Chapter 124: Tuan Zang: I Did It Only for the Leaf

"You know what you're saying, right?"

The four were left dumbfounded by Jiraiya's suggestion; after a moment of silence, Zhuan Xin Xiaochun whispered.

"Hmm, I know. That kid's pretty good; I think he has the potential to become Hokage."

Jiraiya ignored the others' expressions, stroked his chin, and after pondering became even more certain.

Zhuan Xin Xiaochun, angry, shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting? How can an Uchiha become Hokage!"

Her conflict with Shisui grew day by day; if he became Hokage, could she still reap any benefits?

"Jiraiya, don't be willful. Though Shisui Uchiha is good, he is an Uchiha; we must not let him become Hokage," Mizuto Monen quickly objected, his attitude very resolute.

Tuan Zang snorted coldly, his fleeting hope vanishing, and said bluntly, "Absurd!"

The Third was a bit dazed, and unintentionally began to contemplate the Village's situation after Shisui became Hokage.

Shisui was powerful, kind and modest, treated others gently and politely, and most importantly, he was very obedient.

If we let him become Hokage, he would be tempted.

Unfortunately, there are too many people behind Shisui; if he were not an Uchiha, or if the Uchiha were down to only him, he would have no hesitation in taking Jiraiya as a disciple and then agreeing to Jiraiya's suggestion.

"Shisui is indeed good, but the Hokage position cannot be held by someone from such a great clan; this was the Second's decision, also for the Village's stability,"

Jiraiya offered no rebuttal; he merely voiced his thoughts, and whether the four agreed or not wouldn't matter to him.

"Alright then, since I'm back, I heard Mizuno left me a little grandson; I'll go see how that kid is doing."

Jiraiya turned, waved his hand, and after speaking leapt straight out of the window, completely overlooking the Third's hesitant expression.

Tuan Zang looked through the window at Jiraiya leaping on the roof, recalled Shisui, and his gaze grew ever gloomier.

Late night, Tokaido, the outskirts of Ichijo.

Outside a luxurious manor, dozens of warriors clad in night gear hid in the darkness, staring intently at something not far away.

"The target is confirmed on the third floor, but this courtyard has at least a dozen guards; the security is tight. If we charge in directly, he might slip away,"

"No problem; the lord hired a few wandering ninja, they've arrived. We just need to draw the guards' attention in the front yard,"

"That's fine."

In the darkness, after the leaders finished discussing, they fell silent again. After an unknown time, clouds covered the moon; just as they were about to give the order, a light hum came from behind.

"Scoundrel, didn't I order you to stay quiet?"

The leader muttered softly, turned back, and saw the warriors who had been crouched to wait all lying on the ground, with no one responding.

He frowned, about to speak, when a gust rose; moonlight broke through the clouds, illuminating dozens of corpses sprawled haphazardly. Everyone's eyes widened, rolling white, staring blankly ahead as blood pooled together.

Sss~

Even the battle-hardened leader, accustomed to life and death, felt his heart skip a beat and involuntarily inhaled a cold breath.

"Run! That guy has ninja protection; let's go to the back and rendezvous with those ninja elders!"

He used his trembling limbs to prop himself up, crawling backward with all four limbs, then called to a few others attempting to flee.

Silently killing dozens before them could only be done by a ninja; facing a ninja, they could hardly muster resistance.

However, after he struggled to crawl, he found no one responding; turning his head, he saw the few who had just spoken with him now lying on the ground, their expressions blank.

Blood surged, flowing over his hands and knees, warm.

"Silent Killing Technique?" the leader could only stare in terror; his limbs went limp, even the courage to crawl vanished.

Along the coastal Tokaido, merchants from the Water Country often travel; some places have even endured devastation by ninjas from two nations, and famous ninjutsu are naturally known to them.

"Wrong answer, what a pity~"

A silhouette appeared before him at an unknown time; he looked up, the moonlit darkness indistinct, only a pair of crimson eyes reflecting his terrified face.

"You"

Pfft~ At the same time, on the third floor of the manor, in a bright room, Uemura Kishi was meticulously tallying recent income, expenses, and development.

Uchiha Pan, who had been guarding outside, suddenly teleported into the room.

"Hmm?"

Before Uemura Kishi could react, a bang rang as the window shattered; three middle-aged ninja flipped in one after another, wielding long swords, wearing loose robes, their forehead guards varied, one reeking of alcohol, carefree and utterly unguarded.

