(Azula's POV)
Well, color me impressed. My father actually said something interesting about Hiruzen. And honestly, isn't it hilarious how his story practically sounds like Itachi's future greatest hits album?
Think about it:
Step one—become the Hokage's loyal errand boy.
Step two—moonlight as a double spy while being the patriarch's heir.
Step three—get praised for having that elusive, sacred 'Hokage-level thinking'.
Step four—burn the entire clan down like it's a weekend barbecue.
I mean, talk about history rhyming. Honestly, if Itachi ever releases an autobiography, he should call it From Golden Boy to Genocide: My Hokage Journey. Bestseller guaranteed.
Of course, I didn't just blurt it out what I said by mistake. No, this was intentional. If I wanted to prove that I wasn't just some cute little Uchiha brat but rather the girl who once managed the entire Fire Nation as a teenager, then I had to flex my political shrewdness. Thoroughly.
And it paid off. The old man—stoic, unflappable, calm as a glacier—actually lost his composure for a while.
Unfortunately, he's an elite ninja. They recover faster than you can say 'emotionally unavailable', he straightened, face cool again, and said, "Come with me."
He walked deeper into the house—deeper than the places I was normally allowed to go. The kind that I've tested those boundaries.
My mother gave me her classic 'worried' look as I followed, but I swear it seemed… rehearsed? Like she practiced it in front of a mirror. 'Oh no, husband, don't take our precious daughter into the spooky forbidden part of the house, she's so fragile.' Yeah, sure, Mom.
Anyway, our house is massive. Honestly, I've never understood why in the future we let ourselves get shoved into some sad little corner of Konoha.
The Uchiha and the Senju are Konoha, everyone else are jy latecomers, tagalongs, freeloader clans who got 'friendly invited' in by Madara and Hashirama out of pity. It's like building a tech company from scratch only to become the janitor while the interns run things. Humiliating, any sane person would want to rebel.
So, we reached that rhe forbidden room.
Oh, I knew it well, I'd tried to sneak in dozens of times, no luck, not even when I went full toddler Hulk and punched the door with all my might, some kind of seal, probably.
Which, by the way, is unfair. Seals are basically the universe's 'No Fun Allowed' signs.
But they're also fascinating, even Kaguya, goddess of chakra herself, got sealed although it's a different kinds of seal. Which means seals are less 'glorified locks' and more 'cosmic admin passwords', definitely worth learning.
When he finally opened the door, I had to stop myself from drooling.
Scrolls, piles and piles of scrolls. Rows of knowledge that practically screamed, Read me, Azula! Research me! Unlock my forbidden secrets! If Father's plan was to get my attention—congratulations, mission accomplished. You've officially bribed me with nerd bait.
"Sit down," he ordered, pointing to a spot. His face was dead serious, and I mean the real serious—not the fake Uchiha serious where you pretend to be calm but are actually debating whether to murder your neighbor over a broken shoji door.
"Where did you get this idea about what you said earlier?" he asked.
I didn't even hesitate. "Na way, you wouldn't seriously think I'm some kind of fool who can't notice something so obvious, right?"
The way he stared at me after that was priceless. Like he was examining me under a microscope, asking himself, Is this actually my daughter, or did someone swap her with an evil genius from another universe, did I ever known her?
Finally, after an eternity of awkward silence and me fighting boredom, he sighed. "I never expected you to have such an insight over the village. Tell me… what are your thoughts?"
The politician in him couldn't resist. My father loves acting mysterious and dignified, but deep down, he's a chatterbox who adores hearing other people's opinions, especially if they're sharp, he likes asking others people their thoughts.
And honestly, it's refreshing not to be treated like a clueless child. I mean, although it's good not to be taken into war at four like a certain fool did with his son and allowed the latter to develop Hokage thinking, it's better not to be treated as a child and start participating in the big decision related to the future of the clan since I have made up mind.
