Chapter 68: Not Defeated by Ninjutsu, Defeated by Science
On the day of the inauguration ceremony, the whole of Konoha was a sea of celebration. Lanterns and vibrant streamers adorned every building, yet the streets themselves were eerily empty, as every last villager had gathered in the central plaza.
Under the unified, expectant gaze of the crowd, Stelle stepped onto the high platform. She was draped in the Hokage's ceremonial robes—a pristine white haori with a pattern of red flames licking up from the hem. She settled the conical Kage hat on her head, privately finding it a bit unflattering, and officially announced to the world that she was the Fourth Hokage.
'Nagato, Minato… you were all born too late,' she thought with a flicker of amusement. 'Given the current timeline, you'll be the Fifth at the earliest, and that's only if you can outmaneuver Sakumo Hatake and the Sannin.'
A wave of thunderous cheers erupted from below the stage, each roar louder than the last, punctuated by enthusiastic, heartfelt applause. News of her feat—slaying four Kage in a single battle—had already spread through every corner of Konoha like wildfire. At this moment, Stelle's ascension to the village's highest office was not just accepted; it was exactly what everyone hoped for.
The crowd's excitement coalesced into a unified chant.
"Fourth Hokage! Purple Flame Princess! Fourth Hokage! Purple Flame Princess!"
Stelle's brow twitched. 'Wait a minute. Fourth Hokage is fine, but what in the world is a Purple Flame Princess?'
She leaned over and whispered to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who stood beside her in a formal capacity.
"That's the moniker the enemy gave you on the battlefield in the Land of Wind," he explained quietly, his voice a low murmur against the roar of the crowd.
'This nickname…' Stelle mused, her expression unchanging. 'The Hidden Sand's naming sense is just abysmal. It's so painfully generic. It's not even as cool as "Purple Flash." At the very least, something like "Purple Meteor" would have had some punch to it.'
Standing nearby, Hiruzen Sarutobi gazed at Stelle in her Hokage robes and hat, a strange and unsettling feeling churning in his gut. It was a deep sense of discomfort, as if he had inadvertently lost something precious.
Could it be because he had been so swamped with work these past two days that he hadn't had a chance to see Kou? Was someone else stealing his girl?
He took a deep, steadying breath, his mind flashing back to the final words Master Tobirama had spoken when he stayed behind to cover their retreat. A flicker of uncertainty crossed his eyes, but after a moment, his gaze hardened with renewed resolve.
'It doesn't matter who becomes Hokage,' he told himself firmly. 'As long as it is for the good of Konoha.'
He could still shine, still contribute in other positions. He would continue to protect the village, no matter his title.
[Ding! Mood value from Hiruzen Sarutobi +50,000]
After the ceremony concluded, Stelle began the process of making official appointments. A new Hokage meant a new administration, and the positions left vacant by the war had to be filled.
First, Hiruzen Sarutobi was appointed as the Hokage's Assistant, while Danzo Shimura and Uchiha Kagami were named as Hokage Advisors.
Homura Mitokado and the others were naturally assigned to suitable roles. Those in charge of education would develop the academy; those in charge of diplomacy would manage foreign relations. There was more than enough work to go around, and no one was permitted to remain idle.
Even Akimichi Torifu, a man with little ambition for political power, was assigned to manage civic affairs like the household registry and land distribution.
Stelle didn't care what a mess they had made of things in the original story. Now, with her in place as a powerful, undisputed dictator, none of that mattered. Previously, she had only served as an assistant, so she hadn't bothered with the minutiae of the system. But now that she was the one in charge, she had no intention of dealing with any of those petty, annoying matters.
If one more document landed on her desk about a clan needing more land because someone had too many children, she swore she would tear down the Hokage Building.
Therefore, she further subdivided the administrative departments, decentralizing power just enough to simplify the workflow.
To her immense satisfaction, her workload decreased significantly. She could now get off work at five o'clock every day and even find time to slack off during office hours.
One afternoon, Stelle made her way to Senju Tobirama's private laboratory. Aside from Tobirama himself, she was the only person with the authority to open this facility. As a result, no one had set foot inside for a long time.
Pushing the door open, she stepped into the still, silent space. Everything was exactly as he had left it.
