The weather was perfect. Fūmori Masaki and Satomi finished their training for the day. The two sat in the courtyard to rest, admiring the flowers and plants in the yard while enjoying their hard-won leisure time.
A few days ago, Hashirama had officially convened the first Five Kage Summit. The content of the summit was the hope that the five nations would sign a non-aggression pact. The condition for signing was the distribution of the seven Tailed Beasts that Hashirama had captured: one would be given to the Land of Wind, which already possessed the Ichibi, and the other six would be divided equally among the three other nations.
The summit did not go smoothly. For the benefit of the Land of Wind, the First Kazekage proposed not to take a Tailed Beast, but instead offered land and money as the condition for signing the agreement, which provoked the anger of the other three nations. Under Hashirama's mediation, the Kage of the other three nations calmed down and began to deliberate carefully.
After some political maneuvering, the leaders of the five Ninja Villages solemnly signed the agreement. The Land of Lightning, the Land of Water, and the Land of Earth obtained two Tailed Beasts each by paying money, while the Land of Wind received money and land, bringing the matter to a successful conclusion. Since no country could be allowed to possess three Tailed Beasts, and the Land of Wind did not need one, the remaining Seven-Tails went to the Land of Waterfalls.
After the agreement was signed, the young people of Konohagakure breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that peace was truly about to arrive. Satomi was the same. She glanced at Fūmori Masaki and said softly, "Masaki, now that the nations have signed the agreement, you don't have to be so busy anymore, right? You can take some time to relax."
"Satomi, how long do you think this agreement will last?" Fūmori Masaki asked upon hearing this.
Satomi was slightly stunned; she hadn't expected Fūmori Masaki to ask this. She thought for a moment and said, "Five years shouldn't be a problem, right?"
In her heart, Satomi actually felt it would be longer, but seeing Fūmori Masaki's expression, she deliberately said a shorter time. Even so, it was still a long time; there was no need for Fūmori Masaki to act like he was about to step onto the battlefield.
Fūmori Masaki shook his head and said, "I think war will come very soon, within the next year or two."
"That's impossible, right?" Satomi was startled. Although she didn't believe the agreement could guarantee peace forever, she didn't think an agreement that had just been signed would be torn up so quickly. Five years seemed normal to her, but Fūmori Masaki said within one or two years—didn't that mean war was coming very soon?
If he didn't know about future events, Fūmori Masaki would have thought the same as Satomi; even Tobirama thought so. Hashirama hoped to give the Tailed Beasts to other nations, using friendship to ensure they would abide by the agreement, but Tobirama felt that wasn't enough, which is why he proposed purchasing them with money, with the goal of reducing the budgets of the other nations' Ninja Villages.
Without money, even if they really started a war, they wouldn't be able to sustain it for very long. Tobirama believed that in order to prepare for war, a Ninja Village would need at least some time to stockpile food and money; it was impossible to provoke a war in a short period of time.
However, Tobirama hadn't expected that the other side truly had no intention of conducting a long-term war. In the First Great Ninja War, the Land of Lightning had staked everything on a single throw, sending over a thousand Ninja to launch a surprise attack in an attempt to end the war quickly. This kind of risky action was something Tobirama probably wouldn't even have considered, yet that was exactly what the other side did.
Fūmori Masaki felt that the war might not have really been the idea of the Kumogakure Ninja. Based on what he had learned in another world, the real reason was probably because the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning harbored thoughts of annexation. A Ninja Village was an organization employed by a country, and obeying the employer's orders was the duty of a Ninja. Even if they felt it was wrong, as long as the employer ordered it, they had to do it; this was the tradition of the Ninja.
"Sometimes, it's not up to us to decide. The master of this country, in the end, is still the Daimyo, not the Hokage," Fūmori Masaki said.
"Masaki..." Satomi widened her eyes slightly. Fūmori Masaki's words sounded like a mere complaint, but Satomi vaguely felt that what Fūmori Masaki really wanted to say was something else, though she didn't know where to begin.
"Regardless, it's better to be careful. Lord Tobirama is also making preparations; he is currently organizing a unit, and I might be recruited into it." Fūmori Masaki didn't talk too much about the Daimyo, instead bringing up another matter.
After the Five Kage Summit ended, Hashirama returned to the Village, stayed for a month, and then announced his abdication, with his younger brother Tobirama inheriting the position of Hokage. According to the rules originally established by the Village, the candidate for Hokage needed to be recommended to the Daimyo, and after being approved by the Daimyo, confirmed through a vote of confidence by the Village's Jonin.
The current ruler of the Land of Fire had worked with Hashirama for many years, starting from a small country and slowly forming the current Land of Fire. He trusted Hashirama very much and had no objections to Tobirama, so he naturally agreed. As the actual manager of Konohagakure, Tobirama also gained the trust of the Jonin, encountered no trouble during the vote of confidence, and passed with a unanimous vote. Thus, Tobirama officially became the Second Hokage of Konohagakure.
