Chapter 15 I Am The Hokage

When Hiruzen saw the commotion below, he didn't feel so good.

The reason he'd let Naruto attend the Academy was so that the boy could form bonds with his peers in the village.

The rumors about the Kyubi were also part of his plan, as he wanted Naruto to experience pain early, so he'd grow to treasure everything he had in the village later.

Was there anything wrong with that approach?

Of course not!

After all, this is how almost all the Great Shinobi Villages operate.

Even Kushina had gone through the same process back in the day.

It was all for the good of the village! If sacrificing the Jinchuriki could preserve peace and stability, then what's the problem?

But...

Hiruzen had never expected Naruto to be completely unfazed by it all.

He'd started spreading rumors about the Kyubi five years ago. He still remembered when Naruto went out for the first time to experience the rumors, Hiruzen stroked his beard with satisfaction and was very pleased that everything was going according to his plan.

After being scolded and hated by the villagers, Naruto locked himself in the house and refused to go out.

At that time, Hiruzen was even worried that Naruto might be too mentally fragile and couldn't recover.

As a result...

As time went on, Hiruzen gradually discovered that something was wrong.

Naruto locked himself up at home for half a year straight!

When he finally checked in, what he saw is Naruto happily playing with wooden toys on the floor, without a care in the world! There wasn't even a trace of emotional trauma.

At that time, Hiruzen still felt it was fine. After all, when Naruto grows up, he will definitely need to go to the street to buy things or go out for a walk, right?

Then… he discovered that Naruto had awakened the bizarre Kekkei Genkai.

After that, the well-fed and well-dressed little Naruto disappeared from everyone's sight again.

So much so that when Naruto showed up today, the villagers, who had once called him a demon fox, had long since forgotten about it.

Now, not only did he fail to let Naruto feel the importance of his companions in advance, but he also exposed his identity as the Yondaime's son...

This was completely not what Hiruzen had planned!

"Cough, cough…"

Hiruzen, who is standing on the stage, coughed several times in succession before drawing the attention of the crowd to himself.

He then began a speech that lasted more than an hour.

During this time, Naruto noticed the little loli Hinata peeking at him, so he smiled at her.

However, the little girl was probably too shy and immediately hid behind Hiashi's back the moment he did.

Hiashi discovered that the yellow-haired brat had ill intentions towards his daughter, so he glared at him fiercely.

Noticing the hostile glare from his future father-in-law, Naruto instinctively felt a little guilty.

After all, he really was planning to steal Hiashi's 'cabbage'.

Maybe not now, but it was only a matter of time.

He glanced at Hinata, who was blushing, and suddenly smiled cheekily.

'That's right!'

'Why should he be afraid of that old geezer?'

'I, Uzumaki Naruto, a yellow-haired man, decided to go to the Hyuga Clan's compound as soon as I turned 18 to show them the power of the yellow-haired man.'

"Hmph!"

When Hiashi saw that the yellow-haired brat's smile became more and more brazen, he nearly turned purple from rage.

If it weren't for the fact that his Byakugan couldn't kill with just gaze, Naruto would've died a thousand deaths already.

And just like that, what was supposed to be a nice school opening ceremony got turned into a full-on staring contest between Naruto and Hiashi.

Sasuke, who was not far away, looked at Naruto with red eyes.

When he thought that the other party was the son of the hero, Yondaime Hokage...

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart.

Standing before him, Sasuke suddenly felt like he wasn't good enough.

But thinking back to their previous battle, he realized it's not like he didn't have a chance!

He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes were red, and he thought to himself, 'Just wait! I will definitely defeat you and prove the power of the Uchiha Clan!'

Meanwhile, Naruto was too busy exchanging glares with his future father-in-law, so he didn't even notice Sasuke, who was looking at him with red eyes.

Throughout Hiruzen's entire speech, he never once addressed Naruto's identity.

Even though many people asked him about it, he ignored them.

The Shinobi from large Shinobi Clans knew the inside story and didn't ask further, but many of the adults here were Shinobi and civilians who were unaware of the situation.

They only knew that Yondaime Hokage had sacrificed himself to save everyone in Konoha Village on the night of the Kyubi Rampage.

The orphaned son of the Yondaime Hokage is the son of a hero, so this is a big event that shocked the entire village.

"Sandaime-sama, that child is the child of Yondaime-sama, right?"

"Yeah! Why haven't we heard anything about this before?"

"Is there some hidden secret behind this, Sandaime-sama?"

Hiruzen didn't give a direct answer. He just responded to their questions with a stiff, forced smile.

Then, ignoring the murmurs from the crowd, he turned to the children and said, "That's all for today."

"Kids, remember: When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames."

"The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew. When a Shinobi truly wishes to protect what's dear to them… that's when their power reveals itself."

With a few more parting words, Hiruzen turned around, hands clasped behind his back, and walked off the stage.

But when he overheard some villagers asking whether Naruto was really Minato's child, his whole face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

That only made Hiruzen walk away even faster.

He still hadn't figured out how to handle Naruto's identity being exposed.

According to his original plan, he was going to wait until Naruto became an adult, or truly inherited the Will of Fire, before revealing the boy's lineage.

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine Naruto's identity as Minato's son would get out on the very first day of school…

'Why couldn't they have recognized Naruto as the Kyubi's Jinchuriki instead?'

After returning to the Hokage's Office, Hiruzen immediately sat down to think about how to deal with this matter.

Knock knock…

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in."

Still leaning on his elbows in deep thought, Hiruzen looked up and saw that it was Danzo.

Thinking of Naruto, he carefully looked at Danzo's expression, and could pretty much guess what this guy was here for.

Then, he asked calmly, "Danzo, what do you want?"

"Huruzen, hand over the Kyubi's Jinchuriki to me, and I will definitely..."

"That's enough!"

Before Danzo could even finish his sentence, he was rudely interrupted by Hiruzen.

It can be seen that Hiruzen is very angry this time.

The Kyubi's Jinchuriki of Konoha Village can only be controlled by himself, the Hokage, so how could it be handed over to Danzo?

If he did that, what's next? Danzo using the Jinchuriki to seize power and oust him from the Hokage position?

Therefore, Danzo's request directly touched Hiruzen's reverse scale.

"Hiruzen, the Kyubi's Jinchuriki has tremendous potential!"

"Give him to me, and I'll make him the strongest Jinchuriki in history!"

Danzo seemed completely unfazed by Hiruzen's angry outburst, as he was already used to arguing with him every time they met anyway.

"Don't even think about Naruto!"

Hiruzen slammed his desk and stood up, cursing angrily.

The office was suddenly filled with the smell of gunpowder, as if the slightest spark would cause an explosion.

After a long silence, It was Danzo who backed down first, at least outwardly.

However, he still grumbled stubbornly, "Hiruzen, you're going to regret this!"

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

Hiruzen identified himself, reminding Danzo not to overstep his bounds.

When he heard the word 'Hokage', Danzo's face turned even darker.

Without another word, he stormed out and slammed the door behind him.