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Jin's words ignited a fierce spark within the group.
Gan gently rubbed the head of the large yellow dog resting beside him and spoke with quiet emotion.
"Youth really is something. All that energy, you are making an old man like me feel fired up again."
Gan was the oldest member of Minato's squad. A seasoned jonin, he treated both Minato and Jin like younger brothers.
Jin smiled.
"Brother Gan, do not sell yourself short. The world is mine, and it is yours as well."
"We are the sun of the morning. You are the sun at noon."
"If everyone gives off even a little light, the world will grow brighter."
"You are trying to make this old man risk his life again," Gan said with a rough laugh.
But his tone quickly turned firm.
"That is fine."
"My hands are already stained with blood, They cannot be cleaned anymore."
"But my boy is still clean."
"If possible, I want to carve out a future where he does not have to live the way we did."
Gan's son was only three years old. He had not yet entered the ninja academy.
With the war nearing its end, perhaps that child truly would not have to grow up on the battlefield.
The weight of his words silenced the group.
Everyone present was a jonin.
None of them had reached this point without blood on their hands.
"Enough of the past," Minato said gently, breaking the silence.
"There is no need to dwell on it."
"We have found a goal worth dedicating our lives to."
"From now on, we will no longer live as tools."
A faint smile rested on Minato's face.
Warm. Reassuring.
Like a small sun.
This was charisma.
Even without power or rank, this alone made Minato worthy of the Hokage's seat.
Jin smoothly shifted the topic.
"Gato and the Land of Waves will become our support base."
"But there is something else I need to inform you about."
"Shisui's mission to the daimyo's residence."
Minato straightened at once.
"Shisui is going to see the daimyo himself."
Jin nodded.
"I sent him to apply for the Guardian Ninja Twelve."
"It will serve as an early bridge between us and the daimyo."
This might be a world of shinobi, but in truth, the daimyo was the true ruler of the Land of Fire.
He possessed the authority to appoint and dismiss the Hokage.
He also controlled the financial lifeline of the Leaf.
And since the Leaf existed within the Land of Fire, its development was inseparable from the daimyo's approval.
Minato frowned slightly.
"Will the daimyo accept this?"
"The Guardian Ninja Twelve are effectively his private guard."
"They were created to protect him from us."
"In that case, they are unlikely to accept a Leaf shinobi."
Jin laughed softly.
"Not bad, Minato. You are starting to see it."
Minato scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I never thought this deeply before."
"But after reading the books you gave me, I realized how many hidden turns there are in these matters."
Although the Leaf and the daimyo were bound together by fate, there could never be two suns in one sky.
The Hokage commanded the strongest military force in the land.
The daimyo held the purse strings.
Their authority was destined to overlap.
And clash. Vs
During the era of the First and Second Hokage, relations between the Konoha and the daimyo's court were stable.
At that time, the bond between the two sides was close.
There were even political marriages between the two factions.
Whenever the Leaf needed resources, the daimyo provided them without hesitation.
The daimyo's personal safety was also directly handled by Leaf shinobi.
But after Hiruzen Sarutobi took office as the Third Hokage, that relationship gradually cooled.
Later, something happened that completely altered the balance.
The daimyo formally dismissed the Leaf shinobi assigned to protect him and established his own private guard.
The Twelve Guardian Ninja.
This decision was a clear signal.
The daimyo no longer trusted the Leaf's shinobi.
Or more precisely, he no longer trusted the Konoha's leadership led by Hiruzen and his inner circle.
Jin spoke calmly.
"There is indeed tension between the daimyo and the Leaf."
"But the root of it lies with the Third Hokage and the people around him."
Minato raised an eyebrow.
He could sense that there was a deeper story behind this.
Jin paused briefly, then continued.
"This is not truly a secret. It is simply something people rarely discuss."
"It all begins with the death of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju."
"At the time, the First Great Ninja War was nearing its end."
"The Second Hokage was leading his personal guard to negotiate with the Cloud Village when something went wrong."
"In the end, he chose to remain behind alone to cover the retreat of his escort."
"That escort included Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Tobirama Senju died on the battlefield."
When the news reached the Leaf, disbelief swept through the village.
Not only because Tobirama was powerful, but because he was known as the fastest shinobi of his era.
Minato understood this better than anyone.
The Flying Thunder God jutsu had been created by the Second Hokage.
And Minato had refined it to an even higher level.
He nodded slowly.
If he wanted to escape, there were very few people in the world who could stop him.
The same should have been true for Tobirama.
The Flying Thunder God was not limited to transporting a single person.
It could carry others as well.
The Second Hokage's escort numbered only six or seven shinobi.
If Tobirama had wanted to retreat, there was no reason he could not have taken them all with him.
There was no need for a rearguard sacrifice.
From this perspective, his death was filled with unanswered questions.
Jin continued.
"There was more."
"When they returned, Hiruzen and the others brought back a final message."
"They claimed that the Second Hokage appointed Hiruzen Sarutobi as his successor in his final moments."
"That alone intensified suspicion."
"The Hokage position is meant to be decided by a jonin vote."
"But Hiruzen ascended to the role solely based on that single statement."
"You can call it a decision made in crisis."
"But no matter how it is framed, it does not change the fact that his claim to the position was fundamentally flawed."
The implication hung heavily in the air.
Silence followed.
Everyone present understood what Jin was truly saying.
Hiruzen Sarutobi did not simply inherit the Hokage seat. He took it under circumstances that left room for doubt.
And that doubt had never truly disappeared.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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