Chapter 26: The Rise of Hiruzen Sarutobi: A Detailed Introduction to Uchiha Jin!

Uchiha Jin narrowed his eyes.

At Uchiha Amano’s question, his mind began racing furiously.

His own influence has reached its limit; with Danzo's recent reckless actions, he has already drawn in nearly everyone he could, leaving only figures like Fugaku and Shisui—Uchiha whom he could never possibly sway.

So now…

It’s truly time to open up. After all, many of my future moves will require full cooperation from everyone here!

No choice.

Without a system or Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, I have virtually no chance of defeating Konoha single-handedly. All I can rely on now are the Uchiha before me.

He took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

“Elder Amano is right—I’ve seen through it all along!”

“But the Uchiha clan speaks only through strength. I knew that even if I’d spoken up back then, none of the clan members would have trusted me.”

“So all I could do was protect myself.”

As Uchiha Jin spoke, those present slowly nodded.

Yes!

The Uchiha clan relies on strength!

A man with no strength—even someone as gentle as Shisui—would never listen to his words.

Uchiha Shunra then spoke: “Jin-kun made the right choice. The Uchiha are indeed extreme, and now isn’t the time to discuss those matters. Let’s get straight to the point.”

“All Uchiha suffer from a lack of wisdom. Use this moment, Jin-kun, to explain the bigger picture to everyone.”

“At the very least!”

“Let everyone gain at least a basic understanding of the village and the clan!”

Everyone nodded at his words.

They were genuinely curious—whether radical, moderate, or neutral, none of them were ever ones to think deeply.

Now that a chance to learn this had arisen, they all wanted to hear it.

They truly wanted to know: why, during the Third Shinobi War, had Jin been certain the village would eliminate the Uchiha?

And as for that—

Uchiha Jin didn’t dodge. He nodded and spoke: “Since everyone wants to hear, I’ll just speak freely.”

“Perfect!” Everyone chimed in.

Uchiha Jin didn’t waste time—he asked directly: “Everyone knows Hashirama Senju became Hokage through his overwhelming power that dominated the shinobi world; Tobirama Senju’s strength may have been inferior to the First, but he was still among the top in the entire shinobi world, not to mention his unparalleled strategy and planning.”

“Then—what about Hiruzen Sarutobi?”

“Is it really because of his so-called title—the strongest Hokage?”

Uchiha Jin sneered.

After hearing this question, everyone present looked utterly bewildered.

That’s right!

They might know little about the First and Second, but they knew Hiruzen Sarutobi well.

Did they think he was powerful? They weren’t sure!

Hiruzen Sarutobi only fought on a few battlefields during the Second War, then stayed in Konoha and never returned to combat—even the Konoha Four rarely fought.

But…

He held onto the Hokage position for decades, with no one ever questioning it. Everyone had grown so used to it, they never thought it odd.

Now?

With Uchiha Jin’s words, they finally realized it.

Yes!

This damn thing really is suspicious!

Think of the other villages’ Kage: Raikage A had an invincible body and could fight Minato Namikaze to a standstill; without the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato wouldn’t have stood a chance.

The Third Raikage? Forget it.

Oonoki’s Dust Release? That power wasn’t just talk.

Kirigakure’s Guren and Sunagakure’s Rasa? Their strength was proven on the battlefield.

What about Hiruzen Sarutobi?

Everyone calls him the strongest Hokage, the “Sage of Ninjutsu,” but no one actually knows his true strength.

“Yeah, why?”

“The Third Hokage only talks about the Will of Fire.”

“They call him the Hero of Shinobi, yet Itachi rarely see him fight.”

“It makes no sense!”

Everyone present began speaking at once.

Even the older Uchiha members were baffled, shaking their heads, unable to explain.

Finally,

they all turned their gazes to Uchiha Jin, waiting for their leader’s answer.

And as for that—

Uchiha Jin let out a quiet sigh.

“Someone already gave the answer just now.”

“The Will of Fire.”

“But that wasn’t his original idea—it was something Hiruzen Sarutobi developed later.”

“At first, Hiruzen became the Third Hokage partly due to Tobirama’s dying wish, but mostly because of Kushina Uzumaki’s support.”

“When Hiruzen finally took the Hokage seat, ready to make his mark, his heart turned cold.”

