Marine Headquarters.
Fleet Admiral's Office.
"A Navy admiral publicly attacked a Celestial Dragon?! Sengoku, are you trying to disgrace the World Government?!"
Once again, Sengoku was being yelled at by the Five Elders, and his face had darkened to the extreme.
He had half a mind to lash out at Kizaru, who was lounging on the sofa with his legs crossed, calmly filing his nails.
But before Sengoku could speak, Kizaru muttered lazily without even lifting his head, "Tomorrow's headlines will be about a Navy admiral attacking a Celestial Dragon, won't they?"
Sure enough, Morgans had ignored the World Government's gag order. Over the transponder snail, he snapped, "If you stop me from publishing this kind of news, you might as well kill me!"
Kizaru continued filing his nails at a slow, almost irritating pace. "So scary. Maybe I won't be an admiral tomorrow."
Sengoku's mouth twisted. The rant he was about to deliver got stuck in his throat, and his face turned red from holding it back.
"Hahaha! Borsalino, I didn't think you had it in you!" roared Garp, happily crunching on senbei.
He was genuinely surprised by Kizaru's nerve.
Akainu scowled. "You've humiliated the entire Navy, Borsalino!"
Kizaru finally finished his nails, blew on his fingertips, and sighed as if helpless. "So frightening. I did recommend you go instead, didn't I? Sengoku didn't approve. I even had a cold that day."
Akainu fell silent. He couldn't catch up in time anyway.
Sengoku slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Enough! What we need now is a solution!"
His eyes scanned the room until they landed on Aokiji, who was reclining on the sofa with perfect posture, hands folded neatly over his stomach.
Sengoku barked, "Kuzan! What do you think?"
"Zzzzzz..."
He was asleep.
Because he was wearing sunglasses and sitting so properly, no one had noticed.
Sengoku's forehead veins bulged with fury. "Kuzan!!!"
"Huh? I agree," Aokiji mumbled as he jolted awake.
Just as Sengoku looked ready to explode, Tsuru cut in to halt the farce. "That's enough. A Navy admiral attacking a Celestial Dragon is absolutely unacceptable."
Sengoku frowned. "Tsuru, what are you suggesting?"
"Then the one who was attacked wasn't a Celestial Dragon."
The room fell silent.
A few seconds later, Kizaru's voice drifted through the quiet. "Will the Five Elders really buy that?"
Tsuru replied calmly, "Let Sengoku try. Losing a Navy admiral over this would be absurd."
After a moment of thought, Sengoku nodded. "Alright. I'll call the Five Elders myself. The war at Marineford is too important to be compromised."
...
Konohagakure.
Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned his trusted subordinate and son Asuma Sarutobi.
Hiruzen looked at his second son with a complicated expression.
Asuma averted his gaze, clearly uncomfortable.
"So you lost again, Asuma," Hiruzen sighed. "You had intel on the Akatsuki's Art Duo. If Jiraiya hadn't arrived in time, it could've been disastrous."
Asuma muttered, "I was just off my game that day."
Hiruzen said nothing. Ordinary Asuma just doesn't cut it, he thought. He only gets serious when he's rebellious... or in love.
"Take some time off and spend it with Kurenai," Hiruzen suggested.
On the way to rendezvous with the Sand Siblings, Asuma's team had been ambushed by the Akatsuki.
To be fair, it wasn't entirely his fault. No one could've predicted that some of the Jonin escorting the Sand trio were actually Scorpion's sleeper agents. During the chaos, one of them blindsided Hiashi Hyuga with a devastating strike.
Originally, with Byakugan's insight and Rotation, plus Gaara's Absolute Defense, the Konoha team had been nearly invincible.
Deidara couldn't break through their defenses and had to constantly evade Hyuga's Vacuum Palm and the Sand techniques.
Scorpion fared even worse. Byakugan completely countered his chakra threads, and the team had a top-tier medical ninja to keep everyone going.
