Konoha Notes.

Chapter 522 Under the straw hat, there was no one.

Chapter 522 Under the bamboo hat, there was no one.

From the graduation ceremony to the Hokage inauguration ceremony, aside from being a bit informal, everyone who was supposed to be there and everyone who needed to know about the event were there.

It's just a matter of needing to re-run the program.

Konoha Ninja Academy was given an unusual and unexpected holiday.

The participants did not anticipate such benefits when they were planning this event.

Sasuke looked at the jubilant crowd. He had seen those faces of the ninja village representatives many times before.

In the secret service's conference room, and in the fleeting moments when they crossed paths in the corridor, they always carried a subtle, albeit imperceptible, thorn when facing Kakashi.

Now all those thorns had been withdrawn, replaced by a kind of docility he had never seen before.

Sasuke broke away from the crowd.

"Well done, Sasuke-kun." Kakashi appeared beside him at some point.

"I've been thinking of putting that thing on that guy for two months now."

"But if it were me, I could never do it."

"You've recovered?" Sasuke glanced at him.

Director Hatake didn't come to work yesterday, and Sasuke thought he might not be involved today.

"I haven't recovered at all." Kakashi immediately adopted a weak posture, holding his forehead. "So I'll have to leave the office matters to Itachi. I feel really bad about it."

Sasuke ignored the superficial performance.

"Mr. Shuji became the sixth generation at this time."

"Given your senior status, the position of Hokage wouldn't have been so easily obtained."

This is why Sasuke went to Kakashi in the first place. Jiraiya's plan was for them to find a way to put the Hokage hat on Shuji, but Sasuke had been in the secret service long enough and knew that things weren't that simple.

That's why he went to find Kakashi.

The absence of a candidate who was already considered the next Hokage will cause many problems.

This man is someone we must win over to our side.

Director Hatake said, "That's great."

Sasuke frowned. He stared at the face, which was mostly covered by a mask, trying to find even a trace of resentment or dejection.

"While Shuji is indeed stronger than you, is becoming Hokage completely unimportant to you?"

"Don't his expectations of you give you confidence?"

"This is—"

Naruto.

He couldn't finish his last sentence.

Kakashi scratched his head: "It's true, but you can't talk to your teacher like that, Sasuke."

"It's really disheartening to receive no respect from your disciples compared to becoming Hokage."

Faced with this teacher who remained as listless and emotionally detached as ever, Sasuke gave up on pursuing the matter.

Kakashi kindly reminded him, "You'd better think more about yourself than me."

"That guy is good in every way, except he's petty. Most of the time he's fair and square, but when it comes to revenge, he'll never hold back."

After saying that, he waved his hand and left, saying he was going back to recuperate.

Sasuke didn't watch him leave. He already knew what Kakashi meant by that reminder, so there was no need for him to think about it over again.

Since school was letting out early, he planned to finish the report at home while it was still fresh in his mind, and then go directly to the laboratory building in the western suburbs.

This matter has dragged on long enough.

As I walked through the commercial street, news of the Hokage change had already spread throughout the village. Several people chatting idly in front of shops were whispering amongst themselves, afraid that the news would become outdated if it cooled down.

"So Lady Tsunade hasn't stepped down yet? I thought—"

"After all, Lady Tsunade served as Hokage for several years."

"Of course she's great, the Fifth Hokage is definitely great. But she hasn't shown up much lately."

Sasuke walked past them, hearing snippets of conversation mixed in with the sounds of the street.

"Speaking of which generation, which is the person in the office now?"

"That's how Lord Shuji took office—could it be that Mr. Uzumaki—"

This was speculation from a Konoha ninja of relatively low rank. Sasuke did not stop.

After walking for a while and entering the clan's territory, the topic of discussion changed.

"That green light that flew over the village the day before yesterday, that was a pupil technique, wasn't it?"

"Is it Shisui? Has he developed his eye power to that extent?"

"No, Shisui is in Izuku Port."

