Hiruzen's head was starting to pound. Mito was dancing right on the line of what the village could tolerate, and the Hokage's authority wasn't something people got to just walk over. Especially for stating the obvious.
He really wanted to rub his temples, but that would look weak. It would look like he was showing his displeasure to her face, and he wasn't about to do that.
"Mito-sama." His voice came out steady this time, without weakness. He was the Hokage. "You can feel what I'm feeling. You know I've never once been disrespectful to you."
He paused. "I respect Azula-san, I do. The way she handled the Uchiha situation was something else. But you know as well as I do that the way she's been doing things over the years wasn't according to procedure. Especially the Uchiha leaving the village—I just turned a blind eye."
He kept going, the words coming easier now. "No one says it out loud, but everyone in the village knows how the Uchiha and the Senju left. Everyone knows how they made the Hokage look like a joke. It happened once, it can happen again."
He took a breath. "I should've punished both clans. By all rights, I should have. But I didn't. And you know why."
Yeah. 'Course he did. Because he's flexible like a wet noodle and about as eager to take responsibility.
Azula didn't say it, but the way the corner of her mouth curled up said enough. Hiruzen caught it, and his jaw tightened.
"I'm trying to figure out where you got that idea, really." Her voice carried this gentle confusion, like she was genuinely puzzled by his thought process. "Why do you talk about Konoha like it's some sacred temple nobody's allowed to leave? Come on. You know exactly why you don't actually want to push this."
She wasn't dancing around it.
"Here's the simple truth. If I decided tomorrow that the Uchiha were leaving to start our own village? Mito-sensei's the only one who could stop us. And they would follow. Every single one. Probably half the civilians too, the ones who actually remember who gave them a way to survive when they had nothing."
She gestured loosely, almost casually.
"And this whole thing about 'turning a blind eye'? Let's call it what it is. You're scared. You know what I can do. More importantly, you're terrified that pushing me means splitting this village right down the middle until one of us is gone. And we both know how that ends."
A sigh escaped her, bored already.
"Look, I don't actually care about any of this. Your thoughts, your plans, your motivations—none of it matters to me. The only question is whether you've finally accepted what you are. A placeholder. A transitional leader who's already past his expiration date. You can step down gracefully or I can make that happen for you. Either way, one thing's absolutely clear now."
She held his gaze, completely at ease.
"You don't give me orders anymore."
•••
(Azula's POV)
So I just checked out of that conversation with Hiruzen. It'll just be a never-ending cycle of 'but the village this' and 'the council that'. I don't have the time or the patience for a debate on political science 101.
So I did what any reasonable person would do when faced with a boring, nonsensical debate with someone who has power. I just... left.
I just activated the Hiraishin and poof, I was back to the compound. Hiruzen came to see Mito anyway, not me. The outcome is all that matters, and I know which way the wind blows with her. She's got my back.
Anyway, I got home and immediately did a quick sensory sweep of the place and it was empty. Like Nawaki said, probably on the battlefield.
The old man, although very protective, doesn't treat Fugaku the same way as her. Not like Tsunade, all super-protective and worried after knowing about Nawaki's future.
So yeah, he probably dragged Fugaku back to the front lines for some more "on the job training." Tough love, Uchiha style.
And my mom's chakra signature also doesn't appear anywhere in the compound or even the village. She's definitely with them.
Probably fussing over Fugaku's bento box in between skirmishes, making sure he eats his vegetables even while dodging lightning blades.
But I can feel some clansmen—their chakras are all over the village. I can sense a couple on patrol by the East Wall, another near the main gate. They're back on duty after being gone for almost three months.
That's good. It means things are moving.
And that means I need a new plan because things have a habit of shaking themselves up just when you think you've got a handle on them.
Like the whole Uzumaki thing. We didn't last there for as long as I expected. There was also us invading Kiri—it wasn't on my wish list of the year because I did not see 'orchestrate a hostile takeover of a hidden village' in my schedule before awakening the Mangekyō, but it seems I was too conservative.
That was just... a bonus round.
But I'm not complaining. I've got the Uzumaki clan eating out of the palm of my hand. I spent a few weeks mentoring some ridiculously talented kid from Kiri and in exchange, I basically got the keys to the kingdom.
All their bloodline limits, every secret technique they had, the works. And as a little cherry on top, I now have a complete library of every single Water Release jutsu they've ever invented—a nice little addition to the collection and a whole new element to play with.
But yeah, after all these changes, my plan obviously must also keep up the pace.
So like, obviously I want the hat. Who wouldn't want the Hokage chair.
But ahh, I feel like Hiruzen has some kind of plot armor, right now with Kumo's being a menace on the border and my entire family is there, am I supposed to be here playing politics or doing a coup d'état?
If it was just my father one on one with the Raikage, fine he'll be coming home. Maybe missing an ear, definitely missing a limb or two, but he's walking through that door.
But you give that man a bunch of clan members to protect along with his son who isn't Jōnin level, suddenly he can't do the cool thing anymore.
And Kumo's gonna take this personally too because of the Uzushiogakure things. They were a big part of that whole ten thousand ninja extermination party. They didn't bring as many bodies as Kiri did but they showed the second most, more than Suna and Iwa.
Anyway, the point is power comes second but it's really first. And speaking of power? I got too many ideas.
Genuinely too many. I might be the only ninja in existence whose biggest problem is having too many ways to get stronger and not enough time to do any of them.
So seals. I can comfortably say there's maybe five people alive who are better than me right now and I'm being nice with that number. Which means I'm finally at the point where I can just do whatever I want with them.
Create Sealing Chains, cook up an Anti Madara seal just in case that guy ever shows up. Make a Fugaku Safety Net seal so we can stop worrying about his safety. Not to mention the You Don't Get The Kill seal and the This Is Mine Now seal which are self-explanatory honestly.
That's already a few years of work right there.
Then there's the Mangekyō plan. This one's even bigger because imagine having reality bending powers but without the whole trauma thing. Maybe I take Sarada's route you know? Love path.
'Wait. Thinking about it now. What's more stimulating than trauma? What's more intense? What gets the blood pumping and the eyes evolving?'
Sex, obviously.
'If I get really really into it with someone, like genuinely excited, could that do it? Could I just awaken Mangekyō by having really really good sex with some of these disgustingly perfect chakra sculpted humans? Japanese ones at that?'
Just to be clear I'm asking for science. Mostly. The scientific curiosity is there. The wanting to taste part is separate.
Probably?