Yes, the Hokage!

"Yahiko, don't be like this." Nagato patted him on the shoulder. "Don't we already have a way to protect the village?"

“But that was on the condition of sacrificing you…” Yahiko, who had been holding on, finally choked up, “I always shouted so many slogans, but in the end, I couldn’t do anything…”

He had been playing the role of a leader who had to be strong, but after experiencing so many things in a row, his emotions were on the verge of collapse.

The immense pressure from one powerful enemy or ally after another—Hanzo, Danzo, Furan, Tobirama—is weighing heavily on this young man in his early twenties. It's remarkable that he's managed to hold on this long.

“It’s not a sacrifice, it’s cooperation,” Nagato said with a calm smile.

“But that treaty… it completely used you as a tool!” Yahiko clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm, leaving several deep crescent-shaped marks.

“Tools can also choose their own direction,” Nagato comforted her. “As long as I still know why I’m fighting, it doesn’t matter whose eyes are in my hands, since they weren’t necessarily my eyes to begin with.”

Yahiko opened his mouth, but no words came out. Anyone can say nice things, but when faced with harsh reality, those words are nothing but fleeting illusions.

"Wow, what a heavy rain!" At this moment, Feng Lan also came out of the house and stood under the eaves, looking up at the night sky.

“It’s always been like this in Amegakure; it rains frequently,” Nagato said with a friendly smile.

Although Yahiko felt aggrieved, he nodded and said, "Fenglan, thank you for what you just said."

Look, he should even thank us.

Feng Lan was secretly overjoyed, but said casually, "Hmm? What are you thanking me for?"

"Thanks to you for proposing the barrier, Amegakure was able to be safe, and you were the one mediating all along..." Yahiko said, bowing his head. "If it weren't for you, I really don't know what would have happened."

Clearly, he has entered the first stage of the Watergate period: he feels that Feng Lan is very reliable and unconsciously wants to rely on him.

The Minato period is a syndrome summarized by Tsunade and Jiraiya that occurs after staying by Maple's side for a long time. Its final form is like Minato in the later stages of the Third Shinobi World War, just like Shisui now. He can only attack wherever Maple points him, and he basically loses the ability to think for himself.

As for the specific evolution process, you can refer to Uchiha Shisui's mental journey from serving as a bodyguard to the present.

“Yes.” Nagato nodded with lingering fear. “The way the Second Hokage looked at me… made me feel like I might be disassembled and searched on the spot.”

“The Second Generation Lord wouldn’t do that.” Feng Lan smiled and instead began to comfort the two of them. “He is absolutely calm and ruthless. He will do anything that benefits the village and will never do anything that is detrimental to the village. It would be clearly not in the village’s interest to kill you, so he was just trying to scare you.”

“He’s too calm…” Yahiko sighed, “to the point of being cold-blooded.”

“From the perspective of someone from another village, that is indeed the case,” Feng Lan shrugged.

"And what about you?" Yahiko turned to look at Fenglan. "Are you the same kind of person as him?"

The second stage of the Water Gate period: He begins to be curious about Feng Lan, but he cannot define him. What image Feng Lan is in this person's eyes depends on the persona he presents to that person.

“I don’t have the same level of understanding as the Second Hokage.” Feng Lan stretched out a big yawn. “I can’t be absolutely ruthless either. Just like how you all hate Konoha but still love Jiraiya-sama, no matter how much I scheme, there are people I want to protect even if I have to put aside my own interests.”

"Is that so..." Yahiko's expression softened slightly. He didn't press for details about who the person was, because their relationship wasn't that good.

Just then, Jiraiya led his patrol team over, waving and smiling in their direction. Fenglan and the others waved back in response.

"Don't worry, with Jiraiya-sama's strength, the village will be fine." Feng Lan yawned again; he had been busy these past few days and was really tired.

“Fenglan.” Yahiko hesitated, looking like he had made a great decision. “Nagato… I’m entrusting him to you.”

The third stage of the Water Gate period: Entrusting people or things that you consider very important to Feng Lan, whether you genuinely believe it or are forced to do so.

"Why entrust it to me?" Feng Lan waved his hand dismissively. "Go find Jiraiya-sama. From now on, every time Nagato goes to Konoha, I will have Jiraiya-sama accompany him the whole way, even on the research table."

"Really?" Yahiko and Nagato's eyes lit up.

"Why would I lie to you? Just ask Nagato yourself every time he comes back." Feng Lan shrugged and turned to look at Nagato. "The first half of what you just said was very good, but I don't quite agree with the second half."

"Which sentence?" Nagato was slightly taken aback.

"It's true that as long as you know why you're fighting, it doesn't matter who has your eyes," but the rest is all bullshit. Those eyes are on you now, so how can they not be yours?

