Roy was unmoved,
Sarutobi Hiruzen continued on his own, "Last time at school, you asked me, does the 'Fire' of Konoha include the Uchiha... now...."
Clad in a white divine robe, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the blue sky and said, word by word, "That depends on how the Uchiha... think...."
"Or rather, how do you think?"
"Me?" Roy, eyes closed, hands behind his head, replied indifferently, "Did you ask the wrong person, Hokage-sama?"
"I didn't ask the wrong person, it's you."
Roy slowly opened his eyes, meeting the old man's burning gaze, raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you serious?"
You brat, when it comes to the village and the Uchiha, you won't even address the Hokage-sama?
Sarutobi Hiruzen replied solemnly, "Of course."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked profoundly at the youth and said, "You're different."
Roy was silent. In that instant, he even suspected... whether the secret he helped the clan with, opening their eyes, had been leaked. But then he thought, after the tongue-whisker curse planted by his father and Uchiha Shisui was broken, there was no way not to feel it... Roy immediately dismissed the thought from his mind, at least—
It can be confirmed now... Sarutobi Hiruzen has set his sights on him!
His thoughts wandered, just like the Nen leaking from above his head, winding and twisting, Roy pretended to meditate... Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored him, spreading the wide sleeves of his robe, revealing a tobacco pipe steadily held in his hand, only waiting to pull out some tobacco from the pouch to fill the bowl. He approached Roy and offered the pipe, saying, "Lend me a light?"
"No lending." Roy turned over, decisively turning his back to Sarutobi Hiruzen, and said coldly, "Smoking is harmful to health. That's common knowledge even among children."
"But it helps to relax," Roy refused, Sarutobi Hiruzen lit it himself, took a puff with a "click," and said, "The Hokage is very busy, wishing there were forty-eight hours in a day."
A puff through the lungs and out of the mouth, leisurely forming a smoke ring, drifting, dissipating, disappearing into the wind,
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt comfortable, leaning back slightly, "Tell me, what do you think?"
The old man said quietly, "It's either Uchiha or the village, you have to choose one."
Just like what you did to Shisui, to Itachi, ...to any Uchiha showing even a little talent... Must you divide us?
Roy suddenly thought of a saying, those in power don't necessarily value talent, even a pig, as long as it's loyal enough, can be given important tasks. An unexplainable sarcasm suddenly grew in his mind!
"What I think doesn't matter, it's your inability, Sarutobi Hiruzen, to control the village, so don't blame your incompetence on the Uchiha!"
His words were astonishing!
Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand holding the pipe paused, taking another look, watching as the youth suddenly stood up, stepping on the large statue of Hashirama, draped in the sunlight-fabric cloak, looking down at him, void of emotion and said, "Since Hokage-sama asked, I'll tell you,"
"I will choose if I want to, if not, then not, are you satisfied?"
Quiet,
In this bright midday,
On the Hokage Rock symbolizing Konoha's legacy, an elder and a youth, one sitting, the other standing, one looking up, the other gazing down, quietly face each other... the air seemed frozen, almost solidified!
"Szz... crack...." The tobacco in the pipe slowly burned... smoke rising... after a while, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly came to his senses, realizing that he might have been... scolded!
The one who scolded him, wasn't Danzo, wasn't Koharu, wasn't Homura, nor was it his teacher Tobirama, and definitely not the one called "God of Ninja," the first Hokage who built Konoha, but... a half-grown boy!
The old man silently took another puff, steadying his fluctuating mind, glanced at Roy and said, "Of course you can be willful, provided... you have the strength."
Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly looked at the youth seriously, "If you had the strength of the one beneath your feet, not just Uchiha, but if you demanded the position of Hokage, I wouldn't even frown, I'd immediately step down for you!"
The question is... can you?
There's only one God of Ninja, only him, only Hashirama... was willing to make him submit.
Sadly... "I'm not him, and naturally can't become him." Roy shook his head,
Sarutobi Hiruzen quietly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately... the boy wasn't completely prideful, there's hope...
"Hmph, it's good you know!"
Roy didn't argue back; he simply extended his hand, opened the acupoint on his palm, divided a strand of Nen into Water and Earth, interweaving and merging, forming a wooden cane in his palm, pressed it against the ground,
The dust rose, causing Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze to tighten, slightly opening his mouth.
The youth placed both hands on the end of the cane, seeing for himself that the wooden style cane he formed through Wood Style was a fraction of Hashirama's, he agreed with Sarutobi Hiruzen, "No need for you to remind me, I know exactly where my Wood Style stands compared to the first Hokage."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "...."
His hand shook, losing grip of the tobacco pipe, "crack," it slipped down the rock face, not long before the sound of it breaking echoed...
"You can use Wood Style?"
"Can't say I can use it... just mastered it recently, still exploring...."
Roy waved his hand, another wooden sword formed in his palm... Itachi's birthday was approaching, Roy planned to make a Divine Word Wooden Blade for him, thinking... Itachi would definitely like it.
Itachi's youthful yet mature face appeared in his mind,
Roy's thoughts shifted, returning to present, his shoulders suddenly felt a weight, held firmly by two large calloused hands!
Sarutobi Hiruzen abruptly stood, grabbed Roy's shoulders, leaned in, looked at him intently like a rare treasure, murmured, "I should have thought, since you mastered Yang Style, it's possible to learn Wood Style... good boy, you're right...."
"It's my incompetence,"
"Almost sent you to the battlefield...."
Eh?! Roy: "...."
A sense of impending doom suddenly rose in his heart... the youth frowned and asked, "What does Hokage-sama mean by that?"
"Just as said." Sarutobi Hiruzen released Roy, placed his palm on Roy's head, said decisively, "Uchiha Jin, I'm announcing once again, from today on, you're grounded!"
"I need a reason." Roy's face fell.
The duck within arm's reach was about to fly away, even though he could have freely harvested Life Energy on the battlefield... Roy thought uncomfortably, even Yamato back then, Sarutobi Hiruzen never confined him.
But,
"It's an order!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen bent down and picked up the Hokage hat, placing it on his head, with the large "Fire" symbol broached, rendering Roy speechless.
He immediately turned, leaving in frustration....
"Step... step...." The sound of footsteps echoed.....
Watching the youth leap a few jumps off the Hokage Rock, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed softly and shouted to Roy's back, "You know I can monitor you anytime."
A sudden burst of light... Roy no longer cared to leap, simply used Light Style, flashed once, then again, and once more, disappearing from Sarutobi Hiruzen's sight, completely vanished.....
Fortunately, compensated the pipe to witness Wood Style, Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the broken pipe, moved, hurried towards the Hokage building....
The elder and youth, separated by bustling Konoha Business District, like two parallel lines never intersecting, ran their separate ways... little did they know, on an inconspicuous tree nearby, a white snake suddenly appeared, with vertical pupils holding a mysterious glow, flicked its tongue, followed the direction Roy left, slithering away silently towards the southern forest....