"Staying at the Ninja Academy is safe, but my growth will be slow. Still, it's not like I can't get stronger here. The real problem is that I need to get my split bodies out of Konoha."
Uchiha Fujie began planning his path to greater strength.
No matter what, he had to send his split bodies out of the village.
Once they left Konoha, they could continue dividing, use the Transformation Technique, and grow stronger by fighting missing-nin and wandering shinobi across the ninja world.
If a split body died, Uchiha Fujie would not gain its power.
But he would gain its memories.
That was practically the same as acquiring its combat experience.
For Uchiha Fujie, the most important thing was still obtaining the forbidden technique Izanagi.
As long as he got his hands on it, then by combining Izanagi with the power of the Tomie Template, he would be able to challenge enemies far above his level.
"For now, I should focus on refining chakra and strengthening my body. I'll leave everything else to the split bodies. Once those two areas improve enough, then even if I don't learn other ninjutsu, Susanoo alone will be enough to stand against a Kage."
Every part of Uchiha Fujie's plan was built around his own abilities.
With Hyper Regeneration, he had discovered that not only did his wounds heal quickly, but even his chakra recovered at an impressive rate.
Even his eye power could recover.
That meant even if he only possessed an ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan rather than the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he still would not go blind.
After battle, as long as he had enough time to recover, his visual power would return.
The teacher noticed that Uchiha Fujie was not paying attention in class, but chose to ignore it.
After all, the Uchiha clan had just been massacred.
It was only natural that Fujie would be in a terrible mood.
Besides, the lessons being taught in the classroom were not all that helpful to him anyway.
At school, Uchiha Fujie was absolutely safe.
As long as he kept a low profile, he would remain safe until graduation.
Aside from Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha and Pain's later assault, no enemy had ever truly breached the village in the story.
Not even during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Compared to the Academy, things outside school were much livelier.
No one had expected that the so-called Nine-Tails demon brat was actually the son of the Fourth Hokage.
After learning the truth, some people felt guilt and regret.
Others still hated Naruto Uzumaki just as much as before.
After all, many of their family members had died because of the Nine-Tails.
To ask them to forgive the beast was impossible.
That was simply human nature.
By the time Danzo Shimura reached the Hokage's office, he had already pushed the matter of Uchiha Fujie aside.
Compared to that boy, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki was far more important.
If he could get Naruto Uzumaki under his control, then his chances of becoming Hokage would rise dramatically.
Uchiha Fujie had only used Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami to subtly influence Danzo Shimura.
He had not directly rewritten Danzo's mind.
Most of the time, Danzo Shimura was still the same man as always, with his own ambitions and goals.
"Hiruzen, hand the Nine-Tails jinchuriki over to me. We can say we are taking in the Fourth Hokage's son for training and bring him into Root. I will turn him into a qualified weapon of war."
Danzo Shimura's tone was icy.
In his eyes, even the son of the Fourth Hokage was nothing more than a tool.
In truth, not only did he not respect Minato Namikaze's son, he did not even respect his old comrade Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He had gone so far as to send assassins after him in the past.
Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected the idea without even pausing to think.
"No. Naruto is Minato's son. I can't do that. He's doing fine at the Ninja Academy. He's already begun forming bonds of his own."
Danzo Shimura sneered.
As if he didn't understand Hiruzen Sarutobi's calculations.
In the end, he could only throw out a bitter warning.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this."
Hiruzen Sarutobi answered coldly, refusing to back down.
"Danzo, I am the Hokage."
Homura Mitokado looked like he did not even want to speak.
They had argued for years, and every time it was the same few lines.
Not even a little creativity.
Koharu Utatane gave a small cough before finally speaking.
"The truth is already out now. So how are we supposed to handle it? We can't simply ignore it. Even setting aside the civilians, the ninja clans will grow cold toward us."
The jonin of the major clans had all known Naruto Uzumaki's identity.
They had simply kept silent, because the one in power now was the Third Hokage.
The Fourth Hokage was dead.
But now that the matter had been dragged into the light, if the leadership still chose to ignore it, then everyone would lose heart.
And once people's hearts scattered, the village would become much harder to control.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had spent many years carefully building his reputation.
There was no way he would willingly allow it to be ruined.
Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane all looked at him.
None of them said anything more.
Even if they were high-ranking figures, once Hiruzen Sarutobi made up his mind, they could not stop him.
Because Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Hokage.
"We will make Naruto's identity public. Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's home will be returned to him. As for Minato's money, I will keep it for him for now. He is still too young. In terms of safety, I'll have Kakashi Hatake protect him and teach him as well. Compared to Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto is still rather weak right now."
This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi acted decisively.
Since the truth could no longer be buried, he would simply make it public.
After all, Naruto Uzumaki trusted him now.
In Naruto Uzumaki's heart, he already held an extremely important place.
It was time to begin properly grooming the boy.
Once he had made his decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the ANBU to bring Naruto Uzumaki to him.
To be safe, he needed to give Naruto Uzumaki a proper talk about the Will of Fire and make sure the boy remained on his side.
Next came the matter of Uchiha Fujie.
After Hiruzen Sarutobi explained the boy's situation, Danzo Shimura immediately turned his attention back to him now that the Nine-Tails jinchuriki was no longer an option.
He proposed bringing Uchiha Fujie into Root.
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane both agreed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat tempted.
But in the end, he still refused.
Perhaps it was because of the lingering aftereffects of Uchiha Fujie's amplified goodwill.
The influence was still there, though not as strongly as before.
Within a few more hours, it would disappear completely.
"I'll have ANBU observe him for a few more days. If there is a problem, I will send him to Root. If there isn't, then he can remain at the Ninja Academy and build bonds."
Danzo Shimura let out a cold snort and rose to leave.
He understood very well what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking.
If Uchiha Fujie turned out to be harmless, then he would never be allowed into Root.
Because in that case, he would simply become a tool for reproducing the Uchiha clan.
Danzo Shimura had to admit it.
The Uchiha were powerful.
It was a pity they could never truly be controlled.
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane did not leave.
Unlike Danzo Shimura, they did not command Root and therefore could not act as arrogantly as he did.
Before long, another ANBU report arrived.
Someone had used genjutsu to control civilians and spread the news that Naruto Uzumaki was the Fourth Hokage's son.
Even after learning how it had been done, the matter was still extremely difficult to investigate.
Controlling civilians with genjutsu was far too easy.
Any jonin with decent genjutsu skill could do it effortlessly.
The bigger issue was that no one knew when the civilians had first been manipulated.
Some genjutsu worked through mental suggestion and did not produce immediate effects.
That made the list of suspects enormous.
In theory, almost any jonin could have done it.
Except Might Guy.
Even a chunin who specialized in genjutsu could potentially manage something like this.
"I'll leave this matter to the two of you. Make absolutely sure you uncover the one behind it."
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke to Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
As Hokage, he had far too many matters to deal with personally.
The only thing he found somewhat comforting was that Jiraiya was still being cooperative.
He had gone to the border to deter the Hidden Cloud Village's forces.
Otherwise, Kumo would almost certainly have made a move already.
Of course, Jiraiya was obedient for Konoha's sake, not for Hiruzen Sarutobi's.
If it had been for Hiruzen Sarutobi personally, then Jiraiya would not have stood aside during Orochimaru's invasion in the original story.
At that time, he had not even used half of his strength.
Not long afterward, Naruto Uzumaki arrived.
After receiving a long round of indoctrination from Hiruzen Sarutobi, he left in cheerful spirits.