Chapter 196: Taking Sides And Stances, The “sinister” Hokage
“Did you hear? The granddaughter of the First Hokage is coming out to run for Fifth Hokage. She’s that Sannin Princess Tsunade, the elite ninja who made many contributions in the Ninja Wars.”
“Huh? Hasn’t the Third Hokage retired yet? Why start selecting the Fifth already?”
“I heard that Lady Tsunade thinks the Third Hokage has been Hokage for too long. She believes the current Hokage is already old, and an aged Hokage isn’t sufficient to lead all of Konoha.”
“Now that you mention it, it’s true. The Hokage is over sixty, right? Logically, at that age, he should be enjoying his later years. Even if a ninja’s physical condition is better than us ordinary people, he shouldn’t continue in the Hokage position for so long, right?”
“I think the Third Hokage is doing a pretty good job as Hokage. There’s no need to replace him with a new one, right?”
“Heh, the village is in this state, and you call that doing well? If the Hokage were really doing a good job, why could Uchiha Ikeizumi’s Police Force catch so many criminals?”
“Yeah! With so many criminals hiding in the village, why doesn’t the Hokage do anything about it? Only after the Police Force arrests them and publicizes the crimes do we realize there are so many murderers in the village! It’s really scary!”
Within a short day.
Everyone in all of Konoha knew that Tsunade was running for Fifth Hokage.
Although there were some voices standing on Sarutobi Hiruzen’s side.
But the vast majority of voices were actually on Tsunade’s side.
Nothing else.
It was purely because Sarutobi Hiruzen’s recent behaviors had thoroughly disappointed many ninja clans’ ninjas in Konoha.
And for those Konoha civilians, the Third Hokage hadn’t made their lives better; instead, there were many murderers hiding around them, making them unable to sleep or eat well recently.
Previously, there were no similar public opinion topics in the village purely because no one would openly stand up to compete with Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The only one who tried to become Hokage, Shimura Danzo, would only make some small moves in secret.
As for the Uchiha radicals who once tried a coup…
They were even more like roadside weeds, ignored by everyone.
But one thing that sets Tsunade apart from Shimura Danzo or the Uchiha radicals is—she openly states her purpose, essentially declaring it flamboyantly to the entire village.
This is what stirs up such public opinion topics.
It also attracts a lot of discussion from people.
“Lady Tsunade…” Shizune swallowed hard, her expression complicated as she said to Tsunade: “It seems… most people in the village are willing to support you. Even though you haven’t been back to the village for a long time, they still chose you over the Hokage.”
Shizune hesitated: “Lady Tsunade, is there something off about this? It’s a bit too unusual, right? After all, to many in the village, you’re relatively unfamiliar in their hearts. They only know you’re one of the Sannin, the granddaughter of the First Hokage.”
“This isn’t unusual; it’s very normal.” Tsunade said: “The reason is simple—the old man’s actions have completely lost him the people’s hearts, and Ikeizumi’s prestige is at its peak.”
Tsunade slowly exhaled, clicking her tongue as she said: “Actually, I’m completely riding on that kid Ikeizumi’s coattails.”
Shizune was stunned.
Tsunade explained: “Shizune, you greatly underestimate the number of ninja clans standing on the side of absolute justice. The pig, deer, butterfly, and Uchiha—these four families will absolutely stand with Ikeizumi. Besides them, the Hyuga Clan will also stand on the same side as Ikeizumi.”
“Because the Hyuga Clan has been beaten into fear by Ikeizumi, even the Hyuga Branch Family that gained benefits fears Ikeizumi. In this situation, they dare not stand with the old man.”
“On this point, many ninja clans that have suffered Ikeizumi’s ‘poisonous hand’ will react exactly the same as the Hyuga Clan. Fear in their hearts makes them hurriedly stand on the side of justice.”
“This leads to me taking almost half of Konoha’s ninja clans’ support. Even… ha!”
Tsunade suddenly laughed, but not because she was gloating; it was somewhat mocking for Sarutobi Hiruzen.
“Even some clan members of the Sarutobi Clan support me instead of the old man. Some of the old man’s actions have long since thoroughly broken his clan members’ hearts.”
