Shiroken was taken aback by this sudden request. It didn't make sense to make your enemy a resident of your home.

"What made you come to this decision?" He asked.

Hiruzen told what he had been thinking, "I tried to understand you, Lord Dama. Your strength is unarguably at the peak of the world. What I tried to understand was you as a person. From how you didn't allow any villagers to die, how you stopped the tailed beast from wreaking havoc. I know you value life. Now, Konoha is very weak and nobody can stop you from your ambitions. So it is better to get you involved in the village so at least you will think about the goodwill of the people here."

Shiroken looked at Monari's face and chuckled, "Suppose I agree, what powers will I have?"

Technically, elders didn't have any powers when it came to managing the city or any decision making. They could not change the policies of the village, the best they could do was to advise the Hokage.

So he felt uncomfortable, "What... powers do you expect?"

"Hmm... let's see, Konoha sucks at doing business, making money and the most important thing, asset management. The only thing you are good at is war. Just like Sunagakure, who love war but keep on losing, you love war and keep on winning, albeit at a grave cost. You can use the model we use in the Dama country.

"What we do is divide the responsibilities of the Daimyo into various departments. There are department heads who directly report to the Daimyo, and each department runs its activities around the country from smaller offices. The people working in those departments get transferred every 5 years so no one gathered enough power to cause serious problems.

"From what I can see, all the shinobi villages are vastly mismanaged, the reason is the power is too centralised. The Kage takes each and every decision. Now, the Kage is just one man and he can't really put his full focus on all problems and solve them. Hence, slowly the downfall of the village starts. Daimyos are like this too."

Hiruzen nodded and took all the knowledge Shiroken gave him like a sponge soaking water. One thing he knew, Shiroken was really a sage, a being who has lived for centuries and had a lot of knowledge. "Do you propose we split up the position of the Hokage?"

"No, no, that's not it. You still need the Hokage at the top as a figure of justice. The Hokage can fire anybody if he wants. What I am telling you is to create departments to make the Hokage's work less, this way the Hokage can really think about the village instead of just wasting every day signing on papers. You've got so many talented ninjas, use them. The Hokage can retain control over the military, the treasury and justice. For the rest, like finance, industry, and social welfare, they can all be relegated to new smaller departments with people who solely focus on their tasks. I for one would take over the department for Business and Finance if offered." Shiroken explained.

"Then... do you agree to take the position of the Elder?" Hiruzen inquired.

"Sure, I will, but do know that I have countless other things to do, I can do my duties neatly if you give me the business and finance department as I am good at it, but I won't stay in this village forever. If the new Hokage, whoever they are, needs any advice from me, they can ask and I will come anytime." Shiroken agreed. Why would he refuse this opportunity? This way, he will be able to change the people of the village for the better. After all, in the end, he aimed to create a world that loves and cares for the tailed beasts.

Hiruzen took a silent breath of relief. He was nervous that if Shiroken didn't accept this offer then maybe he still had some hostility against Konoha.

"Well, tell me what you decide later. I am now going to look at the scroll storage in the basement. Do consider going to Sunagakure's puppetmasters. I will tell them to help you out as a sign of friendship between Suna and Konoha. See you later." Shiroken got up and left the residence.

Hiruzen was a lonely man. He had two sons, one was an Anbu along with his wife, the other one, Asuma, was a Jonin who usually stayed busy. His wife, Biwako, died on the day Naruto was born, at the hands of the masked man. So it was indeed a pretty lonely life for the old man.

~Perhaps, dying would have been a better result.~ He muttered while sighing in his house.

And Shiroken knew that the man must be thinking about dying right now. It was too embarrassing to not be able to wipe yourself.

...

"Why is the lighting so bad?" Monari complained as she made her way into the basement.

"Be grateful for this. At least the place is clean. The Kirigakure warehouse was dirty and dark. Okay, you need to look for anything related to mind techniques and if you find any S rank jutsu you keep them aside." He instructed her and started looking around.

He was not hoping to find any clan secrets though, because from what he knew these clans would never share their major jutsu with the village. They'd rather pass them down to their next generation.