Stelle walked over to a lab bench and glanced at the most recent stack of experimental data. It was the research progress on the Edo Tensei. It seemed he had been close to success; he could already summon the intended person, but before the soul could express anything, the reincarnated vessel would crumble into dust.
She carefully tucked the documents away. This was good stuff and had to be preserved. She'd give it to Orochimaru later and let him continue the research.
Suddenly, her eyes caught something on the floor—faint black marks, like the ashen residue of burned documents. Bending down for a closer look, she realized a single sheet of paper had escaped the flames, having fallen unnoticed to the floor.
She picked it up and glanced at its contents. The next second, she froze, a chilling cold seeping through her veins as if her very blood had turned to ice.
At the top of the document, the words 'Experimental Report' were written in large, neat characters. Below them was a single, damning conclusion.
The cellular structure of Senju Stelle is a perfect one-to-one match with the cellular structure of Mie.
The report was a comparative analysis of cell and blood data between her Senju Stelle persona and her Mie persona.
No two people's cells were identical. Not unless they were the same person.
So, that night…
The reason Senju Tobirama's mood value had exploded by over a million points was because he had compared her cells with her alias and completely, utterly stripped her of her disguise.
A wave of nausea washed over Stelle. Her cover had been blown, and she hadn't even known.
Thinking back carefully, she pieced it together. Senju Tobirama did indeed have her cells. Back when she was Senju Stelle, only she and Senju Hashirama had awakened the Wood Release. Unwilling to accept this reality, Tobirama had requested samples of their flesh and blood for his experiments. He definitely hadn't used it all; he would have kept samples.
Then, after she had changed her alias to Mie and revealed the Flame Release she had developed, Tobirama's scientific curiosity had been piqued once more. He had again asked for a sample of her flesh and blood for research.
At the time, she had never imagined he would suspect that Senju Stelle and Mie were the same person. After all, the name was just a convenient fiction she had adopted to appease them.
She never expected this. She wasn't defeated by ninjutsu, but by science.
How careless. How unbelievably careless.
She had actually lingered for so long right under the nose of someone so terrifyingly intelligent, such an experimental maniac. He must have started suspecting her after Hashirama and Madara died. He had pulled on a single loose thread of suspicion and ended up unraveling her entire disguise.
Even Tobirama himself couldn't have expected it. She could almost picture the scene: the moment the report was finalized, he was so shocked he couldn't even hold the document steady, letting it slip from his fingers to the floor.
And those things he said to her before he died… it was clear now that there was so much more behind his words. What on earth had he been imagining about her?
Stelle had the sudden, violent urge to scream. She bet those burned documents on the floor were all related to her; why else would he have destroyed them?
She had to be extremely careful in the future, especially around those incredibly smart people. It was best not to linger in front of them with consecutive aliases, or something was bound to go wrong.
Most, from this day forward, she would never, ever give her flesh and blood to anyone for experiments again. This was a lesson learned the hard way.
A flicker of purple flame ignited in her palm, consuming the damning report until not even ash remained. When Stelle returned to the Hokage Building, she was still in a bit of a daze.
She turned and walked to the office next door to find Hiruzen Sarutobi. In the past, Tobirama and his three students liked to work in one large office. With Konoha newly established, they were still figuring things out, and it made discussions easier.
Now, however, Stelle had no desire to face that human chimney Hiruzen all day. She had arranged for private offices, separating him and the other two advisors.
She pushed open the office door without knocking and addressed Hiruzen directly.
"I remember that among the three disciples you took, there's one named Orochimaru. I've seen his file; he's exceptionally talented. I plan to establish a Scientific Research Department. I want your disciple to lead it, to conduct research that will benefit the village."
'Go research the Edo Tensei,' she added silently.
Among the hundred rewards her system offered, there were even bizarre things like letting others read her mind and creating artificial bodies, but she had never managed to draw the Edo Tensei technique. It was better to let Orochimaru handle it. She had too many of her own projects to research, so she would let him take his time with this one.
Besides, Orochimaru was a natural at this kind of research. She would just wait to receive the finished product. It wasn't too much to ask to slack off just a little bit, right?
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