"Yes. It was me."

Hikaru did not feel there was anything worth hiding from Senju Shōma.

Not many people knew the truth behind Danzo’s death. In fact, for most people in Konoha, the name Shimura Danzo meant nothing at all.

But Senju Shōma knew exactly what kind of role that man had played in Konoha.

Hikaru’s answer left Senju Shōma silent. Then his expression became extremely complicated.

He had bought the newspaper and read it. He also knew someone might be making a move against Danzo.

But he had not seen Hikaru in a long time, so he had no idea what was truly happening.

All he knew was that Hikaru was now the ANBU Minister and had most likely been involved in this matter. Unfortunately, no one had told him anything deeper than that.

Whether it was Hikaru, Ayame, or the Senju ninja who had entered ANBU, all of them "fulfilled their duties" perfectly and said nothing.

From another angle, that meant they now showed absolute loyalty only to Hikaru.

Only after Danzo had been dead for some time did he accidentally learn that the fire in Konoha that night had actually been Danzo’s funeral pyre.

That news alone had stunned Senju Shōma.

Now that Hikaru had confirmed it, he suddenly felt a strange sense of loneliness.

Something so important had happened, yet not a single person from the clan had come to tell him. That truly made him feel uncomfortable.

But at the same time, he also felt relieved.

In his eyes, Hikaru had truly grown into a ninja who could stand alone, a person who could bear the rise and fall, honor and disgrace of the Senju Clan.

"I understand. You’ve worked hard."

Senju Shōma sighed. In the end, that was all he could say.

"Everything you have done for the clan, I..."

"I am also a member of the Senju Clan. I have emphasized this many times."

Before Senju Shōma could finish, Hikaru interrupted him.

"So please don’t say things like that anymore, Elder. The clan raised me. I will never forget that."

"That was my mistake. I won’t say such things again."

Senju Shōma nodded, then continued.

"Now that you are the ANBU Minister, can you tell me some of what has happened?"

"I think there are some things I can say, and some things I cannot."

Hikaru thought for a moment and gave an ambiguous answer.

In truth, Hikaru could tell Senju Shōma almost anything. But too many matters were involved, and it was impossible for him to reveal everything.

If Senju Shōma really asked random questions like who had attacked Orochimaru, was Hikaru supposed to tell him it had been himself?

Besides that, Hikaru had a pile of secrets that could never see the light of day.

For example, he had tacitly allowed Orochimaru to experiment on Senju Hashirama’s remains. Telling Senju Shōma something like that would simply be asking for trouble.

So Hikaru had to keep the initiative in his own hands. What could be said and what could not be said would be defined entirely by him.

"I understand. If the question is not suitable to answer, then don’t say anything."

Senju Shōma nodded and then asked seriously.

"What exactly is going on with the newspaper? Have you been involved in the recent series of events? And what are your plans for the future?"

"It seems Elder Shōma really has many questions."

Hikaru smiled and shook his head.

Senju Shōma had completely lost his source of information.

That was something Hikaru had not expected, but it also proved that his control over ANBU was very good.

With that thought, he smiled and said, "Since that is the case, and dinner has not officially begun yet, I’ll explain some of it to you properly."

Senju Shōma was full of curiosity about everything Hikaru had done, and Hikaru was willing to answer some of it.

Although Hikaru did not have the idea of "returning home in glory" or showing off his achievements, letting this elder clearly understand what he had accomplished would help Hikaru better and more reasonably control the Senju Clan.

So Hikaru began describing some of his actions.

He spoke from the matter with Orochimaru, to the establishment of the newspaper agency, and finally to how Danzo had been quietly destroyed.

He explained everything in relative detail.

Senju Shōma listened very carefully, and his expression kept changing as Hikaru spoke.

When he heard that Hikaru had discovered Orochimaru researching Senju Hashirama’s remains, his face instantly became filled with rage.

Only when he heard that Hikaru had seized the opportunity to target Orochimaru did his expression improve slightly.

And when he heard that Orochimaru had attacked the Uchiha, he even revealed a cold smile.

As an old remnant of the Senju Clan, he held deep disgust toward both Orochimaru and the Uchiha.

When he heard that Orochimaru had attacked Uchiha Fugaku and caused Fugaku to lose one eye, his expression became almost cheerful.

Dogs biting dogs and ending up with fur in their mouths. He liked such things very much.

As for the fact that Hikaru had only severely injured Orochimaru in the end and had not killed or captured him, Senju Shōma could only express regret.

But after that, Hikaru’s explanation made Senju Shōma’s expression gradually turn solemn.