After succeeding as the Second Hokage, Tobirama first dissolved the Konoha Academy, which was no longer serving its purpose, and renamed it the Ninja Academy, allowing civilians not from clans to enter and study. On the other hand, he established a department called the Security Department, responsible for the internal security of the entire Village.
The Uchiha Clan had always been secretly alienated by the people in the Village because of Madara's actions. While they were annoyed, they were also worried about whether Tobirama would intensify his suppression of the Uchiha Clan—especially since Tobirama had no fondness for the Uchiha Clan—but unexpectedly, Tobirama handed the Security Department over to the Uchiha Clan. This was the department responsible for ensuring the internal security of the Village; if he didn't trust the Uchiha Clan, how could he possibly hand this department entirely over to them?
This proved that the Uchiha Clan had not lost trust at all; on the contrary, they were still highly valued by the Hokage, and their own clan head was the Hokage's disciple. The Uchiha Clan suddenly felt their future was bright. Uchiha Kagami was also pleasantly surprised, but he did not lose his reason; he knew that his teacher could not completely trust the Uchiha Clan, and this department might also be a test.
Tobirama did indeed think so. He hoped that the Uchiha Clan could become a part of Konohagakure. Uchiha Kagami made him believe this, but the current Uchiha Clan had not yet met his requirements.
It hadn't been long since Madara's attack on Konoha at this time, and the Village still did not trust the Uchiha Clan very much. It should be said that the Uchiha Clan was also aware of this in their hearts. Despite this, in such a short time, Tobirama had already heard Uchiha Kagami speak of some discordant voices within his own clan.
The Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan had fought for many years, and Tobirama had gradually figured out some of the characteristics of the Uchiha Clan, especially the reason for the birth of the Sharingan, which made him feel a chill in his heart. This kind of Bloodline Limit that only appeared after losing love and feeling pain was too dangerous and could easily become a destabilizing factor; Madara's attack was a warning of what could happen.
Therefore, no matter how willing he was to accept the Uchiha Clan, the cautious Tobirama still had to secretly guard against them. On the surface, he gave great power to the Uchiha Clan to show his trust; in secret, he used Uchiha Kagami and the Anbu he was planning to establish to monitor whether there were unstable people in the Uchiha Clan, and whether anyone would embark on the same path as Uchiha Madara.
As for the Security Department, just as Uchiha Kagami thought, Tobirama granting such great power was, first, to show his trust and appease the Uchiha Clan, and second, according to the arrangements of the Security Department, every member of the Uchiha Clan would go out on patrol, which made it convenient to monitor them. At the same time, he could see how the Uchiha Clan would act during the law enforcement process and whether they could establish a sense of glory in their duties and a belief in protecting the Village. As long as they enforced the law properly, they could slowly gain the recognition of the people in the Village, and Tobirama could also safely and boldly remove the surveillance and believe in the future of the Uchiha Clan.
And what Fūmori Masaki was talking about was the Anbu that Tobirama was establishing to prevent enemy invasions, which was specifically for external affairs and managed directly by the Hokage. Tobirama wanted to select outstanding Ninja to join it, and his seven disciples were among them. Once he joined the Anbu, it meant that Fūmori Masaki would have to face the probing of other nations and the unstable factors that threatened the Village.
"Is that so?" Satomi hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Fūmori Masaki and said, "Masaki, I also want to join this organization called the Anbu. Can you speak to Lord Tobirama about it?"
"Huh?" Fūmori Masaki turned his head in surprise and said, "What did you say?"
Satomi repeated it, and Fūmori Masaki's expression gradually became serious. He looked at Satomi and said, "Satomi, this is an organization that often has to face danger. I don't want you to encounter these troublesome things, so I don't agree."
Satomi was stunned. She looked at Fūmori Masaki for a good while, then suddenly said angrily, "Why? What do you think the purpose of my training is? Is it just because of my willfulness? You have to know, I am also a Ninja, and protecting the Village is also my responsibility. Do you want me to watch you go face the Village's enemies while I stay in a safe place, with no use other than praying for you?"
This was the first time Fūmori Masaki had seen Satomi so angry. He seemed to have underestimated Satomi's resolve; she had never considered herself a housewife, and she had always trained herself according to the requirements of a Ninja. But Fūmori Masaki had not thought so; subconsciously, he had never treated Satomi as a Ninja, but as a wife to be cherished, and as a result, his words directly provoked Satomi's anger.
Fūmori Masaki regretted at this moment that they didn't have children. If they had children, he could at least use that as a reason to persuade Satomi. But now, he had no reason to override Satomi's statement, "I am also a Ninja."
"Let's talk about this later." Fūmori Masaki said, sweating profusely, trying to brush it off, and then stood up and walked outside. "I'm going to go see Lord Hashirama."
When Fūmori Masaki walked out of the house, he could still hear Satomi speaking angrily behind him. He couldn't help but quicken his pace, thinking to himself, "This is really terrible."