Chapter 216: Did the Fourth Hokage Have a Secret Daughter?
Senju Tetsuya wandered toward the Hokage Building in an absolute daze. As he passed beneath the shadow of the towering Hokage Rock, his footsteps slowed to a halt. His gaze drifted upward, locking onto the carefully carved stone face of the Fourth Hokage. He stared at those familiar features for a long, heavy moment, a storm of impossible thoughts churning in his mind, before finally tearing himself away to enter Hiruzen Sarutobi's office.
Inside, Hiruzen sat behind his massive desk, staring blankly into the swirling mists of his scrying crystal ball. The heavy oak doors suddenly slammed open with a loud bang. Startled, Hiruzen snapped his hands back, instantly cutting off the flow of his chakra. The image in the glass vanished into dull gray.
What is going on with this village lately? he grumbled internally. Everyone seemed to be barging into his office without so much as a polite knock. It was as if the title of Hokage had lost all its weight overnight.
He looked up, a sharp reprimand already on his tongue, but paused when he recognized Senju Tetsuya standing in the doorway. The flicker of annoyance in his chest evaporated, instantly replaced by a grave, businesslike expression.
"You've come to see me..." Hiruzen leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "Is there a problem on A-Mu's end?"
Senju Tetsuya shook his head, then hesitated and nodded, his expression completely out of sorts. He looked like a man who had just seen a ghost.
"She's very well-behaved," Tetsuya reported, his voice slightly hollow. "She hasn't cried or made a fuss since waking up, and she actively cooperates with every medical examination. Aside from asking about her friend's situation, she hasn't said much else."
"Then why are you here looking like that?"
Tetsuya's gaze fell heavily onto the older man. "Yesterday, you told me that the Rinnegan is an evolution of the Sharingan. You asked me to help A-Mu maintain the Rinnegan based on the medical maintenance methods Kagami used to provide for his Sharingan."
"That's right," Hiruzen nodded slowly, waiting for the medical report.
"A-Mu's Rinnegan can be opened and closed automatically. The biological fusion is excellent; so far, there are absolutely no signs of cellular rejection. It's as if it were originally her own eye. It's perfectly suited for her use."
Hiruzen thought Senju Tetsuya was simply going to analyze the optic nerve condition of the Rinnegan, but he didn't expect the doctor's next sentence to take a sharp, one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
"Tell me, Hiruzen... is it possible that Stelle once had a child who, for some unknown reason, ended up lost in the Ninja World?"
Hiruzen had just taken a deep drag from his pipe. At those words, he choked violently. Thick white smoke billowed from his nose and mouth as he hacked and coughed so hard that tears pricked the corners of his eyes.
"What kind of ridiculous joke is that?!" Hiruzen wheezed, pounding his own chest. "Stelle having a child? With whom? When was it born? How could I possibly not know about this?"
"Well, it wouldn't be strange if you didn't know," Tetsuya argued, stepping further into the room. "Stelle wasn't exactly so close to you that she'd share her deepest secrets. What if she gave birth during a time we weren't monitoring her?"
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible."
Hiruzen slammed his pipe down onto the desk and took a few deep breaths of fresh air, forcing his burning lungs to recover.
"I'm a married man, Tetsuya, not some common-sense-lacking fool like Danzo who only wants to marry money and power. I understand how ten months of pregnancy works. Her body would have shown signs. You're a medical professional—why are you suddenly spouting such nonsense?"
Senju Tetsuya knew his words sounded entirely unhinged, but every time he thought of that strikingly similar face resting on the hospital pillow, he couldn't stop his racing train of thought.
"Could there really be no 'what if'?" Tetsuya pressed, leaning over the desk. "That eye fused so flawlessly with her. Maybe Kagami and her..."
Hiruzen couldn't listen to another word of this madness and raised a hand to cut him off.
"Stelle was a total blockhead when it came to romance! She had eyes that looked deeply affectionate even when she was just staring at a stray dog, yet she treated every single man around her like a sworn brother. If she had been even slightly enlightened in that department, we would have been drinking at her wedding long ago. How could she have reached the point of her tragic sacrifice without..."
Bringing up her death made the words catch in Hiruzen's throat. He couldn't finish the sentence.
He picked his pipe back up, taking a hard, grounding puff before continuing. "You know it's impossible. If Stelle really had a descendant, how could Kagami have acted the way he did? What exactly are you trying to say, Tetsuya? Spit it out."
"I..." Senju Tetsuya opened his mouth, but couldn't find the right words to explain the eerie feeling in his gut. "Just come to the hospital with me and see for yourself."
Hiruzen frowned. His old classmate's state of mind was clearly compromised. He was already a respected hospital director, yet here he was acting flighty and superstitious; it was truly unseemly for a man of his station.
Hiruzen decided that after accompanying him to the hospital, he would put on his full Hokage authority and give Senju Tetsuya a stern talking-to about professionalism.
However, twenty minutes later, when Hiruzen was pushed into the sterile ward by Tetsuya and laid eyes on the child's actual appearance, his own composure shattered into a million pieces.
To think there was a face in this world so strikingly similar.
In that breathless moment, Hiruzen almost thought he had traveled back in time. He thought he was looking at the young Stelle.
But as he stepped closer, the subtle differences began to emerge.
Stelle's eyes had been large, but they possessed sharp, single eyelids. Being of noble birth, she carried an exceptionally bold aura; when she looked at people, the slight tilt of her eyes held a domineering, piercing radiance that made her look like a predator not to be trifled with.
A-Mu's eyes, on the other hand, had soft double eyelids. They were large, round, and innocent. Her nose and mouth were far more delicate, and her facial bone structure lacked that sharp edge; Stelle had a distinct oval face, while A-Mu's was softly rounded with youth.
