"He defected from the village a long time ago, didn't he?"
"He… This isn't the place to talk about it."
Yuhi Kurenai glanced around.
"Mm, let's have a proper talk."
The Hokage being controlled by someone was no small matter.
Hyuga Hiashi also intended to tell Kurenai about Asuma being controlled by genjutsu from the Sharingan.
So the group quickly headed to the innermost guest room of the Hyuga clan.
———
"What? Asuma was also controlled?"
After Hiashi spoke of Asuma's situation, Kurenai finally understood why Asuma was placed under house arrest by the Hokage.
"Yes, don't spread this around. Lord Hokage gave me explicit orders."
Hiashi had made a tough decision to reveal this to Kurenai.
After all, the claim that the Hokage was being controlled was far too shocking.
"Hmph, and the Hokage also told us not to tell anyone about Uchiha Itachi returning to the village."
Kurenai shook her head carelessly.
"I think all these orders might've been given by Uchiha Itachi, because he has completely taken over Lord Hokage!"
'That's right, the moment Third Hokage started acting strange was when we discovered Uchiha Itachi.'
'In that case, everything makes sense now.'
'Uchiha Itachi returned to the village and controlled the Third Hokage, then made the Third—'
"No… wait, is Uchiha Itachi really in the village?"
Hyuga Hiashi was struggling to keep up with Kurenai's train of thought.
'All the orders came from Uchiha Itachi?'
"Of course. I saw him with my own eyes that day, along with Kage, and even ANBU's Gekko Hayate."
"Is that so?", Hiashi couldn't help but ask Uchiha Kage, who had been sitting silently without expressing any opinion.
He was still quite terrified of Uchiha Itachi.
A terrorist who wiped out his own clan on a whim, that's every clan leader's worst nightmare.
"Sensei, you're disobeying Lord Hokage's orders again," Uchiha Kage didn't refute her, which was essentially acknowledging that Itachi really was in the village.
"I already said, it's not disobedience if Uchiha Itachi has taken over the Third Hokage. Iit's saving the Hokage!", Kurenai felt like she had fully grasped the truth.
"If that's really the case, then we should…", Hiashi was still digesting the news of Itachi's return.
At the same time, he glanced curiously at Uchiha Kage again.
'This Uchiha youth isn't even slightly shaken at the mention of Itachi…'
'So calm at such a young age. He's destined for greatness.'
"Notify Kakashi right away, then gather all the jonin in the village to take down Uchiha Itachi together."
"But what if we act rashly and alert him, and then the Third Hokage gets…"
'Who knows what a lunatic like Itachi will do?'
'If Itachi really has control of the Third Hokage like Kurenai said…'
Hiashi was a bit worried that the village would be left leaderless.
"Then we'll choose the next Hokage!", Kurenai believed that the Third Hokage would sacrifice himself for the village if needed.
"Anyway, the situation is urgent. Let's kill the traitor Uchiha Itachi first," Kurenai looked expectantly at her student Uchiha Kage.
Hoping to get a firm answer from him.
'This guy. He never says it out loud, but he must've wanted someone like Itachi, who slaughtered his clan, to die a long time ago, right?'
'Don't worry, Sensei's here to help you…'
"But we should test things out first. What if we guessed wrong…", Hiashi was as cautious as ever.
"Guessing or not, killing Uchiha Itachi can't be wrong!"
"..."
It had to be said, Kurenai's words weren't wrong.
A high-ranking rogue ninja like Uchiha Itachi, who caused massive damage and casualties to the village, should be killed on sight.
Even Hiashi fell silent.
"But if Lord Third really is… then what if Konoha is left defenseless and someone takes advantage of it?"
Back when the Fourth Hokage died young, the village also fell into panic.
"Then we should choose the Fifth Hokage candidate first. No matter what, with something this big happening in the village, we must gather the jonin."
"It's best to secretly gather a few… but who should be the next Hokage?"
At the mention of the next Hokage, Hiashi's heart couldn't help but heat up.
