Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Zongxian raised an eyebrow. "Shisui, do you remember what my orders were?"

"...Whether dead or alive, bring Meguro here." Shisui paused for two seconds, as if recalling Sogen's previous order, and then summarized it.

"Stop with the nonsense about punishment. What could I possibly punish you for? Do you expect me to cut off a few of your fingers for something like this?" Zongxian shook his head. "I would never do something so stupid as to cripple myself. Since you still remember my orders, then go and bring Meguro back. I don't care where he escaped to, as long as you bring the item back before we return to Konoha, your mission will be complete."

"Yes, clan chief."

Zhi Shui bowed his head deeply and responded respectfully.

"Lord Mizukage, could you please prepare some travel documents for Shisui to prevent unnecessary conflict between the Mizukage and the Mist Ninja?" Sogen turned to Yagura Karatachi and made a rather difficult request.

Issue a pass to a Konoha ninja.

This means that Konoha ninjas can freely roam the Land of Water and openly investigate the Land of Water's hydrology, geography, and other information... To be honest, he wanted to refuse such a request outright, but the problem is that even the Mizukage cannot do everything according to his wishes.

Especially under the current circumstances of such a lack of freedom,

Just now, Zongxian had given him face by not massacring the Mist Ninja who had launched the assassination attempt. This made him hesitant to refuse Zongxian's request. Of course, face was ultimately a minor matter. The key issue was that the difference in strength made him lack the confidence to decisively refuse this impolite request.

“Clan head of the Uchiha clan, Meguro can’t escape. Even if he escapes to the ends of the earth, he will be dealt with by the pursuit team.” Yagura Karatachi tried to politely decline.

"Didn't Juzo Biwa just escape? Yet he still had the energy to come to Konoha to assassinate the Third Hokage, trying to incite a civil war in Konoha so that your Kirigakure could seize the opportunity to win. Your pursuit force has also deteriorated in recent years!"

Zongxian's question left Yagura with no choice but to sigh helplessly.

He already knew about Juzo Biwa's assassination attempt on the Third Hokage, and a large part of the war reparations demanded by Konoha was based on the assassination of the Third Hokage.

Thinking about it carefully, the Land of Water is isolated overseas. So what if the Leaf Village ninjas collect that intelligence? In any case, the Hidden Mist Village is currently powerless to compete with the Leaf Village. As long as the Leaf Village does not intend to completely destroy the Hidden Mist Village, then everything else is negotiable.

He could only try his best to convince himself in this way.

"Leave it to me!"

Yagura took a deep breath and agreed.

As he spoke, he raised his hand and beckoned one of his shadow guards, ordering him to take out his seal and pen from his packed luggage. The pen then wrote a communication document for Shisui and stamped it with his seal as the Mizukage.

"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Mizukage."

Zongxian accepted the travel permit and expressed his gratitude.

With this, Shisui's movements in the Land of Water will be much easier. As long as Shisui doesn't make the first move, there's nothing to worry about even if he runs into Kirigakure. As for the possibility of being tracked by Anbu, if Shisui can't shake off a few Anbu, he might as well just die!

"Be swift and decisive. Once you find your target, come back immediately. Don't waste time dragging your feet."

Zongxian handed the documents to Shishui, while also giving him a few more words of advice.

"I understand. I will definitely find the target this time." Shisui held the pass document and looked at it for a few seconds before carefully putting it away. He understood what Zongxian was talking about. Meguro was no match for him. After killing the man, the body was now stored in the scroll in his chest pocket.

The pursuit of Meguro is merely a pretext; his true objective is likely the Six Paths Tools that reside in the Land of Water.

[Chapter 129 The Immortal Returns Home]

Konoha Village, a flower shop in the mountains.

As the head of the Yamanaka clan, Yamanaka Inoichi was not so poor that he had to rely on opening a flower shop to supplement his family's income. This flower shop was a business passed down from generation to generation by the Yamanaka clan head. In fact, Yamanaka Inoichi was only the third generation, and Konoha's history was less than sixty years old!

