A Sage's Pursuit of Power

How strong was Minato Namikaze? The original storyline didn't show much. Most of his feats came down to the Flying Thunder God Technique and Rasengan, with which he dominated the battlefield.

But Aoba never underestimated Minato. Among the four deceased Hokage, Aoba believed Minato was the second strongest, second only to Hashirama Senju and stronger than Tobirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Minato wasn't just about the Flying Thunder God Technique, he had mastery over various other jutsu. The reason he was remembered for that one technique was simply because it was the most efficient.

He even knew the Eight Trigrams Sealing Technique and the Reaper Death Seal. Lesser jutsu were naturally at his fingertips.

When Team 7 arrived at Training Ground 6, Minato stood alone, facing the distant sunset with his back to them.

Team 7 quickly strategized, and then Naruto charged straight ahead.

Minato, hearing the commotion behind him, turned to see Naruto rushing toward him, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

Meanwhile, Aoba and Sakura, leaving the research lab, encountered a small commotion outside.

The head of the security division, Hayama Shirakumo, had stopped someone familiar, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the resurrected Third Hokage.

At that moment, the Third Hokage looked slightly embarrassed as Hayama blocked his path. While Hiruzen did have valid registration, the research lab was Konoha's top-secret facility.

Hayama, having never seen Hiruzen before, naturally stopped him.

"All right, Hayama. He's one of us, an Anbu member who was carrying out a classified mission outside the village and has just returned."

"Yes, Aoba-sama," Hayama responded, stepping aside immediately. Hayama, having inherited Aoba's sword techniques, was half a disciple of his. As the head of the research lab's security division, Hayama was one of Aoba's direct subordinates and treated him with great respect.

Once Hayama left, Aoba turned to Sakura.

"You can head back on your own," Aoba instructed.

Then he casually asked Hiruzen, "Want to take a look inside?"

"No need. Given my current status, it's not appropriate for me to access highly classified areas," Hiruzen replied.

As a former Hokage, he understood the importance of confidentiality. He had only been curious and had glanced at the lab, which unfortunately led Hayama to stop him.

Aoba nodded, and the two of them began walking together.

"This afternoon, I visited the advanced ninja academy you established. I'm curious, how did you convince the ninja clans?"

This was what the Third Hokage couldn't understand. Opening access to advanced ninjutsu and elevating civilian ninjas seemed simple on the surface, but in his worldview, it was impossible to achieve.

Restricting civilian ninjas had never been solely the Hokage's decision but a compromise between the Hokage and the major ninja clans.

It was similar to how ancient Chinese aristocratic families monopolized knowledge. The ninja clans safeguarded their own status and would never allow civilian ninjas to grow without restrictions.

Those few civilians who rose to prominence often relied on unique, unreplicable techniques. Might Guy was a prime example, and Hayama himself could have been another, though without Aoba's intervention, his potential would have been limited.

"Civilians remain civilians, and ninja clans remain ninja clans." That was the underlying ideology during the Third Hokage's administration, and it was also the root cause of Konoha's decline.

Yet now Hiruzen saw that Konoha was openly teaching advanced ninjutsu, and there appeared to be no opposition from within the village.

At least, from what he observed earlier, there was no visible issue.

"It's a complicated matter. If I tried explaining everything, it would take a full day and night. But to simplify it into one phrase: the trend of the times."

"The trend of the times?"

"Yes, exactly. Once the ninja clans realize that if they don't change, they'll be eliminated, they'll learn to accept the situation."

"Eliminated? But you haven't purged any ninja clans, not even the Sarutobi clan…"

Hiruzen trailed off, a little ashamed. He had mentally prepared for the Sarutobi clan to be purged entirely. However, during his visit earlier, he was surprised to discover that only a few radical members had been expelled. Most of the clan remained intact, and Asuma had even become the new clan leader.

...

In the past, when he wanted Asuma to return and take over as clan leader, Asuma wouldn't even give him the time of day.

"Haha, having power but not using it, and not having power at all, are two completely different things. I don't need to actually do anything, just making them believe that I would is enough. After all, it's all Konoha's strength. Protecting their clan's interests isn't inherently wrong. There's no need to go for total destruction."

Hiruzen felt as though he had been hit by yet another revelation. But he began to understand the core of Aoba's approach: fairness.

Fairness is the most extravagant concept in the world—or rather, it has never truly existed.

Even in the current Konoha, fairness doesn't fully exist. Civilian children and ninja clan children attend the same schools, learn from the same teachers, and study in the same environment. Is this truly fair?

If the ninja clans weren't already teaching their children how to extract chakra, training in taijutsu early, or practicing their clan's secret techniques in advance, then this might be fair.

But the result? True fairness doesn't exist.

Even the so-called Advanced Ninja Academy only achieves relative fairness among civilian ninjas. Most of the jutsu available for exchange there are already stored and readily accessible in the ninja clans' households.

Civilian ninjas must spend points to exchange for techniques or trade their unique skills to acquire them. Yet the heirs of ninja clans are born with access to these techniques. Is that fair?

And yet, despite this, the policy still garnered the wholehearted support of countless civilian ninjas. Because even if it wasn't perfect fairness, they were finally being given an opportunity to advance.

This was Aoba's ultimate goal.

The sheer number of civilian ninjas is immense. Even if the chance to rise is small, someone will eventually stand out. This, in turn, creates a virtuous cycle, gradually narrowing the gap between civilians and ninja clans.

At the same time, in order to avoid being eliminated, the ninja clans would be forced to innovate and develop new techniques. This would foster healthy competition.

All of this, however, had to be built upon a stable and powerful system. Aoba's political and social reforms in Konoha were designed to create such an environment. While there were already signs of success, it was still far from the ideal outcome he envisioned.

Hiruzen didn't fully understand it all, but he realized one thing: the young man before him had achieved far more than he ever had.

In just two short years, Konoha had completely taken off. Take Hayama Shirakumo , for example—the man who had stopped him earlier. Hiruzen remembered him from his time as Hokage; Hayama had been no more than a special jōnin back then.

Yet during their brief confrontation earlier, Hiruzen had felt a faint but undeniable sense of danger from Hayama.

Even though his current body hadn't fully adapted yet, this was a peak young body, his strength now was even greater than it had been before his death.

A glimpse of a small part reflected the whole. Konoha today was truly not the same village it once was.

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Currently on Chapter 220 - The Final Showdown