Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 86: Pig, Deer, and Butterfly's Choice
"Now that Lord Jiraiya has returned, I believe Lord Hokage will be able to relax a little." Nara Shikaku said this without any emotion.

It is obvious that Sarutobi Hiruzen let Jiraiya serve as the Hokage's advisor at this time. He is simply paving the way for Jiraiya to become the next Hokage.

But Nara Shikaku had no intention of discussing this issue with Sarutobi Hiruzen. Although they were both assistants to the Hokage in name, Danzo used to control an army that even the Hokage could not interfere with, and his authority was so great that he could actually be called the Executive Vice Hokage. He was just the Hokage's staff, and apart from making suggestions and helping to deal with some tedious official business, he had no other authority. Therefore, Nara Shikaku knew that it would be best for him not to speak up if he could regarding this issue involving the village heir.

Moreover, Nara Shikaku really does not think that Jiraiya will take the position of Hokage. It would be fine if ordinary villagers did not know about this, but the high-ranking ninjas in their village all knew about Jiraiya's situation. If Jiraiya really became Hokage, then Nara Shikaku really couldn't say for sure whether it would be him or the toad from Mount Myoboku who would become Hokage.

"Shikaku, Jiraiya has just returned. There are still many things he doesn't understand about the village, so he needs your help." Sarutobi Hiruzen said.

"Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama should be familiar with the affairs of the village soon," said Nara Shikaku.

Sarutobi Hiruzen saw Nara Shikaku's Tai Chi attitude and understood the other party's thoughts, but Sarutobi Hiruzen really had no choice. Of his three former disciples, Orochimaru had cut off the forehead protector, and Tsunade's status and reputation were extremely high. If she was determined not to return to the village, even Sarutobi Hiruzen would not be able to do anything to her. The only one he could call back to the village was Jiraiya.

Thinking of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but sigh, and looked at Nara Shikaku, with a look of reminiscence on his face: "Shikaku, time flies so fast. When I witnessed you, Haiyi, and Choza making the earring oath, you three had just graduated from the ninja school. Now, in the blink of an eye, you have all become the backbone of the village, and I have also grown old."

When Nara Shikaku heard Sarutobi Hiruzen say this, he thought to himself that something was not right. He knew that Sarutobi Hiruzen was forcing him to express his opinion on behalf of Ino-Shika-Cho, but now the old man had already put aside his pride and taken the initiative to make friends with him. If he continued to refuse, it would be a bit ungrateful.

Nara Shikaku sighed inwardly. Although after the village was built, the Ino, Shika, and Chou clans were no longer vassals of the Sarutobi clan as they had been during the Warring States Period, the tradition of taking the earring oath under the witness of the current clan leader of the Sarutobi clan still existed. Now that Sarutobi Hiruzen had mentioned this on his own initiative, he had no right to refuse.

"I am a stupid subordinate, Lord Hokage, please just say what you want to say." Nara Shikaku stood up and bowed.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes flickered. He also knew that this move of his was a bit too much for the Ino-Shika-Cho clan who had always supported him. Although the relationship between Ino-Shika-Cho and Sarutobi had always been that the Sarutobi clan provided protection for the three clans with its strength, while the Ino-Shika-Cho provided strategic and intelligence support to the Sarutobi clan since the first generation of Ino-Shika-Cho made a contract in front of the Sarutobi clan leader of that generation during the Warring States Period.

But what Sarutobi Hiruzen wants to do now is to push Ino-Shika-Cho to the front and let the three tribes bet their fortunes to support Jiraiya.

This does not benefit the three clans at all. They are limited by their own strength. Even if they succeed in helping Jiraiya to take the throne, it will be difficult for the three clans to further improve their status in the village.

But if they fail, they will immediately lose everything they have built in the village over the years.

This is also why the three clans were held back by the Inuzuka clan and the Aburame clan, who were obviously inferior to them in strength, during the previous martial law incident.

Although the Ino, Shika, and Chou clans bear the label of Sarutobi Hiruzen, they do not want to go all-in in this gamble.

"Shikaku, I hope you can assist Jiraiya in becoming the Fifth Hokage." Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a burning gaze.

