"With Lord Jiraiya back, you'll have it easier," Shikaku said blandly.
Hiruzen's intention was clear: making Jiraiya advisor was to pave the way for him to be the next Hokage.
But Shikaku had no intention of debating succession. Unlike Danzo, who controlled an independent unit and had near-Hokage authority, Shikaku was just an advisor with no real power.
Besides, Shikaku didn't think Jiraiya was fit to be Hokage. The commoners might not know, but the village's high-level ninja all did: if Jiraiya became Hokage, would it be him or Mount Myoboku's toads in charge? Shikaku wasn't sure.
"Jiraiya's just returned and needs help getting up to speed," said Hiruzen.
"Lord Jiraiya will soon get the hang of things," Shikaku replied.
Hiruzen could tell Shikaku was deflecting, but he had no choice. Of his three students, Orochimaru was a traitor, Tsunade was determined never to return, so only Jiraiya was left.
He sighed. "Time flies, Shikaku. When I saw you, Inoichi, and Choza make your earring oath, you'd just graduated. Now you're the village's backbone, and I… am old."
Shikaku knew this was trouble—Hiruzen was pushing him to speak for the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. With the old man playing the sentiment card, refusing would be ungrateful.
Shikaku sighed to himself. After the founding, the trio were no longer Sarutobi vassals, but the earring oath tradition remained. Now Hiruzen referenced it, giving Shikaku no room to refuse.
"Forgive my dullness, Lord Hokage. Please speak plainly," Shikaku stood and bowed.
Hiruzen's eyes flashed. He knew pushing the Ino-Shika-Cho to support Jiraiya was unfair; the deal had always been Sarutobi strength for the trio's counsel and intelligence.
But now he wanted to push them onto the stage, risking their clans' future for Jiraiya. There was no benefit for them, and failure would destroy what they'd built.
That's why, during the lockdown, the trio let the weaker Inuzuka and Aburame clans tie them up—they didn't want to go all in on this risky bet.
"Shikaku, I hope you'll help Jiraiya become the Fifth Hokage," Hiruzen said.
A long silence fell.
"Is this an order, Lord Hokage?" Shikaku finally asked.
"No, just a personal request," Hiruzen replied.
Shikaku hesitated. "Given the gravity of the matter, please allow me time to consider."
"Of course. Discuss it with Inoichi and Choza."
"Yes, sir," Shikaku bowed and left.
After, Hiruzen sat alone, pipe in hand, reflecting on the village's future.
He knew Shikaku was unlikely to refuse, since he'd played the Sarutobi's generations of protection, but after this, even if they won, things would never be the same.
At least, for the next Ino-Shika-Cho generation, the Sarutobi would no longer have the right to witness their oath.
….
Returning home, Shikaku wanted to call his friends right away but saw Shikamaru stargazing on the roof.
He called out, "Shikamaru, come down for a minute."
Lost in thought, Shikamaru replied, "What's up, Dad?"
"Come down, I need to talk to you," Shikaku said.
"Ugh, such a drag," Shikamaru sighed. He knew if his dad was being this formal, it was bound to be a hassle.
He came inside, and Shikaku brought him to the study and set up a shogi board.
Seeing this, Shikamaru's scalp tingled—whatever his dad wanted was beyond troublesome.
Shikaku didn't get to the point right away; the two played dozens of moves, the board deadlocked.
"Shikamaru, you're in the same class as the Uchiha clan's second son, right?" Shikaku asked as he made a move.
"Sasuke? Yeah," Shikamaru nodded.
"How's your relationship?" Shikaku asked.
"It's alright. We didn't talk much before, but now that he and Naruto hang out, Choji and I are with them too. Ino likes to pester him," Shikamaru replied.
"I see," Shikaku nodded. "Didn't think you'd have friends your age besides Choji."
"Dad, that's harsh." Shikamaru shot his father a dead-fish stare.
"Haha, don't look at me like that. At your age, besides Choza and Inoichi, no one wanted to play with me either," Shikaku said. The Nara's genius and lazy streak made it hard for kids to befriend them.
"Dad, what are you trying to say?" Shikamaru asked.
"Invite your friends over sometime," Shikaku smiled. "With your personality, you must have caused them some trouble. We should thank them for putting up with you."
"They're the troublemakers," Shikamaru sighed. With Sasuke around, he and Naruto fought almost daily but always made up right after—though their noise made relaxing impossible.
"Invite them over, got it," Shikamaru agreed.
"Alright, I need to see Choza and Inoichi," Shikaku said, relieved. He left the board and stood up.
"Hey! Dad! At least clean up the board, or I'll get yelled at!" Shikamaru called after him, but Shikaku left without turning back.
"Ugh, really," Shikamaru muttered, slowly putting the board away.
After getting the answer he wanted, Shikaku felt much lighter as he headed to meet his friends.
As one of the few truly smart people in the village, Shikaku understood: Jiraiya wasn't so much Hiruzen's chosen successor as his only remaining card. If he had the choice, he'd follow the Uchiha before backing Jiraiya—at least the Uchiha, nuts as they were, were better than a man controlled by toads.
But the Third was forcing them onto Jiraiya's doomed ship, ensuring their inevitable loss.
Yet Shikamaru's words gave him hope.
The Ino-Shika-Cho would lose everything now, but there was still hope for the future.
So be it, let our generation be the sacrifice for the old era, Shikaku thought, arriving at the Yamanaka compound.
…
Over the next few days, the whole village knew Jiraiya had become Hokage's advisor, and rumors spread that Hiruzen intended him to run for Fifth Hokage.
Even Seiryu and Kakashi, just back from their mission, heard the news immediately.
Kakashi looked at Seiryu, curious for his opinion.
"Why are you looking at me?" Seiryu shrugged. "We locked up the future Fifth Hokage for a week, remember? If he wants trouble, neither of us can escape."
"What will you do?" Kakashi asked. "Should we expose his peeping?"
After their talk that night, Kakashi had resolved to stand with Seiryu.
"We could, but not now," Seiryu shook his head. "Even if it got out, it's a minor stain. It might help in a pinch, but it's naive to think it'd take him down."
"So what should we do?"
"Just focus on our own work. The Hokage choice will be decided by the jonin vote, not whoever Hiruzen favors."
"Alright," Kakashi nodded. Seiryu clearly had a plan—Kakashi just needed to back him.
After submitting their mission report, the two parted ways. Kakashi, instead of going home, bought a bouquet and went to the village cemetery, to Obito's grave.
He placed the flowers gently before the stone, gazed at it for a long time, then spoke:
"Obito, I think I've found my path."
He touched his left eye, hidden by his headband, then looked at his forever-stained right hand.
"I hope in the new world, no one repeats our mistakes."
Finishing, Kakashi turned and left.
Not long after, the space above Obito's grave began to twist. A masked man with only his right eye visible appeared mid-air.
"A new world?" Obit sneered. "Ridiculous."
Recently, Obito had been busy stirring up trouble in the Mist, barely paying attention to Konoha. But after Black Zetsu mentioned that big changes were happening with the Uchiha, he made a trip back.
He didn't expect to hear Kakashi's words at his own grave.
"Obito, your clan has produced two more Mangekyo users in recent years. One is very close to your old friend," Black Zetsu appeared beside him. "You've heard of him—on the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War, he was known as the 'Azure Thunder Dragon, Seiryu.'"
PS: Hey guys, please read atleast 30 advanced chapters at patreon.com/AbsoluteCode