Konoha Notes.

Chapter 464 Asura and Indra

Sasuke thought he had seen a lot of the world.

Standing atop the Joint Affairs Bureau, I surveyed the entire ninja world and accompanied Kakashi on his inspection of Konoha's defenses.

But everything before him at that moment was still beyond his comprehension.

Pale substances floated in the liquid, along with a few indistinct fragments of limbs.

This is not the Konoha he knows.

This is another face of Konoha.

And that person.

Facing the new child, Tobirama said, "Since my reincarnation, I've encountered more and more familiar faces." Then he asked Shuji, "Bringing another child along. Do you enjoy seeing their shocked expressions while trying to appear calm?"

"I'm tired of seeing that expression."

Sasuke was indeed trying hard to control his expression. He raised his chin, making sure his gaze met that of the Second Hokage.

Don't appear too surprised, and don't show any weakness.

He kept telling himself that.

"If the Second Hokage gets tired of precocious children," Shuji's voice rang out from the side, tinged with a relaxed chuckle, "then Konoha has many other varieties now."

"You should be able to find people who are enthusiastic, introverted, or paranoid... you should be able to find them all."

Shuji placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

But Sasuke only felt a chill, perhaps because the constant temperature system in the laboratory was set too low, or perhaps because of the pale substances soaking in the liquid, or perhaps because of the gaze of the Second Hokage in front of him.

The Second Hokage said, "I have no interest in that. But what is the point of you bringing him here?"

"Even without an introduction, I know he is from the Uchiha clan."

"If they were to be used as experimental subjects, were these circumstances explained beforehand?"

*Gulp...* Sasuke felt his Adam's apple move slightly.

The Second Hokage, testing the Uchiha clan. The Second Hokage, who designed countless forbidden techniques. The Second Hokage, who is already dead but stands here again.

These thoughts swirled in his mind. He forced himself to stop associating and focus on the present moment.

The warmth on my shoulder disappeared.

Shuji moved his hand away: "I looked into the situation a little this afternoon."

"So, let's confirm one more thing."

"What really bothers you is the fact that your behavior is being discussed by others..."

"Or is it Naruto's words and actions, and the feedback he received?"

Sasuke's first thought was to deny the former, but he also wanted to deny the latter.

But if it's neither, where does that emptiness and those loss of composure come from?

In the end, he chose not to answer. Neither admitting nor denying. He simply stood there, silently bearing all the possibilities. The Second Hokage looked at Sasuke and saw that he neither directly refuted nor directly admitted his mistake, indicating that he still carried the pride of the Uchiha clan deep down. But overall, he was a decent Uchiha.

Shuji continued, "Everyone has different strengths. Some people are naturally good at interacting with others, while others can only do things but don't know how to explain their intentions."

"And undeniably, the former type of person will always attract more and more people. This isn't a matter of right or wrong, just different traits." He walked up to Sasuke, bent down slightly, and leveled his gaze with the boy's.

"Considering your current direct competition, which was caused by me. And Naruto's strengths are relatively conventional among the previous Hokage."

"So, I've brought you here to find the second generation."

Shuji straightened up and looked at Tobirama.

"He was a very important person to the village. In some ways, he was even more important than the first one."

Tobirama Senju's brow twitched slightly: "Shuji, are you saying I'm cold-hearted and ruthless?"

"No, no..." Xiu Si waved his hand and laughed, "I haven't even started describing it yet, so don't rush to assume it's about you. That would make you seem biased."

"I'll say it again, the matter of the clothes has nothing to do with me," the second-generation rich kid said irritably.

"Alright, let's leave it at that." Shuuji changed the subject. "As you said, nurturing successors is extremely important." "And as one of the most accomplished and highly regarded previous Hokage, your methods might be something Sasuke could learn from." "The First Hokage was powerful and generous, the Third Hokage was tolerant, the Fourth Hokage was perfect, and the Fifth Hokage... well, the Fifth Hokage was a gambler and a drunkard." This was the first time Sasuke had seen Shuuji act so eccentrically. In that instant, he actually saw a hint of Kakashi in this usually calm and collected man.

Was she influenced by that man?

Sasuke forced himself to look away and gaze at the ground.

"Take your anger to heart, it's practically overflowing," Tobirama reminded him. "This kid seems to trust you a lot, and looks up to you as a role model."

"In short," Shuuji said, his smile fading slightly, "none of these individuals are relevant to Sasuke's considerations."

Tobirama Senju scrutinized Sasuke once more.

Sasuke returned the Second Hokage's scrutinizing gaze with his own.

Tobirama said, "Although I have said that your thinking is far-sighted, this is more than just far-sighted."

"Starting to think about things after the two Hokage... that's going way too far ahead."

"However, I roughly understand what happened."

The meaning in Tobirama's eyes was even more direct.

"You want to become Hokage, right?"

"Is it not simply because of the honor that comes with the title of Hokage, but because you understand what it means to be Hokage and still aspire to become Hokage? Is that the kind of thinking you have?"

Sasuke's mind began to flash through the image of the person who was closest to him and with whom he had the most contact.

Kakashi is always lazy, delegating all the work to others and taking the time to slack off.

But he would appear where he was supposed to appear, and although the secret service was busy, it was still running smoothly.

This person always referred to himself as a teacher, but he was indeed the mentor that Mr. Shuji had assigned to him.

This is Naruto...

wrong……

A voice from a more distant place echoed in his memory. It was something he heard last year when he went to ask the Third Hokage about the relationship between the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.

"Those who trust the village will be trusted by the villagers."

"Those who protect the village will also be protected by the villagers."

