the Hokage.

Danzo was no exception.

"I don't know. Last night, it was a mission sent by the Explosion Squad. It was very short, less than thirty minutes. The prisoner was sent to interrogation room number three as soon as he returned. The Explosion Squad was in charge of guarding him. No one else was allowed to interfere or pass on any information. Anyone who violated this rule would be treated as a traitor."

The Shimura clan's ANBU ninjas revealed everything they knew, completely disregarding the ANBU's rules against leaking secrets.

Or rather, he feared the terrible consequences of disobeying the clan leader's orders more than being punished as a traitor by the Hokage.

After all, he was the only one to be punished for being a traitorous ninja.

If he doesn't obey the clan chief, his entire family of five will be punished for treason.

Moreover, the concept he has long been guided by is that family comes first.

Therefore, he did not feel there was anything wrong with revealing the secrets of the secret service to the clan leader.

This illustrates the relationship between the ninja clans and the larger Konoha family during this period, with family taking priority.

"This person seems very important!"

After listening to the clan ninja's words, Danzo's eyes flickered, and he seemed to be thinking. The fact that the same small team was used for both the capture and the guarding was to prevent others from knowing the relevant information as much as possible.

Such a high level of secrecy suggests that the person in interrogation room number three harbors a great secret, a secret that Hiruzen desperately desires.

Thinking of this, Danzo subconsciously wanted to ask his clan's ninjas to spy on the prisoner in interrogation room number three.

But in the end, he held back.

Now is not the time to provoke the Third Generation. No matter what secrets the person in Interrogation Room No. 3 has, once he establishes the Root, none of the secrets of the Dark Division will escape his grasp.

"Go back now. Don't try to find out anything about interrogation room number three. Report back to me if you hear any useful information."

Danzo waved his hand to dismiss the clan's ANBU ninjas, then turned and went to his study to continue refining his root organization's structure.

He had a premonition that Hiruzen would definitely make him form a leader of the Root.

……

The Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage, who was processing official documents, glanced up at the clock on the wall. There were still a few minutes left before the first class at the Ninja Academy ended.

"Emi, go to the ninja academy..."

The Third Hokage spoke up, instructing his secretary, Chiba Megumi, to summon the ninja teacher from Minato's class at the Ninja Academy.

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Secretary Chiba Megumi walked out, her ripe peach-shaped buttocks swaying beneath her dark purple slit skirt, drawing the Third Generation's gaze to follow the rhythmic swaying of her semicircle.

This is Naruto!

How could I give up!

The Third Hokage sighed inwardly, "Only those who hold the Hokage position know the joy of it. I am already deeply immersed in it, and no one can take my happiness away."

Not long after.

The stunningly beautiful and curvaceous Hokage secretary, Chiba Megumi, led in the ninja teacher from Minato's class.

"Lord Hokage."

The ninja teacher looked excited, his voice even trembling slightly. He glanced at the Third Hokage with burning eyes, then quickly lowered his head, not daring to look directly at the Hokage.

After all, this is the Hokage!

The Third Hokage smiled at this scene, secretly pleased with himself.

This is the source of his confidence that no matter how arrogant the Uchiha clan is, they will ultimately be unable to challenge his position as Hokage.

Among the largest group of genin and chunin in Konoha, he held the greatest prestige, and no one could approach him.

As long as this group exists, along with the support of the major ninja clans, the Uchiha clan, no matter how arrogant they are, will not dare to easily attack them.

The thought flashed through his mind in an instant. The Third Hokage's gentle eyes seemed to warm people's hearts as he said, "Kogure, I called you here because there's something I need to tell you."

Oh my god, the Hokage actually knows my name!

Kogure was so excited that he didn't pay any attention to what the Third Hokage had said. For an ordinary Chunin like him, the Third Hokage was an unattainable dream.

Now that the dream seems to be coming true, how can one not be excited and restless?

"Kogure." The Third Hokage called out, instantly waking Kogure. He realized what was happening, and his face flushed red. Oh no, he had actually been daydreaming while the Hokage was asking him a question.

Feeling ashamed and flustered, Kogure quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, I lost my composure just now."

"It's alright, don't be nervous." The Third Hokage smiled and continued, "Kimura Yao from your class may have been upset about his parents' situation last night, and he has some health problems and is in a vegetative state. The Anbu emergency team is working on a solution, and he may not be able to appear at school for a long time to come."

Kimura Yao... He's not... The ninja teacher frowned slightly upon hearing this, thinking to himself, wasn't that child perfectly fine yesterday?

The Third Hokage continued, "I think you should go and talk to Kimura Yao's classmates. Don't worry too much. As the Hokage of Konoha, I will not abandon any of Konoha's children."

"Yes, Lord Hokage, I will explain everything to everyone." Although the ninja teacher still had some doubts, he chose to believe the words spoken by the Lord Hokage himself.

The reason the third generation said this is that Kimura Yo's disappearance needs a reasonable explanation, otherwise it would be bad to cause some unnecessary public opinion later.

Here.

Ninja Academy.

During the second theory lesson, the ninja instructor explained Kimura Yo's situation, following the Third Hokage's instructions.

Immediately, a chorus of concerned voices filled the classroom, expressing their concern for Kimura Yo.

Minato felt a pang of unease, his mind flashing with ominous thoughts.

He was in a hurry, but he didn't immediately go to the Third Hokage to ask about the situation.

Minato didn't head straight to the Hokage Building until school was over in the afternoon.

The Third Hokage met Minato in the Hokage's office.

"Hokage-sama, what happened to Yao?"

Shuimen got straight to the point, directly inquiring about his friend's situation.

The Third Hokage's expression darkened for a moment before he chose to tell the truth: "I'm sorry, Minato, Kimura Yo sacrificed himself a week ago. The Kimura Yo you saw yesterday is not the same Kimura Yo you knew yesterday."

He sacrificed himself... Minato was stunned for a moment, and scenes from the past flashed through his mind, all the way up to yesterday.

"Lord Hokage, may I know who killed Yao?"

After a long silence, Minato finally spoke, his words filled with intense killing intent—the first time he had ever felt such a strong urge to kill someone.

"The enemy has been captured."

The Third Hokage said, "I will make the enemy pay with their lives, so you don't need to focus on this. You should be thinking about your studies right now."

The Third Hokage had high expectations for Minato, hoping he would become an excellent and powerful ninja in the future, and did not want him to live with the burden of revenge at such a young age.

"I...I understand, Hokage-sama."

Minato took a deep breath. He was no ordinary person after all, and he quickly realized that the enemy's affairs were classified and not something he could access at the moment.

"Then I'll go home now, Hokage-sama."

Minato didn't continue what he was saying. After saying goodbye to the Third Hokage, he left to go home. He had realized that he was not strong enough and couldn't even protect his friends. He didn't want to be so powerless anymore.

(End of this chapter)