I have a bunch of relatives who want to become Hokage.

However, those who know how to read books can always ignore the author's personal preferences and draw relatively objective evaluations from the facts.

Even if the protagonist is oneself.

After reading for a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi put the book down.

The house is too quiet now. Like many elderly people, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who has entered the twilight of his life, has begun to feel lonely, especially after completely withdrawing from the center of power.

Simply put, these kinds of people can't stay idle.

Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't consider himself a particularly power-hungry person, but he certainly enjoys his life as a Hokage advisor.

The Fourth Hokage was a good Hokage because he didn't go out often, which made the advisors feel very involved.

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly heard the sound of the door opening and familiar footsteps.

A short while later, there was a knock on the study door.

"Father, are you inside? I'm coming in."

"Hmm." Hiruzen Sarutobi skillfully put the biography away, because his youngest son always said he was arrogant whenever he saw him reading it.

The study door was pushed open, and the first thing to appear was a large face with a thick beard.

"Asuma, what's wrong?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.

If we were to say what the greatest comfort his family gave him in his later years, it would be nothing more than two things.

A promising grandson.

The youngest son with whom they have already developed a harmonious relationship.

The Asuma Sarutobi of the past was incredibly chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), acting like he didn't care about his father's connections.

The key point is that this period of chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) lasted a long time, to the point that Sarutobi Asuma later went to Daimyofu (the capital of the Republic of China).

This made Hiruzen Sarutobi quite uncomfortable at one point.

If your dad is willing to work hard, why shouldn't you?

Could I have become the Third Hokage without relying on my father's connections?

Hiruzen Sarutobi, hailed as the most outstanding disciple of Konoha, knew very well that there were other talented people among his peers back then, at least not by much, and those differences could be made up for through training.

However, those people's fathers clearly did not possess the strength to attract the attention of both the God of Shinobi and the Leaf Village's Shura.

This is called selecting the best from the best, and being responsible to the village.

This is easy to choose. Back then, in Konoha, aside from Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the order of strength was Tobirama Senju, Tobi Senju, and Sarutobi Sasuke.

At that time, Sarutobi Sasuke became the representative of many allies because of his great strength and noble character. To be precise, the Sarutobi faction actually started with Sarutobi Sasuke.

Choosing Sarutobi Sasuke's most beloved and talented child is the core principle of unity in the Will of Fire, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Moreover, the three Senju brothers also gave others a chance. Tobirama Senju established the Tobirama Class, and Tobi Senju specially trained Danzo Shimura. In the end, no one objected to the result, which was fair to the greatest extent possible.

"Father, reminiscing about the past again?" Sarutobi Asuma saw his father's expression, walked into the study and sat down opposite him. "I'm not trying to be mean, but why are you always reading those books instead of taking care of your grandson?"

“I call this self-reflection,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said, glaring at him.

Young ninjas always seem to be looking to the future, but to be honest, very few of them are actually able to learn anything from history—after all, very few ninjas care about history.

Even though the Senju brothers and Madara Uchiha have reappeared in the world through the Impure World Reincarnation, most young people will only see their immense power and not anything else.

"Alright, so what have you figured out from your self-reflection?" Sarutobi Asuma said dismissively.

In his opinion, the old man was just showing off because the book was written by a sycophant.

In terms of quality, it is far inferior to the book "The Years of the Fourth Generation" published by the administrative department.

Can the stuff written by a "victim" and a sycophant be the same?

"Never mind, what do you want from me?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, feeling that it was pointless to say anything to his youngest son who didn't know history; it was the same as discussing calligraphy and painting with Fugaku Uchiha.

"I heard about what happened today in the office. Old man, your performance is not good. You are the Third Hokage, you know."

"Heh..." Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled. "Is the Third Hokage so great?"

"If you don't think it's amazing, why do you read that book every day?" Sarutobi Asuma cast a disdainful glance at him. "Why are you still so pretentious at your age?"

"Can you please stop talking about books?" Hiruzen Sarutobi blushed, clearly annoyed.

