64 Shin's strategy

Itachi's Hokage inauguration ceremony was a huge success.

Konoha practically lapped off the story instantly.

Sadness, Strength, Drama, they had added a crapton of made up nonsense after consulting with the Nara's.

This made for a hell of a campaign and Konoha which was scared after the recent attack latched onto it like the parasite it was.

"So I am now the Hokage, surreal."

Murmured Itachi as he was sitting on the desk and doing paper work.

That's right, that was his only duty as the Hokage, a glorified clerk just like Minato, be it Anbu or other department in Konoha, it was all under Shin, who was the Third Hokage in this scenario.

But Itachi didn't mind it one bit, not after knowing what was waiting for him at home.

"I better finish my work, it's been ages since we five had eaten together."

Itachi whispered with a smile, his parents had been resurrected- oh no, they 'came out of hiding' officially.

He was really looking forward to spending time with them again, so he bravely began the long journey of his clerk career.

He also needed to think of excuses on why Konoha was about to steal the seven tail jinchuriki.

Because that was something Shin was totally going to do, Itachi was afraid it would lead to war and mass deaths but Shin was going to go about this in a 'safe' way.

So Itachi being the puppet he was, decided to trust Shin's political expertise and not worry about a possible fourth shinobi world war.

"Shit. I really hope Shin knows what he is doing."

Yeah, Itachi was still worried it would trigger war, but he was now helpless, the entire Konoha supported Shin and if he wanted to start a war to end all wars, he could do so without any issues.

Itachi would just have to follow, because again, he had learnt his lesson on what happens if he meddles into these things foolishly, maybe Shin was the second coming of first Hokage and he being the fool he was, was stopping a possible peace from coming.

Maybe Shin will be the one to calm down these troubled times, sure, that sounds right, Itachi decided to go with that.

Meanwhile at the Uchiha patriarch's house, Shin was resting on his laurels and Fugaku was handling all the work.

Looking up from his work, Fugaku twitched his lips, he was going over what Shin had done while he wasn't here, and frankly he was just as shocked as Itachi was.

"Shin, I have gone over the changes, but are you sure Mist and Sand are absolutely trustworthy?".

"If we expand outwards like we are planning to, and our 'allies' betray us, we will face a lot of danger."

Fugaku warned Shin who was currently scratching his ear in mock frustration.

"Yeah yeah, they are trustworthy, Kasamaro is my best buddy, he is like my.. twin or triplet maybe..?"

"As for Gaara, he worships Itachi and the Uchiha, he is the last person who will betray."

Shin told exaggeratedly while pointing towards his eyes, which meant all of this was confirmed via his Mangekyou eyes.

This was much more reliable for Fugaku than vague buddy and worship feelings.

So he agreed, albeit a bit hesitantly to expand outwards, Uchiha will no longer be bound to Konoha, but a clan spread across Sand, Mist and Konoha.

"Oh and waterfall too, I am taking it down."

*Pffft*

Fugaku sprayed out his tea in shock, he was going to do what?!

"Hey! Some of it fell on me! Sheesh, Universal push!"

*Splash*

The tea splashed back on the floor from the low powered push, leaving Shin clean and shiny.

But he knew he couldn't just dust his behind and leave now, he had to give a reason and can't pretend to know nothing after dropping this news.

Although Fugaku was just another puppet of his, the clan leader puppet, he was building up a lot of puppets lately, wasn't he.

"Don't look at me like that, I am going to take over their jinchuriki yeah? So I might as well make them the leader there."

"I'll have another ninja village in my pocket then, only rock and lightning will remain.. I guess rain too, but that's not important."

Getting up from his resting and rotting pose, Shin looked at Fugaku seriously.

"If worst comes, it'll be four against three, but I have plans to take down the moon soon, they won't stand a chance against us then."

Fugaku took a deep breath and ignored the moon part for now, he will get back to it later as it seemed really important but something was much more immediate than that.

His son was about to start a war!

"This might trigger the bloodiest war ever seen, Shin, are you absolutely certain."

Shin looked serious and then shook his head.

"Of course I am not certain, I don't even know what I'll eat tonight, I ain't got no future sight father."

Before Fugaku could blow up, Shin continued in a different tone, a much more serious one.

"But what I do know, is that after I am done with the moon, the conflict itself might not arise."

"We would have almost every ninja village supporting us, I have sent envoys to sound and grass too."

"Lightning and Rock won't risk a war even if they know we are allies, as for rain, they might be a problem."

Taking a deep breath Fugaku calmed himself down, alright, it seems Shin wasn't actually willing to start a war.

Something he noted was how this was very similar to the Uchiha idea of a bloodless coup, but on a much larger scale.

"I see, that's what you have been doing all along, you are making allies, when almost everyone is allied and you are the linchpin-"

"You will become the defacto leader as you will be considered the most 'imparital'."

"You want to do what the first Hokage did and keep peace maintained amongst the villages, but you are doing it without his overwhelming power."

Somehow when he wasn't around, his son managed to grow out of his diapers and was pushing himself to Hashirama level status, all with pure trickery.

Fugaku felt proud of Shin, if this succeeded, the Ninja world would indeed be a better place once and for all.

A/N

Slightly short chapter but had to get one out in honour of Minato winning the poll, Itachi almost won but Minato was indeed the better pick.

As for the troll rankings, there isn't much substance behind them, the unnecessary downgrade of more deserving characters is the only disappointment.

Some important honorable mentions include Shisui, Sakumo and Hinata, Shisui in particular might have even edged out, if not for the unreliable nature of a global poll.

P.S. On the plus side, a Minato manga is on it's way and Boruto is on an indefinite hiatus, things are looking pretty peachy for the community right now!