Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 332 Aokiji's Successor (End of this volume)

Leaf.

In a remote corner, there is a house.

"Snap"

The sliding door was pushed open roughly, causing it to spring back.

A figure stood outside the door, his face ashen; it was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He is usually all smiles, showing a kind and approachable demeanor, but this is a rare sight in his entire life.

Inside the room, Danzo sat calmly on a futon, raising his eyes slightly.

It was expected that the other party would appear here at this time with this expression.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again: "Hiruzen, you seem to be in a bad mood."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, with a stern face, strode forward and, without saying a word, punched in the face.

There were no outsiders here, so he didn't need to worry about anything.

Faced with the oncoming fist, Danzo chose not to dodge and let it hit him.

With a bang, Danzo was sent flying, demonstrating the ferocity of the punch.

Not satisfied with that punch, Hiruzen Sarutobi grabbed his opponent's collar with both hands, gritted his teeth, and cursed, "Bastard—!"

Despite being treated this way, Danzo did not resist and calmly said, "If doing this makes you feel better, then do as you please. I won't resist."

"Do you know what you're doing?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi roared at Danzo, demanding, "You betrayed your own village, you betrayed Lord Hashirama's granddaughter, are you even human?"

Danzo roared, his voice no less powerful than Hiruzen Sarutobi's: "I've been no longer human since the moment I took on all the darkness of the village. Aokiji must die."

Hiruzen Sarutobi angrily said, "Why didn't you discuss it with me?"

"This is the only way right now."

Danzo pondered for a moment, then sneered, "Besides, what are we discussing? So you can continue to hesitate and miss opportunities?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but swear and punched Danzo hard in the face.

Danzo was beaten until blood spurted from his face, but a sinister smile appeared on his face.

Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded, "What are you laughing at...?"

"I'm laughing at your incompetence. After your disciple's death, this is the only way you can avenge her."

"Do you think I wouldn't dare kill you?"

"That's right."

"Fine, you can die now. I'll send you to Tobirama-sensei and Hashirama-sama, and see how you'll face them then."

"Fine, I'm going to go to them and complain to them. You're the one who caused this."

"What did you say?!"

"Isn't that right? I advised you long ago to get rid of Aokiji as soon as possible, but you kept hesitating, which forced me to this point... You also have to bear part of the blame for me becoming like this. If Tobirama-sensei had passed the Hokage position to me back then, things wouldn't have come to this."

"As expected, you've been holding a grudge all along."

"Yes, I really am holding a grudge."

"You killed Tsunade, committing an unforgivable crime."

"Crime? What crime have I committed?" Danzo said, looking puzzled. "I did all this for the sake of the village. The position of Hokage must not be handed over to the Uchiha."

"The Uchiha clan are all a bunch of potential psychopaths. Once they're provoked, their brains will go haywire! If the Hokage position were handed over to such a group, it would put the village in danger. Do you really want to see the culmination of Tobirama-sensei and Hashirama-sama's efforts destroyed?"

After saying that, he added:

"You haven't forgotten that Aokiji once held a grudge against the daimyo for punishing him, and then went so far as to beat up his son and extort money from him, haven't you?"

"Clearly, this guy is vindictive. Do you think he'll let us off the hook for constantly suppressing the Uchiha clan if he becomes Hokage one day?"

"I simply struck first..."

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi reduced the force in his hand.

The leader then pushed away Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands and sneered, "Also, stop acting like a victim."

"Your family has grown stronger and stronger by taking advantage of your identity, reaching a number of more than 3000. Don't tell me that you, as the clan leader, know nothing about it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was speechless.

The leader sneered, "Now that Aokiji has been dealt with, the Hokage position is yours for the taking."

He didn't want to give it up, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had the legitimate authorization, and he could take back his position at any time if he wanted to.

After what happened, it was impossible for Hiruzen Sarutobi to continue as Hokage.

Instead of doing that, we should take the initiative.

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent, left the room, and went back to prepare to take over as Hokage again.

……

……

Uchiha clan.

Nanga Shrine.

Fugaku had just finished his mission when he was immediately informed that he was to attend this meeting.

Upon entering the room, Fugaku noticed that everyone's faces were unusually gloomy, and he didn't know why.

Seeing that all the Uchiha members had arrived, the Uchiha clan leader, with a gloomy face, said, "I don't need to tell you all that I've called you here, you should all know that."

The crowd's faces were grim, and they uttered a single sentence: "It's about Aokiji's death, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Fugaku, who was still unaware of the situation, was stunned for a long time before he reacted. He couldn't sit still any longer, stood up, and said in a very excited tone, "What a joke—!"

