From that day on, Hiruzen would pull Shisui aside to chat from time to time.
Rumors gradually appeared in the village that "the Fifth Hokage will be Shisui."
Regarding this, the villagers did not oppose it very strongly, though they were reluctant.
Let the Uchiha become the Hokage? What would Konoha turn into?
However, the lack of strong opposition might not be due to a softening of their attitude towards the Uchiha clan, but rather because the troubles caused by the Sarutobi Clan serving in the Police Force occupied most of their attention.
Although the Sarutobi Clan later changed their policy to only smile at victims, situations often arose where both sides were at fault, neither side was at fault, the guilty party did not break the law, or the innocent party retaliated too severely.
The Police Force was essentially the village's "bad cop," and no one would like them unless they became members of the Police Force themselves and felt how difficult it was.
Consequently, the reputation of the Sarutobi Clan gradually declined. And the Sarutobi Clan's "nice guy" policy was just them imitating the successful example of Hiruzen. Therefore, some villagers also began to have doubts about Hiruzen.
This left Hiruzen, who had been keeping a close eye on Root and worrying about them spreading rumors, feeling very helpless.
He saw it. All the clan heads saw it.
The balance that had tilted towards Hiruzen was slowly tilting towards the Uchiha clan. One day, it would tilt completely towards the Uchiha clan. It was just that this "one day" was too slow for Hiromi.
—
Land of Earth.
Rocky mountains towered, as majestic as a mechanical fortress.
Two figures walked into it. They wore matching black cloaks with red clouds, and both had headbands on their foreheads, but each had a scratch across the symbol.
One had short black hair, no eyebrows, sharp teeth, a large cross-shaped scar on his right cheek, bandages wrapped around his ears and neck, and red stripes painted on the lower half of his face.
He had narrowly escaped when fighting Duy during the Third Great Ninja War, later defected due to his dissatisfaction with the tyranny in Kirigakure, and was one of the first "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," wielder of the seversword, kubikiribōchō — Biwa Jūzō.
The other had long black hair, vertical golden pupils, purple eyeshadow extending to his nose, and pale skin, which made him look quite sickly, yet gave people the dangerous feeling of a venomous snake, as if he would bare his fangs and spray venom at any moment.
He was known as one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, an S-rank rogue ninja who eventually defected from Konoha after his human experiments were discovered—Orochimaru.
The two walked in silence.
Suddenly, Orochimaru let out a "hehehe" laugh, appearing somewhat pleased.
Jūzō glanced at a rock shelter a hundred meters away, grinned, revealing his sharp teeth, and asked, "What? Do you know them?"
"I don't know them, but they will bring me some very valuable experimental materials."
The more Orochimaru thought about it, the happier he became.
Jūzō narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifted slightly, and he smiled brightly, full of ambition. "I heard that a brat has appeared among the Uchiha of Konoha, possessing eyes that surpass the three-tomoe Sharingan, known as the Mangekyo."
"Is Jūzō-kun interested?" Orochimaru laughed sinisterly, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Yeah, a different kind of Sharingan would definitely look good as a decoration. It is a pity he is hiding inside Konoha and will not come out. I heard he has been looking for you lately, Orochimaru." Jūzō said.
"Hehehe." Orochimaru laughed without answering.
"Hehehe." Jūzō also chuckled lightly.
Both of them seemed to have set their sights on the same prey, their gazes revealing a confident danger.
—
Uchiha Clan Compound.
"Hiromi!" A clan member excitedly arrived at Hiromi's home and said impatiently, "We have found traces of Orochimaru."
"Hmm, I see." Hiromi's expression was calm.
He had expected this. After all, he knew the appeal of the Mangekyo to Orochimaru. Even if he had not found Orochimaru, Orochimaru would have found him.
Back then, Orochimaru had set his sights on Itachi's body, wanting to possess it, but he had not expected that the Mangekyo and the three-tomoe Sharingan were simply not on the same level. Consequently, he was easily subdued by Itachi with a genjutsu and had one of his arms severed.
If it had not been for Kabuto arriving in time, he would have died once again.
Later, he did not immediately quit the Akatsuki. However, because his goals were different from those of the Akatsuki, he ultimately chose to leave.
This time, Itachi had not joined the Akatsuki, and Orochimaru had not encountered the Mangekyo yet.
But given Hiromi's performance in Konoha and his bounty of up to 90 million ryo, he believed Orochimaru would be very cautious.
Although 90 million did not seem high, only Kage-level individuals in the village could reach 100 million. A bounty closest to the Kage-level was enough to show the importance placed on him.
Because of this, he vaguely earned the title of "the strongest person below the Kage."
Many Uchiha were unhappy with this title. In their view, Hiromi was already Kage-level. He should even have a higher bounty than Hiruzen.
And this time, it just so happened that Orochimaru had been found.
Hiromi planned to have some fun and let the guys hiding in the shadows see whether the title "strongest person below the Kage" was worthy of him.
Hiromi stood up and walked towards the door.
The clan member watched in confusion, stepping aside while curiously asking, "Hiromi, are you going to look for Shisui?"
"I am leaving the village."
"Leaving the village?" The clan member was stunned.
In the next second, he hurriedly ran in front of Hiromi, blocking his path.
"Just like that?" The clan member suspected he had misheard.
"Mm."
"Alone?"
"That's right."
For Hiromi, unless Fugaku, Shisui, or Itachi accompanied him, anyone else would just be a burden.
Clan member: "..."
Hiromi took a step, intending to walk around him and continue on his way.
At that moment, the clan member took a deep breath, his chest puffing out. The next second, a massive shout erupted from his mouth.
"Hiromi is leaving the village alone!!!"
The sound nearly echoed throughout the entire Uchiha Clan Compound.