Chapter 41 (Patreon)

"Sensei."

Just as Minato was about to leave, Yujiro suddenly spoke.

Minato was now officially the Jōnin-sensei of their three-man squad, so Yujiro naturally changed how he addressed him.

"Hm? What is it?" Minato turned back and looked at Yujiro.

Among the three of them, Yujiro was undoubtedly the most outstanding.

Still, Minato did not ask how Yujiro had noticed the kunai he left on the tree earlier.

Everyone had their own secrets.

Their own trump cards.

As a teacher, he had no intention of digging into them.

"I hope our first mission won’t be too easy," Yujiro said.

That was all he needed to say.

The rest depended on Minato’s decision.

Minato looked at him silently for a while.

Then he gave a firm nod.

"All right."

He understood what Yujiro meant.

Yujiro wanted real experience.

In that case, their first mission naturally could not be a simple D-rank or C-rank mission.

At the very least, it had to start from B-rank.

Besides, Kakashi was with them.

With a Jōnin on the team, Minato felt a little more at ease.

But then his gaze shifted to Uchiha Itachi.

And Minato sighed inwardly.

In Konoha, most clans still maintained some connection with the village’s civilians.

But the Uchiha were different.

Because of the policies left behind by the Second Hokage, and the pressure that continued under the Third Hokage, the Uchiha clan had gradually been pushed to the edge of the village.

Their compound had moved farther away from the center of Konoha.

Over time, a wall had formed between the Uchiha and the village leadership.

The Military Police Force often came across as overbearing to ordinary villagers.

Because of that, civilians were reluctant to get involved with the Uchiha.

The more time passed, the deeper the divide between the Uchiha clan and Konoha became.

Minato had always wanted to improve that relationship.

But he had never found a proper opening.

Now, perhaps, this was a chance.

If he could not visit the Uchiha clan head as the Fourth Hokage…

Then he would go as Itachi’s teacher.

With that thought, Minato made his decision.

"Before we leave the village for the mission, there’s one thing I need to do first."

Minato looked at Itachi with a gentle smile.

Itachi blinked. "What is it, Sensei?"

"As your teacher, I should visit your home."

…

…

This home visit was something Yujiro had not expected.

After all, Minato was the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.

And because of the long-standing tension between the village and the Uchiha clan, almost no one in Konoha wanted to get too close to them.

Minato knew that better than anyone.

Even so, he wanted to change the current situation.

Were the Uchiha not also people of Konoha?

Then why should they be treated as if they were different?

Even before becoming Hokage, Minato had been concerned about this problem.

Now that he had become Hokage, he could no longer ignore the internal situation of the Uchiha clan.

That evening, after finishing his work at the Hokage’s office, Minato came to Yujiro’s house early.

The moment Yujiro saw Minato standing there with that slightly awkward smile, he understood.

The man wanted him to come along.

"Let’s go, Sensei."

Yujiro smiled faintly, picked up his black blade, and walked outside.

Minato felt a little relieved.

Through Kakashi, he had already heard some of Yujiro’s views on the Will of Fire.

From that point on, Minato had stopped treating him like an ordinary child.

In fact, he had seriously reflected on what Yujiro had said back then.

Right now, Minato wanted to understand the internal conflict surrounding the Uchiha clan.

He intended to use this home visit as a chance to see things for himself.

Still, going alone made him feel somewhat uncertain.

But with Yujiro beside him, Minato somehow felt much more confident.

"Yujiro," Minato asked as they walked, "what do you think needs to be done to change the Uchiha clan’s current situation?"

Yujiro answered casually, "It’s simple. It depends on whether Konoha’s higher-ups actually want it to change."

"Konoha’s higher-ups, huh…"

Minato nodded quietly.

That one sentence struck the core of the matter.

The Uchiha clan was not born unreasonable or cruel.

They had simply been painted that way by Konoha’s leadership for too long.

The village leadership wanted to isolate the Uchiha.

By doing so, they could keep power centralized.

But if too much authority was handed back to the Uchiha, the higher-ups feared that Konoha might one day become the Uchiha clan’s backyard.

Both sides were suspicious of each other.

Neither side trusted the other.

Along the way, neither Minato nor Yujiro hid their presence.

Naturally, many civilians and shinobi noticed them.

"Isn’t that the direction of the Uchiha compound?"

"Yeah… Is Hokage-sama going to the Uchiha clan?"

"Looks like it."

"Why would he go there? The Uchiha always act so high and mighty. Just seeing them makes me uncomfortable."

"Keep your voice down! What if Hokage-sama hears you?"

"..."

Whispers continued from the streets around them.

Yujiro and Minato heard every word clearly.

Minato let out a soft sigh.

"That is exactly the kind of thing I least wanted to hear."

Yujiro glanced at him.

He could tell Minato meant it.

Minato truly wanted to change the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha.

"Fine," Yujiro said casually. "Since you’re Minato-sensei, I’ll help you a little later."

This Minato was already starting to feel different from the one Yujiro knew.

In the original story, Minato had also loved Konoha.

Unfortunately, he had too little time, too few methods, and died far too early.

But now…

Watching how Minato changed might actually be interesting.

Besides, Minato was currently standing on his side.

"Then I’ll thank you on Konoha’s behalf, Yujiro."

Minato’s usual warm smile returned.

"I’m not doing it for Konoha," Yujiro replied flatly.

Right now, Konoha did not have that much face.

Minato scratched his cheek helplessly.

Before long, the two arrived at the entrance of the Uchiha compound.

"Hokage-sama?"

The two Uchiha guards stationed at the entrance froze when they saw Minato.

Their faces were full of disbelief.

Minato smiled calmly.

"Please inform your clan head. Itachi’s Jōnin-sensei has come for a home visit."

"Y-Yes."

One of the Uchiha clansmen nodded quickly, still looking bewildered, then hurried inside to report.