I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

Orochimaru spoke the name of the person who had almost killed him, his tone surprisingly devoid of hatred, instead carrying an air of surprise as if he were witnessing something new.

In his opinion, given Senju Unting's style of doing things, he would become another "Second Hokage".

However, after observing Konoha's every move in the Land of Fire, he, with his superb political wisdom, realized that Senju Unting's ambition far exceeded his expectations.

The other party doesn't want to be the "Second Hokage," but rather the unprecedented Fourth Hokage.

Do not!

The term "Naruto" may no longer be sufficient to encompass the extent of his abilities.

Even he had never considered this possibility!

"I really want to witness this scene with my own eyes!" Orochimaru excitedly stuck out his long, pointed tongue and licked his lips.

Witnessing the birth of a new trend and its immense impact on this unchanging world brought him great pleasure.

Unfortunately, my current status prevents me from doing so.

Orochimaru shook his head regretfully, and finally turned his attention back to his experiments.

Fun is fun, but even the greatest changes are just dust in the face of time.

Only immortality is the true truth.

He has already taken the lead in this area.

For now, we must continue.

Chapter Ninety-Seven: Guardian Ninja

The Twelve Guardian Ninjas.

They exist as a force to protect the daimyo of the Land of Fire, serving as the daimyo's private direct force.

The so-called Twelve Warriors refers to twelve elite ninjas with extremely strong abilities. Each of them wears a waistband with the character "fire" to indicate their identity.

As the son of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Asuma had a smooth and successful career since joining the Twelve Guardian Ninja and protecting the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

However, the recent escalating conflict between Konoha and the Land of Fire has drawn a lot of malicious glances from behind his back, given his current position.

With a flick of his thumb on the gear, a wisp of flame appeared on the lighter in his hand with a crisp click.

Sarutobi Asuma lit a cigarette, took a drag from his full beard, and glanced at the person secretly following him nearby.

Then, he pretended nothing had happened and continued on his way back.

Back at the base, the closed gate shut out all outside sight. Asuma stubbed out the last bit of cigarette in his hand and walked toward his friend and colleague, Jiroku.

At this moment, the daily chanting of scriptures was ringing out in Dilu's room without fail.

Asma stood outside the door for a while, and only entered after the chanting was finished.

“I’ve been getting more and more people watching me lately,” he said bluntly.

Di Lu, dressed as a high-ranking monk, stood up and said without any surprise, "Not only you, but I, Bei Gen, Cheng Ma, Xing Dou, and Dong Yu have all been under surveillance recently."

Asuma frowned deeply upon hearing this.

The people that Jiraiya mentioned were all moderates like him among the Twelve Guardian Ninja, who firmly rejected the radical faction led by Kazuma's idea that the Hokage was unnecessary and that the real power of the ninjas should be held by the Daimyo.

The fact that the capital of the Land of Fire could so brazenly monitor them, who were the direct forces of the daimyo, makes it easy to guess where they came from.

The situation has become quite awkward for the moderates who support the Hokage, as the conflict between the high-ranking officials of Konoha and the Land of Fire has intensified recently.

"Kazuma and his group have recently gained the support of high-ranking officials in the Land of Fire, and their arrogance has grown increasingly rampant. They also have an extremely radical personality, so it's hard to guarantee they won't cause trouble. Asuma, has Konoha given you any instructions lately?"

At this point, Dilu asked Asma.

The Fire Temple and Konoha have always had a very close relationship. Although he is currently on duty as a Guardian Ninja, Jiriku still leans towards Konoha.

Not only him, but also Beigen, Chengma and others have more or less some connection with Konoha.

There are reasons why they have always stood on the side of the moderates.

The so-called Twelve Guardian Ninja, although ostensibly under the direct command of the Daimyo, were able to grow into powerful ninjas, and this was undoubtedly due in no small part to the influence of Konoha, which possessed knowledge of the Land of Fire's ninjas.

This is why Konoha has always been able to allow the Twelve Guardian Ninja, a ninja force that exists outside the ninja system, to exist.

Although Jiraiya and the others had some reservations about the Fourth Hokage's unusual behavior during this period, they were already labeled and had no choice but to stick to one path.

Asuma shook his head and said, "Ultimately, this is an internal matter of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and given the current situation, it's not appropriate for Konoha to interfere."

Jiro remained silent, and finally could only say, "Kazuma is a man who can't stand being alone. Asuma, we all need to be on high alert lately."

Asma lit another cigarette and nodded silently.

......

Kazuma, the leader of the radical faction of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, has been riding high lately, especially after receiving various forms of support from the high-ranking officials of the Land of Fire, led by the Minister of the Left. His radical faction has grown stronger and has successfully suppressed the moderate faction led by Sarutobi Asuma for the first time.

But this is not enough.

Even though his ideas were supported by a group of nobles and high-ranking officials, they were still far from enough when faced with the enormous number one ninja village in the ninja world.

Kazuma was well aware of this.

Therefore, he had previously made several proposals to the daimyo to strengthen the power of the guardian ninja.