In close combat, he couldn't beat Asuma either.
Victory was within grasp until the betrayal.
Suna-nin... truly the weakest of the Five Great Nations.
Even then, Konoha still had the upper hand. But Deidara suddenly lost it and prepared to self-destruct, shouting, "Scorpion! Let me show you my ultimate art!"
Thankfully, Jiraiya arrived just in time. A Genjutsu disrupted Deidara's chakra, halting the explosion.
Still, in the confusion, the Akatsuki duo managed to escape.
After sending off the ever-disappointing Asuma, Hiruzen summoned Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke was surprised by the summons. He couldn't understand why the Hokage would want to see him alone.
But the Hokage wasn't alone.
Waiting inside was a dangerous figure with snake-like eyes Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin.
Sasuke looked up to see the Third Hokage reviewing paperwork.
"You're here, Sasuke. How have you been lately?"
He asked about Sasuke's well-being first, before getting to the point.
"Sasuke, Orochimaru is looking for a successor to inherit the Ryuchi Cave legacy. Would you be willing?"
Absolutely, Sasuke screamed internally. He'd been jealous for ages Naruto with his toads, the Monkey Summon, all that.
But... why him?
Naruto had clear backing: the Fourth Hokage's son, Jiraiya's student, Hiruzen's disciple. A direct lineage of legacy.
He, on the other hand, was just the last heir of a fallen clan.
Hiruzen seemed to read his thoughts. After a moment's consideration, he added, "Because the Uchiha clan gave everything for the village, Sasuke. And you embody the Will of Fire."
"I'd say the Sixth Hokage... will be either you or Naruto."
Wait was that a declaration? Isn't the Hokage elected?
After signing the summoning contract, Sasuke looked overwhelmed, his face flushed with emotion. He shouted, "Orochimaru-sensei!"
Orochimaru nodded, not overly enthusiastic. His interest had already shifted away from the Sharingan.
Compared to that obsession, Hiruzen who could practically hand out power-ups was far more useful.
His fixation on the Sharingan had stemmed from being instantly defeated by Itachi. Otherwise, after seeing Sage Mode, the Rinnegan, and Wood Release, he wouldn't have been so fixated.
He only agreed to pass on the Ryuchi Cave legacy now because it was a direct order from the Hokage.
Hiruzen continued, "Sasuke, I've heard you've found some Uchiha scrolls lately. Don't let that become your only focus. Summon beasts are just support tools."
Those scrolls had been left behind by Itachi better suited to Sasuke's growth. Orochimaru's methods, outside of Ryuchi Cave, weren't particularly effective.
He'd trained outside for so many years and still couldn't beat the old Hokage.
Sasuke nodded and promised to train hard, so he could one day bring justice to the traitors.
Hiruzen didn't quite know how to respond to that.
He choked a bit on his pipe smoke and coughed. "Just do your best. I believe in you."
After Sasuke left, Hiruzen looked at his former student and felt pleased that Orochimaru had agreed to pass on the Ryuchi Cave contract.
He said warmly, "Orochimaru, I think you carry the Will of Fire now too. You may even have the makings of a future Hokage."
Orochimaru was speechless.
All these years, he had been the one spinning empty promises. Now, freshly back in Konoha, he was the one being fed that familiar fantasy again.
The Hokage is always sickly... so you must work hard.
He'd heard that line too many times.
Orochimaru bluntly shut it down. "Years ago, I lost that opportunity. Of the so-called Five Generals, I was the only one left behind. I'm not interested anymore. You don't need to dangle that in front of me."
Hiruzen coughed again, embarrassed. He'd slipped back into his habit of dangling dreams. He quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, about the research task I assigned you how's it going?"
Now that they were off the awkward topic, Orochimaru replied, "The first experimental prototypes are nearly complete."
Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction. Soon, Konoha would be able to enjoy the most addictive mobile game.
Just then, an ANBU operative entered with a report Kakashi and his unit had returned from the front.
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