Although the relationship has improved, the younger son is still not considerate at all.

Grandchildren are the cutest.

“Well, anyway, I think it’s a good thing.” Sarutobi Asuma shrugged.

"Oh?" Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "Which aspect are you referring to?"

"Of course it's the Leaf Village's Shura!" Sarutobi Asuma said with a hint of excitement. "With the village being stronger, those flashy, shameless women outside won't dare to cause trouble. And now that the Fifth Hokage is back, I've submitted a report today."

"Hmm, what report did you submit?" Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't in a hurry to deny his youngest son's idea, because he knew the worst blow would come from the Hokage Building.

He thought so because he knew his son very well—he was no match for the people in the office.

"Our current strength is unmatched by any other village, and we have more ninjas than before. Of course, it's not just us; the other villages are too, especially Kumogakure, who are even more lacking in missions..."

"You want to suggest that the Hokage abolish underground gold exchange shops?" Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted his youngest son's pointless preamble, already having picked up his pipe.

Asuma might think this is a new proposal, but it was brought up twenty years ago. The reason at the time was that some Jonin felt that there weren't enough missions in their own villages, and it was necessary to abolish the underground gold exchange shops that diverted missions.

"Yes," Sarutobi Asuma readily admitted, "They actually dared to put up bounties on Konoha ninjas, how could we tolerate that?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his stupid son with a half-smile, thinking to himself that if this wasn't his own son, he probably wouldn't even be able to become a Jonin.

Being a Jonin isn't just about being able to kill people.

The Jonin Squad is an organization that brings together Jonin to coordinate their deployment during wartime and avoid pointless squabbles. In peacetime, however, it is specifically responsible for handling squabbles.

To ensure that the Jonin don't feel like they're just arguing, but rather that they're providing essential and crucial guidance for the development of the ninja village, every Jonin in charge has a mechanism to submit strategies to the Hokage—a green channel for submitting reports. This makes every Jonin feel close to the Hokage. The Hokage Building even has a dedicated office responsible for reviewing the format and content of these reports, euphemistically called a preliminary review.

That way, even if the report doesn't get submitted, it won't be related to the Hokage anymore.

The reason for doing this is to prevent the Jonin from messing around with the Hokage whenever they have nothing else to do. As long as they feel involved, that's enough. After all, the Hokage doesn't really care about them, but he needs them to be happy.

Jonin of Hokage level are not included. They don't need to report; they can go directly to the Hokage's office to argue with the Hokage.

"Asuma, do you know who runs these underground gold exchange shops?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked this question as a matter of habit.

“Of course, it’s those rats that can’t stand the light of day…” Sarutobi Asuma was halfway through his sentence when he noticed the old man’s expression was off, and he was shocked. “You actually ran it?”

Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed violently and choked.

"What do you mean I own it?!" The great Third Hokage roared in fury. "You're a Jonin, how dare you spout nonsense?"

"You scared me! I almost thought I wasn't your biological son." Sarutobi Asuma breathed a sigh of relief. His head was still hanging on the gold exchange floor. If the old man had run it, that would have been too ruthless.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a sip of tea, then picked up his pipe again.

Seeing his youngest son's attitude, he didn't mention that the five major clients of the underground gold exchange were actually from the five major villages, and that there were no other clients besides these five.

Strictly speaking, the so-called underground gold exchange is not a unified organization. Apart from all being called gold exchange, they are generally intertwined and interdependent.

"I won't go into who opened it, since I can't be sure myself," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, carefully choosing his words. "But I can roughly guess what the response will be after you submit this report."

"Oh, tell me quickly!" Sarutobi Asuma exclaimed excitedly.

Although he thought his old man was boastful and indecisive, liked to beat around the bush, and often spied on people while denying it, he had to admit that the old man was very familiar with those corrupt bureaucrats in the Hokage Building.

"First, they will tell you that they have received your report and have started to study it, but they have a lot of things to do, so it will take some time."