After Sarutobi Hiruzen finished speaking, the Hokage's office fell into a long silence.

"Is this the order from Lord Hokage?" Nara Shikaku asked after a long time.

"No, this is just my personal request." Sarutobi Hiruzen said.

Nara Shikaku's expression changed slightly: "After all, this matter is of great importance. Hokage-sama, please allow me to consider it for a while."

"As I should." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, "You should go back and discuss this matter with Haiyi and Choza."

"I'll take my leave." Nara Shikaku bowed and said.

After Nara Shikaku left, Sarutobi Hiruzen lit his pipe alone and thought about the situation in the village.

Although Nara Shikaku said he would think about it carefully, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew that it was unlikely that the other party would refuse, because he had already made public the gratitude of the Sarutobi clan for protecting the Ino, Shika, and Chou clans for generations. After this time, even if they won, the relationship between the Ino, Shika, and Chou clans and the Sarutobi clan would never go back to the way it was before.

At least, the Sarutobi clan no longer has the qualifications to witness the earring oath of the sixteenth generation Ino-Shika-Cho.

……

After Nara Shikaku returned home, he wanted to call his two old friends for a meeting immediately, but as soon as he got home, he saw Shikamaru sitting on the roof and staring at the stars.

Nara Shikaku thought for a moment and looked up and called out, "Shikamaru, come down for a moment."

Shikamaru, whose mind was completely blank, suddenly heard his father calling him. After coming back to his senses, he asked, "Is there something wrong? Dad."

"Come down first, I have something to ask you." Lu Jiu said.

"Oh, trouble." Shikamaru sighed helplessly, and a trace of fatigue appeared on his young face, which should not appear on the face of a boy of his age. He knew that his father must have something particularly troublesome to ask him since he was looking for him so seriously. Otherwise, with his father's temper, he would just say something casually to him and it would be over.

Shikamaru jumped off the roof and followed Shikaku into the house.

Nara Shikaku took Shikamaru to the study and set up the chessboard.

When Shikamaru saw this, his scalp went numb. Judging from the situation, what his father wanted to do with him was probably much more troublesome than he had imagined.

Nara Shikaku was not in a hurry to confront his son. After the two of them had exchanged dozens of moves, the situation on the chessboard was still tense.

"Shikamaru, I remember that the second son of the Uchiha clan was in the same class as you, right?" When it was Nara Shikaku's turn to make a move, he picked up a chess piece and asked.

"The second son of the Uchiha clan? Is that Sasuke? Yes." Shikamaru nodded.

"How is your relationship with him?" asked Lu Jiu.

"That makes sense. We didn't really interact before, just a few words. But lately, he and Naruto have been hanging out together all day, bringing Choji and me along too. Ino seems to be the one hanging around him all day," Shikamaru said. "Is that so?" Nara Shikaku nodded. "I didn't expect that besides Choji, there would be other kids your age willing to play with you."

"Dad, what you said is a bit too much." Shikamaru raised his head and looked at his biological father with a pair of dead fish eyes. How could a father say that to his own son?
"Haha, don't look at me like that. I also grew up your age. When I was your age, no one of my peers except your uncle Ding Zuo and Uncle Haiyi wanted to play with me." Nara Shikaku said. Their clan has inherited high IQ and a fear of trouble, so it would be strange if children were willing to play with them.

"Dad, what do you want to say?" Shikamaru asked after his mouth twitched for a while.

"Invite your friends to your house sometime soon," Nara Shikaku said after a laugh. "Given your temper, you must have caused a lot of trouble for others. We should be grateful for not making a fuss."

"Apparently, they are the two who are causing trouble," Shikamaru sighed helplessly. Ever since Sasuke joined their gang, he and Naruto would fight once a day and quarrel seven or eight times on average. Although they would reconcile quickly, the noise they made made it impossible for Shikamaru to rest easy.

"You want to invite them both to be our guests, right? I understand." After sighing, Shikamaru accepted the task given to him by Shikaku.

"Okay, I have something to talk to your Uncle Ding Zuo and Uncle Hai Yi about, so I'll leave first." After hearing everything his son said, Nara Shikaku felt relieved. He put down the chess piece and stood up to leave.