Just looking at her sleeping form, she exuded a soft, vulnerable quality that made her seem incredibly easy to bully—the complete and utter opposite of Stelle's overwhelming arrogance.
Yet, while a careful, clinical look revealed subtle differences in every single feature, at first glance, the resemblance was uncanny.
No wonder Senju Tetsuya had barged into his office with such an absurd question.
Standing beside the hospital bed, even Hiruzen was starting to doubt his own memories. Even though logic screamed that it was biologically impossible, he couldn't banish the wild thoughts creeping into his mind.
When Hiruzen finally left the ward, a lingering daze mirrored the one on Tetsuya's face.
The two grown men stood in the quiet hospital corridor, exchanging a long, silent look. Without a word, they walked together to the hallway window, gazing out over the village toward the distant Hokage Rock.
Back then, the master sculptor, driven by immense admiration for the Fourth Hokage who had ended the first great war single-handedly, had carved the monument with careful, painstaking care. He had spent half a year perfecting the details of her face alone.
Despite years of harsh exposure to wind, rain, and sun, the stone statue remained breathtakingly lifelike, fully capturing her spirited, indomitable essence.
"Dismiss those ridiculous guesses of yours. It's impossible," Hiruzen finally muttered, though his voice lacked its usual absolute certainty. "The Ninja World is vast. It's not entirely strange for a few people to share similar features."
After a moment, Hiruzen rubbed his temples, a dull headache throbbing behind his eyes.
"If only she had appeared in Konoha sooner... we could have let Kagami adopt her."
He let out a heavy sigh, his breath fogging the glass. "With an appearance like that, and possessing the Rinnegan... I don't know if her arrival is a blessing or a curse for this village."
Late that night, Danzo, who had been aggressively inspecting various bustling cities in the Land of Fire to audit their tax records, returned to Konoha.
As soon as he received the encrypted message from Hiruzen, Danzo abandoned his retinue and rushed back without stopping for rest, finally breaching Konoha's gates after a grueling full day's journey.
Stepping through the starlight, his robes dusted with the dirt of the road, he hurried directly into the Hokage's office. After a rapid exchange of classified information with Hiruzen, Danzo felt a violent urge to crack open his old teammate's skull just to see what kind of rot was growing inside.
"You're telling me you want to train that little girl? A complete unknown who just joined Konoha less than a month ago?!"
"That's right. I've already made my decision."
"Hiruzen, what is wrong with you?!" Danzo snarled, his lone visible eye wide with fury. "We finally found the legendary Rinnegan! We should immediately remove the eye from that host and transplant it into a loyal shinobi of Konoha to use as our ultimate trump card! We cannot leave a weapon of that magnitude to absolute uncertainty!"
Danzo slammed his fist against the wooden desk repeatedly, spit flying from his lips, completely abandoning his usual cold composure.
"She is just a mere orphan! There are thousands of pitiful orphans dying in the mud across the Ninja World every single day. Don't tell me the great 'Professor' has suddenly lost his mind and gone soft over one stray brat!"
He leaned in, his voice dropping to a dangerous, venomous hiss.
"Don't you forget, Hiruzen. Uchiha Kou paid with his life for that eye back then. I suggest preparing the extraction surgery immediately. We take out the Rinnegan and keep it secured in our own hands."
Hiruzen slowly stood up. Ignoring Danzo's outburst, he walked over to the window, struck a match, and lit his pipe. He pushed the glass open, letting the thick, fragrant smoke drift outside to mingle with the cool night breeze.
"I explicitly told you in the report that multiple, highly complex Sealing Techniques were placed directly onto the optic nerve," Hiruzen said calmly, his back to the room. "If the eye is forcibly removed, it will instantly trigger a self-destruct sequence embedded within the seals. The Rinnegan will be destroyed."
Danzo gritted his teeth. He could guess even with his toes that this was definitely some perverted, paranoid seal designed by their late Fourth Hokage.
"Then mobilize Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the remnants of the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Squad! Have them all take action together," Danzo demanded, refusing to back down. "I refuse to believe that Konoha's most brilliant minds and powerful sealing Jonin working in tandem can't dismantle a mere seal!"
Hiruzen turned his head, shooting Danzo a look of deep speechlessness.
"Don't forget, Danzo, that Stelle's hundred layered seals weren't fully broken by our Sealing Squad in the end. After they bypassed the sixtieth seal, every subsequent layer became a lethal puzzle. They only managed to clear them because the chakra powering the seals eventually expired on its own."
Danzo froze, the wind taken entirely out of his sails. He suddenly felt the matter was incredibly thorny. Was there something inherently wrong with that woman's brain? While setting up brilliant traps to guard against enemy nations, she had managed to perfectly guard against her own people as well.
"Then... let the girl stay by Orochimaru's side," Danzo pivoted, his mind racing for a new angle. "Orochimaru is a genius. He'll be able to decipher the formula and remove the eye intact sooner or later."
"And exactly how long would that take?" Hiruzen countered, his tone turning sharp. "Three years? Five years? Ten? In ten years, that is more than enough time for A-Mu to grow up and become a powerhouse in her own right."
Hiruzen had already considered every single angle. He hadn't even consulted Utatane Koharu or Mitokado Homura about this, wanting to keep the matter known to as few people as humanly possible.
Danzo was left entirely speechless. From a purely logical standpoint, spending ten years of their best scientists' time trying to break a suicidal seal was far less practical than spending those same ten years molding an excellent, loyal Ninja for the village.
"But how can you possibly guarantee her loyalty to Konoha?" Danzo challenged, his voice tight.
"Bonds can be nurtured," Hiruzen replied softly, looking back out over the sleeping village. "You're far too agitated right now, Danzo. I suggest you go to the hospital to see her for yourself first. Then, come back and discuss this with me."
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]