Hiruzen Sarutobi drew slowly on his pipe.
The smoke no longer stimulated his body. It had long since become nothing more than ritual.
"Authority," he murmured to himself, "can be summarized as the degree to which I control every faction and institution within the village."
"The Hyuga and the Uchiha… those two nails must be pulled out."
He shook his head and glanced again at the report Sakumo Hatake had submitted.
It detailed Hizashi Hyuga's conduct inside the clan compound yesterday.
"Hizashi has bite," Hiruzen muttered. "He's usable."
Judging from the intelligence and Hizashi's own words, the Hyuga Branch House was practically a natural base of support for him as Hokage.
It would be hard to find a better group to unite.
Even civilian shinobi in Konoha enjoyed remarkable freedom during peacetime. If they wanted missions, they took them. If they did not, they could stay home and sleep.
The Hyuga Clan looked like a prestigious noble house.
Yet most of its members had no such freedom.
It was a feudal military structure hiding something close to a slave system within.
"I need to cultivate Hizashi properly," Hiruzen thought, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. "Let him stir things up inside the Hyuga."
Not just an ordinary Anbu operative.
He hoped Hizashi would show the ability to become a squad leader.
With that kind of status, Hizashi would gain enough leverage to slowly build influence within the Hyuga Clan, attracting branch members who wanted to follow in his footsteps and longed for the Hokage's protection.
"As for the Hyuga Main House, leave them alone for now. They've held their heads high for years. Let this fire burn them first. When they grow anxious enough, I'll sit down and talk with them."
Suppress first. Extend a hand later.
It was a tactic that never failed.
After all, help in a snowstorm meant more than flowers in spring.
As for where the snow came from, that was another matter.
"But where's the opening with the Uchiha?"
"That's the difficult part…"
In Hiruzen's eyes, the trust between the Uchiha Clan and the Hokage's office was dangerously thin.
The reasons were complex.
History weighed heavily.
If he had reincarnated as an Uchiha instead, he would likely keep his distance from the Hokage faction as well.
After all, the stories between Tobirama Senju and the Uchiha dated back to the Warring States era. Even now, they were popular gossip across the shinobi world.
They had even inspired romantic tales. He had heard some naive nobles were quite fond of them.
The founding of the village through cooperation between the Senju and the Uchiha had always felt surreal to Hiruzen.
It had been pushed forward almost entirely by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha themselves. The middle and upper ranks never truly reconciled. The hatred remained real.
If one looked only at the beginning of their reconciliation, it was brilliant.
Madara demanded Hashirama take his own life before they would make peace.
Harsh. Irrational, even.
But Hashirama agreeing had given the defeated Uchiha emotional closure. It preserved Madara's pride.
Two clans that should have destroyed each other in a spiral of vengeance, over Izuna Uchiha's grave and countless fallen comrades, instead clasped hands.
Hashirama stepped back to move forward. He won hearts.
The problem was what came after.
There was no institutional restraint. Everything rested on Hashirama's personal charisma.
When Tobirama took office, the Uchiha's hopes regarding the Hokage crumbled. Then came Kagami Uchiha's death.
Layer upon layer.
The Uchiha issue had become a knot.
Take the Konoha Military Police Force.
Anyone with eyes could see it had been established by the Second Hokage to restrict the Uchiha.
First, it confined them to the village, limiting frequent missions and advanced combat training. Acting as internal security, where real battles were rare, dulled them over time.
A lion with its fangs removed.
Second, making a single clan the face of law enforcement, combined with the Uchiha temperament, ensured their reputation in the village would steadily decline.
Yet now, even if Hiruzen wanted to remove the Uchiha from the Police Force, it would be extraordinarily difficult.
It was the last stale piece of bread in their hands.
For them, the fear of losing outweighed the desire to gain.
And Hiruzen's identity as Tobirama's disciple made the older generation distrust him even more.
Under these circumstances, even offering concessions would not yield much.
Between them lay a chain of suspicion that refused to break.
"To resolve the Uchiha problem, I need a powerful bridge."
Hiruzen rubbed his brow.
