Will of embers

Chapter 4

Hiruzen wished he was a fast reader. Even with four shadow clones working together, it took enormous time to go through the paperwork. The piles seemed never to end, and every time he started to hope that he could finish it, his secretary brought another pile of paper he needed to look over, sign, and evaluate. And all of it was just for today.

He was out of his depth. He had to read every document carefully and understand from whom it came and what it meant. And after the Demon Fox attack, documents were coming to him to no end. He had to be familiarized with construction laws before he signed approval for any building or repair. He needed to be careful of scammers who wanted to use the situation to ask for more money than their materials and workforce needed.

He had two shadow clones at home, learning everything about the laws and economy of Konoha day and night just for it. It was a soul-sucking job that left him no free time. He could only spare one shadow clone to study ninjutsu. At least he made some progress, even if it was slow. But he didn't know how long he could last working like this.

"You seem burdened, sensei," the voice slithered through the shadows, weaving into the air like a sinister melody, giving Hiruzen the worst chills he had felt. "The weight of leadership, responsibilities, and the endless bureaucracy. It's almost suffocating, isn't it?"

"Orochimaru," Hiruzen didn't like how he was forced to lift his head to look at the man before him. "What brings you here?"

Hiruzen never felt so trapped before. He never was confident he could fool others, but at least he knew what kind of relationship one had with Hiruzen. So, he could play into it, but Hiruzen didn't know how to act before Orochimaru. He knew that Orochimaru was very observant and intelligent. One mistake could mark his doom.

"I heard you have sent Jiraiya to retrieve Tsunade," Orochimaru replied, his voice still low. And it felt dangerous for Hiruzen, but it was probably his imagination. "Are you going to reunite the famous Sannin?"

"I didn't think you would care," Hiruzen said as he tried not to get intimidated by Orochimaru's unnatural gaze. "But yes, I feel more reassured if you three are back in the village together."

"Are you afraid of something that you are so desperately trying to strengthen the village?"

'Right now, I am afraid of you.' Of course, Hiruzen couldn't say anything like that. "It doesn't hurt to be prepared. I can't say I can predict how others will react to the Sannin reuniting, but I hope it will deter most from wanting to try their luck striking us while they think we are weak. And with Tsunade-chan back, many will be relieved with her presence in the village, as she is still the beloved princess of the Senju clan."

"I didn't think you have in you to use your students," Orochimaru's tone indicated that he was insinuating something about Hiruzen.

"Don't be presumptuous, Orochimaru," Hiruzen knew that he needed to be firm at a moment like his. For every fault Hiruzen possessed, he was a person of strong belief. "It has been three days since the attack of the Demon Fox, and you only show up to question me? Could you have not stopped whatever research you were doing to attend the funeral? Unlike you, I believe Tsunade possesses a sense of responsibility."

"You want to make her your successor," Orochimaru stated, looking at Hiruzen with sharp, intelligent eyes.

"I wanted it to be you," Hiruzen replied, sighing to hide his discomfort. "But with every chance you could have proven yourself, you instead decided to disappoint me."

"Hokage needs to be strong, something that Tsunade isn't anymore."

"To be strong, one first needs to be willing to protect others," Hiruzen replied, not backing off Orochimaru's stare. "And you have proven to me that you aren't capable of caring about others. I have work to do if you have nothing else to say."

Orochimaru only smiled and left with his silent footsteps. As he opened the doors, Hiruzen's secretary was waiting with another pile of documents to enter the office. Hiruzen could only sigh and motion for her to enter and put down the documents. He thought that his talk with Orochimaru would be the end of it, and he could return to the work, but that damn bell rang in his head again.

"Ding!!! New quest: Orochimaru is suspicious of you and afraid you will discover his research. He is willing to work with a certain individual to hide from your eyes and even eliminate you. Please find out who is a certain individual. Ding!!!"

'Isn't it Danzo?' Hiruzen asked in his head, hoping it would be enough for the system and he wouldn't need to provide evidence or something like that.

"Ding!!! Quest completed: You have discovered that Danzo and Orochimaru are working together behind your back and will be willing to harm you if you threaten their goals. Ding!!!"

"Ding!!! Congratulations, host: You have discovered a conspiracy. Please choose your reward. Ding!!!"

-Random level of chakra control.

-Random increase in your stats.

-Random ninjutsu skill.

'What did a random increase in my stats even mean?' Hiruzen wanted to cry at the rewards he could choose. They weren't bad, but again, the randomness of it made him very uncomfortable. He still didn't know how his stats translated to the real world. And even if he chose that, his stats increase could vary from 0.1 to 100 or 1000.

Hiruzen was crying his heart out inside his head, but outside, he was reading the documents he was brought to calmly, showing no emotion. He was way too stressed out, and even though none of the rewards would harm him, if he made a hasty decision, he might regret it for the rest of his life. He needed anything he could get his hands on, but if he acted hastily, he might make a big mistake.

Like there were thousands of ninjutsu in this world if he chose it and got something like an illusionary clone or something he could learn on his own, it would be only a waste of his rewards. But again, he might get something amazing and unique. It made it hard for Hiruzen to choose his reward. There were just too many possibilities. But in the end, he decided on the safest option.

"Ding!!! Congratulations host. You have chosen a random level of chakra control for your reward. Ding!!!"