“Although the Sarutobi Clan’s ninjas all know that I’m in the same boat as Ikeizumi. But I’m not Ikeizumi after all, so they hypnotize themselves that they’re supporting not Ikeizumi, but one of the Konoha Sannin.”
“As for those opportunistic ninja clans… seeing so many ninja clans willing to support me, they will also lean toward my side.”
Shizune listened with her mouth agape.
In this way, in terms of “ninja clans’ support,” hasn’t the Hokage been completely sidelined?
The current Hokage probably can’t command those ninja clans anymore, right?
Hmm…
That Hokage might not even be able to command the Anbu.
After all, his authority in the Anbu had greatly declined just a while ago.
“As for Konoha’s civilians…”
Tsunade said slowly: “For ordinary people, it doesn’t make much difference who becomes Hokage. Who becomes Hokage is just gossip to them, because the Hokage is too distant. A new Hokage being better than the old one is their only expectation.”
“If Konoha were an ordinary village with no ninjas or very few, the voices of Konoha civilians would naturally be very important. But Konoha is ultimately a ninja village. The ninja clans’ ‘betrayal’ is enough to make the old man overwhelmed.”
“Maybe it won’t be long before the old man wants to meet me privately to talk things over.”
Shizune said in a daze: “Did you think of all this, Lady Tsunade?”
He suddenly felt that Lady Tsunade had become somewhat unfamiliar.
It was like she had inexplicably transformed from a drunkard + gambler into a political veteran who understood all these strange things.
Tsunade yawned and admitted frankly: “How could that be? I’m not a natural-born Hokage; how could I know everything? This was all told to me privately by that kid Ikeizumi; I just remembered a small part of it.”
She paused.
Tsunade looked at the scenery outside the window, her expression complex as she said: “Ikeizumi also said—if the old man asks to meet me privately, he told me to be careful, because the old man might want to kill me.”
Shizune was startled: “Impossible, right? How could the Hokage do something so extreme? Ikeizumi might be thinking in a radical direction because he has conflicts with the Hokage.”
Tsunade nodded: “I also think the old man won’t have killing intent toward me, provided he can truly let go of everything he has.”
“Forget it, no more of these annoying topics.”
Tsunade waved her hand and flopped down powerlessly, complaining: “So tiring! I’m already a bit regretful for saying those big words. It’s this tiring without being Hokage; what will it be like after becoming one?”
Shizune: “…”
It feels like Lady Tsunade is very unreliable. Can she really push out the Third Hokage and become Konoha’s Fifth Hokage?
Shizune inexplicably felt it was a bit iffy.
……
At the same time.
On the open sea.
“The Hidden Mist rogue ninja Juzo Biwa is on this ship! He probably hasn’t noticed us three. If we team up for an assassination, can we kill this former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?”
Three Mist Ninjas disguised as ordinary sailors were secretly discussing in a room on the ship.
“It’s a bit difficult.” One of them frowned: “You two are only chunin, and though I’m a special jonin, it’s still very challenging for us three to deal with an experienced jonin.”
“Most likely, we can only entangle him for a bit. If Juzo Biwa realizes he can’t take us three down quickly, he’ll probably choose to flee directly, and we won’t be able to stop him if he wants to run.”
Another said in a deep voice: “Looks like we can only summon a summoned beast, have it rush back to Hidden Mist Village quickly, tell the village Juzo Biwa’s whereabouts, and have the village send Anbu ninjas to deal with him.”
This proposal got the approval of the other two.
They immediately summoned a summoned beast—it was a strange fish with four limbs.
The three Mist Ninjas stuffed the intelligence scroll into the strange fish’s mouth.
Then they opened the porthole and threw the strange fish into the sea below.
After doing all this, the three sighed in relief.
Just as they three stood up and casually pushed open the door to leave.
The three Mist Ninjas’ steps suddenly stiffened at the same time.
Their faces also changed at that moment.
“Heh… long time no see. Though when I was in Hidden Mist Village, I might have only met you by chance, or even not remember who you are at all. But you should recognize me; otherwise, you wouldn’t have sent out a summoned beast trying to pass intelligence to the village.”
Juzo Biwa leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, with a cruel cold smile, staring at the three Hidden Mist Village ninjas in front of him.
“This merchant ship departed from the Land of Fire’s port. Why are Hidden Mist Village ninjas in the Land of Fire? Moreover, I see the glaringly crimson crime on you.”