Especially when he learned that Orochimaru had only been a chess piece Hikaru used against Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hikaru had forced Orochimaru to leave in order to pressure Hiruzen into reactivating Shimura Danzo. Afterward, killing Shimura Danzo and heavily damaging Hiruzen’s prestige had been his real goal.

While doing all of that, Hikaru had also created a propaganda organization, which was the newspaper agency.

Hikaru briefly explained how he used the newspaper agency and what he intended to do with it.

But even though Hikaru kept it simple, the shock of this dimensional strike left Senju Shōma truly stunned.

He had never imagined Hikaru had created such a thing.

By the time Hikaru finished explaining most of it, Senju Shōma was completely numb.

He stared blankly at Hikaru, unable to find the right words.

Seeing him like this, Hikaru could not help but chuckle and shake his head.

He knew that even the little information he had revealed was terrifying enough for Senju Shōma.

But that was fine.

After all, Hikaru’s goal had already been fully achieved, and this would save him plenty of trouble in the future.

Perhaps after today, Elder Shōma would no longer be so interested in asking him strange questions.

After all, they were no longer standing at the same height, nor looking at problems with the same perspective.

Thinking of this, Hikaru suddenly smiled.

"Also, Elder, haven’t you always wanted to know what my goal is?"

"Then I can tell you clearly now. My goal has always been one thing..."

"The Hokage."

"Are you the president of the newspaper agency?"

In the Land of Grass, Ōnoki looked at the young man before him and frowned.

Of course, he knew this young man could not possibly be the real president of the newspaper agency.

He absolutely did not believe someone this young could create such a massive organization.

And after considering that this organization did not belong to any ninja village, he naturally assumed the newspaper agency was backed by some civilian group, and one with considerable power.

But such an organization was still not on the same level as a ninja village.

Now that Ōnoki had personally come here, the other side had only sent a young man. Wasn’t that clearly looking down on him?

Ōnoki was very displeased. To be blunt, his anger had already started to rise.

However, he did not explode immediately. He wanted to see what this young man had to say.

"Lord Tsuchikage, you misunderstand."

Nara Shikashiro naturally saw that Ōnoki was getting angry, but he did not panic at all.

He knew very clearly that panicking now would be fatal.

"I am not the president. Do you think someone my age could be president?"

"Oh?"

Ōnoki raised an eyebrow.

The other party’s direct admission did not exceed his expectations, but it did make him restrain his temper slightly.

This young man was so calm. The power behind him was probably not small.

Ōnoki also noticed that this young man had a decent amount of chakra in his body.

It would be better to treat such an organization seriously.

In truth, Ōnoki was fairly tolerant toward organizations that did not belong to any ninja village.

Because such organizations generally looked toward money. As long as one could offer enough, they could be used.

Ōnoki himself had hired countless civilian organizations like this, using their lives to deal with disobedient small countries so that his own interests could seep in.

For example, those organizations would cause destruction, and those disobedient small countries would be powerless to resist.

At that time, his own forces could enter under the righteous banner of helping them.

And once they entered, leaving would not be so simple.

It could even be said to be impossible.

Those small countries naturally had no ability to resist.

In his view, the existence of these organizations was rather useful.

They took money and did work. And their lives were not as valuable as the lives of his own ninja.

In Ōnoki’s memory, the organization that had performed the best seemed to be the one called Akatsuki.

That organization’s members were strong and very professional. He just did not know why he had not seen them for over half a year.

But now was not the time to think about that.

Ōnoki looked at Shikashiro indifferently and asked in a low voice, "I remember saying I wanted to meet your president. Sending a young man to deal with me is somewhat excessive, isn’t it?"

"Lord Tsuchikage, the president truly has a reason he cannot leave right now."

Nara Shikashiro remained calm and lazy. He smiled faintly and spread his hands helplessly.

"The president is currently still in the Land of Fire. The ANBU Minister of Konoha has kept him there. Apparently, there are important matters to discuss."

"Konoha’s ANBU Minister?"

Ōnoki raised his eyebrows. Then he seemed to realize something.

"Is it about Kumogakure?"

"Forgive me, but I cannot reveal that."

Nara Shikashiro smiled and shook his head. At this moment, he looked somewhat profound and mysterious.

Inwardly, however, he was weakly complaining.

If they were talking about the president, then that had to be the ANBU Minister himself, Lord Senju Hikaru!

Was he supposed to tell the man in front of him that Hikaru had dragged Hikaru away and refused to let him come here?

No matter how one looked at it, that sounded insane.

As for what his Minister was discussing, that was simple.

He was discussing how to trap you.

Ōnoki quietly looked at the man before him. Although the man said nothing, Ōnoki had already decided that Senju Hikaru was likely preparing for Kumogakure.