Uemura Kishi remained seated, turned his head, his expression puzzled.

Under these ninja's escort, he had brought his caravan here for about three months, gradually learning their strength, and he had also spent considerable time in the Village.

In his understanding, the three clearly belonged to the weaker tier of ninja; how did such a low-level force reach here?

"Those warriors outside have already been dealt with by others, but the intel gathered is scant; these people might know something,"

Uemura Kishi offered no rebuttal; he understood the logic, so why were they let in? "Huh? You guy, you can't be underestimating us, can you?"

Seeing the two ignore them and chat, the drunken ninja immediately tilted his head, asking with a displeased face.

He remained oblivious to the terrified expressions of the two beside him.

Uchiha Pan slightly raised his head, looking down at the three; he did not display the Copy Wheel Eye, yet his composed demeanor, aloof aura, and flawless posture made cold sweat bead on their foreheads.

"You bastard, I'm talking here! How dare you blow your nose at me, you scoundrel, die!"

This stance irritated the drunken ninja; he roared and swung a sword, while the two beside him retreated in perfect sync, sprinting toward the window.

Uchiha Pan sneered, saying, "Oh? Not fleeing but attacking proactively? Courage is commendable, but that's all there is..."

With that, the three-tomoe Copy Wheel Eye manifested; the two locked eyes, the drunken ninja instantly froze in place, and within the illusion space, several massive iron nails drove him firmly.

The other two sensed something amiss, tilted their heads slightly to glance behind, but with a single look they stiffened at the window, eyes terrified, staring at those eyes.

"U... Uchiha."

Uchiha Pan let out a light hum; the two's pupils dilated, losing focus, their bodies moving uncontrollably toward him.

He is a genjutsu ninja personally selected by Shisui Uchiha; mastery of genjutsu cannot be compared to ordinary ninja outside the clan—only the three-tomoe Uchiha can match him.

Dealing with three middle-aged chunin is just a matter of a couple of hums.

At this moment, the drunken ninja finally sobered up; though his body could not move, his mind was crystal clear, and he asked in terror, "Copy Wheel Eye! Why, why would a place like this encounter an Uchiha?"

You, finally.

Uchiha Pan naturally ignored him and kept casting an illusion, controlling the three and having them recount every piece of information they knew.

After a moment, having learned the sequence of events, Uchiha Pan forced the three to run outside and kill themselves. Uemura Yishi sighed and said, "It's only been three months since we seized the salt fields and bought the shops, barely a month. In just one month they have attempted seven assassinations on me; this time they sent so many people plus three ninja—this is no longer an assassination, is it?"

For three months, Uemura Yishi has followed the development plan Sima Yi and Shisui gave him before they left, and he did not start any business in the first two months.

Instead, he leveraged the power of Uchiha ninja to sweep and interrogate some nearby bandit mountain thieves.

Those with connections were temporarily detained, those without were used if useful, the useless were killed—this not only earned them a lot of money but also added many laborers.

Moreover, these people knew the surroundings well; they were also clear on many nobles' information, and this intelligence helped them integrate here quickly.

Additionally, those connected mountain bandits had complex and varied backers, many of whom were vassals of lords, developing armed forces independently of their lords.

Some were even privately cultivated by a lord's sons; using this information they quickly cooperated with certain nobles, and with money, pathways, and armed support they seized a salt field and many shops within just a month.

Such actions naturally provoked the salt merchants, leading to constant assassinations for a month.

Uemura Yishi looked at the shattered glass on the ground and couldn't help but sigh, "The lord is singing day and night, yet his nobles are beaten like this and he does nothing; what a senile fool."

And those who devour people without spitting out bones, take money but do nothing; meanwhile we lack manpower, so we cannot employ some radical measures.

Seizing and monopolizing the salt route requires not only money and strength but also enough people to manage it.

But Uemura Yishi's caravan lacks manpower, so they can only opt for high‑priced wall‑digging, which takes time.

Uchiha Pan heard this and said, "Reinforcements sent by the clan head have sped up our progress; we've almost finished investigating those people's backgrounds."

"That's good. Under pressure and inducement I don't believe they won't compromise, but the local salt merchants are still too impolite; it's time to give them some deterrence!"

"Lord Danzo, may I ask why you suddenly summoned me?"

Three days after Jiraiya returned to Konoha, news of the Legendary Sannin's comeback spread rapidly throughout the Village, and rumors that the Third Hokage would soon pass the mantle to Jiraiya circulated; the villagers were excited, and the public felt a bit at ease.