“The Senju clan, pressured by Kushina, didn’t deny his position—but they ignored him completely, adopting passive resistance and lip service.”

“The Uchiha? They looked down on him as Hokage.”

“If the Senju and Uchiha acted this way, what about the other clans? At that time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was nothing but a puppet.”

“How did the situation change?”

“Hiruzen, with no real Hokage authority, had no choice but to go to the Ninja Academy and promote his ridiculous Will of Fire—because he couldn’t do anything else.”

“Then the Second Shinobi War broke out—and Hiruzen got his chance.”

“Do Itachi remember Kinshiki Senju? He was the Senju clan’s hope, the most likely candidate to become the Fourth Hokage—but he died the moment he stepped onto the battlefield, blown to pieces by explosive tags.”

“But here’s the problem!”

“What’s the Senju clan’s trait? Immense chakra and extraordinary vitality!”

“Even a direct hit from explosive tags on an Uchiha would likely only cause serious injury—not death. But Kinshiki, with his superior vitality, died—even Tsunade, the Divine Healer, couldn’t save him.”

“Thus, the Senju clan was severely crippled.”

“Later, Hiruzen launched the Hashirama Cell Experiment, claiming he wanted to recreate the First Hokage’s Wood Release. Then came the mass deaths of Senju on the testing tables.”

“Combined with the fact that during the early Second War, most Senju were sent to the frontlines, these two factors wiped out their elite. The remaining Senju, desperate to preserve their strength, followed Tobirama’s plan to integrate into Konoha: some abandoned their surname to become commoners, others fled to the Land of Fire’s daimyo.”

“At this point, the Senju clan was utterly extinct.”

“But the Senju name still carried weight—Tsunade and Kushina Uzumaki were still alive—and that’s when Katō Dan emerged.”

“He fell in love with Tsunade, leveraged the Senju legacy, and became a top contender for Fourth Hokage.”

“Then—he died.”

“The Uzumaki refused to join Konoha, were besieged, and were mysteriously wiped out. Konoha had the Legendary Sannin, Kiba Hatake, and other top-tier ninja—but they only rescued one Uzumaki: Kushina Uzumaki, and the clan’s sealing techniques.”

“Thinking about it makes me laugh—couldn’t even save the people, yet somehow managed to recover the sealing techniques.”

“Fellow Uchiha, isn’t that amusing?”

“Then came Kiba Hatake—he was also a top contender for Fourth Hokage, then mysteriously committed suicide.”

“I’m baffled!”

“I remember Kiba Hatake was assigned an S-rank mission, and even A-rank missions require strict secrecy. Yet an S-rank mission was leaked across Konoha within a day—secrecy protocols were completely ignored.”

“After Kiba Hatake’s suicide, no one was held accountable. It was just swept under the rug.”

“Then came Orochimaru’s human experimentation and defection. To me, that’s even more absurd. Orochimaru was a commoner—he had clan backing for the Fourth Hokage position, but those clans wouldn’t support his human experiments, would they?”

“Human experiments cost money—high-end equipment requires astronomical sums.”

“Where did the money come from?”

“I don’t believe for a second it happened without village support!”

“Just before Orochimaru’s defection, his name was at its peak for Fourth Hokage. Clearly, this was all a scheme by Konoha’s high-ranking officials.”

“They didn’t want Orochimaru to become Hokage—he was a commoner, yes, but he was ruthless, principled, and would never become Hiruzen Sarutobi’s puppet.”

“So he either defected—or died.”

“Finally, Minato Namikaze—most interesting of all. Everyone knows he was a commoner. Hiruzen made him Hokage precisely because he wanted a puppet.”

“But Minato had his own principles—he wanted to do his own work as Hokage.”

“So he placed Kakashi Hatake in the Anbu, formed his own Hokage Guard—wasn’t that a direct power grab from Hiruzen?”

“Then—he died.”

“Do Itachi see it now? Anyone who threatened the Fourth Hokage position ended up dead—except Orochimaru, who became a missing-nin.”

“Hiruzen Sarutobi used the Will of Fire to control Konoha. Anyone who threatened his power died under mysterious circumstances.”

“Now—it’s the Uchiha’s turn.”

"On one hand, the Uchiha are disobedient, powerful, and unpredictable in temperament; on the other, the village is now severely short on funds—this prime cut of meat has naturally come time to be slaughtered!"