"Is that a weasel?"

"No, Itachi was in the secret service office; many people saw him."

"The exact location is uncertain, isn't it? Anyway, there are many ways to cover it up —"

"It is said—it is said that person is Lord Shuji—"

"That kind of technique is only available to those with the Mangekyou Sharingan—"

Sasuke's steps faltered at the edge of those words. He didn't know what the Mangekyou Sharingan was, but he knew very well what the Sharingan was.

The person standing on the stage today had ordinary black eyes, which he could see very clearly.

Unless that person is not Senju, or rather, not just Senju.

When the thought crossed his mind, he found it somewhat absurd. But before that absurdity, another, more practical question took hold of his mind.

If this is true, then his report—

Thinking this, Sasuke returned home. Mikoto Uchiha wasn't there, and Fugaku was waiting for someone. When he saw Sasuke return, he didn't ask any questions.

Sasuke temporarily set aside the question of Shuuji's bloodline. The answer Tobirama Senju sought wasn't in bloodline or identity, or at least not entirely in that regard.

His report was mostly complete; all he had to do today was add the last few lines.

After finishing, Sasuke planned to go out.

As we passed through the corridor and were almost at the reception room in the front yard, Fugaku's voice came from inside.

"Shisui, where have your eyes gone?"

Sasuke paused at the corner of the corridor. Shadows obscured his figure, and the paper door to the reception room was ajar, allowing a glimpse inside.

Zhi Shui sat cross-legged on the futon, his back straight, his smile as gentle as ever.

"Right here."

This answer itself did not constitute a refusal or an explanation. Fugaku simply closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his Sharingan with three tomoe had changed.

Black lines spread out deep within the pupils, and the three magatama were linked together by some more complex pattern.

Shisui, standing opposite Fugaku, maintained the three-tomoe stare in his eyes, neither forced back by the pressure nor responding with an equal display of ocular power.

That was enough for Fugaku to understand.

"So the rumors are true."

Shisui said, "This is my own decision. Those eyes are far more useful to Shuji than to me."

"Then where did your eyes come from?" Fugaku questioned.

This is a pair of Sharingan with three tomoe. The Uchiha clan has a stockpile of them, but no one can use them without the clan head's help. Even Itachi couldn't surpass him in this matter.

"This is a remnant of that era," Shisui replied. "Shuji has refused to take my eyes back many times, but even now, if I wanted to, I could still do it."

"He absolutely dislikes those eyes unless it's absolutely necessary."

Fugaku remained silent for a long time.

dislike.

An outsider who obtains the Mangekyou Sharingan expresses his dislike for it.

It's a truly laughable answer, but it's not entirely impossible for that person to be the one in question.

"I'm not the only one who wants to know the truth," Fugaku said. "The clansmen won't accept this easily. Let's get the eyes back first, Shisui."

"Make sure they know your eyes are still on you."

As for the future—

Fugaku didn't finish his sentence. Or perhaps he didn't know what to say.

"I will go to the western suburbs."

Shisui got up, left the reception room, and saw Sasuke not far away. He smiled.

"Sasuke, are we going out?"

"----Um."

Sasuke looked into Shisui's eyes, and within those eyes lay the eyes of others, and it seemed that he had entrusted yet another pair of even more powerful eyes to someone else.

Sasuke knew what the Sharingan meant to the Uchiha clan.

Entrusting one's eyes to others is a heavier burden than entrusting one's life.

He was willing to fight to protect his comrades, even if it meant dying in battle. But would he hesitate to entrust his eyes to foreigners?

Sasuke didn't know the answer.

He silently accompanied Zhishui as they walked outside. After walking for a while, Zhishui asked, "Are you also going to the western suburbs?"

"Hmm—Shisui—you—"

Shisui said, "The Kaleidoscope is above the Three-Tomoe, and it can only be obtained by losing one's most treasured possession."

"Even within a single clan, it represents the most powerful force."

"But I, who have had those eyes for many years, can do nothing."

