Naruto: Kage of Kages

“I don’t think there is anything overtly wrong with Tsunade-sama’s answer and the official reasoning should coincide with it.” Shiki started.

“But if we were to look at things from a more cynical perspective, there are certain things that don’t quite add up in my opinion.” The white haired boy stated.

Mito raised her eyebrow and Tsunade frowned but neither of the women interrupted him, letting Shiki continue with his explanation.

“Having control of the Shinobi Academy is having control of the education of young shinobi. This allows the higher up to guide the younger generation into more desirable paths.”

“But while this is effective in its own way, unless the Hokage’s control of the village is absolute, he cannot just begin to openly indoctrinate students so they figure out who is talented, pliable or who is both and then have them graduate early.”

The more Shiki spoke the greater the sense of foreboding Tsunade felt and the more shocked and impressed Mito was.

“Early graduates are far easier to mold due to their young age. Pliable ones are put under the command of loyal but not truly important shinobi while those who are not only pliable but also talented, are placed under core members of the Hokage’s faction to ensure their future loyalties.”

So far, what Shiki had said, while somewhat underhanded, was just how things were in the world, even if Tsunade was uncomfortable with the methods, she could still not find them enough to condemn her sensei’s actions.

But that was about to change.

“As for those who are talented but prove to be dangerous elements and unswayable to the Hokage’s side, they may be put under some of the more ruthless Hokage loyalists who can evaluate the threat they may pose and, if necessary, ensure they suffer an accident.”

Tsunade instinctively wanted to speak up but Mito stopped her.

Shiki on the other hand, was immersed in the talk and theory crafting that gave him the nostalgic feeling of discussing these things in Naruto Fan Forums and so, he was no longer paying that much attention to the two women and just kept going.

“The alteration to the Chunin Exams may have a similar purpose. The harsher test provides an opportunity to peer in the capabilities of clan shinobi while also being a chance to get rid of them if necessary.”

“If the Hokage wants to maintain absolute authority over the village without having the required power and prestige, these sorts of measures are necessary to ensure village stability at the cost of weakening it.” Shiki went beyond the boundaries of the question and still did not stop.

“The only other solution would be to partition his authority, and grant some of it to the clans to create unity while maintaining village strength at the cost of the absolute nature of the Hokage position. The boy continued undeterred.

“The best way to do this would be to give them real authority but with the caveat that it would burden them with responsibility that would ensure their loyalty to the village and Hokage by extension.”

“By distributing powers to the clans in such a way that they would not be able to properly wield them on their own without the mediation of the Hokage, while on the surface, absolute authority would have been sacrificed, in practice, it would still be somewhat maintained.”

Shiki finally finished his rant and snapped out of his trance only to find Mito looking at him in a daze and Tsunade who had a darkened expression.

“Spoken like a true slimy politician. The monkey should take lessons from you.” The Uzumaki matriarch shook her head in disbelief.

‘Not only did he reach the same conclusions as me about the village he even proposed a truly cunning political mauver to solve the issue. Executing the idea without tipping off the clans to the scheme would be difficult but it is still a possible solution.’ The redhead mused.

“Seriously Shiki . . .” Mito started with some exasperation.

“You are a prodigy of shinobi skills, perfect at doing chores, a genius cook and now even your politicking seems top class . . . Is there anything you can’t do?” She questioned.

Shiki wholeheartedly disagreed and his expression showed as much.

“Analysing the situation and coming up with ideas is one thing but I would not have the slightest clue on how to go about actually being a politician.” The white haired boy claimed.

In regards to the other things however, he had nothing to say since they were, in fact, the truth.

“Is sensei really doing all of that behind the scenes?” Tsunade asked Mito with disbelief in her tone, causing the older woman to sigh.

“Some of the darker acts are perpetrated by Danzo, not Hiruzen but that is because the Monkey wants to keep his reputation squeaky clean, he no doubt knows what is going on behind the scenes, he just pretends not to.” The Uzumaki matriarch explained.

“Even the Senju clan has been progressively pushed out of the center of village politics despite supporting Hiruzen with you being his disciple. The support was once critical but now it is just a source of stability and legitimacy that allows the Monkey to keep making moves.” She added.

“That’s . . .” Words seemed to escape the blonde.

“It’s not like sensei directly harmed the clan though . . . Right?” She finally asked after a minute or two of silence.

“Not so far but let his position become more stable or let the clan produce someone fit for the Hokage seat and we will see how quickly that changes.” Mito cynically responded.

Tsunade did not know what to say.

Was she really that naive and easily manipulated?

Did Hiruzen really do all that behind her back, behind the Senju’s back after all the clan did for him?

Leaving her granddaughter to marinate in her thoughts, Mito turned to Shiki.

“As you might expect from the conversation, I signed you up for the Shinobi Academy.” The redhead started.

Shiki stiffened in place with some unwillingness but he didn’t want to be ungrateful so he did not speak up.

Mito noticed it however.

“Don’t worry. You just have to cram the curriculum and show up for the final exam four weeks from now, nearly a month. Should be enough for you to ace everything.” The Uzumaki matriarch informed.

The boy immediately loosened up, relieved he would not have to go and mingle with a bunch of kids. Humoring Nawaki with conversation once in a while was very different from tolerating daily encounters with huge groups of children.

‘Besides, girls in the Shinobi World are precocious as hell. With this face there is no way they’ll leave me alone.’ Shiki narcissistically thought.

Following that, Mito decided it was enough of a preemptive warning for Shiki and just told him to continue his normal training but with the fact he would start going on mission soon in mind.

When the time approached, Mito would have more accurate information to better advise the boy regarding his future as a shinobi.

And so, Shiki fell into his decided routine of training with some slight modifications to account for the possible shinobi work on the horizon.

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