As ANBU, they would naturally be the first to discover Kumo’s movements.

Since Kumo was about to make a move, Konoha naturally could not just watch. They would have to mobilize Konoha’s ninja.

Strictly speaking, this should not be Hikaru’s job.

But Konoha was currently in internal turmoil, and Senju Hikaru was likely standing on the Fourth Hokage’s side.

So if he took the initiative on this matter, he was actually increasing the Fourth Hokage’s prestige and preventing him from losing support after being away for so long.

The appearance of the newspaper truly broke some traditions.

Using newspapers to mobilize people was far more deeply rooted than one or two large speeches.

After all, one could not stand before everyone and mobilize them every day, at every moment.

But newspapers could silently and constantly influence everyone like spring rain carried by the wind.

If Ōnoki had something like that, he would never let go of it easily either.

He could somewhat understand why that mysterious president could not come.

"So it’s that kid Senju Hikaru."

Ōnoki nodded lightly.

"I understand. But I am curious. Who are you?"

"I am Uesugi Shikashiro."

Shikashiro kept smiling and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"According to my understanding, I should be the future heir of the newspaper agency, as long as my brothers do not cause trouble."

Heir, my foot.

Did I just become the Minister’s son for no reason?

Nara Shikashiro finally reacted.

His current identity had somehow turned him into Hikaru’s son.

The problem was, he was much older than Hikaru. Having his seniority lowered for no reason naturally made him silently complain.

Ōnoki, however, nodded in understanding.

He had never heard the surname Uesugi, but that did not mean people with unfamiliar names lacked power.

And since this mysterious person could not leave personally, sending his eldest son over clearly showed enough sincerity.

Ōnoki also began to consider whether this eldest son could be used.

For example, he could give the young man enough support in the future and help him rise to power.

In that case, would he not gain the help of the entire newspaper agency instead of being stuck in the current situation?

"I understand, Lord Shikashiro."

Ōnoki had completely lost his anger. He smiled and said, "I think we can have a proper discussion. For example, the matter of your Shinobi World Daily entering the Land of Earth."

"Then I humbly accept your invitation..."

Nara Shikashiro bowed slightly.

"Lord Tsuchikage."

The dinner Hikaru had invited Pakura to went fairly well.

Although Senju Shōma had interrupted slightly, it did not ultimately affect them much.

And Hikaru’s meeting with Senju Shōma brought him quite a few benefits in the days that followed.

Because after that meeting ended, Senju Shōma began to orderly transfer the power he controlled within the Senju Clan.

This action fully explained one thing.

Senju Shōma intended to let Hikaru completely lead the entire clan.

Naturally, Hikaru was extremely happy and satisfied with this situation.

After all, even in decline, the Senju Clan’s power could not be ignored.

However, no matter how happy Hikaru was, he knew very clearly that he did not have that much time to manage the Senju Clan right now.

His energy was focused entirely on ANBU.

Aside from ANBU, he also had to seriously prepare for the war between Konoha and Kumogakure that might soon arrive.

To be honest, Hikaru knew exactly why Kumo wanted to cause trouble for Konoha.

The Fourth Raikage was such a forceful man. How could he tolerate a weakened Konoha still pressing down on his head?

Aside from that, his focus on the Hyūga Clan was not only for strategic purposes. More importantly, it was to plant a mine inside Konoha.

Hikaru had previously never fully understood one thing.

For Kumo ninja, who excelled in speed and taijutsu, the Uchiha’s Sharingan seemed more suitable than the Byakugan.

After all, the Sharingan’s perception and powerful dynamic vision were perfect for high-speed taijutsu fighters like them.

So why would they insist on targeting the Hyūga instead of the Uchiha?

Only after arriving in this world did Hikaru realize his perspective had been too narrow.

The Sharingan was suitable for Kumo ninja, yes.

But the Byakugan’s strategic value was greater.

What was war fought with?

Aside from logistics, it was intelligence.

Especially when two armies faced each other and the individual strength of both sides was not too different, the importance of real-time intelligence became even more prominent.

A direct frontal assault would only cause greater losses.

So commanders on both sides would inevitably make all kinds of moves to give their own side more and greater advantages.

At that time, if one had a Byakugan, one could immediately see through these things and even render all the enemy’s tactics useless.

In addition, before battle even began, if a Byakugan was constantly watching the enemy, every movement of the enemy would be fully exposed.

With arrangements made in advance, how could one be afraid of losing?

One reason Konoha had been able to fight four villages at once and still survive until the end was its strong foundation and the fact that those villages were not truly united.

But the Byakugan had also played an unimaginable role in those wars.

