Tenzo Hyuga felt a little dazed.
As the head of a thousand-year clan, how could he possibly believe in something like the Will of Fire?
A clan didn't survive on pretty words.
It survived on double-dealing, broken promises, ruthless hands, and turning on people the second it became necessary.
And yet… people were complicated.
Even if you didn't believe in it, when something good appeared right in front of you, you still paused without meaning to.
Emotion. Respect. A sense of worth.
After food and warmth were secured, those were the things people chased for real.
"Hokage-sama, you're absolutely right," Tenzo said, steadying himself. "Tenzo and the Hyuga Clan will remember this going forward."
Hiruzen smiled slightly.
He didn't expect two lines to make Tenzo suddenly swear loyalty with his head on the floor.
That was fantasy.
A fox that old needed time. Conversations, back and forth, slowly building a base of trust.
You had to offer sweetness, but you couldn't skip the warning either.
"It's understandable that clans who survived the Warring States era have some lingering habits," Hiruzen said, tone mild, almost amused.
"Back then, it was winner-takes-all. If you lost, most of the time the only road left was extinction. Trust didn't have much space to grow."
"But this is the era of villages and nations now. Konoha belongs to everyone. Don't drag old thinking into a new age. It creates ugly misunderstandings and puts the village in a difficult position."
He looked at Tenzo. "Don't you agree, Tenzo?"
"Thank you for understanding," Tenzo said quickly, nodding again and again. "You're right. Once war is involved, my thinking slips back into old grooves. The older generation drilled certain things into us from childhood."
"I'll lead the Hyuga Clan in serious reflection."
Hiruzen had handed him a step down.
Tenzo took it smoothly and tossed the blame onto the previous clan head, meaning his father.
The man was dead. Let him carry the pot.
Beside them, Hizashi rolled his Byakugan eyes in pure irritation.
This old bastard really could twist black into white.
Danzo's gaze flickered.
Why did it feel like even when Hiruzen was "tapping" someone, it still sounded better than when Danzo did it?
No. I need to learn this.
He replayed Hiruzen's phrasing in his head, silently reciting it like scripture, and then an idea sparked.
A good memory wasn't as useful as a written note.
If he copied these lines down and drilled them day and night, wouldn't he master this set too?
Danzo's mouth curled, proud of his own brilliance.
Foolish Hiruzen. Keep exposing your strengths.
I'll absorb every advantage you have and become the strongest Hokage…
Hiruzen shot him a strange look.
What was he mumbling about, like he was chanting?
Was Danzo done being a shinobi and planning to become a monk?
"Let's talk about Kirigakure first," Hiruzen said, bringing the room back on track.
"One thing's certain. Hidden Mist Village is about to start a purge. The Third Mizukage has been holding it in for a long time."
He drew on his pipe and exhaled slowly.
"I'll tell you about the First, Second, and Third Mizukage. There are points in there we can use."
Hizashi's eyes brightened with curiosity.
Young people were always hungry for the hidden stories of the older generation.
Danzo gave a dry chuckle. He knew a few things too, but he didn't think there was much to work with.
Tenzo leaned in as well.
He had seniority, sure, but even "old" came in levels.
"The Third Mizukage's roots run deep," Hiruzen said.
"He used to be the First Mizukage Byakuren's guard. At the first Five Kage Summit, aside from him, every other Kage guard who attended eventually became their village's Second."
He paused. "Isn't that interesting?"
Tenzo nodded without realizing it.
He'd been almost preselected, so why wasn't he the Second Mizukage?
Hiruzen smiled inwardly.
Why did he know details like this?
Because his own rise had always looked strange from the outside too.
The Hokage Guard Platoon survived, but the Hokage died.
Even now, in the shinobi world, Tobirama Senju's mentality was something most people couldn't truly understand, let alone back then when the Warring States hadn't been gone for long.
So his succession had been a kind of Schrödinger's "legitimate."
