At noon the following day, a rumor began to circulate through Konohagakure.
"Did you hear? The young heir of the Shimura family got beaten up by a commoner girl the moment he was discharged from the hospital!"
"Huh? Wasn't it that the Shimura heir tried to hit on a little commoner girl right after leaving the hospital, and ended up getting utterly destroyed in self-defense?"
"Nonsense! Everyone knows the Shimura heir has a crush on the Sarutobi heir, and he got beaten up by one of the Sarutobi heir's secret admirers!"
"How many times do I have to say this?! The Shimura heir got some little girl pregnant and refused to take responsibility, so she came after him out of hatred!"
"Dude, that's just too sick! That little girl is only five or six years old! Someone go make him commit seppuku, you bastards!"
As the situation threatened to spiral completely out of control, Sarutobi Hiruzen declared he could no longer stand by and watch. He bluntly announced that he simply couldn't stand Shimura Danzo and had beaten him up himself, adding that the incident had absolutely nothing to do with any commoner girl.
Nothing at all!
This caused Danzo, who had just regained consciousness in the hospital, to suffer a violent surge of blood to the head, and he promptly passed out from sheer fury.
Sarutobi Hiruzen! Damn you to hell!
…………
Meanwhile, the trio on an official, publicly funded trip out of the village had already arrived at their destination five full hours ago.
Banished outside the house by Senju Tobirama and still weighed down by a huge backpack, Artoria stared with deep resentment at Tobirama, who was chatting and laughing easily with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire inside.
"Oh, come on, Lily. You know Tobirama can use the Flying Thunder God technique, and besides, he had no idea you'd show up lugging a backpack this massive."
Lord Hashirama, who had barely shown his face to the Daimyo before getting kicked out by his younger brother, crouched down in front of Artoria and scratched his head in helpless amusement.
Hearing a voice, Artoria's gaze froze for a split second, then shifted with mounting grievance to Hashirama, who was trying to smooth things over.
And then there was this guy. When Tobirama had mentioned traveling by the Flying Thunder God technique, Artoria had suggested leaving the backpack with the guards at the gate. But this old man had patted him on the shoulder and said, "Daijobu, monja nai, we'll be right back anyway."
Good grief! Now the entire Daimyo's estate knew there was a kid carrying a pack twice his size who apparently intended to settle down permanently in the capital!
Aaaaaah!
"Ahahaha, ah, oh, I know! Lily, what do you think if I let Madara be the Second Hokage in a few days?"
Perhaps unable to withstand Artoria's glare, or perhaps finally realizing his own mistake, the goofy black-haired man hurriedly changed the subject with a guilty conscience.
Wait, you're only planning to be Hokage for a few days, you idiot?! And you want Madara to seamlessly take over? Do you seriously have no clue how your brother feels about him?!
How on earth is that even remotely feasible, you jerk?!
"Ah... that sounds great. Teacher Hashirama can ask Lord Tobirama for his opinion in a moment."
Artoria forcefully suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and offered this earnest suggestion to Hashirama.
The subtext was clear: What's the use of talking to me about this? You need to talk to your brother.
Ulp...
Hashirama's expression stiffened at those words. How could he possibly not know Tobirama's attitude? He was just making small talk—why did this kid have to be so brutally honest?!
"Ahahahaha, Tobirama's pretty busy, so let's not bother him."
"Oh, right, is Danzo okay? I heard you beat that boy up pretty badly. Why'd you hit him?"
Seeing Artoria's lips part as if to speak again, Hashirama hurriedly cut in to change the subject once more.
"Danzo? Who's that? Never heard of him."
"..."
Artoria was just about to toss out a witty remark to brush it off when he caught sight of Hashirama's dead-serious eyes.
He wasn't just casually changing the subject; he was entirely serious. He had almost forgotten just how vital the village was in this man's heart.
As this man's sole disciple, he was destined to be a future Hokage, which meant his perspective on his peers and his own personal conduct could not afford a single flaw.
"I went to check on him out of the goodness of my heart, but he told me to get lost," Artoria answered truthfully, without a trace of a lie.
"Well... still, you shouldn't have hit him that hard... Next time just slap him a couple of times..."
Seeing that his teacher was still deeply conflicted, Artoria sighed. Holy-blue eyes rippled with emotion, and his lively ahoge drooped in defeat.
I'm sorry, Danzo.
When had Hashirama ever seen his disciple look like this? He was just about to ask what was wrong when he heard his young pupil's aggrieved voice.
"I went to visit him with good intentions... but he... the moment he saw me, he started harassing me... saying that... saying that since I managed to become your disciple, Teacher... I must... I must be really experienced at this sort of thing... I couldn't take it anymore... so we started arguing... and then... and then he said he was going to desecrate my ancestors..."
Artoria peeked cautiously at Hashirama, his hands fidgeting nervously against the hem of his clothes. A moment later, Artoria took a deep breath and continued.
"So... that's why I gave him a beating."
"Is that how it was..."
Hashirama lowered his head slightly, a few strands of long hair falling across his forehead, obscuring his eyes.
"Next time, hit him harder."
"Mn!" The corners of Artoria's mouth slowly curved upward, as if the fact that his teacher didn't blame him genuinely made him happy.
Seeing his disciple bounce back, Hashirama's face regained its cheerful smile. As for retaliation or assassination, he would never stoop to that; he was the leader of a village and could not let personal emotions cloud his judgment.
Unless Danzo actually did something to harm the village's interests, this was merely a petty dispute between children, and he wouldn't do anything drastic to him.
"Anija."
Hearing his second younger brother's summons, Hashirama quickly collected himself and bounded over to stand behind Tobirama in a single leap.
"Clan Head Senju, from this day forward, you shall be the First Hokage of Konohagakure and our Land of Fire. The future honor, safety, and prosperity of our Land of Fire rest entirely on your shoulders," the rather plump Daimyo smiled at Tobirama, then slowly stepped up to Hashirama and said with solemn gravity.
Weren't Daimyo supposed to be useless good-for-nothings? How could he deliver a speech that dignified?! Could it all just be a facade for appearances? Artoria stroked his chin in deep thought.
"Rest assured," Senju Hashirama unusually refrained from making any goofy remarks, matching the Daimyo's expression with absolute solemnity.
"Lily, come here."
Senju Tobirama unleashed his Grand Summoning Jutsu once again, though this time the target wasn't his Anija.
Obediently, Artoria stepped forward on his short legs, trotting over to Hashirama's side.
"So this must be the Hokage's disciple. Truly a remarkable young man, you can see the genius written all over him," the Daimyo chuckled warmly as he looked at Artoria, who hurriedly squeezed out a polite smile.
"Of course! Lily is exceptionally talented," Hashirama laughed heartily.
"Hahaha, it looks like Lily is destined to be a Hokage himself one day!" the Daimyo boomed with laughter.
"Ah, Lily will definitely become a Hokage in the future. I'm absolutely certain of it." Hashirama spoke with a profound earnestness that rarely surfaced on the face of the goofy middle-aged man.
"Haha, then I'll just have to live a long, healthy life so I can be there to witness the day Lily ascends to the Hokage's seat!"
"Hahahaha, Lord Daimyo will definitely have that chance!"
The conversation between the two highest leaders of the Land of Fire left the future Hokage, Mr. Artoria, with a face full of dark lines.
Did anyone bother to ask for my opinion, huh?!
Oh right, I can't fight back anyway.
Never mind, then.