Hokage Tower, third floor.
Shisui entered the Hokage's office and dropped to one knee.
"Uchiha Shisui, paying respects, Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was small of stature, his face lined with a constant kindly smile like a benevolent elder.
He looked at Shisui and chuckled.
"Good child, up you get."
"Why the furrowed brow. Did something happen."
He did not speak of official business, but instead showed concern.
The image of the kindly elder was flawless.
At those words from the Hokage he trusted most, Shisui straightened as if injected with vigor, excitement breaking through.
"Thank you for your concern, Hokage-sama."
"I am fine."
"It is only a small matter in the clan, and it has now been settled."
That made Hiruzen's eyes narrow, a flash of cold light there and gone.
In the next blink it was replaced by warmth.
"It is all right."
"As it happens, I am curious. Why not tell me."
Anything about the Uchiha interested him.
Sadly, the thoroughly indoctrinated Shisui never considered that.
It was not a big deal in his mind. The Hokage wished to hear it, so he told it, from beginning to end like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.
When he finished, Hiruzen sighed.
"So that is how it was."
"Kagami was a shinobi of the Will of Fire, but I did not expect his men and their descendants to live so miserably."
"As Hokage, I have failed."
"When Kagami first fell, I felt it was a clan matter and not my place to intervene."
"I did not imagine…"
"Ah."
"This is my fault. Had I paid a little more attention then…"
Hiruzen began his performance.
He knew very well what had happened to Kagami's men.
He had not lifted a finger.
They had no value to him, and they were Uchiha, the evil other. He had no interest in helping.
Now things were different.
Shisui was a fine chess piece. He would not discard it.
To be honest, the act was rough. If Jin were present, he could have poked a dozen holes in it.
Unfortunately, this was Shisui. Thoroughly conditioned Shisui.
Gratitude filled his face. He cut Hiruzen off and spoke with iron in his tone.
"No, Hokage-sama is not at fault."
"You handle the village's affairs every day. How could you find time for such trifles."
"The ones to blame are the radicals in the clan. They are the truly detestable ones."
"Rest assured. As long as I, Shisui, am here, I will never allow them to run wild."
Hiruzen was very satisfied.
After a few more words, he smiled.
"Go back, Shisui."
"This is not something Fugaku can suppress alone."
"Those victims were once your grandfather's men. You have a duty to help Fugaku set this right."
"The village bears some responsibility as well."
"In the name of the Hokage, I declare that if the clan will not aid the descendants of Kagami's subordinates who are in difficulty, the village will shoulder the burden."
"It is I, as Hokage, who have failed."
He wore a heartbroken look.
Shisui's gratitude swelled until tears threatened.
What a good Hokage.
How could those bastards in his clan accuse him of bias.
He never thought that Hiruzen's generosity was all words.
Kagami's followers had long since been purged and dead.
How many descendants remained.
Even if the village covered all their costs, how much would that be.
And someone like Uchiha Jin, who had already become a shinobi, would he really take village compensation.
That was Hiruzen.
Not a single coin spent, yet a windfall of goodwill.
Better yet, this arrangement would further split the Uchiha.
Let the moderates and radicals fight.
Every corpse was a victory.
Shisui understood none of it.
"I thank you on behalf of Jin and the innocents, Hokage-sama."
"Jin." Hiruzen tilted his head.
Shisui explained.
Hiruzen nodded slightly.
He had the intelligence he wanted. There was no reason to keep Shisui.
"Very well, you may go."
"But my mission…"
"I will assign it to others. Focus on the Uchiha matter."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Shisui left with heartfelt thanks.
As the door closed, Hiruzen's voice cooled.
"Someone."
In an instant, a masked operative appeared, kneeling.
"Hokage-sama."
"Bring me Uchiha Jin's file."
The operative bowed and left.
Five minutes later he returned, set a dossier on the desk, bowed again, and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Clearly, a shadow clone.
Hiruzen ignored the operative and began to read.
The more he read, the deeper his frown.
Abysmal.
If Shisui was a prodigy, Jin was a dunce.
He was twelve. Kakashi had already reached jonin. Shisui stood at the peak of chunin and could rise to jonin with a few merits.
Jin.
Hard to speak of.
He was still in the fifth year of the Academy. He could barely manage the Three Body Technique. His chakra reserves were pitiful.
This was an Uchiha.
Hiruzen's expression flattened into the blank stare of a commuter on the subway.
Embarrassing.
Even for a civilian, this was bad.
He never considered that Jin might be hiding his strength. That was not the Uchiha way.
If the Uchiha had that kind of brains, the Third Hokage would be an Uchiha.
He sighed.
He had thought to summon Jin, preach the Will of Fire, and trick him into supporting Shisui against the radicals.
Now he could not be bothered.
This level of cannon fodder was not worth the time.
CREAK.
The office door opened.
A bandaged elder hobbled in on a cane.
Shimura Danzo, the Pot King of Konoha.
Face cold, he spoke at once.
"I know what happened."
"Since that Uchiha Jin is trash, assign him to my Root."
"Call it waste utilization. Even if we cannot bring down the Uchiha with him, we can make them sick to their stomachs."
"…"