Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

If you are facing a powerful person who has the ability to kill you at any time, the best way to avoid an early death is to treat them with courtesy and never have any ulterior motives.

"Does Lady Tsunade really have a way to persuade Lord Kirito to take action?"

Hiten Sarutobi is making a last-ditch effort, trying to get a guarantee from Momoka.

Unfortunately, the cunning Momoka didn't take the bait at all, shaking her head and saying, "All I can say is that Tsunade and Kirito have a very good relationship. In Konoha, if you're talking about who can make that brat submit to you, it's only Tsunade. There's nothing we can do. With Lady Mito gone, there's no one else who can control him."

Since Momoka had already said that, what could Sarutobi Hiten say? He could only helplessly accept the depressing condition Momoka had offered and said with a wry smile, "I understand. The Sarutobi clan will fully support Lady Tsunade in becoming the acting Hokage."

As soon as Hiten Sarutobi said those words, the heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans breathed a sigh of relief and immediately expressed their support for Tsunade as acting Hokage.

At this moment, a smile finally appeared on Tao Hua's face, followed by a long, wistful sigh.

The Senju clan has finally regained the position of Hokage.

It's not easy.

However, she never expected that the person who would help the Senju clan regain the Hokage position would be Madara Uchiha.

Although Tsunade's victory over the combined forces of Konoha and Amegakure after leading them to defeat Kumogakure and Iwagakure seems almost certain, she may have to wait a few more years to actually assume the position.

After all, as long as the Third Hokage doesn't voluntarily step down, Tsunade, with her personality, wouldn't feel comfortable forcing him to abdicate.

Madara Uchiha's capture of the Third Hokage has conveniently accelerated Tsunade's path to becoming the Fourth Hokage.

"But why did that guy kidnap the Third Hokage? Was it just to force Kirito to go to him? What else is Kirito hiding that I don't know about? Sigh, once that kid gets ahead, nobody can control him."

After seeing Sarutobi Hiten and the other three off, Momoka sighed.

……

Meanwhile, at the Nanga Shrine in the Uchiha clan compound, a group of Uchiha clan Jonin from Konoha gathered there.

Because of Homura Uchiha's death, the Uchiha clan has not yet elected a new clan leader. At this time, the Uchiha Jonin here are not gathered together, but divided into three groups: the martial arts faction, the moderate faction, and the neutral faction.

Among them, the martial arts faction uses the most ninjutsu, accounting for more than half of the participants.

15-year-old Uchiha Fugaku was also in the martial arts faction. As a young member of the martial arts faction, he silently retreated behind the crowd and watched the clansmen, who were divided into three groups, arguing fiercely without saying a word.

The argument naturally involved Madara Uchiha.

Madara Uchiha did not die, and when he reappeared, he actually captured the Third Hokage. This undoubtedly put the Uchiha clan in the spotlight, and they were subjected to countless insults and attacks from the people of Konoha.

The Uchiha clan already had a poor relationship with the villagers, and Madara Uchiha's capture of the Third Hokage completely ignited the conflict between Madara and Konoha, making the entire Uchiha clan sense a strong danger.

The Uchiha clan's strongest fighter, Chizuru Uchiha, is not in Konoha. Many other Uchiha elites have also gone to fight on the front lines in the Land of Rain. Less than half of the Uchiha clan's ninjas remain in Konoha, and their fighting strength is even less than half.

If other Konoha ninja clans were to attack the Uchiha clan, the entire clan would have virtually no ability to resist.

“What are you still hesitating for? They don’t trust the Uchiha clan at all. If we continue to sit idly by and wait to die, those guys outside will only become more and more demanding. We can’t tolerate this any longer; we must fight back.”

“That’s absolutely right. When has our Uchiha clan ever suffered such humiliation? Do they think that with the death of Chief Flame, our Uchiha clan is now without anyone? We must show them once again who the strongest ninja clan in Konoha is.”

"Enough, you extreme fools! Lady Chizuru is not in Konoha right now, and most of the elite clansmen are on the front lines. Fighting against those who are deliberately causing trouble outside is a completely irrational act. You may not be afraid, but what about the ordinary clansmen? What will happen to them?"

……

The militants and the moderates are constantly engaged in heated debates, neither willing to concede to the other.

In the end, the two sides almost came to blows. Fortunately, the elders on both sides were relatively rational and did not intend to engage in internal strife. They intervened to stop the young people from both sides and prevented a fight from breaking out.

However, the meeting ultimately failed to produce a reasonable outcome.