It could be said that the Byakugan’s strategic value was truly immense.

Therefore, forcing Hiruzen Sarutobi to give them a Byakugan was absolutely a profitable deal.

And what if the Hyūga or Hiruzen tried to cheat?

Kumogakure was not stupid.

That was why their target was Hyūga Hiashi.

As the head of the Hyūga Clan, Hiashi was extremely difficult to hand over.

If Konoha agreed, one could imagine how much hatred the Hyūga Clan would have toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

If Konoha refused, then the person the Hyūga chose would inevitably be Hyūga Hizashi.

After all, he was Hiashi’s younger brother.

Even if Hizashi was from the branch family, brotherly bonds were not something easily erased.

Their intelligence had obtained quite a few interesting details about that.

In other words, no matter what decision Hiruzen made after compromising, a mine would definitely be planted inside the Hyūga Clan.

The only difference was whether Hyūga Hiashi hated him, or the entire Hyūga Clan hated him.

Of course, that was not a problem either.

After all, Hyūga Hiashi was the clan head. If he died, the whole clan would hate Hiruzen.

If he lived, he could also guide the whole clan to hate Hiruzen.

Once this mine was planted, it would absolutely create a serious hidden danger for Konoha.

"So if they fight, Konoha suffers. If they don’t fight, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha still suffer. Kumogakure really calculated this to the extreme."

With Kumogakure stirring restlessly, Hikaru naturally had to focus his mind on dealing with these troubles.

Under such circumstances, there was no way he could split his attention to manage the Senju Clan.

So when Senju Shōma wanted to fully transfer authority, Hikaru decisively stopped him.

Senju Shōma was Hikaru’s guardian.

Although they had not been of one mind on many matters, that did not mean Hikaru did not trust him.

Especially after Hikaru had achieved so much, no one in the entire Senju Clan could stop him anymore.

Therefore, he had no need to force Senju Shōma to hand over power.

This elder could clearly continue managing it.

"I don’t have that much time. So it’s better for the Senju Clan to remain in the Elder’s hands. Just like how I control ANBU now. I give the direction, and the rest depends on how they perform."

That was basically how Hikaru handled the Senju Clan.

But what he found interesting was that Senju Shōma still handed over everything related to the clan.

For example, the clan’s finances, which families the Senju remained friendly with, and the complete registry of all techniques the clan had collected.

All of it was handed to Hikaru.

Together with the detailed information on clan members and their distribution that Hikaru had received last time, the Senju Clan now had no secrets at all before him.

Calling the current Senju Clan Hikaru’s Senju Clan was no longer a problem.

"Minister."

Inside the ANBU office, while Hikaru was reading documents, Ayame suddenly pushed open the door.

"What is it?"

Hikaru put down the document in his hand and asked curiously.

"We have results."

Ayame quickly handed him a letter.

Hikaru took the letter and opened it directly.

After reading it carefully, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Nara Shikashiro really was capable.

He had actually handled the Third Tsuchikage?

Not only that, he had also obtained a series of favorable terms and protection policies for entering the Land of Earth.

This made Hikaru sigh inwardly.

Members of the Nara Clan truly could not be underestimated.

The agreement Nara Shikashiro had signed with Ōnoki could be said to have completely cleared away all obstacles for the newspaper’s sale in the Land of Earth.

Ōnoki promised that if the newspaper entered the country, he could persuade the daimyō to allow it, and he could help them establish stations throughout the Land of Earth for distribution.

Ōnoki would also provide the newspaper with a degree of protection to prevent greedy people from targeting it and threatening the newspaper agency’s interests.

Most importantly, Ōnoki could personally endorse the newspaper and provide manpower to help with early promotion.

These terms were so convenient that they were almost unimaginable.

For a moment, even Nara Shikashiro wondered whether the Third Tsuchikage had something wrong with his head.

"Wait. No one gives favors for no reason. There is definitely a problem here."

But he quickly became alert.

He did not believe Ōnoki was a philanthropist.

If Ōnoki made such concessions, he definitely had a purpose.

Nara Shikashiro was a member of the Nara Clan. Even if his story had never appeared in the original work, Konoha had tens of thousands of ninja. How could every one of them be described clearly?

Not appearing did not mean he was incapable.

At most, it meant he did not have much interaction with the original protagonist.

Konoha had hundreds of jōnin. If any one of their personal growth stories were taken out separately, they could be like a protagonist.

But placed in the vast world of Naruto, where the perspective was locked onto Naruto and the others, they naturally became dispensable.

Nara Shikashiro was clearly such a person.

As a member of the Nara Clan, his mind was extremely sharp.

