"Sarutobi Hiruzen, don't go too far!"
Salamander Hanzo's furious roar echoed loud enough for spies stationed nearly a kilometer away to hear it clearly.
"Hanzo, I cannot agree to every one of your conditions!"
Though Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone remained composed, even those far away could faintly recognize the tension in his words.
"Fine then-let's fight!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ninjutsu clashed violently. Explosions shattered the landscape and stripped away the terrain between them with sheer force. The two Kage-level opponents unleashed their full strength without restraint.
Stone cliffs collapsed. Water reversed its natural flow.
To the low-ranking scouts unfamiliar with Kage-level combat, the destruction looked like the end of the world. Fear was carved into their faces.
After several hours of non-stop fighting beneath the eyes of stunned observers, Salamander Hanzo sat atop his summoned beast [Salamander: Ibushi], while Sarutobi Hiruzen stood atop his newly constructed [Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall].
Both glared at each other from afar-postured as equals and masters of their battlefield.
"To think that even in this little country of Rain... there's someone strong enough to fight me."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression no longer bore arrogance. He even sounded somewhat regretful.
"Heh..."
Hanzo's pride surged at those words. "I was acknowledged by the God of Shinobi himself. You are strong-I'll give you that. I'll even assign you your own battlefield."
"My thanks."
Sarutobi bowed slightly, then added, "Since even the First Hokage acknowledged you-given your current strength-I'd say you've earned the title of 'Demigod.'"
"Hah-hahahaha!"
Hanzo burst out laughing, satisfied beyond measure with the recognition. He turned and left openly, without concern or caution.
…
From their fierce battle to Sarutobi's labeling of "Demigod," every word and action was meticulously recorded by intelligence operatives and quickly spread across the ninja world.
Ordinary citizens were awestruck that someone of demigod status had emerged from Hidden Rain Village.
Battle-hardened veterans scoffed at it.
Especially Kakuzu, who had recently been reassigned to the eastern front-he scowled when the report crossed his hands.
"Lord Akira... this is pure exaggeration. He gets called 'Demigod' just for surviving against Lord Hashirama? I actually tried to assassinate Lord Hashirama once... and survived to talk about it. Shouldn't that make me at least three-fourths of a god?"
Akira chuckled lightly at Kakuzu's bitter tone.
"Don't take it seriously. This demigod nonsense is clearly propaganda cooked up by Sarutobi Hiruzen. No expert will be fooled by it-and if regular people are? Who cares? When it comes time to burn Rain Country to the ground, no one will care whether Hanzo calls himself 'demigod' or not. They'll just do what needs doing."
Akira's calm reaction made Kakuzu almost feel sorry for him.
"A man like that being honored with 'demigod'... doesn't that damage your reputation?"
"It doesn't matter." Akira shrugged. "It's just a title. If I genuinely saw him as an enemy-I wouldn't retreat, even if he called himself the Sage of Six Paths."
"Heh. That's fair."
…
Their exchange was overheard by Naruto and Fugaku, both brought along by Akira. Naruto frowned and eventually blurted out-
"Uncle-how could you say that about Hokage-sama? If you paint him that way-it sounds like, he's…"
Nawaki faltered halfway through his complaint, struggling to finish the sentence. When he stalled out, Fugaku spoke for him:
"Deceiving the world and claiming false merit."
"Exactly!" Nawaki nodded immediately and turned back to Akira expectantly. He clearly wanted some kind of explanation.
Akira didn't respond directly. Instead, he locked eyes with Fugaku for a moment-the young man didn't flinch. That alone gave Akira his answer.
"In that case... Tell me this first: what do you think is most important in becoming Hokage?"
"Being acknowledged by others!" Nawaki answered without hesitation.
"Absolute strength," Fugaku answered just as fast.
Akira looked between them-and sighed softly.
"Both answers are right-and both are wrong."
He raised one hand to stop them before they could argue and clarified:
"In times of peace-when the country is strong-you don't want someone obsessed with battle leading you. You want someone who understands balance-who knows how to juggle politics, economics and military power equally. Someone who knows how to manage people and play the long game. That's why the First Hokage chose Tobirama over Madara."
Fugaku tensed slightly at Madara's name-but said nothing. In their clan's records, Madara's reputation wasn't admirable at best-and toxic at worst.
He kept silent for now though; he wanted to understand what Akira was trying to teach-not justify family legacy.
"So what happens in wartime?" Fugaku asked finally.
"In wartime," Akira continued, "you don't pick someone good at negotiation or administration. You pick someone ruthless enough-someone who commands overwhelming force-and knows how to outmaneuver enemies through sheer cunning."
"Isn't 'cunning' used for villains?" Nawaki asked blankly.
"It is." Akira nodded easily at the question. "Which is exactly why it works in war. That's how enemies describe us when we outsmart them-'my hero is your monster.' That's always been true in history."
"...Really?"
Nawaki stared at him wide-eyed-no answer forming on his lips anymore-but Fugaku narrowed his eyes skeptically.
"But Lord Hokage isn't like that..."
"Wrong," Akira said plainly. "It's because he is like that-that he's qualified to hold power."
He gestured casually toward Naruto and Nawaki as he explained further:
"When Sarutobi labels Hanzo as 'demigod,' what does that do? It makes Konoha look stronger by comparison. It gives civilians peace of mind-they think we're led by someone who went toe-to-toe with legendary figures-and stood firm. That's enough to keep morale high during uncertain times."
"...Wasn't Hanzo the one being named [Demigod] though?"
"Sure-but neither side was defeated outright. By inflating your enemy's reputation-you make yourself seem greater in surviving them." Akira motioned over to Kakuzu nearby. "He fought the First Hokage before-and he's standing here alive today. Most people don't know better-they'll assume Kakuzu must be close in strength to Hashirama just based on that alone."
"They'll back off before taking him on-even if they could win-because fear is better than truth."
Both Nawaki and Fugaku looked downright stunned after hearing that explanation-neither had ever viewed things from this angle before.
Akira gave them no chance to recover before continuing:
"Now-I'll ask you both one last thing: If you were Hokage... and some powerful ninja under you refused to follow orders... what would you do?"
"I…"
Before either could answer, Akira's expression shifted faintly-a corner of his mouth curled up for barely half a second.
"Nevermind," he said. "You're about to find out on your own."
💕💕
READ 45+ ADVANCED CHAPTER AT MY P@TREON! FOR ONLY 10$
at [email protected] /Zaneninjacat
💕💕
💀💀 gimme powerstones!💀💀