Chapter 507: The Sixth Hokage
Konoha Village. Danzō had returned with his Root members.
These past few days, he had been both happy and unhappy.
With a few propaganda pushes, his prestige among the villagers had grown day by day, even threatening to overshadow the Hokage, Tsunade.
Danzō was a pragmatist. He didn't waste this newfound reputation, using it to win over many ninja holding positions in Konoha's various institutions.
And during the recent night of the clan's annihilation, he had acquired a large number of Sharingan. Once his subordinates figured out how to transplant them onto his right arm, his strength would rise to another level.
In addition, he had obtained three Uchiha children. Although they were young, they had all been branded with the Caged Bird Seal. Danzō planned to raise them as his tools. Uchiha children made for excellent subordinates; Shisui and Itachi had never disappointed him.
But he was also displeased. Before he had even returned, Tsunade had quickly established a new Police Force, filling the vacancies left by the Uchiha. By the time he got back, all the positions had been filled, and the new force was already on duty.
He had gained nothing from this. It couldn't be helped. He had used the excuse of leaving the village to extricate himself from the Uchiha extermination. He could have predicted Tsunade would do this.
But what made him most uncomfortable was that the moment the Uchiha were gone, Tsunade had begun to suppress him.
She had first drastically cut Root's funding and had also stated that she would clearly define its jurisdiction. According to her new requirements, he could no longer order the heads of the major clans around, nor could he force them to send their children to join Root in the name of the village.
She was trying to cut him off at the root.
Faced with her relentless pressure, Danzō naturally fought back with all his might. But unfortunately, his voice in the high command was not as strong as hers. He had been defeated in several meetings.
But today, he had finally received some good news.
Looking at the intelligence report sent by an Iwa ninja, Danzō was overjoyed.
"Kakashi Hatake actually attacked his own comrades. And Tsunade, as Hokage, not only didn't punish him, but even covered for him."
A cold smile appeared on Danzō's face. A mad idea rose in his heart.
"Someone," he said. "Spread this information. In one day, I want the entire village to know."
"Yes, sir." A Root ninja appeared, took the scroll from his hand, and quickly left.
The next day, a piece of news spread rapidly among Konoha's civilians: Kakashi Hatake, the genius of the Hatake clan, had disobeyed the Hokage's orders and killed four of his subordinates.
This bombshell quickly replaced the news of the Uchiha's extermination as the new topic of discussion.
Whether it was his identity as the son of the White Fang or his own fame as a genius, Kakashi was destined to be a focal point in Konoha. In the hearts of the villagers, he even had another identity: the future Sixth Hokage.
But now, the wind had changed. The villagers began to question his character.
Then, another piece of news came out: Tsunade, the Hokage, knew about this and had chosen to cover for him.
Before the villagers could react, the follow-up came. Someone had found the identities of the four Anbu Kakashi had killed.
With this, there was both a picture and the truth. Many people became convinced of his guilt.
There were also many who didn't believe it. They called for him to come forward and clear his name.
Little did they know, Danzō was just waiting for them to force him to clarify.
Danzō knew Kakashi's character. Those four had died because of him. He would not shirk the responsibility; he would take it all on himself.
However, Tsunade's response to Danzō's public opinion offensive was also very appropriate.
She waited until the matter had been hyped up to its peak, then threw out a new topic.
Hiashi Hyuga had led thirty jonin from his clan to pursue Orochimaru.
As a result, the Hyuga had suffered losses. Only about twenty had returned, and most of them were injured.
Under the Hokage's operation, this news quickly replaced the matter of Kakashi.
After the Uchiha were gone, the Hyuga were now Konoha's only great clan. Anything involving them naturally had a gossip effect. Not to mention, this matter also involved the S-rank missing-nin, Orochimaru.
Everyone's attention was quickly diverted to the Hyuga and Orochimaru.
Then, Tsunade had someone spread the news that Orochimaru had once tried to break the Caged Bird Seal.
In an instant, the villagers' enthusiasm for discussion reached a new level.
There were discussions about the Hyuga's main and branch family system, and also about Neji Hyuga, who had been taken by Iwagakure. There were even discussions that went from Neji to his father, Hizashi.
Whether Hizashi had sacrificed himself for his twin brother or had been used as a scapegoat by the main family, everyone was excited to discuss it.
Compared to the outdated news about Kakashi, the familiar topic of the Caged Bird was clearly more popular.
In the Root underground base, Danzō, learning of the sudden shift in public opinion, flew into a rage.
With no other options, he once again thought of Iwagakure.
He secretly found Kajiyama Ri and, using the Nara clan's Shadow Imitation Technique as an exchange, had him cooperate.
Coincidentally, the Iwa-Konoha negotiations, led by Ishiro, were about to begin.
This time, the Iwa side was still represented by Kajiyama Ri.
On the Konoha side, Danzō was not initially involved. Kajiyama Ri, having made a deal with him, acted extremely aggressively. He made many excessive demands at the negotiating table, bordering on the unreasonable.
Tsunade, of course, would not agree. Kajiyama Ri even threatened war.
The negotiations were at a stalemate.
Finally, Danzō volunteered, proposing to represent Konoha in the negotiations.
At the negotiating table, Danzō brought out the momentum of having defeated Ikura and Kawakita single-handedly, directly pressuring Kajiyama Ri into making continuous concessions.
Throughout the negotiations, he had his men publicize the progress every day, allowing the villagers to truly feel the sense of security he brought.