"Hey! Dad! At least put the chessboard away first, otherwise I will get scolded!" Shikamaru saw that his father had just left him and shouted behind him, but Nara Shikaku walked away without even looking back, very determined.

"Oh, really." Shikamaru sighed and reluctantly put away the chessboard.

After getting the answer he wanted from Shikamaru, Nara Shikaku's steps became much lighter on his way to the mountains and the Akimichi clan.

As one of the few smart people in the village, Nara Shikaku saw it very clearly. Rather than saying that Jiraiya was the successor chosen by the Third Hokage, it would be better to say that he was the only card that the Third Hokage could still play. If he had a choice, he would rather follow Uchiha than stand up to support Jiraiya. After all, even if Uchiha was a little crazy, he was still better than a person controlled by a summoned beast.

But the Third Hokage had to use such an almost rogue method to force them onto Jiraiya's chariot, which was doomed to fail, and put them into a gamble that was bound to be lost. It could be said that he had foreseen a scenario in the near future where the three clans would lose everything they had now.

But Shikamaru's words rekindled hope in his heart.

The defeat of Pig, Deer and Butterfly is now inevitable, but there is still hope in the future.

"Well, let's use our generation as a sacrifice to the old era." Nara Shikaku thought to himself before entering the Yamanaka clan's territory.

……

In the next few days, all the ninjas in the village knew that Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas, had become the Hokage's advisor. Along with this, there were also rumors that the Sandaime intended to nominate Jiraiya to participate in the Fifth Hokage election.

Even Uchiha Douguang and Kakashi, who had completed the task of clearing out the bandits and returned to the village, received the news at the first time.

Kakashi looked at Uchiha Douguang, wanting to know what Uchiha Douguang thought about this matter.

"Why are you looking at me?" Uchiha Douguang shrugged. "We were the ones who imprisoned the future Godaime Hokage for seven days some time ago. If he wants to cause trouble in the future, neither of us will be able to escape."

"What are you going to do?" Kakashi asked, "Should you tell everyone about his peeping?"

After Uchiha Douguang confronted him that night, he had made up his mind to stand together with Uchiha Douguang.

"Yes, but not now." Uchiha Douguang shook his head and said, "Even if this matter is exposed, it will only be a small stain at most. It may be of some use at a critical moment, but it is still a bit too presumptuous to think that this matter alone can bring him down."

"So what should we do?" Kakashi asked.

"We just need to do what we should do," Uchiha Douguang said, "The selection of Hokage will ultimately be decided by the vote of the Jonin class. He can't just appoint whoever he wants."

"Okay." Kakashi nodded. It seemed that Uchiha Douguang already had a plan. As a companion, he only needed to support him.

After Uchiha Tokugawa and Kakashi submitted their tasks together, they said goodbye to each other. After separating from Uchiha Tokugawa, Kakashi did not rush back. Instead, he went to the village cemetery alone, bought a bouquet of flowers, and found Obito's tombstone.

Kakashi gently placed the flowers in front of the tombstone and stared at his old friend's tombstone. After a long while, he slowly spoke:

"Obito, I think I've found the way to go."

Kakashi touched his left eye which was covered by the forehead protector, and then looked at his right hand which could never be washed clean.

"I hope that in the future, in this new world, no one will repeat our mistakes."

Kakashi said, then turned and left the cemetery.

Not long after he left, the space above Obito's tombstone continued to distort, and a man wearing a mask with only his right eye exposed appeared in mid-air.

"A new world?" The visitor snorted coldly, "ridiculous."

……

During this period of time, Uchiha Obito, who has been busy causing trouble in the Hidden Mist Village, has not paid attention to the situation in Konoha for some time. It was only recently that Black Zetsu reminded him that Konoha Village and the Uchiha clan seemed to have undergone great changes recently, so Uchiha Obito took the time to return to Konoha.

Unexpectedly, not long after arriving, I heard what Kakashi said in front of his own grave.

"Obito, two new Mangekyō masters have emerged from your clan in recent years, and one of them seems to have a very close relationship with your old friend." A dark figure appeared out of nowhere beside Obito and said, "You should have heard of this person. He is the famous Sorai Tokou from the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War."

(End of this chapter)