“Um…” Nagato hesitated, “But didn’t you say that they were transplanted to me by Madara Uchiha…”

"That's just a possibility, not necessarily the truth. And what if we put that possibility aside?" Feng Lan launched into his verbal sparring mode. He always spoke to people in a way that suited them, and naturally, he would talk about friendship and bonds with Jiraiya's disciples. "What do you want to do with these eyes? What can you do with these eyes? You are the one controlling them, not the other way around!"

Nagato remained silent for a long time, and for a moment only the sound of raindrops hitting the ground could be heard. After a while, he slowly spoke, his voice trembling slightly: "Actually... I have always been very afraid of these eyes. Every time I open them, I gain power that is not mine, and my personality becomes extremely cruel. Even though Jiraiya-sensei once taught me, I still have a strong resistance to them in my heart."

"Actually, when I heard that these eyes weren't mine, I believed it almost without hesitation, because when I opened these eyes, I really became... very unlike myself."

The fourth stage of the Water Gate period: She begins to open her heart to Feng Lan and is instilled with strange and dark ideas by him, but she doesn't realize there's anything wrong with it.

“How can you not be like you? Even if eyes can be transplanted, memories can’t. Every inch of the path you’ve walked is your own.” Feng Lan smiled. “Aren’t you Jiraiya’s disciple? At times like this, you need perseverance!”

As he spoke, he took out Jiraiya's book, "The Tale of the Rooted Ninja": "Take a look at this book."

This was a crucial tool in the original work for Naruto's successful verbal sparring with Nagato, and Fenglan had prepared it on the way here.

Nagato instinctively took the book and opened it, and Yahiko curiously leaned over as well. The two paused slightly when they saw the protagonist's name: "Naruto..."

“That’s right, Naruto, Nagato.” Feng Lan said seriously, “This is a novel created by Jiraiya based on you. He firmly believed that you were the prophesied child who could change the world, which is why he had such expectations.”

“Jiraiya-sensei…” Nagato’s eyes welled up with tears, and he choked back sobs, “So you’ve always believed in me this much…”

"So, do you still feel like you're not yourself?" After he calmed down a bit, Feng Lan continued, "You've always been you. Whether you've opened these eyes or not, you've always wanted to protect your companions and the prophesied child Nagato, who is also the one who protects the village."

"Mr. Fenglan... do you think so too?" Nagato murmured involuntarily, "Do you also believe that I can change this world?"

"Unfortunately, I am the same kind of person as the Second Hokage. We don't trust anyone and only look at the results."

Feng Lan's words made Nagato's heart tremble, but he then said, "But since Lord Jiraiya is willing to believe in you, I will do my best to protect you, help you control these eyes, and prevent anyone in Konoha from taking them away."

“This isn’t about trust… in my words, it’s about investment.”

“An investment…” Nagato murmured the word, then suddenly smiled. “Then, Mr. Fenglan, I will do my best not to let you down!”

Chapter 93 Times Have Changed

After a long talk with Yahiko and Nagato under the eaves in the rain, and watching Konan, who had recovered, take the two away, Fenglan breathed a sigh of relief and turned back inside.

The instant he turned the corner, he saw the First and Second Hokage leaning against the wall. Tobirama's expression held a mixture of admiration and apprehension, while Hashirama seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Well done, Fenglan." Before he could even speak, Hashirama slapped him on the shoulder, the terrifying strength making half of Fenglan's body go numb. "You truly deserve to be the Fourth Hokage's chief advisor and the inheritor of the Will of Fire. With just a few words, you restored the confidence of two confused youths. Powerful, truly powerful!"

Clearly, Feng Lan's eloquent talk about friendship and bonds deeply resonated with the First Hokage.

"You little brat, you really know how to talk to people depending on who they are." In contrast to him, Tobirama looked coldly at Feng Lan, "No wonder Danzo couldn't beat you."

“Comparing me to Danzo is a bit hurtful,” Feng Lan said with a smile. “Personally, I think he can’t compare to me in any aspect.”

"He was more handsome than you when he was young."

"Forehead……"

Although he was annoyed by being overshadowed by the second Hokage's looks, the fact that the second Hokage would actually criticize him was a considerable gain. It seemed that Feng Lan's recent actions had satisfied him, since they had brought Konoha a lot of benefits.

So Feng Lan seized the opportunity and asked, "First Hokage, what do you think of Obito?"

"He's quite good, no, he's excellent!" Hashirama's attitude towards Madara is probably the same as Guo Jing's attitude towards Yang Kang. It's not that Madara has a problem, it must be that I didn't teach him well back then.

Now, seeing that Obito didn't turn evil even after activating the Mangekyou Sharingan, and could even use Wood Release to build rather than destroy, is something I never imagined when I was alive (because his Wood Release was too powerful).