I took a deep breath, the kind of dramatic inhale anime characters always do before they drop some 'profound truth'.
"In fact," I began, "I know for a fact the clan members aren't exactly pleased about Hiruzen becoming Hokage. From what I heard, they always complain that he is the guy who couldn't even do his job and protect the Nidaime. That's like promoting the security guard who lost the keys to the bank vault."
Father blinked at me. This isn't even something that the Uchiha are discussing when hiding as long as you are observant, you can see it.
"Plus, in terms of strength, Whether it's you, Mito-sama, Kagami-san, or probably half a dozen other people whose names I don't even know yet—every single one of them has a better résumé than Hiruzen. With the pride of the Uchiha, how can anyone seriously look at him and go, 'Yes. This is the guy. The face of the village'"
Father's eyebrows rose higher and higher with every word. He wasn't rejecting what I said—he was actually… agreeing? Huh.
"So naturally," I continued, "the only way to make everything look good is to accept me and Tsunade as his disciples. That way, it looks like the Uchiha and Senju approve, and then problem solved. Am I right, or am I right?"
He stayed silent, but the look on his face screamed: Wait, this child might actually be plotting world domination.
That aside, I genuinely don't know how to evaluate Hiruzen properly. In the anime, he's portrayed as this sweet old grandpa who loves the village.
But if you actually sit down and analyze his track record, man's résumé is so shady he could be Danzo's twin brother. And you know it's bad when Danzo isn't even the worst option in the room.
Still, current-day Hiruzen isn't quite the scheming manipulator we meme about later. Maybe it's because he doesn't have much power yet.
After all, they say if you want to know someone, give them power. And this Hiruzen? Bro can't even protect himself right now, let alone orchestrate some anti-Uchiha plot. At least not until he ropes in Tsunade as his disciple.
"Azula," Father said seriously, "it seems that as your father, I have failed my duty by not realizing what my daughter is capable of."
Tsk. You're overthinking this, old man. If I'd shown all my cards earlier, you'd probably drag me onto the battlefield as a three year old child, and I'm not suicidal. Even Tobirama didn't survive long, and you expect me to? Yeah, no thanks. I may be crazy, but I'm not Naruto protagonist levels of crazy.
As for finding me when I hide, even the sharpest ninja here is basically a dollar-store version of Batman compared to old Azula who lived the rest of her life hiding. Stealth? Manipulation? I practically speed-ran those skills in my past life.
But I didn't say all that out loud. Instead, I stayed silent. Let the man think I'm being 'humble'.
Father sighed, like every disappointed anime dad ever. "Sigh. What you said is indeed similar to our conclusion at the clan meeting. I suspect he has some sort of accord with Mito-sama."
Mito-sama, huh? The way he said it made it sound like she was final boss material. Only Hashirama and Tobirama usually got the '-sama' honorific from him. Respect level: maxed out.
Anyway, I knew what this 'accord' was about. Obviously, she supports him, and in exchange, he takes Tsunade as his disciple. It's a pretty smart move—train the heir of the Senju, make sure she's lined up for Hokage when she's older, and boom. Political stability secured. It's basically the ninja version of a chess gambit.
"I think their deal is simple," I explained casually. "She backs him, he trains Tsunade, and eventually passes her the Hokage title."
Father didn't even look surprised anymore. He was just nodding, as if I'd suddenly upgraded from 'annoying kid' to 'trusted political advisor'.
"Indeed," he said. "This was also my thought. Even if Hiruzen is not fit, the fact remains he is the Third Hokage. At worst, he will step down for a Fourth. But for now, his status stands."
Hold up. Did my father just… make sense? A logical Uchiha politician?
Then he smiled. And not just a polite smile—no, the man looked relieved and proud.
"Today is one of the best days of my life," he said. "You having such insight at a young age, combined with your great talent, will definitely lead the Uchiha to new heights."
He just give me the 'You're the chosen one!' speech. I hope the next thing isn't him going to start talking about passing down some secret family scroll just because of roasting Hiruzen.