Compared to the support from the Left Minister and others, the support from the Daimyo and the entire Land of Fire would undoubtedly be the only thing that would give him the ability to truly be fearless of Konoha.

To his great surprise, this proposal, which was clearly beneficial to the daimyo's power, was rejected by the latter.

The reason given was to avoid conflict with Konoha.

Damn it!

The thought of this made Kazuma very angry.

You should know that everything he did was to ensure that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire gained full real power.

He was doing everything for the other person's benefit, yet the latter still blamed him for acting too harshly.

Kazuma felt as grief-stricken as if he were thinking, "We are ready to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first?"

"Even though Konoha provoked them first, the Daimyo is still thinking of backing down. He's far too weak!"

He grew angrier and angrier, to the point that he even had the audacious idea of ​​"changing his name" in his mind.

At that moment, a special envoy from the Left Minister and others came to meet us.

After a private conversation, he found the idea that had just emerged to be more and more reasonable. When he finally revealed it to the envoy, the envoy was surprised not to reprimand him, but instead discussed the feasibility of the matter.

This delighted Kazuma and further solidified his belief that his decision to act decisively and swiftly was the right one.

However, he was unaware that just as the envoy was leaving, a pair of blood-red Sharingan eyes were constantly circulating deep within the other party's genitals.

The leader of the ANBU squad tasked with this mission to the capital of the Land of Fire is Uchiha Shisui.

Although he is famous for his Body Flicker Technique, his genjutsu skills alone, even without considering Kotoamatsukami, are among the best in the ninja world.

It's worth noting that when he encountered the Mist Ninja led by Ao, he directly used genjutsu from a distance to take down two Mist Ninja, forcing Ao to retreat.

Now, deceiving a mere ordinary envoy is naturally a piece of cake.

The Left Minister and others naturally didn't have the guts to assassinate the daimyo, but with the help of the secret service, the matter could be accomplished even if it failed.

The objective of this covert operation was very clear.

That is to instigate internal strife among the Twelve Guardian Ninja, destroy their organization, and take this opportunity to defeat the Konoha opposition led by the Left Minister.

To achieve this, Yun Ting and the others had already prepared their objectives.

It was He Ma.

This man, who took an unorthodox approach and even dared to assassinate a daimyo for his ideals, was used as a pawn.

Not only would it lead to the destruction of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas as in the original history, but it would also allow them to use the assassination of the Daimyo as evidence to bring down the Left Minister and others in one fell swoop.

To ensure the plan would go perfectly, Yun Ting appointed Uchiha Shisui, a master of illusion techniques, as the team leader.

late at night.

As soon as Shisui, who had been re-enchanted by the envoy, returned to the Anbu's secret base in the capital, the cat-faced ninja who had been on guard outside noticed.

Shisui naturally knew that this was his cousin Itachi, but because of the rules of the Anbu, he accepted Itachi's inspection without saying a word.

They were only allowed to pass after the code was confirmed to be correct.

Looking at Itachi's back as he continued to stand guard behind him, Shisui suddenly felt a pang of emotion.

Time really flies.

The children who were once studying at the Ninja Academy are now able to contribute their strength to Konoha.

In particular, this dedication of power is not merely a tool or obligation as in the past, but a genuine struggle for an ideal.

He couldn't help but recall a debate the two had two years ago.

......

Inside the Uchiha training ground, in the familiar forest, after training, at Yun Ting's request, Itachi began to explain to Shisui the ideals of unification and peace.

This is not mentioned in the Will of Fire books.

This concept was only taught to Yun Ting's trusted confidants.

Itachi, who has been deeply influenced by Yun Ting's ideas since childhood, naturally has the right to this.

Even now, the latter is still able to explain this idea to Shisui, who is now qualified as well.

However, after understanding some of what was being said, Shisui expressed his disapproval for the first time, saying, "This... is too extreme! Outside of the Land of Fire in the ninja world, there are four great powers and countless smaller countries. If they were to be unified into one country, how many wars would be fought, and how many people would die? If things don't go smoothly, the conflict would only last longer. This wouldn't bring peace; instead, it would cause even more turmoil!"

Itachi countered, "The road to unification is inevitably fraught with pain, but once we overcome these challenges, true peace will indeed arrive. Just like the Land of Fire in its early days, which was once a tiny place on the current map, it became the great power it is today after countless wars of expansion. Although there were many deaths and injuries, once unified, there has been no unrest within its borders for many years, except for foreign invasions. The same principle applies to the entire ninja world. If all countries were united into one, true peace would also come. For this, any sacrifice would be worthwhile."

As a ruthless person who destroyed his own clan for the sake of the village in the original history, Itachi was never a compassionate person, nor was he lacking in the will to sacrifice.

Whether it's sacrificing oneself or sacrificing others.

As long as the ultimate goal can be achieved, he believes that the deaths of many people are well worth it.

He naturally scoffed at the price that Shisui mentioned.

True peace always comes at a price.

No matter how great the cost, when peace truly arrives, any sacrifice will be entirely worthwhile.