Konoha Year 48—
because of the Nine-Tails incident, the village suffered catastrophic losses.
And the news that Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato and Kushina Uzumaki had died in the line of duty spread through the shinobi world in less than a day, shocking countless shinobi.
No one expected it.
**Konoha—the number-one village in the world—**getting hit this hard?
And Minato dying?
That was the Yellow Flash, the man who dominated the Third Great Ninja War.
Unbelievable.
After the shock, the other four great villages weren't grieving.
They were… delighted.
"If Minato is dead, doesn't that mean Konoha's strength has dropped?"
The thought alone made a lot of people smile.
Just like that, the shinobi world—barely calm after the war—grew tense again.
Konoha Aftermath
Inside Konoha, the aftermath was brutal.
Collapsed walls. Broken streets. Charred ruins.
When civilians finally crawled out of shelters and saw half the village destroyed, grief and rage surged through the crowd.
Especially after they learned Minato and Kushina were dead.
Hatred immediately found a target:
the Nine-Tails.
People wanted blood.
Konoha's post-war momentum had been shattered in one night, and its overall strength had dropped drastically.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't been around to "stabilize the situation," the other great villages—Hidden Mist, Hidden Stone, Hidden Cloud, Hidden Sand—might have pounced right away.
Even so, with the entire world watching like hawks, Konoha's good days were clearly over.
And "for Naruto's protection"—at least officially—
Konoha's leadership concealed the fact that Naruto Uzumaki was Minato's son.
To the public, they announced only one thing:
Naruto was the new Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
Meaning: the "demon fox" everyone hates is inside that child.
The Meeting
Top floor of the Hokage Tower — conference room.
Present were:
Hiruzen Sarutobi
Shimura Danzō
Koharu Utatane
Homura Mitokado
Uchiha Fugaku
The heads of the Ino–Shika–Chō clans
Hyūga Hiashi, and others
Koharu's face was tight with anger.
"This disaster cost us heavily. The Fourth Hokage and Kushina, plus many jōnin, chūnin, and civilians, died in the Nine-Tails incident."
"The Fire Daimyō demands a reasonable explanation."
Homura slammed the table with a cold snort.
"If not for that spiral-masked man, the Fourth Hokage might not have died."
In his mind, that masked intruder was the root of everything.
But what Homura didn't say—what he didn't want to say—was the truth:
once the Nine-Tails was extracted, Kushina was doomed anyway.
And Minato was never going to abandon her.
He was a good Hokage… and a good husband.
His only mistake was believing Hiruzen would truly protect Naruto.
Danzō—who had been silent—finally spoke, voice like a knife.
"Many shinobi saw it clearly. The spiral-masked man had a Mangekyō Sharingan and used genjutsu to control the Nine-Tails."
Then he turned, eyes locking onto Fugaku.
"So doesn't the Uchiha owe us an explanation?"
"An explanation?" Fugaku's brow twitched. "The Uchiha clan has no such person."
Danzō pressed harder.
"Is that so? Who's to say the Uchiha don't have hidden methods?"
Fugaku's chair scraped back as he stood—hard.
"Shimura Danzō!"
He slapped the desk.
"If you're accusing the Uchiha, then bring evidence. Otherwise—"
"Enough."
Hiruzen calmly set his pipe down and cut him off.
"This incident does not prove the Uchiha guilty."
"But the Uchiha are the largest suspect, so you don't need to be so emotional."
Fugaku's face darkened with humiliation as he sat back down.
He knew the truth: during the disaster, Root had kept the Uchiha pinned in their compound.
They hadn't even been allowed to fight.
And yet the blame was already being shaped.
Hiruzen took a slow pull from his pipe.
"There were two masked individuals that night—one spiral-masked, and one with a white-bearded mask. Neither is harmless."
"Therefore… I believe we should not select a Fifth Hokage right now."
His gaze swept the room, heavy and deliberate.
"When the village is in crisis, I am willing to return and lead Konoha out of this danger."
"What do you all think?"
Silence.
The room went dead quiet.
Even Koharu, Homura, and Danzō looked stunned for a beat.
Minato's body hadn't even gone cold…
and Hiruzen was already reaching for the seat again.
Koharu frowned, thinking quickly—then forced herself to nod.
"…Very well."
"Konoha is in hardship. I agree the Third Hokage should return."
Homura hesitated, then followed.
"I agree."
From there, the rest came like falling dominoes:
"No need to choose a Fifth."
"The Third's return is the best option."
"Only the Third Hokage can stabilize the village."
Hiashi. Ino–Shika–Chō. Even Danzō.
One by one—they all agreed.
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