"Oh, that's good! That means I can finally learn the Shadow Clone now, right?"
I pounced on the opportunity like a cat spotting free sushi. Strike while the iron's hot—and before the old man remembers he's supposed to be a responsible adult.
He coughed into his hand, looking like he just swallowed a particularly suspicious senbei. "Since you understand so much already… why are you so desperate to learn Shadow Clone? It's not a normal jutsu—it's a dangerous one."
Fine, old man, let's have another showdown.
"I have too many things I need to do," I said, dramatically ticking them off on my fingers. "I can't waste time at the academy. I've got ninjutsu to learn, projects and experiments to do, ideas to explore! The Shadow Clone is exactly an important piece of in my plan."
Of course, the real reason I'm telling him this is because… well… even if I try to be sneaky after learning and send my clone to the academy while the real me hides somewhere else doing cool ninja stuff, he'd still find out.
I mean, if the anime's Itachi and Shisui couldn't hide things from the Uchiha Patriarch, I definitely can't.
Konoha's security isn't a joke. Between the ANBU lurking in every shadow and the Uchiha police doing their daily 'I'm watching you' routine, you'd have to be the god of stealth to pull that off.
His mouth twitched a little. "If that's the case, you could just skip the academy. With my help, it's easy."
I shook my head. "No."
Sure, I don't enjoy when the teachers start slipping in the 'Will of Fire' brainwashing, but the academy does teach important, practical stuff.
Like how to find food and water in hostile environments, set up temporary hideouts in forests, mountains, or deserts, and the basics of formations, flanking, ambushing, and retreat strategies.
You know—actual survival skills for those awkward pre-god-tier days when you still need to eat, sleep, and avoid being stabbed.
Plus… there's the networking.
The future Sannin are just a few tables away. Orochimaru and Jiraiya might be civilians now, but if you toss them a few jutsu and a helping hand, they'll remember it for life.
That's called planting investment seeds.
So I shook my head again, firmer this time. "I want to keep studying. Although it's sometimes boring, but I can still learn useful stuff—and more importantly, I can bond with Konoha's future top talents."
He didn't argue. Instead, his eyes gleamed with a look of approval. "Indeed. The academy is one of the best places to recruit talented people and build your reputation. And once you suppress someone during childhood, they'll remember it forever."
Now that's the kind of thinking I like.
"So… can I learn the Shadow Clone now?"
This time, he didn't bother speaking. He just pulled a scroll from his robe like some kind of jutsu vending machine.
"The Shadow Clone technique was created by the Nidaime himself," he said, giving me the teacher voice. "Unlike the regular Bunshin no Jutsu, which makes intangible illusions, Shadow Clones are solid and can interact physically. Of course, you probably already know that, but remember—each clone splits your chakra evenly. Overuse it and you could drain or even kill yourself."
I nodded along, smiling politely, and reached for the scroll like it was the last slice of pizza.
Yeah, yeah, I know the risks. But seriously—Tobirama was a genius.
…Now I'm wondering. Should I just learn Edo Tensei and resurrect Tobirama so he can personally teach me all his jutsu and help with my research?
Hmm… tempting.
(END OF THE CHAPTER)
In fact, I think people might have misunderstood me when I talked about the Tailed Beasts — or maybe I just wasn't clear enough. I was talking about a scenario where she's planning to be independent from Konoha, creating her own paradise instead of getting stuck in boring politics. In that setup, the Tailed Beasts would willingly come to her and lend their power when needed, while spending most of their time free, acting as guardians of her home.
Also, what do you think about reincarnating Tobirama, maybe even Izuna, along with other great figures from history — mainly to learn their jutsu? On top of that, summoning legendary blacksmiths, medics, or craftsmen from the past to endlessly produce weapons, poisons, and cures without any cost or lifespan limits sounds like a seriously broken move.
Finally hope you can vote for me please.