After some time had passed, Tajima and Shikoku filed out of Azula's office, each heading back to their respective clans to figure out what the hell their new roles actually meant. They'd only learned about them today, after all.
Orochimaru stayed behind for a simple reason: Azula had asked him to.
"The Academy plan is non negotiable for my goals," Azula said, diving straight in without small talk. "You could call it the centerpiece of everything I'm planning for the ninja world."
Orochimaru nodded, though there was a flicker of hesitation on his face. "I understand it's important to you. But why?"
From where he stood, the ninja academy was exactly what it sounded like. A school that taught kids how to be ninjas, that was it.
Even if Azula had big plans to expand the thing, he still couldn't quite wrap his head around what she was actually cooking up.
"Tell me something," Azula said, shifting in her chair. "What do you honestly think about the ninja world? Chakra? Jutsu? And How people actually use them?"
Truth was, Azula had a lot riding on Orochimaru's answer.
After years of nudging him in certain directions, guiding his thoughts without being too obvious about it, she figured he might be the only person in this entire world who was drifting toward her philosophy.
Or something close to it.
'Hope all that guidance and influence over the years wasn't for nothing.' She kept the thought to herself, watching him carefully.
Orochimaru wasn't without his own thoughts on the matter. He could see Azula evaluating him, and he understood perfectly well that whatever role he played in her future would hinge on the answer he gave right now.
"The ninja world?" he repeated slowly.
A faint smile tugged at his lips, but there was nothing warm about it. "I think it's an inefficient system built on outdated traditions and pointless emotions."
He lifted his eyes to meet Azula's, his expression shifting into something far more serious. "Chakra is an extraordinary energy. But the humans who wield it are limited. They waste it on wars, meaningless missions, and ideals like loyalty and sacrifice."
"Jutsu are just the surface. A tiny fraction of what chakra could truly accomplish."
After a short silence he finished. "If you want my honest opinion, this world has no idea what it's holding in its hands."
Azula couldn't help adding something of her own. "And that's exactly why it deserves to be improved."
Then she smiled, not bothering to hide her good mood. "That's very good. That's exactly what I think, this world needs change. Because if things keep going the way they are, it wouldn't surprise me if humans are still at war a thousand years from now. We're only so intelligent, after all."
From everything she'd seen across three different worlds, if there was one thing they all had in common, it was war. Which was pretty damn pathetic when you thought about it.
She'd long since reached the conclusion that eternal peace was more or less impossible as long as humans were involved.
"I want to expand the academy as fast as possible. I'll build the largest academy in the ninja world within a year and a half, tops. Bigger than all the other four nations' academies combined." She laid out her ambition without holding back. "Picture it yourself."
"An academy where you can study according to your specialty. Not just combat fields like Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, with full resources where jutsu are taught for free whether you're from a clan or not. But also other specializations like scientific research, Intelligence, technology development. Basically, anything productive."
Her description worked. Orochimaru could see exactly what she was painting for him.
No matter how hard he tried to keep himself in check, an idea like that got him genuinely excited, especially once he understood that he'd be the one in charge of a project that would flip the whole world on its head.
The proof was right there. He couldn't stop himself from licking his lips.
"Coming from anyone else, I'd call that ambitious." He admitted it freely. "Coming from you, it's exactly what I expected."
Azula smiled back at him. She'd long since gotten used to his habit of letting that tongue slip out. "So, do you think you can pull off a project like that?"
He didn't even hesitate. "Of course. With pleasure."
•••
•••
Ever since she'd climbed into the Hokage's chair, Azula's moves had pissed off a lot of people. But considering her strength and the way her brain worked, most of them just swallowed their complaints and kept quiet.
There was one person who wasn't doing that.
"Damn it, who the hell does she think she is?" Danzō's voice ripped through the sealed room, loud and ragged. He trusted the barrier to keep it contained, so he didn't bother holding back. "Stripped of all my positions? Just like that?"
"Tobirama sensei was right about them. The Uchiha can't be trusted. Always hungry for power. I've served this village since the First Shinobi War, and this is what I got? Just because she's Hokage now?"
All reason had left him, logic gone. What was happening felt like a personal betrayal, a slap in the face after everything he'd done for Konoha. He'd been a candidate for the Hokage seat once.
A real contender.
And now some fourteen year old Uchiha girl was tossing him aside like garbage.
It took him a while to calm down. A long while. His breathing eventually steadied, his fists unclenched, but the rage was still there.
Now, even though Azula had officially removed him from duty, he'd served as an ANBU trainer. You couldn't just cut someone like that loose overnight.
There would be a transition period, a handover of responsibilities and some window of time before he was truly gone.
And Danzō knew that window was his last real shot. His only chance to twist things back in his favor. Because if he didn't, he'd be nothing but just another ordinary ninja. The highest position left available to him would be clan head of the Shimura.
And even that wouldn't come easy. He'd given up that seat a long time ago
"Should I or shouldn't I?" He asked himself the question, and no matter how decisive he liked to think he was, Danzō didn't have an answer.
Opposing Azula, especially right now when her power, her reputation, her authority, and her wealth had all hit the highest peak a normal ninja could possibly reach.
"If I do this, who's going to back me?" Deep down he'd already decided he had to resist. The question was just about logistics now. "The Daimyō? He'd definitely want a force that can stand against Azula. I've still got my spies inside the ANBU. The Hyūga clan would probably fall in line. Koharu might support me in secret?"
At first, listing it out gave him some courage. But then his mind flipped to Azula's supporters, and a cold wave of despair washed right over him.
The Uchiha, the Senju, the Uzumaki, the Nara, and probably the Akimichi and Yamanaka too, since those three were practically glued at the hip. Then the Aburame, Kurama, Hatake, a whole pile of other clans, plus most of the civilian population.
And on top of all that, she had a personal fortune that could go toe to toe with what the Daimyō was sitting on.
No matter how he turned it over in his head, he just couldn't find a single angle where he had the advantage.
He let out a long sigh and forced himself to calm down. His mind flicked through nearly his entire life in the span of a few seconds. From childhood to the day Tobirama took him on as a student, to the moment his sensei chose Hiruzen for the hat instead of him, then Hiruzen's recent betrayal, stepping down and handing everything to that Uchiha girl.
And just like that, the confusion vanished replaced by a cold, hardened resolve. The kind that came when a man had nothing left to lose and everything to gamble.
Win it all or burn it all down.