The way he looked at Obito was probably similar to how Guo Jing looked at Yang Guo. This is my ultimate version of the loyal and courageous Kang Di!

"Big brother!" Tobirama knew what Feng Lan was up to as soon as he heard it. "He's an Uchiha."

"What's wrong with the Uchiha?" Hashirama's view of the Uchiha was completely different from Tobirama's, thanks to Madara's filter.

"The Uchiha clan could lose control at any moment!"

“Obito is different,” Fenglan interjected. “As long as Rin is still around, he will always be controllable.”

"What makes you think that?!" Tobirama's voice became stern.

[Based on my knowledge of the plot... well, I can't really say that.]

As Feng Lan was pondering how to respond, Hashirama spoke up: "Tobirama, do you know when I first met Madara?"

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Tobirama frowned.

"The teachings we received from our father were always about the madness and evil of the Uchiha clan... but when we met that day, it was all just a waste of time." Recalling Madara, Hashirama's face seemed to be filtered through a soft light. "And then we..."

"Later he became the biggest threat to the village," Tobirama coldly interrupted his brother.

"He also became one of the founders of the village." This time, Hashirama did not back down. "He went astray because I... didn't have time to teach him how to live with this world."

[Ah, just like Guo Jing's attitude.] Feng Lan couldn't help but think to herself.

“But that child is different. Madara’s eyes only have power, but that child’s eyes... have someone else in them.” Hashirama had obviously noticed Rin’s presence as well, something Tobirama hadn’t, because he naturally viewed the Uchiha clan through a filter, the kind that makes them appear dark.

Tobirama paused for a few seconds: "You expect a child to judge the future? Brother, you're too naive."

“It is because of our naivety that we founded our village amidst chaos, and it is because of our naivety that we have Konoha today, isn’t it?” Hashirama smiled with relief. “Just like you said before, the village belongs to the living. I simply want to entrust my power to the living.”

Tobirama remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "How much do you want to teach him?"

“Not much.” Hashirama spread his palms. “Teach him how to bring wood to life. What he lacks is not power, but someone to tell him how to control that power… just like Madara.”

"I've given up on you because you can't stop talking about Madara." Tobirama covered his forehead. "Fenglan!"

"I'm here." Feng Lan looked completely innocent, as if he wasn't the one who brought up the topic.

“That brat will become terrifying after he learns Big Brother’s skills.” Tobirama’s face became extremely imposing. “I need you to have a countermeasure. In case this guy gets out of control one day, someone has to be able to control him!”

This idea undoubtedly coincided with Feng Lan's: "That's no problem at all. You should have met my bodyguard, Uchiha Shisui."

"Use the Uchiha to counter the Uchiha?" Tobirama's eyes turned cold.

“I believe that only the Uchiha can counter the Uchiha.” This time, Feng Lan did not back down either. He and Tobirama and Hashirama had different views on the Uchiha. As mentioned before, the world is not black and white, but a delicate shade of gray.

Tobirama's lips twitched twice: "How do we counter this?"

"Shisui's kaleidoscope ability is called Kotoamatsukami." Although he said he would keep it a secret, Fenglan felt it was time to play this card to gain more benefits.

"They can even manipulate willpower... Even Madara couldn't do that... They really are the evil Uchiha." After hearing Feng Lan's description, Tobirama's first thought was, "Are you sure you weren't controlled by Kotoamatsukami?"

"Do I look like it?" Feng Lan smiled slightly.

“Hmm… indeed, someone controlled by the Uchiha clan couldn’t possibly be this calm.” Tobirama nodded.

“However, Shisui has already used Edo Tensei on Orochimaru. If we want to speed up the cooling process and reduce the side effects…” Feng Lan rubbed his fingers together.

"Are you kidding me?" Tobirama was amused by his amusement. "One Uchiha is one thing, but you're planning to inject your older brother's cells into two Uchiha with Mangekyou Sharingan?"

“This is the only way I can counter him right now.” Feng Lan spread her hands. “To be honest, Obito is already too strong. He’s so strong that no one except the Fourth Hokage can beat him. If this continues, the only one left is Kotoamatsukami.”

"Big brother, did you hear that?" Tobirama's brows were almost furrowed into a knot.

“I heard you, Tobirama.” Hashirama, on the other hand, seemed very calm. “That child is not Madara, but if you keep looking at him like you’re Madara… he will become Madara sooner or later.”

Feng Lan largely agreed with this statement. While the Uchiha clan's notoriety was partly due to their own actions, it was also inseparable from the suppression by the Second and Third Hokage. Ultimately, it was because they lacked the powerful strength of the First Hokage to contend with the Mangekyou Sharingan, especially the Susanoo, which is why they were so wary of them.