As the saying goes, a jonin who doesn't want to be Hokage isn't a good clan leader.
As the head of the Hyuga clan, the largest clan in Konoha, Hiashi was quite envious of the Hokage position.
"That kind of thing, I wouldn't dare to comment," As a newly promoted jonin, Kurenai didn't think she had that kind of say.
"Jonin have the right to vote," Hiashi looked at Kurenai and the others in the room with anticipation.
"And we're just talking. Everyone can say who they think is fit to be Hokage."
"Then… Kage, you be Hokage!", Kurenai looked at her student.
This guy might be a little annoying sometimes, but he could be even more suited to be Hokage than Minato Namikaze was back in the day.
Just a bit younger.
"Ahem… Kage?", Hiashi almost choked on his tea.
"Alright, stop joking. The Hokage isn't being controlled. Let's just eat first."
'At this point, best to just eat.'
Uchiha Kage never expected Kurenai's thoughts to be this wild, 'She is even trying to push me to become Hokage.'
'Doesn't she know an Uchiha can't become Hokage?'
'Besides, using genjutsu to control a kage isn't that easy.'
'Even without the Byakugan being able to see through Kotoamatsukami…'
Even without it, to use genjutsu to completely control someone, you'd need greater strength and stronger mental will than the target. It's best done when the opponent is mentally shaken or unguarded.
It's not that easy to pull off.
Otherwise, Madara Uchiha could've just stared down all five Kage and controlled them. No need for so much trouble.
The Uchiha would've taken over the entire ninja world long ago.
"It's not a joke! But Kage really is too young, so picking Kakashi would be more reliable."
Kurenai gave Uchiha Kage a "you just lost a golden chance to be Hokage" look.
She had just been seriously, no, analytically dissecting the facts.
'How was that a joke?'
"Mm…"
'Did the backup candidate not include my name?'
'Seriously, you're Hinata's teacher, can't you get a little closer to the Hyuga clan?'
Though he was screaming inside, Hiashi still nodded calmly in agreement with Kurenai's proposal.
In the village, besides the Hokage and the Legendary Sannin, Kakashi had the best overall strength and qualities.
Though the Sannin weren't bad either. Tsunade had always been a popular choice, and even the unorthodox but strong Jiraiya was a contender…
"Father, Kage's been judging the Chunin Exams all day, he's probably starving. Let's just bring out the food already," Seeing her father start another confusing conversation with Kurenai, Hinata was a bit annoyed.
'They already said they will eat, what are they dragging it out for?'
'Besides, Kage said the Hokage isn't being controlled, so there's nothing to worry about.'
'Father and Sensei are clearly worrying too much.'
"Got it…"
Third time being scolded by his daughter.
But just like the first two times, it was the father who got hurt…
———
"The Sharingan is still with Kakashi…", After getting intel from Uchiha Itachi, Obito rushed to Konoha.
Of course, he wasn't worried about Kakashi's safety, it was because, the Sharingan was a gift he gave Kakashi upon becoming a jonin, and he wouldn't allow anyone else to take it.
"Still, Kakashi's as useless as ever."
'Can't even learn the Flying Thunder God.'
Not that he himself could learn it either, not even qualified, but that didn't stop him from mocking Kakashi internally.
'But why is Kakashi learning Flying Thunder God now?'
Hiding in the shadows with Kamui, Obito watched Kakashi and Genma Shiranui training the technique. While mocking, he was also a bit curious.
'Surely it isn't… to deal with me, right?'
"Hmph, even if Kakashi gets lucky and learns Flying Thunder God, I… don't care! I won't fall for the same trick twice!"
Recalling the day he unleashed the Nine-Tails in Konoha and got beaten down by Minato, Obito still had lingering fear. But his mouth stayed tough.
'Still though…'
'So who is it that has a Mangekyō Sharingan… and is pretending to be me?'
'There's no way Itachi's intel is fake. He won't mess with me for no reason.'
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