Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 403 The Hyuga and Uchiha share a common ancestor

"It's a cliché, but it worked. Kushina seems to have fallen in love with Minato Namikaze ever since, hasn't she?"

"Fall in love?"

Hiashi Hyuga is a stoic man whose wife was arranged by his clan; he's rather slow to think in this regard.

Aokiji replied, "Jinchūriki are an important force and must be firmly controlled within the village. It would be very troublesome if a Jinchūriki were to rebel."

"So basically, the identity of the Jinchuriki is often held by the person closest to the Hokage. The wife of the First Hokage, the son of the Fourth Kazekage, the brother of the Fourth Raikage, the Fourth Mizukage, and even the Tailed Beast is sealed in his own body to firmly control the power of the Tailed Beast."

After a pause, Aokiji looked at the other person's face and asked, "Do you know what that means?"

Hiashi Hyuga: "..."

Aokiji gave a cold laugh: "It means that from the moment Kushina fell in love with Minato Namikaze, it has been difficult for anyone to take the position of Hokage, not even Orochimaru, who is impeccable in terms of both seniority and strength."

"Of course, this guy did some things that weren't very clean and didn't fit the image of the Hokage as a great and righteous figure, but the reason he turned out this way was because of orders from above."

"Heh, and as a result, when it came to electing the Hokage, his own mentor used this very reason to block Orochimaru's path to becoming Hokage."

Hiashi Hyuga was taken aback and asked, "Is this the real reason why Orochimaru couldn't be elected Hokage?"

Aokiji laughed and said, "Although countries explicitly prohibit human experimentation on the surface, they still secretly conduct research behind the scenes. Orochimaru only needs to give a word, and he can have as many human subjects as he wants. There is no need to kidnap ninjas from his own village. He used Konoha ninjas for human adaptation and even exposed himself. It was all done on purpose."

Was it done on purpose?

"That's right, it's to distance ourselves from the higher-ups in Konoha."

Hiashi Hyuga asked in surprise, "How do you know so much?"

"Of course, it's because I specifically asked Orochimaru about this."

"W-what!?"

Aokiji revealed a smug expression: "Orochimaru is on my side now."

"!!!"

Orochimaru had betrayed the village for a long time, and the village had lost all contact with him. Aokiji found out his whereabouts in this way, and even made direct contact with him. What's even more unbelievable is that he even tried to win him over.

If the information is true, this man is absolutely terrifying.

"Once I become Hokage, I will bring Orochimaru back to the village."

Hiashi Hyuga's eyes widened: "Impossible! Even if you really become Hokage, how are you going to explain to everyone that Orochimaru has harmed his comrades?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I've already figured out a plan for how Orochimaru will get back to the village."

Aokiji smiled.

In the original story, Orochimaru even killed the Third Hokage, causing countless casualties in the process, yet Konoha still magnanimously let him go in the end.

Orochimaru hasn't done anything yet, so sending him back to the village couldn't be easier.

Aokiji had everything under control; he had already figured out how to get Orochimaru back to the village openly and legitimately.

Once he kills Danzo, just pin all the blame on him, and then portray Orochimaru as a tragic hero.

Since he's always been taking the blame for Hiruzen Sarutobi, it won't hurt to let his disciple take the blame once more.

Hiashi Hyuga: "..."

"Besides his own achievements, the main reason Minato Namikaze became Hokage was because he was Jiraiya's student, and Jiraiya was the Third Hokage's student, creating a connection between them. The Third Hokage had paved the way for Minato's ascension to Hokage long ago, with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the Flying Thunder God Technique..."

Aokiji scoffed and mocked, "The higher-ups have a firm grip on the path to promotion. How could our Uchiha clan possibly have a chance to become Hokage?"

"..."

"Konoha is already rotten... How about it? Now that you know the dark side of the village, let's join the Uchiha clan to overthrow the higher-ups."

Aokiji extended his hand, inviting the other party to join him in a grand undertaking.

Hiashi Hyuga pondered for a moment, then stood up, his attitude firm: "I'm sorry, but I cannot comply..."

Aokiji chuckled, a smirk playing on his lips: "Soon, I... plan to slaughter all the high-ranking officials and their clansmen."

Hiashi Hyuga froze on the spot, his expression filled with astonishment. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a hoarse voice: "Are you... insane?"

Aokiji closed his eyes and said calmly, "This is just a normal counterattack."

"I've never heard of a normal counterattack going to this extent." Hiashi Hyuga's face suddenly turned gloomy, strongly disapproving of Aokiji's actions: "Yes, I admit that your Uchiha clan has suffered a lot of deliberate exclusion from many villages, but that is not a reason for you to take such extreme actions."

"You're wrong. The one who actually took such extreme actions wasn't me, but the higher-ups. They were the ones who planned to wipe out our Uchiha clan first."

Hyuga Hizashi's eyes widened; he had been more shocked by Aokiji today than he had in the entire year.

"I uncovered the spy that the higher-ups had been planting in the Uchiha clan all along. From him, I learned that the higher-ups planned to wipe out the entire Uchiha clan, regardless of age or gender, on the night before the Uchiha coup. But as luck would have it, I happened to be back in the village that night and thwarted the higher-ups' insidious plan."

"The night you came back?"

Hiashi Hyuga exclaimed in astonishment, "Wasn't that during that period not long ago?"

"If I had been even a fraction of a second later, my entire clan would have been slaughtered by the higher-ups."

Aokiji retorted coldly, "Now tell me, is this considered extreme?"