But, it was possible that there would be some valuable jutsu as sometimes some clans would give their powerful jutsu to the village in return for some big favours.

"SHIRO... LOOK. I found Flying Thunder God Technique... Ah, this is Rasengan!" Monari exclaimed one after another.

But Shiroken focused on his priorities. A mental jutsu was needed. Till now, he had not found any A or even S rank jutsu from any clan. ~Sure enough, there is a reason why they call them secret techniques.~

But he kept searching. After looking for a long time, he finally found one scroll from the Yamanaka clan. B-grade jutsu. It was called "Mind to Mind Thought Transfer." Shiroken, in interest, read it and understood its principle. It was like creating a connection between two minds to talk to each other.

"Maybe this can help. Rin is only physically unconscious, her brain does show activity." He thought and continued looking for more.

However, there were no more mental jutsu anywhere. There were a lot of Senju Clan Jutsu, all related to the wood release. "Too bad, I already know all of them naturally."

Taking one Yamanaka scroll with him he went to find Monari. He found her reading some scrolls and on her other side was a small heap of scrolls. "What are you doing?"

"Look, there is a clan called the Kurama clan in this village. This is their history." She passed him the scroll.

Shiroken read it carefully and found it was a clan that used to be strong but now is on the decline. The clan was talented in Genjutsu. It was due to the Kekkei Genkai that the clan possesses. However, what caught his eye was the mention of members being born every few generations who have such enormous skill in Genjutsu that their illusions causes the brain to make anything that happens to the victim within the Genjutsu physically real, allowing the clan member to potentially kill their opponents with Genjutsu.

Monari commented, "Hmm, how can this be possible? To be able to make what you do in Genjutsu real? It's... it's like magic."

Shiroken imagined this power and thought about how he would do it if he wanted to replicate it. And the only way he could think was using natural energy. "It is possible. I can do it, probably on a much bigger scale than this clan.

"You know, I can probably create a Genjutsu, then to make everything real in the physical world, I will have to rearrange the things outside or change them on a molecular level. For example, if I'm burning you with fire in a Genjutsu, I can make the air molecules catch fire. And since I am so connected with nature, I can most likely do it. But for a normal ninja to be able to do it is very... impressive." He explained to her.

Monari believed him. And yes, if you can control the molecules, you can do anything. Even the use of chakra to create fire, lightning, air and other elements was somewhat like this already.

"Well, you are like a walking god, Shiro. But this clan also fears this power, as it comes with a drawback. The user can rarely control the full extent of their abilities, and as such their subconscious will often regulate that power, leading to the creation of a second personality in control of that power. This personality then overwhelms the original, turning the individual into a monster that is a danger to everyone that surrounds them." She repeated the content of the scroll.

Shiroken agreed, "Hmm, most probably, if there was any kid born with this ability, he'd get murdered immediately. Not to mention, they'll be a danger to the village. But, if there was someone, I would very much like to take them under my wing and make them my student."

Monari chuckled, "How many students do you want? You already got Shisui, Izumi and Haku."

"Well, a reality-warping one would also be appreciated. The kid will be killed anyway, I might just be able to give them a second life. All right, let me read these techniques now and then we'll leave. Hmm, isn't this that teleportation one? Let's see..."

...

Root,

Danzo was yet to know that Shiroken had become an elder of Konoha. So, his plans were still moving as always. He was under the belief that as long as he is in the council he can buy himself enough time. On top of that, the new Hokage was going to be a dumb drunkard woman from what he knew. He could easily control her with a few of his threats. After all, after the Hokage, he was the commander of the largest forces in the village.

But currently, he was short on funds. The Hokage had already banned his organisation and stopped funding it.

But, at this moment, everything was secondary to him. All that mattered was, "I must become the Hokage at all costs this time."

He knew he was old and this was his last chance to sit on that high chair.

_________________

[Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn]

SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!

__________________

(Advised you don't join right now as there are only 25 chapters. I Will be uploading more soon.) You can read 30 Advanced chapters at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.

Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*

Thank you for your support!