The flower shop is usually managed by Yamanaka Inoichi's wife. There is a young girl they recruited who helps out at the shop, and their daughter, who is starting school at the Ninja Academy, is also growing up. After school, she helps out at the flower shop and occasionally hugs her mother's arm, whispering things like, "Sasuke in my class is so handsome."

Yamanaka Inoichi was devastated to learn that his beloved daughter had a crush on someone at the ninja academy. He dragged his best friend Nara to a bar to drown his sorrows, and in a very embarrassing moment, he cried in the street. Fortunately, his good friend Nara Shikaku was reliable. Before Yamanaka Inoichi could do anything even more shameful, he used the Shadow Imitation Technique to control him and quickly leave the street.

Otherwise, many intelligence ninjas in the village might experience the disillusionment of having their idols shattered the next day!

"Oh dear! What are we going to do now!"

The gentle woman sitting behind the counter, illustrating, drifted into thought, as if she could see the lively scene that would unfold when her daughter got married in the future.

"jingle!"

The bell on the shop door rang.

The woman put away her daydreams about the future, stood up, a gentle smile on her face, and looked up at the customer who entered the shop. The person who entered was a tall, older man with long white hair that fell to his lower back, two long red marks under his eyes, a red robe over a brown shirt, and wooden clogs on his feet that made a clear and loud sound when he walked.

"Sir, what kind of flowers would you like?"

The woman felt that the old man in front of her looked familiar, but since she had gotten married not long after graduating from the ninja academy, her social circle was not wide. She searched through the people she knew, but could not find the old man's identity among them.

Of course, the slight confusion in her mind did not cause her to act rashly.

"Just give me a bunch of white chrysanthemums."

The man's voice was deep and his expression solemn. Coupled with his request… the woman's smile faded, and her expression immediately became very serious. She selected a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, wrapped them carefully, and presented them to him. The man didn't say anything more; he paid and left.

Gazing at the white-haired figure's back, the woman suddenly recalled a time many years ago when she was a student at the Ninja Academy. It was shortly after the end of World War II, and the academy's principal had invited the renowned "Three Legendary Ninjas" to the school to speak to the students.

Back then, she saw nine out of ten similar back views. The back views of the past showed soaring confidence, while the back views of the present seemed to have weathered the vicissitudes of time.

"Lord Jiraiya?"

The woman stared in astonishment, her eyes widening.

Finally remembering this important figure who hadn't returned to Konoha for a long time, she hurriedly asked the girl helping out to watch the shop while she rushed out to return to the Yamanaka clan's territory. She told the clan elder that Lord Jiraiya had come to the flower shop to buy flowers. The elder didn't dare to neglect the matter and personally went to find Yamanaka Inoichi.

then,

Only then did the higher-ups of Konoha learn of Jiraiya's return to the village, one of the Legendary Sannin.

"Jiraiya is back!"

Akimichi Torifu sat in the large office chair and sighed in a complicated tone.

Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi didn't know what to say, and Hyuga Hiashi and Aburame Shii, who felt it was none of their business, had nothing to say either, so they could only respond with silence.

Yu Nu Zhiwei has returned from the front lines.

After the war on the front lines ended, he did not join the delegation of the Sogen organization. It was enough for Shiguro to represent their clan. He and Akimichi Choza returned to the village with the news of victory.

"Now that Jiraiya is back, it seems I can finally put down my burden as the acting Hokage." Akimichi Torifu showed an expression of relief, but everyone remained silent. They couldn't very well agree and say, "Hokage-sama, you're right. I also think you should go home and retire, right?" Have Nara Shikaku and the others lost their minds?

Looking at the silent crowd, Akimichi Torifu sighed softly. He understood why they were silent.

He himself was also experiencing mixed feelings.

What it's really like to be Hokage is something you can only understand by sitting in the position yourself. Akimichi Torifu didn't know how to describe what it was like to be Hokage, but he somewhat understood why Sarutobi held onto the Hokage's authority so tightly.

"Shikaku, tell me! What should we do next? We can't just sit here doing nothing."

Naturally,

Akimichi Torifu turned his gaze to Nara Shikaku, who served as the 'strategist'.