Hyuga Hizashi was speechless; he probably would have done the same thing in his place.

Aokiji told Hyuga Hizashi about the Uchiha coup plan: "The Uchiha just wanted to obtain the rights they deserved, but the higher-ups actually ordered the extermination of my entire clan. Considering the long-term oppression the Uchiha have suffered, it's not hard to guess that the higher-ups have always wanted to destroy the Uchiha, they just didn't have a reason."

Aokiji coldly said, "Since the higher-ups are unjust, then don't blame us Uchiha for being ruthless."

If the content is true, Hiashi Hyuga could understand to some extent why Aokiji was so extreme. The Uchiha clan and its leaders had reached a point of irreconcilable conflict, a situation where it was either him or her to die.

"Is this all there is to it?"

Hyuga Hizashi still harbored illusions: if the Uchiha and the higher-ups were to clash, regardless of who won, Konoha would be severely weakened, giving the enemy an opportunity to exploit the situation.

"This conflict is irreconcilable. I can't solve the problem, but I can deal with the people who created it."

Aokiji grinned and said, "Oh, right, if you don't tell Konoha what I'm about to say, in a sense, you're betraying the village~"

Hyuga Hizashi's eyes widened, a sense of foreboding rising within him: "You..."

"If you tell the village, then you will be my enemy."

"you……"

Hiashi Hyuga's deep voice sounded like he wanted to devour someone: "Are you threatening me!?"

Aokiji barely blinked, calmly stating his facts, a stark contrast to the other man's flushed face: "I'm just stating the facts."

"asshole!"

Hiashi Hyuga hated Aokiji to death. The Hyuga clan just wanted to live a peaceful life and had no desire to get involved in this battle.

Only at this moment did he realize Aokiji's true purpose in coming here: this guy wanted to forcibly drag them onto the pirate ship of the coup.

"Don't think that just because the Hyuga clan is afraid of the Uchiha clan."

Aokiji glanced at him indifferently: "Calm down."

Hiashi Hyuga couldn't believe this guy had the nerve to say such shameless things. He could no longer maintain his composure and angrily cursed, "These kinds of words are the last thing you should be saying, you lunatic!"

Aokiji listened without taking it to heart, even smugly: "A genius at his peak becomes a madman, and a madman at his peak becomes a genius, so? Are you praising me?"

Hiashi Hyuga took a deep breath: "Judging from your tone, since you're so confident, you don't need the power of the Hyuga clan at all."

Aokiji nodded: "That's true."

Hiashi Hyuga almost vomited blood upon hearing this. If he was so powerful, why drag him into this dilemma?

"To be more precise, I hope you can share the victory with me."

Hiashi Hyuga was a little confused: "What do you mean?"

"In the future, I will make a very big cake, but the Uchiha clan alone cannot eat so much cake. Therefore, I need to divide it appropriately so as not to waste it."

Aokiji smiled and said, "However, this kind of thing can only be given to people who are truly trustworthy."

"You trust us?" The Hyuga clan member didn't understand and was stunned for a moment: "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not joking..."

As the other party said, their tone didn't sound like a joke, and Hiashi Hyuga couldn't understand what Aokiji was thinking at all.

"If there is no trust, then creation will suffice, and the same applies to trust."

Aokiji's deep voice carried a meaningful tone: "Do you know? There's a classic saying in officialdom."

"What are you saying?"

"If you weren't greedy, how could I dare to use you?"

Hyuga Hizashi frowned, utterly disgusted: "You're truly despicable."

"Baseness is the passport of the base, nobility is the epitaph of the noble. I'll take that as a compliment."

Hiashi Hyuga snorted coldly, offering no explanation. Someone as taciturn and eloquent as him simply couldn't out-argue the other party's eloquence.

"That being said, not just anyone can gain my trust."

Aokiji smiled mysteriously: "The reason I specifically sought out your Hyuga clan, besides the Byakugan, is actually for another, more important reason."

"An even more important reason?"

Aokiji whetted his appetite, slowing his pace as he spoke: "Yes, if it weren't for this reason, I wouldn't have come to see you today, hoping to plot something important together."

Hiashi Hyuga pressed, "What exactly is it...?"

Aokiji paused for a moment, then continued, "Strictly speaking, the Hyuga clan and the Uchiha clan are related by blood."

Aokiji understood Hyuga Hizashi's words individually, but when the words were put together, he couldn't understand them.

The Hyuga and Uchiha clans are related by blood. What's going on?

This completely shattered Hiashi Hyuga's understanding.

Aokiji lowered his voice and slowly explained, "In our clan's Nanga Shrine, there is a stone tablet that has been passed down through generations. The contents on it are obscure and difficult to understand. Only clan members with Sharingan can understand a few words. As my eye power increases, I can see more and more."

At this point, Aokiji's eyes changed, revealing the Mangekyou Sharingan's pupil patterns: "Through these eyes, I learned that a god once descended to this world, and it was because of this god that this world has chakra."

"This god gave birth to two sons. One of them was the well-known Sage of Six Paths. This Sage of Six Paths also had two sons, namely the Uchiha and Senju clans. These two inherited the Sage of Six Paths' eye power and physical energy, which are the Sharingan and massive chakra that represent the characteristics of their respective clans."

At this point, Aokiji paused for a moment, then pointed directly at Hiashi Hyuga's eyes, which were widening in shock: "The Sage of Six Paths was only one bloodline left behind by that god, and the other bloodline is you, the Hyuga clan."

(End of this chapter)