"Ding!!! Congratulations host. You have received a peak level of chakra control. Ding!!!"

'Peak?' It sounded like the best level there was. He almost cried in joy. For the first time, something good happened to him since he entered this world. He felt the chakra in his body; it flowed like water, and he found it easy to move as he wished. It was great for him as he was worried about how he could learn chakra control without anyone seeing him.

It would be pretty bad if someone saw him doing a tree-climbing exercise. And it certainly would be a disaster if he failed it. So, he was delighted with his reward. Especially when he was worried about his chakra. Creating five shadow clones left him with 6.25 percent chakra, and he didn't want under any circumstances to let that number fall under 5 percent.

Whenever he created a shadow clone, it took half of his chakra. But now he felt like he could control how much of his chakra he wanted to give. Doing paperwork, his shadow clones didn't need that much chakra which meant he could create more of them and finish his work faster. Maybe the system wasn't so bad after all.

…

It has been six days since the Demon Fox attack. After working late into the night, Hiruzen finally finished his work for once. Of course, he knew that more would come soon, but he got into a rhythm in the last couple of days and could relax a bit. With his shadow clones that he found out needed at least five percent of his chakra to function, he learned what there was to learn about the laws and procedures of Konoha.

He would not call himself an expert, but at least he knew how things worked now. And most importantly, he didn't need to deal with Danzo, or anyone else for the last few days. It felt like a vacation, not needing to think carefully of every word he said and then fear that he might have fucked up and didn't notice it.

Well, all vacations end, and his ended today, at this moment as the Daimyo of the Land of the Fire left his carriage and stood before Hiruzen. He was the first adult shorter than Hiruzen, even if it was by only a few centimeters. Still, it felt great not to be the shortest person in the room for the first time.

With a bow, they both greeted each other. Hiruzen had spent the last night thinking about how to deal with this man. He thought of so many things he would say to him. He read up as much as he could find about the Daimyo and dug through his memories trying to remember anything that was shown of the man in the anime.

There wasn't much he could find about him, as who would write about Daimyo without making him some great man? And he didn't remember anything from the anime. One thing he somehow remembered, and he didn't know if it was true, was that Daimyo liked Jiraiya, but that didn't help Hiruzen much.

"As you can see, the rebuilding is going according to plan," Hiruzen showed off the most damaged places in Konoha first, hoping that by the end of the day, the Daimyo wouldn't remember much of it. "The village will return to its glory days soon enough."

"I see, I see," The Daimyo nodded along the way, not giving off anything to Hiruzen.

"I don't want to downplay the casualties we have suffered, but the quick response of the Fourth Hokage and the shinobi of Konoha prevented the worst from happening. Sadly, the Fourth Hokage had to sacrifice his life to defeat the Demon Fox."

"Minato Namikaze was one of the noblest people from what I have heard," the Daimyo nodded once again.

Hiruzen showed the Daimyo around the village before returning to the Hokage tower and his office. He had no idea how well he was doing as the Daimyo didn't comment on anything he said, only nodded in understanding. Hiruzen started to doubt that Daimyo understood anything. But he still did his job.

"With additional funds, the village would go back on its feet in no time," Hiruzen ended his presentation by asking for money because it was the only indicator that the Daimyo trusted them. If he refuses to give them anything, it would mean that Daimyo doesn't see any value in investing in them. If he gave the minimum he could, it would mean he didn't care, and the more he gave them, the more he trusted the village.

"Of course, I will arrange for additional funds to be allocated to Konoha. After all, who could have predicted such a disaster? And you haven't let me down yet, Hiruzen," For the first time, Hiruzen saw the Daimyo react differently. "But before that, I have a favor to ask."

"If there is anything I can do, I will be happy to do it," Hiruzen replied, ready to give his heart to get over with this situation.

"I know that the village needs all its capable shinobi, but I still must ask you to give one capable shinobi to me as I found myself lacking one of my Twelve guardians."

"Daimyo-dono, your safety is our priority. Of course, we can find a shinobi to accompany you," Hiruzen was eager to satisfy the Daimyo and leave a good impression. "I wouldn't even mind, giving one of my personal students. Orochimaru is one of the most talented shinobi you could find in the world. He alone would guarantee your safety." 'And I would get rid of him too.'

"One of the Sannin, oh no, I would never take someone as important as him," Too bad the Daimyo refused, probably saving his life as Hiruzen didn't doubt that Orochimaru would get bored with the Daimyo and kill him sooner than later.

"What can I say? I only want what is best for the leader of this glorious land," Hiruzen smiled, but inside, he cursed for refusing him. "But since you won't take my recommendations, why don't you choose one yourself, Daimyo-dono? I will have no objections as long as they are willing to be one of the Twelve guardians."

"Very well then, I will talk with my advisors and see what they can come up with," Daimyo seemed more than satisfied with Hiruzen's proposal.

"Ding!!! Mission completed. The Daimyo of the Land of the Fire is satisfied with the village's condition and your leadership. Ding!!!"

"Ding!!! Congratulations, host: You have proven your capabilities as a Hokage. You shall receive complete information about this system's functions as your reward. Ding!!!"

'Wait, what?'

A.N. As always, If you want more, up to seven advanced chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852. And if you have any requests for stories, I will only take them on my pa treon.