Sasuke unconsciously uttered these two sentences.

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly understood.

"This is Naruto..."

Naruto gained trust because he also gave trust.

Naruto was protected. Because he was protecting his comrades, in his own way, even if those ways seemed clumsy and direct. But…

but……

By observing the changing expressions on the boy's face, Tobirama Senju had already guessed seven or eight parts of the truth.

Combined with the information that Shuji had previously revealed, the whole picture quickly became clear in his mind.

"In order to protect something, you might end up hurting something else," the Second Hokage's voice rang out. "That's unavoidable."

"The fact that Shuji was able to bring you here, to bring you before me, speaks volumes."

"You were not completely rejected in your competition with another person."

"Your actions, your choices, everything you've done so far, even if flawed or controversial, still have value on a deeper level."

Sasuke wanted to say something—about the argument, his confusion, and that emptiness. But when the words came to his lips, all explanations seemed pale and inadequate.

In the end, he told the simplest truth.

"I invited my classmates to participate in a job internship...some agreed, some refused. This sparked an argument."

Tobirama Senju listened quietly.

After Sasuke finished speaking, the Second Hokage said, "Well then, let me tell you something."

Even if the words are not gentle, even if the approach seems harsh, when the benefits of what you do far outweigh the losses, it is only natural to receive more support.

"Conversely," Tobirama Senju's voice sharpened, "if it's merely a matter of self-righteousness that renders it completely meaningless in reality, or fails to provide better feedback to the parties involved, or even the whole system, then it's only natural that it won't receive a sufficient response." "And another crucial point is," Tobirama continued, his gaze fixed on Sasuke's eyes, "what did you do after the argument started?"

Sasuke stood there, without saying a word.

What did he do?

He left the classroom. He turned to Sakura and said, "You're annoying."

He walked away without looking back, leaving all the chaos and emotions behind.

He did nothing.

"Explaining your actions is not a sign of weakness," Tobirama's voice continued. "Explaining your intentions is a prerequisite for being trusted." "Even the most ruthless words possess power when spoken in a way that others can understand."

"The power of sweet and gentle words may be great, but that is not everything."

"The true power of language lies in knowing when to say what, and how to make words a bridge, not a wall." Sasuke listened to these words. Each word was clear and calm. He felt a tight knot in his heart slowly loosening. "And my questions aren't over yet. You can answer your initial question first."

"Do you want to become Hokage?"

Sasuke took a deep breath.

"I want to," he said. "I want to become Hokage."

Tobirama Senju nodded.

"Then let's start by learning how to explain our intentions."

"Write down everything you just said," Tobirama walked to the control panel, took a blank scroll from the drawer, and placed it on the surface. "Write it down completely, from beginning to end."

"Start with why you extended the invitation, what you think this will bring, what impact it might have, and how you plan to respond afterwards."

"Write down all the elements you think are relevant."

The Second Hokage presented the scroll to Sasuke.

"I'll give you three days."

"In this process, you need to think, organize, and judge what is truly important and what is just irrelevant noise." Sasuke took the scroll.

"Trusting your fellow villagers and protecting them is just the foundation of becoming Hokage." Tobirama looked at him. "Everyone who can become Hokage must first cross that line."

"Understand the nature of things, judge the short-term and long-term impacts, and then, with a ruthless attitude, carry out what should be done for the village and for the villagers."

The Second Hokage's red eyes reflected Sasuke's image.

"This is the kind of resolve that is even more necessary to become Hokage."

Sasuke gripped the scroll tightly.

"When you are able to judge things in a proper way," Tobirama said finally, turning and walking back to the control panel, "then with your potential, you probably won't need to learn that kind of awareness anymore."

Sasuke stood in the corridor, holding the blank scroll in his hand. The air on the third basement level still carried that characteristic coolness, but the feeling from before had disappeared.

Instead, he had a clear goal, a specific task, and the echo of the two words spoken by the Third Hokage resonating in his heart. In the laboratory, Tobirama Senju returned to control, but did not immediately begin working.

He was waiting for Xiu Si's explanation.

Shuji walked to the observation window.

“Normally,” he began, “it shouldn’t be up to me to decide who did better and who didn’t do enough.” “But Naruto and Sasuke are different.”

"What they carried naturally made them stand out in this era—if we had acted a little faster, they would probably have been the top ninjas of the next era."

He turned around and leaned his back against the glass of the observation window.

"The potential of the other two is clearly no match for theirs, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Tobirama Senju remained silent for a moment.

"Is this the connection between my elder brother and Madara that you mentioned?" he finally asked. "Asura and Indra?"

Shuji nodded with a smile.

If things had progressed as originally planned, the two would have eventually reconciled, but things might not have gone as planned given the current trajectory. "From the very beginning of the conflict, it seems that Indra's chakra reincarnation has reached a certain point where it begins to rebel, seeking a path different from Ashura's chakra reincarnation."

"Madara's actions were ultimately triggered by his inability to become Hokage and gain recognition like the First Hokage."

"Or perhaps influenced by Indra, he's drawn to a path that seems superior to Asura's, a better one. Nobody knows for sure." He walked to the control panel, gazing at the intersecting lines on the screen. Those intersecting lines, those fluctuating data, those deep secrets about bloodlines, chakra, and this world.

"Instead of letting the two of them do whatever they want, we should give them a hand."

"Provide fair resources, clear guidance, and the recognition that is due."

"Then, let them walk the rest of the way on their own."

Tobirama Senju said, "Since that's the case, I will personally verify his thoughts and his true nature."

Perfect timing! In the process, we can also try to explore what exactly Indra's chakra is all about.