At that moment, a clear and pleasant voice sounded from the other side.
When the three Mist Ninjas were shocked and immediately turned to look, they saw a girl holding a ninja sword, quietly watching them.
The three tomoe in the girl’s crimson eyes made the Mist Ninjas cry out inwardly—”Uchiha Clan!!!”
They hurriedly looked in another direction, as it was the only escape route.
But unexpectedly, a fat orange cat was squatting there.
The orange cat licked its paw while grooming the fur on its face with its paw.
Then, the orange cat spoke human words: “Meow, no passage this way.”
The three Mist Ninjas immediately realized they were exposed.
No need to say more about Juzo Biwa, one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, publicly recognized in their minds as the trickiest guy.
That Uchiha girl with the three-tome Sharingan didn’t seem like a pushover either.
The only soft target was that talking cat!
“Run!!!”
When this idea flashed through their minds simultaneously, one Mist Ninja gritted his teeth and shouted, then unhesitatingly drew a kunai and rushed toward Kijiro’s position.
“Get out of the way! Fat cat!!!”
The Mist Ninja coldly raised his right foot, trying to kick away this obstructive orange cat blocking the path.
But just as his foot was about to kick out.
His eyes suddenly widened a bit.
He saw the not-so-tall orange cat in front of him almost instantly expand in size in the blink of an eye, its massive body blocking the ship’s corridor completely, the narrowed cat pupils filled with killing intent.
Oh no—these two words flashed through the Mist Ninja’s mind.
The next second, Kijiro slapped down fiercely at him with one paw!
The huge cat paw brought a whistling wind, so fast that the Mist Ninja only saw a blur, making him instinctively retreat in a hurry.
But it was still a step too slow.
The sharp claws on the fluffy cat palm touched his facial skin and effortlessly sliced through the fragile flesh, shaving off half his face, with large amounts of blood spraying out immediately!
The other two Mist Ninjas saw this scene and felt chills all over.
But Mist Ninjas from the Hidden Blood Mist Village had no word for surrender in their life dictionary.
They gritted their teeth, took out scrolls, and released their respective ninja tools.
But the next instant.
One Mist Ninja’s body suddenly froze, as if his eyes saw something others couldn’t, frantically and terrifiedly swinging his ninja tools at the air.
Uchiha Izumi slowly walked up.
She drew her ninja sword from its sheath in a blink, slashing the opponent’s throat, decapitating the Mist Ninja!
Obviously.
The reason the Mist Ninja acted so strangely was that he had fallen victim to her Sharingan illusion technique.
At this time, Juzo Biwa’s Executioner’s Blade was also placed on the last Mist Ninja’s neck, his cold voice echoing in the corridor: “Call back your summoned beast.”
The Mist Ninja gritted his teeth: “Juzo Biwa! You who betrayed the Hidden Blood Mist Village will one day pay a bloody price!”
Juzo Biwa unhesitatingly severed the opponent’s neck.
Watching the Mist Ninja’s head hit the ground, Juzo Biwa turned around, looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi calmly watching from not far away, and said: “No choice; they’ve been thoroughly brainwashed, turned into emotionless blood mist ninjas of Hidden Mist Village. The people of Hidden Mist Village will probably know our whereabouts soon.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently: “The reason for killing them isn’t to stop them from passing intelligence to Hidden Mist, but to make them pay for the crimes they committed.”
……
Evening.
Konoha.
Shizune held Tonton and went out to buy dinner for Lady Tsunade. But as soon as she stepped out of the inn door, she saw someone completely unexpected, making her shudder involuntarily.
“Ho… Hokage!!!”
Looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen standing in front of her, Shizune couldn’t help swallowing hard.
She inexplicably felt a bit guilty.
“Shizune…” Sarutobi Hiruzen had a complicated expression but still managed a slight smile, kindly saying: “Tsunade is inside, right? Go tell her this old man wants to see her.”
Shizune was suddenly shocked.
She suddenly remembered what Lady Tsunade had said before.
“Gulp—”
Shizune’s throat moved, her preconceived notions making alarm bells ring, feeling that the Hokage had ill intentions!
Even his kind smile…
Seemed somewhat sinister.
……
……
