"That's impossible. Even if I agreed, there's no way my teacher would step down so quickly." Tsunade frowned.
Is the plan feasible?
It definitely was. As long as she became the Fourth Hokage and took control of the village's power, there'd be no room for people like Danzo to stir up trouble. At that point, the best they could do would be to cause minor annoyances.
"Of course, you can't achieve that in one step. But you can join their ranks," Xin explained. "It's simple-once you enter the inner circle and hold power, you'll be able to limit their influence. That's the key."
To change the situation didn't mean she had to become the Fourth Hokage right away. With the way things were, the Third Hokage wasn't going to step down anytime soon. So instead, becoming part of the power structure would allow her to restrict their moves.
"You want me to take over the Medical Department?" Tsunade asked, thinking he was hinting at that.
"Medical Department? Hell no," Xin almost snapped, holding back his frustration. Are you pretending to be clueless?
"No, what you should aim for are the Finance or Logistics Departments. As long as you control one of those, you'll have certain people eating out of your hand," He continued. "They wouldn't dare mess with you after that."
The Finance Department was unlikely to be handed over, as the Third Hokage would probably keep it under his control. But the Logistics Department? Tsunade had a real chance at that, especially if she was willing to push for it.
Why did Danzo run amok? Besides the Third Hokage's favoritism, it was because he had allies in charge of the Finance, Medical, and Logistics Departments. Whenever he needed funding or supplies, he had it.
But if Tsunade took control of either the Finance or Logistics Departments, she'd be able to put a stop to that. Danzo wouldn't be able to make a single move without hitting a wall.
And as for the Medical Department? Well, what use was that? It was great for the village in terms of training medics and making money, but if you wanted real leverage, Finance and Logistics were the way to go.
There's a saying: if you can't beat them, join them. You can mess with each other later. If Tsunade could gain control of just one of those departments, Danzo and the others would be in for a world of trouble.
"If you don't want to do that, then just forget it. Go to bed early and save yourself the headache of fighting over something you won't win."
Xin had been thinking over this for days. Letting those old geezers have their way couldn't go on forever. You could kick up a fuss once or twice, but if you did it too often, people would stop caring. The best way forward was for someone to act as a counterbalance to them.
And Tsunade was the perfect candidate.