"What should we do? After the clan leader was killed by Madara Uchiha, many clan members seem to have fallen ill and are acting more and more irrationally. If this continues, it will be only a matter of time before the clan and Konoha have an armed conflict."

As Fugaku Uchiha watched his clansmen leave the Naka Shrine with displeased expressions, he thought with great concern.

He was a rationalist among the martial arts faction. While he acknowledged that the Uchiha clan should enjoy a superior position in Konoha, he did not agree with the Uchiha clan being opposed to Konoha.

"Let's go back, Fugaku-nii."

A gentle voice came from behind Uchiha Fugaku.

Upon hearing the voice, Fugaku Uchiha immediately turned around and looked at the fair-skinned and beautiful female Jonin of the Uchiha clan in front of him.

Uchiha Mikoto, that is the name of this young female Jonin of the Uchiha clan. She became a Jonin at the age of 12, and she was a female ninja, which is very rare in the Uchiha clan.

Without a doubt, she has exceptional talent and will surely become an elite member of the Uchiha clan in the future.

"What's wrong, Fugaku-nii? Is there something you need my help with? If I can help, please don't hesitate to ask."

Seeing that Fugaku Uchiha was looking at her with a hesitant expression, Mikoto Uchiha asked him a question.

When Fugaku Uchiha heard his childhood friend and lover say this, he finally mustered up his courage and asked, "Mikoto, could you help me meet with the orphanage's pharmacist, Nonou, in private?"

"Brother Fugaku, can I know why you met with Sister Nono in private?"

"Uchiha Mikoto asked, revealing a beautiful smile that obscured her eyes," she said.

However, Fugaku Uchiha saw an extreme danger in that beautiful smile, and he quickly explained, "Mikoto, please don't misunderstand. I just heard that Nono Yakushi is very familiar with Kirito-sama, so I wanted to see if I could get in touch with Kirito-sama through her."

Chapter 294: Tsunade's Plea

"So you wanted to see Kirito-sama. You should have said so earlier. If Fugaku-nii wanted Kirito-sama, he could have just asked me. There would have been no need to bother Yakushi Nonou-neechan."

When Mikoto Uchiha heard that Fugaku Uchiha was actually looking for Kirito, the kind smile on her face finally disappeared, and she said something that shocked Fugaku Uchiha.

Fugaku Uchiha asked, puzzled, "Mikoto, are you able to contact Kirito-sama?"

Mikoto Uchiha smiled and nodded.

Of course she could contact Kirito, because she was among the first group of people to follow Kirito at the Ninja Academy. She came from a commoner family in the Uchiha clan, yet she was able to become a Jonin at the age of 12. While her talent was certainly a factor, it was also inseparable from Kirito's support.

She also possesses the Sage's Mark bestowed upon her by Kirito, which is a crucial factor enabling her to stand out among her peers.

In return, she was Kirito's undercover agent infiltrated into the Uchiha clan, responsible for monitoring the militant members within the clan. She would report any extreme actions taken by these individuals to Kirito immediately.

Her childhood friend and lover, Uchiha Fugaku, was also a key person she paid close attention to, something Kirito had specifically instructed her to do.

"..."

Fugaku Uchiha wasn't stupid. When he saw Mikoto Uchiha admit it again, he quickly guessed that the relationship between Mikoto and Kirito was probably not simple. Considering that Mikoto and Kirito were actually the same age, he became even more certain that there was a deep connection between the two.

Kirito has risen to fame in the past year, doing several major things that have shocked the ninja world. Recently, he has been hailed as the strongest ninja in Konoha. In addition, Kirito is suspected to be in a relationship with the eldest granddaughter of the Flame Clan, so Fugaku Uchiha can't help but pay attention to him.

To this end, he specifically investigated some of Kirito's deeds and found that Kirito had gathered a group of outstanding peers around him during his time at the Ninja Academy.

Kirito had never had any contact with Mikoto at school, which led him to believe that Mikoto and Kirito had no relationship. Now it seems that he was completely wrong.

"Mikoto, when did you first come into contact with Kirito-sama?"

Fugaku Uchiha couldn't help but ask curiously.

Mikoto Uchiha answered frankly, "Of course it was when I was at the Ninja Academy. But the person who pulled me into the circle back then wasn't Kirito-sama, it was Chizuru-sama. At the time, I thought Chizuru-sama was planning to create a small circle just like Kirito-sama's. Later I found out that Chizuru-sama was just a tool for Kirito-sama to cover up his true intentions and make it easier for him to recruit people from the Uchiha clan."