“Yes, yes, that’s what they said.” Sarutobi Asuma was even more excited.

“A few days later, you will ask about the results, and they will say that your intentions were very good, no one has discovered such a problem yet, and it is indeed the right thing to do, but such a tough approach may have problems and bring bad consequences.”

"Isn't that too weak?" Sarutobi Asuma frowned. "I've thought this through carefully."

“Very good, you can still maintain your stance.” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. “Then they won’t advise you on what to do anymore, but will tell you when it’s more appropriate to do it, such as… now is not the right time, the reasons are very complicated, etc. By this time, most Jonin’s enthusiasm has already faded.” Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke. “After all, they’re just writing it for fun.”

"I'm not kidding!" Sarutobi Asuma felt that the old man was implying something about him, so he firmly expressed his determination: "How many Konoha ninjas have lost their lives because of this evil organization? I can't just stand by and do nothing."

"Very good, they will reply to you again, explaining the difficulties that will arise in implementing this plan now. They will analyze it for you from technical, administrative, and diplomatic perspectives, with the diplomatic aspect being the most prominent, particularly focusing on relations with allies. If all goes well, even if you contact them whenever you have free time, it will probably take several years to push this forward, enough time for you to shift your interest to other areas."

Sarutobi Asuma could no longer contain his disappointment upon hearing this.

"That's it? What if I still insist?"

"Hmm... Considering the situation of the Fifth Hokage, the reply you'll probably receive is something like, 'The village is about to face the election of the Sixth Hokage, and they can't guarantee that this policy will be implemented before the new Hokage takes office.' That's about it."

Sarutobi Asuma was stunned, while Sarutobi Hiruzen had already begun to focus on the smell of burning tobacco.

"This is too much..." The Jonin, who had a huge beard but was completely clueless about the true nature of the Hokage Building, felt utterly bewildered.

He had no doubt that the old man in front of him was trying to fool him.

Moreover, he was certain that this routine was something the old man had come up with himself; it was too convincing.

Good strategies will always be used.

Sarutobi Asuma may not understand the politics of the Hokage Building, but he does understand those people sitting in the offices—they really are that despicable!

"Never mind your report." Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe, his expression turning serious. "How do you Jonin actually view Madara Uchiha? Not everyone is as naive as you, is they?"

"What do you mean by naive?" Sarutobi Asuma was dissatisfied. "Of course, most people are happy. The changes a powerful ninja brings to the village are obvious. Isn't the Fifth Hokage the best example?"

“The Fifth Hokage didn’t rely on his fists, or at least not entirely.” Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head. “You young people of this generation didn’t experience the hardships Konoha faced, so you don’t understand Madara Uchiha at all.”

"You're talking about when he had a conflict with the First Hokage, right?" Sarutobi Asuma said dismissively. "With the Fifth Hokage around, the village is safe. Besides, back then everyone was rejecting the Uchiha, wasn't it? Things are different now."

"What do you mean everyone rejects him?" Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed. "Do you think the Uchiha of that time were the same Uchiha you were when you were a child? If it weren't for the First Hokage's immense prestige, Madara Uchiha would definitely have become Hokage. Even so, he still did it."

Before Sarutobi Asuma could say anything more, Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hand, indicating he no longer wanted to try to persuade his youngest son.

"Well, things have come to this. We can only see where the Fifth Hokage's confidence lies. Hopefully, nothing bad will happen."

Chapter 146 The Days After the Moon Disappeared

Madara Uchiha's "return" was clearly not viewed favorably by everyone, which was inevitable.

Especially some elderly people, such as Hiruzen Sarutobi.

However, considering that there are very few elderly people like this, and that the Hokage's power in Konoha is practically unlimited, this matter did not cause much of a stir.

Ultimately, the negative impacts of Madara Uchiha's actions on Konoha in this timeline didn't even have a chance to materialize, at least not compared to Sasuke Uchiha in the original timeline. Madara Uchiha's historical status in Konoha, however, is incomparable to that of Sasuke Uchiha.