Hiruzen Sarutobi was almost driven mad.
Facing Jiraiya before him, he was truly on the verge of collapse.
Damn it!
If you don't understand the twists and turns here, then please just shut up, alright?
It was only because Konoha was so weak right now and he couldn't find a suitable Hokage candidate that he'd reluctantly dragged Jiraiya into the position.
In peacetime, with a normal hand-over, he'd actually welcome Jiraiya's ascension—after all, snatching power from him was easy enough.
But now, things were different!
With Uchiha Jin—a colossal enemy—looming inside the Village, having such a useless Hokage on their side meant one careless slip could get them all sunk by Jin.
Jiraiya's face was covered in black lines.
It grated on him; even the Hokage wasn't allowed to speak now?
Already unwilling to be Hokage, he now felt even more stifled.
However…
He also knew the situation was delicate, so despite his frustration he ultimately chose to shut up.
Unfortunately…
Even if Jiraiya clamped his mouth shut, Uchiha Jin wouldn't let the chance slip. He immediately spoke up: "Hiruzen Sarutobi, you're going too far."
"You may have been Hokage once, but you've already stepped down—do you understand that?"
"Jiraiya is the Hokage now; you should show the office at least a shred of respect."
"Instead of resting on the former Hokage's laurels and pointing fingers at the current one—get it?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was thoroughly irked.
In the end he still kept quiet, unable to think of a retort.
Finally…
He simply gave Uchiha Jin a long, hard look, then dragged Jiraiya away. Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado never uttered a single word from start to finish.
The reason was simple!
They'd long since realized Uchiha Jin wouldn't play along with their rules; since they couldn't suppress him by status, the only thing they could do was avoid making trouble for Hiruzen.
Now, seeing Hiruzen turn to leave, they and the other Anbu could only head back as well.
Twenty minutes later…
Inside the Hokage Office, the atmosphere was so heavy it was frightening.
No choice!
Today was supposed to be Jiraiya's inauguration as the new Hokage, yet the turmoil stirred up by the Uchiha faction had drowned every trace of joy, casting a shadow over everyone present.
If they couldn't find a solution, Konoha would soon fall apart!
No one in the room was a fool.
Though they'd suppressed the clans all these years, they had to admit: those big and small clans were the true pillars of the Village!
In every war, the clans formed the main force.
The Civilian Ninja, despite their growth, still couldn't replace the clans' ecological niche.
The gap was simply too wide!
Now that those clans had gone off to build New Konoha, who would they rely on in the next war—the civilians?
Nonsense!
Neither Utatane Koharu nor Homura Mitokado opened their mouths, no longer chattering like before; clearly the matter had surpassed their capabilities.
The same went for Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He couldn't think of a good solution either; in the end only the path of war remained.
But—they couldn't afford to fight!
The Village had no strong shinobi left. Even with enough Civilian Ninja, could they really grind down the Uchiha faction?
He rather doubted it.
But Jiraiya couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out his question.
"Old Man, tell me."
"Why on earth did the Village set up rules that let clans withdraw from the alliance? That's pure madness!"
"Why did the previous high command promise such a thing?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had no interest in satisfying Jiraiya's curiosity.
He was too agitated!
Where would he find the mood to answer?
Even if the man before him was the so-called Hokage, Hiruzen simply didn't care.
Meanwhile…
Though Utatane Koharu likewise paid Jiraiya no heed, Homura Mitokado let out a soft sigh and began to explain.
"Jiraiya, you don't understand!"
"You were born after Konoha was founded; you don't know how special things were then."
"Konoha was originally assembled through the powerful rallying call of the Senju Clan; back then there was no such stratum as civilians—those came only after the Village was built."
"In the old Sengoku era, every clan bore deadly grudges against the others!"
"No matter how strong the Senju were, they couldn't force every clan to join, could they?"
"Back then the concept of a Village didn't exist, so to attract the clans the Senju had to offer all kinds of promises to allay their worries."
"Without those promises, no clan would have dared to join!"
"But who could've imagined that, after all these years, Uchiha Jin would dig up that old history?"
Homura Mitokado looked utterly helpless.
Exactly!
If not for Uchiha Jin throwing out that old agreement, these old folk would never have remembered their Village even had such a damned clause.
But there was nothing they could do!
The other side was legally in the right, and that left them in agony.
Unless they could suppress the opponent with overwhelming force, there was no alternative. After all, Uchiha Jin's New Konoha was a formal Shinobi Village recognized by the Lord of the Land of Fire.
If they chose war now, it wouldn't be an internal dispute—it would be a war between Villages!
And who the lord would support was anyone's guess.
Jiraiya was stumped too. Though he raged at the Uchiha's choice, they were playing by the rules, leaving him with no counterargument.
In the end…
He could only look at Hiruzen: "Old Man, thought of anything?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a soft sigh.
A solution?
If he'd thought of one, would he still be sitting here in despair?
…Meanwhile…
Compared with Hiruzen's side tangled in worry, the Uchiha camp was a hive of excitement.
After all, a few simple sentences had sent Hiruzen and company packing, strengthening everyone's cohesion toward the idea of New Konoha.
Today the Uchiha Clan Compound sank into a sea of revelry.
A huge open area at the back of the compound, bordering the Forest of Death, had been turned into an impromptu Grandstand.
There was no choice!
The Uchiha compound had no building like the Hokage Tower; to hold today's ceremony and speech they had to erect something temporary.
Uchiha Jin leapt onto the platform.
Looking down at the dense crowd of clan shinobi and civilians, he paused briefly, then began his speech.
"Fellow Compatriots!"
"…"