It only held together because his reputation had carried him across.
That was why he'd studied cases like this before, as reference, as reassurance.
"Kirigakure's succession system is… unique," Hiruzen continued.
"They believe the village's 'strongest' shinobi should be Mizukage, and they set rules to match."
"When a Mizukage takes the position, anyone has the right to challenge. If the Mizukage loses, they lose the seat."
"It was meant to encourage martial spirit. Under normal circumstances, nobody does it."
"But Gengetsu Hozuki was not a normal person."
Danzo and Tenzo both nodded instinctively.
Gengetsu was infamous across the shinobi world, a real battle maniac.
During the First Shinobi World War, over some insignificant scrap of loot, he crossed seas and mountains to find Mu, the Second Tsuchikage, and fought him to mutual death.
When his blood got hot, everything else stopped mattering.
"If there's a true gap in strength, letting the strongest be the 'Kage' makes sense," Hiruzen said.
"But if the difference is only a hair, then leadership, organization, and other abilities have to be part of the standard."
Tenzo and Hizashi nodded but didn't think much of it. The Hokage seat had nothing to do with them.
Danzo, though, listened hard.
Was this a jab?
Between him and Orochimaru… their strength was pretty close.
Even if he'd been grinding Wind Style lately, truth was truth.
Youth hit harder. A younger body recovered faster.
There was no realistic way to leave Orochimaru an entire level behind.
Is he hinting at the standard for choosing the next Hokage? Danzo thought, already deciding to copy that line into his little notebook too.
"Gengetsu Hozuki died. The Third Mizukage has held power for more than twenty years," Hiruzen said. "And now he's pushing the Blood Mist Village."
"That can only mean one thing."
"Opposition inside Hidden Mist Village has grown too large."
"So large he can't balance it anymore. He has no choice but to use the Mizukage seat as bait, lure out the clans with ambitions, and clean them up one by one."
Danzo frowned, thinking. "If that's true, won't Kirigakure collapse into internal war immediately? The forces against him would be strong enough to overturn him."
"Not necessarily. Depends on his skill," Hiruzen said, smiling faintly.
"If he knows how to pull one group close while hitting another, he can make it work."
"First, he stirs the Kaguya Clan into hating the Hozuki Clan, the ones with ideas about the Mizukage seat."
"When those two beat each other down, he picks another ambitious clan and lets them fight next. Repeat the cycle."
"That's Kirigakure's legitimacy. In that village, fists decide the law. In the short term, nobody can openly complain."
"And once those Kekkei Genkai clans are gasping, if they still refuse to submit, the resentment from all that struggle needs somewhere to vent."
He tapped his pipe lightly. "Perfect. Let the shinobi without Kekkei Genkai take it out on them."
"Do it that way, and yes, Hidden Mist Village's population drops hard, but overall… the village becomes obedient."
As he spoke, Hiruzen's eyes met Tenzo's.
Tenzo's back prickled.
For a second, he had the horrible feeling that the Hokage wasn't talking about Kirigakure at all.
No. No, that's paranoia.
Tenzo forced the thought down.
This is Konoha. Konoha believes in the Will of Fire.
"Of course," Hiruzen added, waving it off with a soft laugh, "I'm just speaking casually."
"If you actually wanted to do something like that, you'd have to grind the details again and again."
"And I've always hated using methods like that to solve problems."
He smiled at Tenzo, gentle as ever.
"It's backward, and it doesn't match the Will of Fire at all… right, Commissioner Tenzo?"
Tenzo's heart kicked once.
"Yes. Absolutely," he said immediately, posture straight, voice respectful. "What you said is extremely reasonable."
Watching that, Danzo couldn't help the thought that slid through his mind.
This monkey…
He was starting to resemble Tobirama-sensei more and more.
Good thing I inherited the teacher's true teachings, Danzo told himself, satisfied. I won't be fooled into spinning in circles. Most people wouldn't be able to withstand him.