After thinking carefully for a while, he roughly understood what Ōnoki wanted.

On the surface, the agreements Ōnoki offered were excellent.

But in essence, they cost Ōnoki very little.

Persuade the daimyō?

What a joke.

Iwagakure was not Sunagakure. Did he really need to persuade the daimyō?

In the Land of Earth, Iwagakure absolutely held decisive authority.

Calling it persuasion was probably just writing a letter or sending someone to inform him.

Helping establish stations, was that not also a way to learn their movements?

As for protection, that might be somewhat necessary.

But thinking about it another way, did that not also count as surveillance?

In short, these agreements looked extremely generous, but they were also part of Ōnoki’s precautions.

Besides, Ōnoki did not need to spend many resources for these agreements, while Shikashiro’s side genuinely needed them.

Not only would Shikashiro accept, he believed even Hikaru would nod.

And for someone like Ōnoki to offer such benefits, he definitely had a goal.

He probably wanted to build a good relationship with the newspaper agency and obtain more benefits from it.

Aside from that, he had likely taken an interest in the identity Shikashiro was currently using.

With that thought, Shikashiro knew how to respond.

The condition he offered was that he would make the newspaper agency lean toward Ōnoki’s position on certain matters as much as possible, while also paying taxes from the Land of Earth’s profits according to the Land of Earth’s tax rate.

In addition, the most important point was that he subtly hinted to Ōnoki that if Ōnoki supported him and helped him fight for certain things in the future, then he could offer Ōnoki even more support and assistance.

That promise was exactly what Ōnoki wanted.

It could be said that Shikashiro’s words perfectly matched Ōnoki’s expectations.

So everything that followed became simple.

"This Nara Shikashiro really is a talent."

After Hikaru finished reading the entire report, he could not help but smile and shake his head.

To be honest, Nara Shikashiro had been a temporary choice, someone shoved into the role at the last moment.

Hikaru truly had not expected him to bring such a big surprise.

But Hikaru had always known that Konoha had many talents.

Otherwise, Konoha would never have become the number one village in the ninja world.

So while Nara Shikashiro’s achievement surprised him, Hikaru would not overthink it.

Of course, the proper reward would not be missing. As for what reward to give, that could wait until Nara Shikashiro returned.

"But I can’t promise him I won’t send him on similar missions in the future. Those guys really are far too lazy."

Hikaru was quite familiar with the Nara Clan’s personality.

He did not want this man to throw down the burden so soon.

Putting down the report, Hikaru began thinking about how to deal with the current situation.

Nara Shikashiro’s report mentioned that Ōnoki had asked about the president of the newspaper agency.

This forced Hikaru to make certain preparations.

In the future, Nara Shikashiro would be the main one contacting Ōnoki, but that mysterious president would inevitably have to appear once or twice.

"Ōnoki does not suspect that a ninja village is behind the newspaper agency. In that case, he must have decided the so-called newspaper agency is backed by some civilian force. Otherwise, it would be impossible for it to cooperate with Konoha’s ANBU. Since that is the case, the right person must be chosen to eliminate that old fox’s suspicions."

Ōnoki trusted Shikashiro, but that trust was extremely subtle.

After all, Ōnoki had been in power for so many years. He must have already forged the Land of Earth into an iron plate.

And since he was so intelligent, he naturally understood how terrifying the power of newspapers could be.

So to make him cautious, Hikaru had to prepare carefully.

For the smooth entry of his newspapers into the Land of Earth and for future development, there could be no carelessness in this matter.

"If there really is no other way, I’ll go personally. Whether through disguise or the Transformation Technique, I can try. If even that does not work..."

Thinking of this, Hikaru’s expression changed slightly.

If there truly was no other way, he could use one of his alternate identities to mislead Ōnoki.

If his tailed beast identities were exposed, it would create a massive stir.

But if only a very small number of people knew, then it was not unacceptable.

The trouble caused by the tailed beast identities would mostly come from the fact that other villages also possessed tailed beasts.

No one wanted to be threatened for no reason, especially by a terrifying power like a tailed beast that could destroy an entire village.

But if one’s strength was powerful enough, they could only accept that threat.

Perhaps such a threat might even help Hikaru.

"I remember there was some organization called Celestial Being in that Gundam series. They used overwhelming power to threaten the whole world and force everyone into peace, right?"

Peace was both useful and useless to Hikaru.

But for now, this seemed like a decent opportunity.

It would allow his alternate identity to appear in the ninja world and push the newspaper agency forward.

"Still, this matter needs careful consideration. I’ll decide after thinking it through properly. After all, the most important matter right now is still Kumogakure..."

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