"Staying in the Ninja Academy is safe, but my power growth will be slow. However, it's not impossible to grow. I must let the clones leave Konoha."
Uchiha Tomie began to plan how to become stronger. He had to let the clones leave Konoha.
Once the clones left Konoha, they could continuously split and use Transformation Jutsu to fight various Rogue Ninja and wandering Ninja in the Ninja World to grow stronger.
If a clone died, Uchiha Tomie wouldn't gain its power, but he would gain its memories, essentially acquiring its combat experience.
For Tomie, the most important thing was to obtain the Ninjutsu Izanagi. As long as he acquired this Ninjutsu and combined the power of the Tomie template with the Forbidden Technique Izanagi, he could completely challenge those above his level.
"For now, the focus is on refining Chakra and improving physical conditioning. Other things can be handled by the clones. Once these two are enhanced, even without other Ninjutsu, Susanoo alone can rival a Kage."
Uchiha Tomie's plans were all based on his own abilities. With the 'Hyper-Regeneration' skill, he found that his Chakra recovery speed was very fast, and even his ocular power could recover.
It could be said that even if he didn't have the Eternal Mangekyo, but only a regular Mangekyo, he wouldn't go blind. After a battle, his ocular power would recover after a period of time.
The teacher saw that Tomie wasn't listening to the lesson but didn't bother him. After all, the Uchiha Clan had been annihilated, and Tomie was surely in a bad mood, so he wouldn't hold it against him. Besides, the classroom content wasn't of much help to Tomie.
Tomie was absolutely safe at the academy. As long as he kept a low profile, he would be absolutely safe before graduation. Apart from Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan and Pain's attack, Konoha had not been invaded in the storyline, not even during the Shinobi World War.
Compared to the academy, outside the academy was bustling. Who would have thought that the Nine-Tailed Fox was actually the Fourth Hokage's son?
After learning the truth, some felt guilt and remorse, while others still harbored hatred for Naruto.
Because their families died due to the Nine-Tailed, they couldn't bring themselves to forgive the Nine-Tailed. This was the inherent evil in humans.
Danzo, who had arrived at the Hokage Office, had already cast aside the matter of Tomie. Compared to that, the Nine-Tailed matter was more important.
If he could control the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, his chances of becoming Hokage would greatly increase.
Tomie only used Shisui's Kotoamatsukami to subtly influence Danzo, not directly modify Danzo's consciousness. Most of the time, Danzo was still Danzo, with his own ambitions and pursuits.
"Hiruzen, give me the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki. Under the guise of training the Fourth Hokage's son, let him join Root. I will surely train him into a qualified weapon of war."
Danzo's tone was very cold. Even the Fourth Hokage's son was just a tool in his eyes. Let alone the Fourth Hokage's son, he didn't even respect his old comrade, the Third Hokage. He had even sent people to assassinate the Third Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi refused without a second thought, "No, Naruto is Minato's son. I cannot do that. He's doing quite well at the Ninja Academy. He's already starting to form his own bonds."
Danzo was extremely disdainful. How could he not know Hiruzen's calculations? He could only bitterly retort, "Hiruzen, you will regret this."
Hiruzen Sarutobi responded without showing weakness, "Danzo, I am the Hokage."
Homura Mitokado indicated he didn't want to speak. They had been arguing for so many years, repeating the same few phrases with no novelty.
Utatane Koharu lightly coughed, then spoke, "The incident has already occurred, so how should it be handled? We can't just ignore it! If we do, not to mention the commoners, the Ninja Clans will be disheartened."
The Jonin of the great Ninja Clans all knew Naruto's identity, but they kept silent because the Third Hokage was currently in power, and the Fourth Hokage was, after all, a dead man.
However, now that everything had been revealed, if they still ignored it, everyone would be disheartened. In that case, with morale scattered, the team would be difficult to lead.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had painstakingly cultivated his reputation for so many years and was absolutely unwilling to let it be damaged like this.
Danzo and the other two looked at Hiruzen. They said nothing. Even though they held high positions of power, if Hiruzen was determined to do something, they couldn't stop him, because Hiruzen was the Hokage.
"Announce Naruto's identity, return Minato and Kushina's house to him. I will keep Minato's money for him; he is still young. As for safety, I will send Kakashi to protect him and mentor him. Compared to Kushina, the current Naruto is indeed a bit weak."
Hiruzen Sarutobi became decisive now. Since it couldn't be hidden, he would make it public. Anyway, Naruto now acknowledged him, and he held a very important position in Naruto's heart. It was time to start training Naruto.
After making the decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi had Anbu bring Naruto over. To be safe, he had to tell Naruto about the Will of Fire to ensure he was on their side.
Next was the issue of Tomie. After Hiruzen Sarutobi explained Tomie's situation, Danzo, realizing there was no hope with the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, turned his attention to Tomie again, suggesting that Tomie join Root. Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu agreed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat swayed but ultimately refused. This might have been a lingering effect of Tomie amplifying his good intentions, which was still happening, though not as intensely as at first. It would completely wear off in a few hours.
"I will send Anbu to observe him for a few days. If there's a problem, I'll send him to Root. If not, I'll let him stay at the Ninja Academy to build bonds."
Danzo snorted upon hearing this and left. He understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts: if Tomie had no problems, it would be impossible for him to join Root, as he would become a tool for the Uchiha's reproduction.
Danzo had to admit that the Uchiha were strong, but unfortunately, they were uncontrollable.
Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu did not leave. Unlike Danzo, they did not control Root, so they couldn't be as arrogant.
Soon, the Anbu report arrived: someone had used genjutsu to control villagers, making them spread the news that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son.
Although they knew what was going on, investigating it was difficult because controlling villagers was too easy. Any Jonin, as long as their genjutsu wasn't too weak, could easily control villagers.
What was more troublesome was that no one knew when the villagers were controlled. Some genjutsu were mental suggestions that didn't take effect immediately.
In this case, there were many suspects. Theoretically, all Jonin could do this, except Might Guy. Even Chunin proficient in genjutsu could do such a thing.
"I'll leave this matter to you two. Make sure to find out who is behind this," Hiruzen Sarutobi said to Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu.
As Hokage, he had too many things to deal with.
His only consolation was that Jiraiya was relatively obedient, having gone to the border to deter the Ninja of the Land of Lightning; otherwise, the Hidden Cloud Village would surely have taken action.
Yes, Jiraiya was obedient, but it was for Konoha, not for Hiruzen Sarutobi. Otherwise, in the original story, when Orochimaru executed the Konoha Crush plan, Jiraiya would not have stood by. At that time, Jiraiya didn't even use half of his power.
Not long after, Naruto arrived. After some brainwashing from Hiruzen Sarutobi, he happily left.