"And even longer ago, the clan leader who also obtained the kaleidoscope was unable to bring anything with him."

"The clan continues to descend into a more desperate situation day by day, locked in a standoff with the village, each wearing each other down."

Sasuke listened in silence. Much of what he said was familiar to him, but some was new to him.

"I once thought I could become a bridge. But Itachi ended up on the same path as me."

"But looking back now, what we did ultimately couldn't rewrite that ending."

Shisui turned his head and looked at Sasuke.

"He can."

He said this with great certainty.

"He can do it. A clan and a village, a village and other villages."

"Shuji, no, only the Sixth Generation could bring all this to fruition."

"Thank you, Sasuke. I've heard that you did a lot of work in this whole thing."

Shisui withdrew his gaze, but did not stop walking; only then did a hint of regret appear in his voice.

"It's such a pity that I couldn't see that scene in person. Itachi is probably—a little disappointed too."

"However, if both of us were present, the Sixth Boss would have noticed it beforehand."

Hearing the undisguised disappointment in his words, Sasuke couldn't help but say, "There will be a formal ceremony."

"That's great."

This is the second time Sasuke has heard this phrase today. The first time was from Kakashi, and the second time was from Shisui.

The same words, spoken by different people, carry vastly different weights.

After the two arrived at the laboratory building, Shisui walked towards the stairs on the other side.

"I'm going to find Kabuto-kun."

Sasuke walked alone towards the stairs leading underground.

He hadn't seen Tobirama Senju for a long time. The Second Hokage seemed to have several more things to attend to.

Sasuke hesitated to hand over what he was holding. Instead, he unrolled the scroll and read it word by word.

Finally, he said, "He—Mr. Shuji—is the one who bears all expectations."

Tobirama said, "This is the result."

Sasuke said, "He is the one who brings hope."

Tobirama asked again, "Where does hope come from?"

Sasuke first answered fluently: To bring hope to others, one needs to be able to see the crisis, formulate a strategy, then explain the future, and finally put it into action.

Tobirama said, "Can't others do this? Don't they have enough insight? Don't they have enough strategy? Can't they articulate their ideals or put them into action?"

Sasuke painstakingly pieced together the words.

"Some people lack insight, some lack ideas, some are not good at speaking, and some don't know how to act."

"Even if one knows what is right, one may be unable to put it into practice because of one's own identity."

"From an individual's perspective, from a clan's perspective, from a village's perspective, each different identity will bring about completely different solutions, and each identity will also bear different ideals."

He stopped abruptly at this point. It was as if a thin membrane had been pierced, and the cold truth beneath surged up.

"Mr. Shuji can do it—"

Tobirama nodded slightly: "Everyone has positions they cannot sever. Parents, siblings, lovers. Whether it's an innate identity or a natural bond, it will create inclinations."

"Those who come from powerful ninja clans naturally have to bear more responsibility."

"Even Shuji, when he cannot escape his own desires and walks a path that goes against everyone's wishes, will inevitably be defeated by you."

"In this incident, his attention was also diverted to other things."

"But no one told him about this beforehand, which means that when he doesn't want to become Hokage, he will also be betrayed by the others who expect him to become Hokage."

"The same thing will happen to you. When you can no longer respond to those behind you, their betrayal is inevitable."

"Respond to one person. Respond to an entire clan. Respond to an entire village."

"Sasuke. Do you understand now? What does it take to become Hokage? Are you really prepared to bear the price that must be paid?"

"I know that your wish originated from Shuji's praise, and your motivation comes from the glory of the Uchiha clan."

"And what these two things can bear is not a match for the shadow."

Sasuke closed his eyes.

What he's chasing isn't a position. Not even an identity.

Rather, it is the unity of all thoughts.

One must stand on the highest ground. Become someone with no way out, someone who can be betrayed by anyone at any time.

Then Sasuke opened his eyes.

The three tomoe in his pupils rotated silently.

"I understand, Second Generation."

He presented the report with both hands.

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