That evening, after Shisui reported all accumulated matters to the Third Hokage in one go, he received an invitation from Danzo while returning to his clan's lands.

They arrived at a dilapidated ninja temple, where two snarling stone statues loomed above, gazing down at them.

Danzo, with his back to Shisui, squinted and said in a low voice, "You've heard the Village's rumors about Jiraiya, haven't you?"

Shisui's eyes flickered; he cautiously watched Danzo's back and replied softly, "I heard the Third Hokage intends to appoint Jiraiya as the Fifth Hokage; if true, it would be good for Konoha."

"Heh, that's false; it's just a commoner's wild speculation. In fact, Jiraiya doesn't want to be Hokage and even recommended another person to Rizhan."

At this point, Danzo's gaze grew even colder as he slowly turned to stare at Shisui.

"Lady Tsunade?" Apart from Tsunade, Shisui couldn't think of anyone else Jiraiya might value.

"No, you."

"What?!"

Shisui was shocked; before that day he had hardly any interaction with Jiraiya, so how could the latter possibly recommend him for Hokage?

For a moment he wondered whether Jiraiya was setting him up for a fall, or if Danzo was secretly sowing discord.

But he quickly dismissed those thoughts; a simple question to Jiraiya would settle it.

And his conversation with Jiraiya felt pleasant; he thought Jiraiya wasn't that kind of person.

"I'm surprised, as am I, but unfortunately we won't agree to let a Uchiha become Hokage."

Danzo's words were cold, his expression even a bit mocking.

Shisui regained his composure, no longer dwelling on it, and said calmly, "Thank you, Lord Danzo, for the information. If there's nothing else, I have some clan affairs to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

The Hokage matter isn't urgent; after all, someone else is more eager.

Having said that, Shisui turned to leave, when eight Root ninja suddenly appeared and surrounded him.

Shisui looked back at Danzo.

Danzo's gaze was complex, his expression wavering, seeming hesitant.

A few breaths later, he finally decided, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes as he raised his hand to signal action.

At that moment his raised hand froze; atop the two stone statues suddenly stood three Uchiha clan ninja, their Sharingan fixed intently on Danzo.

These were Shisui's guards; meeting a dangerous man like Danzo, he could not have come alone.

Danzo stared at Shisui, very surprised; he truly hadn't expected Shisui to still have guards, indicating that after becoming clan head he had indeed matured.

However, he didn't panic; after a moment's thought he casually waved, the eight ninja withdrew immediately, and Shisui nodded, allowing the three to leave.

With the probing done, Danzo got straight to the point.

"What does that sentence mean?"

Shisui smiled gently, instantly grasping Danzo's intent.

The night he became clan head, on his way back to the clan lands after briefing the Third Hokage, he met Danzo, who had been waiting for him.

The two had a brief conversation.

Shisui had once been very curious why Danzo harbored such hostility toward the Uchiha, only to receive the absurd reply, "The Uchiha clan is a clan of hatred."

Shisui then cast an illusion, sighing within it, "To think the answer is such a boring one; I actually imagined that if you became Hokage your attitude would change—what a pity."

That simple remark troubled Danzo for several months.

Suppressing the Uchiha was a policy left by his teacher; for years, for Konoha's sake, he has upheld it as a guiding principle, even personally testing to learn their weaknesses.

But now a slight concession might give him a chance to become Hokage; if he could become Hokage, the Uchiha issue would be solved, including the northern threat, and he is confident he could handle it easily and do even more for Konoha, which left him momentarily hesitant, unsure what to choose.

Not to exaggerate, with Uchiha power backing a ninja outside the clan for Hokage, that person's odds would be at least twenty percent higher.

Of course, if supporting a clan member, it's only twenty percent.

So, is it the Hokage, or steadfastness? "What does that mean?"

Shisui smiled gently and explained, "It probably means that only those with vision can become Hokage, not that becoming Hokage grants vision."

"Are you playing tricks on me?"

"The Uchiha have always valued integrity; it now depends on how Lord Danzo chooses. Konoha is currently weather‑beaten, needing a fresh force to nourish it."

"However, I trust the Third Hokage's judgment; as long as the Hokage speaks, the Uchiha will have no reason not to comply for Konoha's sake."

Shisui finished speaking, ignored Tuan Zang, and turned away.

Tuan Zang watched Shisui's retreating figure and no longer tangled.

Hokage, stand firm? All he did was for the Leaf Village! (End of chapter)