Nara Shikaku felt a bit of a headache, but fortunately, as a smart man, how could he not know that trouble would eventually fall on him? After a two-second silence, and after reviewing his prepared remarks, he finally spoke: "Lord Jiraiya returned to the village alone. None of the ANBU who were sent out to find Lord Jiraiya returned. This matter... is probably not as simple as we think."

Akimichi Torifu paused for a moment.

He really didn't notice these details.

"Is there some other change in this matter?" Akimichi Torifu frowned. He was not familiar with Jiraiya, Sarutobi's disciple. His knowledge of Jiraiya was limited to him being one of the Legendary Sannin, extremely strong, and highly respected in the village.

"Lord Jiraiya... is a bit easygoing."

After much deliberation, Nara Shikaku chose the subtle adjective 'casual'.

"Spontaneous?"

Akimichi Torifu's brows were so furrowed they could trap a fly. "You mean he... might refuse to become the Fifth Hokage?" Having dealt with the Nara clan for so many years, Akimichi Torifu had honed his ability to understand the subtle words of these clever people.

He said, somewhat incredulously:

"This is the Hokage! Would anyone refuse to become Hokage?"

In the eyes of the old folks like Akimichi Torifu, no one could resist the allure of becoming Hokage. Back then, even though they knew that Sarutobi was the Second Hokage's most favored disciple, they all dreamed of becoming Hokage.

Someone as stubborn as Danzo probably never gave up his dream of becoming Hokage until the moment he died.

Therefore,

He simply couldn't understand why anyone would refuse the Hokage position.

“I think we need to explain this to Lord Jiraiya first and find out his attitude so we can make some preparations. Otherwise, if Lord Jiraiya refuses, we'll be in a difficult position,” Nara Shikaku suggested.

"I agree."

At this time, Hiashi Hyuga made a positive statement.

"I know Jiraiya-senpai's personality to some extent. It's best to ask him directly about this kind of thing, and never make assumptions."

Akimichi Torifu was stunned. Even Hyuga Hiashi said the same thing. Was Sarutobi's disciple really that eccentric? Refusing the Hokage position that was within his grasp... This really wasn't a lie.

"Haiyi, Zhiwei, what are your thoughts?"

"I agree with Shikaku's idea."

Yamanaka Inoichi's words demonstrated his trust in Nara Shikaku; the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were truly united, and this was no joke.

"I have no objections!"

Aburame Shiki's attitude was also very clear. He wasn't familiar with Jiraiya, but he was a very good friend of Minato Namikaze. The Fourth Hokage greatly respected his teacher, even though he would occasionally complain about his teacher's unreliability. It was one thing for him to like visiting brothels, but he would also drag Shiki along, almost resulting in the two of them being killed by the enraged Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

But he still remembers the deep respect mixed in with Minato Namikaze's helpless smile.

Therefore he was quite certain,

Jiraiya was a respected elder.

Therefore, he does not object to Jiraiya succeeding as the Fifth Hokage.

"In that case... Shikaku, Hiashi, please go and see Jiraiya and find out his attitude. If he aspires to the Hokage position, then we can start making preparations. If he has no such ambition, then Tsunade should have the Anbu hurry up. It's been too long and there's still no result."

Nara Shikaku gave a helpless, bitter smile.

Tsunade is not so easy to find. This infamous "big fat sheep" seems to have incurred a huge gambling debt at the beginning of this year. In order to avoid the creditors who are chasing her, she has been trying her best to hide her whereabouts, which has brought great trouble to the Anbu.

The reason I was able to easily gather information about Tsunade in the past was because she never made a conscious effort to conceal her whereabouts.

However, if Tsunade intends to hide, the Anbu will not find this Konoha princess who is proficient in medical ninjutsu so easily.

"We'll go right now."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded in agreement.

It was just a matter of meeting with Jiraiya and asking him a few questions; there was no reason for him to refuse. His mindset was similar to that of Shiki Aburame. As long as it wasn't someone like the Third Hokage, he didn't really care who became Hokage. In any case, the position of Hokage in this generation was destined to have nothing to do with the Hyuga clan.

As for the future,

That's something for people in the future to consider.