The Uchiha clan head glanced at him, shook his head, and sighed, "Unfortunately, this is no joke..."

When he learned of this, he found it very difficult to accept, let alone Fugaku, who was quite close to Aokiji.

"With his strength, how could he possibly die..."

"I don't know the specifics of what happened. All I know is that Aokiji and Tsunade were ambushed during their mission and both perished. Tsunade's body was recovered, but Aokiji's body was never found..."

History is like a little girl who can be dressed up however you like. Anyway, Aokiji is already dead, so you can make up any reason you want. Danzo's publicly stated mission was to carry out a mission with Tsunade, not to accept a private mission.

Upon hearing this news, Fugaku felt as if all his strength had been drained away; his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.

The Uchiha clan chief's gaze lingered on Fugaku's eyes for a few seconds, but unfortunately, there seemed to be no change.

He sighed inwardly. It really wasn't working after all…

After the meeting, Fugaku was called aside by the Uchiha clan head and told, "For the next few years, you shouldn't be on any missions. Just stay in the clan and train properly."

After Aokiji's death, Fugaku will be the next candidate for clan leader.

Fugaku understood this as well, and nodded solemnly.

He used to be motivated by this, but when the opportunity actually presented itself, he couldn't feel happy at all.

The Uchiha clan chief added, "Tomorrow, Aokiji and Tsunade's funerals will be held."

Fugaku closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "I understand..."

The next day.

The funeral was held as scheduled, and was kept simple.

After it was over, under the hazy sky, Orochimaru still stood in front of the tombstone, speechless for a long time. Even now, he still found it hard to accept that Aokiji and Tsunade had died.

Besides him, there are also his closest companions to Aokiji and Tsunade.

Orochimaru…

A deep voice came from beside him, calling his name with concern.

As if to fully accept what was happening before him, Orochimaru closed his eyes. After a long while, he opened his snake-like golden vertical pupils and slowly sighed, "Humans are truly fragile..."

After saying this, he left this place of sorrow. The sun that once shone brightly in his heart was now shrouded in dark clouds, becoming even dimmer than the real world and a breeding ground for darkness.

……

……

Years later, one night.

Near the Kannabi Bridge.

Underground, inside a cave.

In the dim light, the old man sitting on the stone chair with his eyes closed—Uchiha Madara—seemed to sense something. He slowly raised his eyelids, and red blood dripped from the depths of his eyes. His gaze fell on the ground three meters directly in front of him.

The next second, a white humanoid creature emerged from the ground.

This creature is called White Zetsu. He had exhausted his lifespan and, before dying, activated the Rinnegan, summoning the Six Paths Gem, a creature cultivated using Hashirama's cells.

Although its combat abilities are not great, it possesses strong reconnaissance skills, which it uses to compensate for its own limited mobility, understand what's happening outside, and find a suitable successor...

Madara Uchiha's gaze was cold and sinister, which would surely instill fear in ordinary people.

Bai Jue, who knew nothing of fear, grinned and said, "Master Ban, I've recently found an interesting person. Would you like to hear about it?"

Madara Uchiha glanced at him.

Sometimes even he, the creator, couldn't understand why the White Zetsu he created had such a talkative personality.

"Uh, Master Ban is really scary..." Despite saying he was scary, Bai Zetsu still had a cheerful attitude.

Madara Uchiha remained silent, his eyes telling the other to shut up.

Bai Jue put away his playful attitude and began to recount what he had seen and heard.

Upon hearing the introduction of a man named Uchiha Obito, Madara Uchiha's calm eyes rippled, and he smiled: "What an interesting brat..."

He was very satisfied with Obito, and since Obito was not as strong as Aokiji, he was much easier to control.

White Zetsu sensed Madara's interest in his words and volunteered, "Shall I bring him to you, Madara-sama?"

"Continue to monitor him, and don't do anything else."

Madara Uchiha said calmly.

With the example of Aokiji Uchiha's failure, he needs to plan carefully this time to ensure that nothing like Aokiji happens again.

Otherwise, if you fail once, just waiting for a suitable target to appear will take a very long time.

"Uchiha Obito, is it?" White Zetsu said with a grin, agreeing, "Master Madara, feel free to call us White Zetsu in this matter."

Having obtained useful information from White Zetsu, Madara Uchiha immediately issued an order to leave: "Alright, you can leave now. I need to rest."

"Oh, right, he's an old man after all, he's getting old..." Bai Jue chuckled and burrowed back into the ground.

Madara Uchiha lay face down, eyes closed, muttering, "Obito Uchiha... nothing like what happened last time will ever happen again..."

(End of this chapter)