"The older generation is hopeless. It must be someone from the new generation. A genius loyal to the village, aligned with my thinking, influential within the clan."
"Teacher… you truly left me a mess."
"They say the one who tied the knot must untie it. But even if you returned, I doubt you'd handle it much better."
That boy named Shisui had potential.
But potential was only potential.
In memory, Tobirama often told Kagami that he did not discriminate against the Uchiha. He would claim they were the clan with the deepest love in their hearts, merely misguided.
Perhaps Kagami had believed him.
Hiruzen did not.
If he were reborn as an Uchiha, unless Tobirama could sit inside his body and explain slowly, no amount of words would suffice.
There was always the fear of a Flying Raijin Slice.
Hiruzen's gaze drifted to the Hokage portraits.
He stared at Tobirama Senju's stern face. The red eyes almost resembled an Uchiha's.
A thought flashed through his mind.
This was the shinobi world. There were techniques for everything.
Could he bring his teacher back?
Not as Tobirama Senju.
But as an Uchiha.
Hiruzen's hand clenched.
He had considered using Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation to bring Tobirama back before.
Though it could not restore a shinobi to their full strength in life, Tobirama was the greatest scientist of the shinobi world.
For a mind like his, a body mattered less than a brain.
Hiruzen wanted Konoha to achieve technological superiority. A gap so wide others could not bridge it.
For that, he desperately longed for Tobirama's assistance.
It sounded backwards.
Yet it was true.
There were two problems.
First, the reanimated state.
Without a living body to nourish the soul, a reanimated spirit could only last a few days without deterioration. Over time, it was like air-drying the soul.
And that was Konoha's Second Hokage.
In such a state, Tobirama could not work effectively.
Second, a far more realistic issue.
Hiruzen wanted Konoha to grow. Diversified. Efficient. Powerful.
But it had to remain under his rule.
If Tobirama returned in his original identity, regardless of the difficulty of resurrection, Hiruzen knew his teacher well.
The Second Hokage would attempt to become the power behind the throne.
Not from greed.
From conviction.
Men like that carried overwhelming self-awareness.
Hiruzen's authority would inevitably erode.
And authority was something he could not yield.
But if Tobirama were revived as an Uchiha?
Everything seemed solvable.
Give him a suitable identity. An orphan of the Uchiha Clan. Or be bold and declare him a descendant of Izuna Uchiha.
Wasn't Tobirama intimately familiar with Izuna?
Disguise would not be difficult.
In that case, the perfect bridge between the Hokage and the Uchiha would exist.
And Tobirama, as Tobirama Uchiha, would be fundamentally unable to interfere too deeply with Hiruzen's authority as Hokage.
Konoha's shared foundation was the Will of Fire.
If Tobirama revived in an Uchiha body and claimed the Hokage's power, the implications would be catastrophic.
Killing was not enough. Possession as well?
No.
If Tobirama returned as Tobirama Uchiha, he would live as an Uchiha in Konoha.
He would never again be the Second Hokage.
That secret must remain buried forever.
Teacher. I am the Hokage. You are only an Uchiha.
He could offer advice.
Nothing more.
At first, it had been a fleeting idea sparked by the red eyes in the portrait.
Now it ran wild in his mind.
He was already thinking of methods.
How to resurrect Tobirama.
No.
How to resurrect Tobirama Uchiha.
Forbidden Jutsu filled his thoughts. Techniques of soul manipulation. Chakra alteration.
He stared at the portrait and took slow steps toward it.
At that moment, a knock sounded on the Hokage office door.
Danzo Shimura entered, followed by Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
"Enter," Hiruzen said, still gazing at Tobirama's portrait.
When the three stepped inside and saw his posture, they froze.
Hiruzen… were you missing teacher that much?
The silence lingered.
"Hiruzen, you…" Danzo finally spoke, breaking it.
Hiruzen turned his head. His eyes met Danzo's.
Cold. Calculating. Almost eerily rational.
"Yes. Apologies for the wait."
"I was thinking. Please, have a seat."
The three exchanged glances.
His posture. His tone.
And those eyes.
Why did he look so much like teacher?