"Mikoto, is it okay for you to tell me all this?"

Fugaku Uchiha was worried, not expecting Mikoto Uchiha to tell him these secrets so easily.

What Uchiha Mikoto just said was undoubtedly a secret, something that Kirito's circle absolutely could not tell outsiders. According to the strict rules of ninjas, if Kirito's people found out about these secrets, Uchiha Mikoto would be doomed.

Clearly, while everyone in Kirito Tohsaka's circle may be very young, they have undoubtedly already made a name for themselves. Moreover, judging from Mikoto Uchiha's words, there should be many 'spies' like Mikoto within the Uchiha clan.

"It's alright. Kirito-sama said that Fugaku-nii is someone worth trying to win over and trust."

Mikoto Uchiha shook her head and answered with a smile.

"Does Kirito-sama know me?"

Fugaku Uchiha exclaimed in surprise once again.

He was indeed a genius of the Uchiha clan, but he deeply understood that no matter how talented he was, he was nothing compared to Kirito, so he didn't think Kirito would pay excessive attention to him, an outsider.

"Of course I know! I really tried my best to promote you, Fugaku-nii, to Kirito-sama. Kirito-sama himself thinks highly of you and believes that you can help us integrate the Uchiha clan into Konoha in the future."

Uchiha Mikoto admitted.

The reason she willingly followed Kirito was not only because Kirito was powerful and could help her improve her strength, but also because she was attracted by his ideas.

She had long been worried about the incompatibility between her family and the village, and was also very dissatisfied with the arrogant attitude of many clansmen towards outsiders in the village.

Therefore, she wanted to change the relationship between her family and the village.

At this moment, the appearance of Kirito and Chizuru gave her hope.

Now that Kirito and Chizuru are becoming increasingly powerful, she is even more convinced of this. She firmly believes that as long as Konoha has Kirito and Chizuru, the Uchiha clan will definitely be able to truly integrate into Konoha in the future.

"Does Mikoto and Kirito-sama truly intend for their clan to integrate into Konoha?"

"Uchiha Fugaku said solemnly."

If Mikoto's earlier admission that she was Kirito's spy only shocked him, then what Mikoto just said about Kirito's desire to integrate the Uchiha clan into Konoha was enough to shake his very soul.

This is a very big deal; it concerns the future of the Uchiha clan.

"That's right. Lord Kirito acknowledges that the Uchiha clan is a member of Konoha, and he genuinely hopes that the Uchiha clan can truly integrate into Konoha."

Mikoto Uchiha nodded seriously in response.

Fugaku Uchiha remained silent, his eyes flickering, clearly deep in thought about the truth of the matter.

Seeing this, Mikoto Uchiha continued, "Given the relationship between Kirito-sama and Chizuru-sama, Fugaku-nii doesn't need to worry too much. Kirito-sama will definitely take over Konoha in the future, and with Chizuru-sama by our side, our Uchiha clan will definitely not suffer any losses."

When Fugaku Uchiha heard Mikoto Uchiha say this, a look of sudden realization appeared on his face, and he instantly understood.

Indeed, given the relationship between Chizuru and Kirito, the Uchiha clan's future treatment won't be too bad, and it will definitely be better than the current treatment they receive in Konoha.

Moreover, the Uchiha clan will most likely be able to re-enter the upper echelons of Konoha in the future, and will no longer have to fear severe suppression.

"Mikoto is right, I was overthinking it."

Fugaku Uchiha said with a smile.

Although he still had some reservations about Kirito, this outsider, he was no longer as wary as before, and at the same time, he was also a little expectant.

If Kirito really does say, like Mikoto, that he wants the Uchiha clan to truly integrate into Konoha, then he will definitely give it his full support and it would be right for him to lend a hand.

However, the current atmosphere within the Uchiha clan is so bad that a major overhaul is necessary.

Thinking of Kirito's ruthless style on the battlefield, Fugaku Uchiha asked with some concern, "Mikoto, tell me, what is Kirito-sama's attitude towards those more radical clansmen?"

"The impression isn't that good, but don't worry, Kirito-sama won't kill innocent people indiscriminately. Those more radical clansmen will probably be sent out on missions in the future. Fugaku-nii, you know that the internal situation of our Uchiha clan isn't very good right now, so this is a relatively mild solution."

Mikoto Uchiha's expression instantly turned serious as she explained.

As Kirito's eyes left in the Uchiha clan, and being a low-ranking member herself, she has a keen understanding of the Uchiha clan's current problems.