Chapter 21: An old man's troubles is a toung man's responsibilities.

Because I made a mistake with the chapter release which might have destroyed your immersion, here's another one.

But do shpport me with powerstones. I want to keep a monopoly on the first place spot in theweekly popular charts for fanfics!

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Oden looked at Hinata's back as she walked inside.

He was truly surprised by her, not only had her foundation become very deep as her chakra control level had risen to Jonin level, if not elite Jonin level, but she had learned an A-rank jutsu that is perfect for her.

Oden was excited to see the events that would unravel tomorrow.

On the morning of the chunin exams, the Hokage sat in his office. He knew trouble was brewing as Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha and gave a curse to the last Uchiha.

Not only that but the Hokage also knew that Sunagakure, the village hidden in the sand was plotting something.

One of the tokubetsu Jonin of Konoha, Hayate Gekko, had been assassinated.

Hiruzen knew all of these were somehow connected but he didn't know how.

Feeling the pressure of knowing that there were undercurrents and he couldn't do anything about it, and above that, he had to protect Konoha...

Hiruzen let out a sigh as he turned towards the wall where pictures of all Hokages were hanging. He was looking at the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze

"..."

"knock knock"

"Come in.".The third Hokage spoke without turning, he knew it was Anko, as he felt her chakra signature.

"Lord Hokage? Anko said, wondering why he was looking at the pictures of the earlier Hokage.

Anko had once been the disciple of Orochimaru, and after he turned against Konoha, she became very scrutinized and people had a great distrust of her.

She never blamed them as she didn't trust herself either. She had once been given the curse mark of Orochimaru and she knew the dangers of it.

Ever since Orochimaru showed his face, Anko felt guilty even when she had done nothing wrong.

Seeing that her mood seemed slightly off, The third Hokage understood her feelings.

"Don't...." He said, stopping her from saying anything negative about herself.

"You and Orochimaru no longer share any relationship, you owe us nothing." The third said, trying to make her understand that she didn't carry the Sins of her former teacher.

"Besides... none of the shinobi in the village right now... are any threat to him." The third Hokage said, trying to make her realize that she is essential to the village as they are in their weakest time.

"..." She just stood there silently.

"I suspect that not even I could face him." The Third Hokage finally spoke his mind, what he had been worried about for a while.

"If only the fourth Hokage was still alive." She offhandedly said as she saw the picture of him hanging on the wall.

"Don't, he sacrificed his life 13 years ago to save the village. He is no longer with us, so let's do with what we have." The third said as a face flashed by in his mind.

Yes, recently one thing had given him a breath of fresh air.

Hiruzen always felt burdened by the fact that he was aging, weakening day by day yet there was no good Hokage candidate to take up the mantle.

This had worried him greatly since he took up his seat again. He had hoped to resolve this by making Kakashi the Jonin teacher of team seven, hoping they would heal each other's scars, but that plan was slow...

All seemed so hopeless until Oden started showing his true colors. Which made The old Hokage feel like even if he were to die, Konoha would still have a pillar to carry, protect and serve it.

A small smile crept up his lips as Hiruzen felt like the young Oden was similar to his dead teacher, the second Hokage in personality.

Oden stared at himself, he had his green Jonin vest over his black pants and shirt. Shinobi of Konoha could choose between a few colors for the vest you could choose the standard green, dark green, brown, black, and then grey if you had been part of Anbu.

As for the pants and shirt, you could go with the standard blue or black. As long as you have those sets of gear, you could wear anything above or under.

Inside of Konoha, you didn't even need to wear the vest, and if you weren't on a mission you don't have to wear the Konoha uniform. If you're not on a mission then you don't have to wear the uniform.

Over his dark green vest, and black clothes he had a short-sleeved haori similar to that of Minato, but it was completely black instead, and on the backside was the emblem of his clan.

'Splendid' Oden thought as he felt that he looked cool.

Whenever he was acting a clan head he usually wore a black kimono with his emblem on the back. When he was acting as a shinobi, he wore the standard Jonin uniform but with black pants and a black shirt instead of the popular blue ones with the short-sleeved haori.

Usually, he didn't even wear the green flak vest unless he was on a mission.

"Patriarch, are you ready?" Migoto asked as he stood with Mina, ready to serve.

"Yes... are everyone where they should be?" Oden. asked. he had placed three of his elite Jonin inside the district to protect it. Then he also sent out different squads to help out in strategic places in case the worst comes to be.

"Yes sir, except for the two out on missions, the other three are in their places." Migoto said.

"Hmm that's good, and grandpa is where?" Oden asked.

"He... has started bothering the Hyuga clan since your visit there, he keeps asking for their good tea... we've actually received many complaints about that...." Migoto spoke with sorrow, the old man he once looked up to had become a troubled kid that made trouble wherever he went.

"... leave him be, he's done his part for both our Clan and village so he is allowed his fun. As for the letters of complaint, throw them away." Oden said as he started leaving the house.

'Good, if he's there then my in-laws won't be in danger...' Oden thought.

"Yes sir..." Migoto said... they had received lots of letters of complaints regarding an older Zaraki that always bothered other clans, as of he was bored with his own.

Hinata had left for her own clan after she woke up, as she needed to prepare things on her own. So Oden walked towards the exam stadium alone, enjoying the peaceful village, which seemed to have more people than usual.

As he arrived, he didn't stand with the genins and their jonin teachers, he first went to speak with the Hokage, who was sitting in the head seat. beside him was another seat of honor for the kage of Suna that hadn't arrived yet.

"Hokage-sama, is everything as it should be?" Oden whispered.

The Hokage only nodded with a small smile.

"Good, then I'll take my seat at the east side closest to the main gates." Oden said as he left to take a seat.

As he walked he found his father-in-law with his sister-in-law sitting close to where he wanted to sit so he decided to sit with them.