Finally, when the peace treaty was officially released, the entire village of Konoha erupted. All the villagers cheered his name.
"Lord Danzō is amazing! We're lucky to have him!"
"Yeah, if it weren't for him, who knows how much territory we would have had to cede this time."
"Yeah, thanks to him. The village really needs an older leader."
"That's right. The Hokage is still too young. She looks like a little girl."
So, what was the real situation? What was the actual treaty they signed?
In truth, for Konoha, it was still a reparations treaty. It was just that at the beginning, Ishiro, in the position of the Uchiha's new clan head, Uchiha Sōkai, had denounced Konoha's immoral behavior. After all, they had killed all the Uchiha, men, women, and children. Such a thing was rare even in the shinobi world. Ishiro had conquered several villages, but he had never deliberately slaughtered the old, weak, women, and children.
The first thing Kajiyama Ri had demanded was that Konoha recognize the legitimacy of Iwagakure's Uchiha clan and apologize to them in the name of the village. This clause was essentially useless, but signing it represented a political mistake. Tsunade would never agree.
In the end, Kajiyama Ri, facing the aggressive Danzō, made his concessions in this area.
As for the other clauses, Konoha paid a certain amount of war reparations. Neither Tsunade nor Danzō wasted any words on this. Konoha had just cleaned up its internal problems and desperately needed time to recover.
There was another clause: Konoha gave up its thirty-percent share of the Land of Hot Water, which was also transferred to Iwagakure as part of the reparations.
Tsunade felt it was a worthwhile trade to buy some time to recuperate. She had just cut Root's funding; she could just allocate a portion of that to Iwagakure.
So, although they signed a reparations treaty in the end, everyone was very satisfied. No one felt they had lost out.
The only one who was upset was Tsunade. It wasn't because of the treaty itself, but because of Danzō's collusion with Iwa.
Especially when, after signing the treaty, he bypassed her, the Hokage, and held a village-wide speech.
At the end of the speech, he had suddenly changed the subject and, as a high-level official of Konoha, publicly acknowledged Kakashi's "crime."
Using the prestige he had gained from the negotiations, he had once again forcibly steered public opinion toward Kakashi. And, in his capacity as an advisory elder, he had ordered Kakashi to come forward and clear his name.
With this, Kakashi was cornered.
When he heard about it, he told Tsunade that it was his fault, that he was willing to admit it and accept the village's punishment.
But she had cursed him out. Danzō was not just trying to deal with him; he was now trying to use the incident to impeach her, the Hokage who had covered for a criminal.
Once Kakashi admitted his guilt, it would be tantamount to declaring that she, the Hokage, had indeed covered for a criminal. The final result could only be the ruin of both of them.
Tsunade was cornered.
Even Ishiro hadn't expected the Kakashi incident to become the biggest crisis of her political career.
Now that the house arrest on Kajiyama Ri and the others had been lifted, he immediately transmitted the chaos in Konoha back to Iwagakure.
Ishiro immediately ordered: support Danzō's rise to power by any means necessary.
But how could he support him from Iwagakure? After a long time, he finally had a countermeasure.
He published an issue of the Bi-Weekly Report specifically for the villagers of Konoha. It wasn't even distributed in Iwagakure. He had his intelligence ninja transmit it directly to Konoha.
In this issue, Ishiro acknowledged that Ikura and Kawakita had been defeated by Danzō. He also publicly stated that among the other five great villages, Danzō was the only one who could rival him, the possessor of a Kekkei Tōta, because he had mastered the First Hokage's Wood Release. The power of Wood Release was such that even he, Ishiro, had no confidence in defeating him.
This was the first step: to let the villagers of Konoha know that Danzō's strength was acknowledged even by his enemies.
At the same time, Ishiro had someone add, with embellishments, the story of how he had single-handedly suppressed the Hokage, Kazekage, and Raikage in Konoha, and that many Anbu and members of the major clans had witnessed it.
At first, the villagers didn't believe it. They still had faith in Tsunade's strength.
But this was a true event. Many Anbu and clan members had seen it. Although they had been given a gag order, when the villagers asked them, they could only tacitly confirm it.
Well now, the village completely exploded. Three Kage combined were no match for one Tsuchikage. What sense of security did that leave them with? As for excuses like "elemental disadvantage" or "even in a one-on-one fight, the Tsuchikage couldn't beat Tsunade," the villagers refused to believe them.
At this time, Danzō took the opportunity to incite the villagers, having them ask Tsunade to personally come forward and clarify the "one-vs-three" incident. As long as she personally denied it, they would still trust her.
But what kind of person was Tsunade? How could she lie and deny such a thing?
This was, of course, within Danzō's expectations. Her character was her greatest weakness.
Then, Danzō directed another farce: he had his subordinates, disguised as villagers, suggest that he also come forward and clarify the "one-vs-two" incident, as there were rumors that it had been a staged fight.
He then, "in response to the villagers' request," came forward and gave a vivid account of how he had easily defeated the combined forces of Ikura and Kawakita, and how he had forced Iwa to settle for attacking Sunagakure.
Finally, he subtly mentioned that Tsunade, out of jealousy, had deliberately cut his Root's funding.
Comparing the two, the villagers now all believed him.
Lord Danzō had said it himself, he had indeed beaten two Iwa Kage at once. But Lady Tsunade did not dare to deny that she couldn't beat one Tsuchikage even with two other Kage helping her.
Who was right and who was wrong, wasn't it obvious? Everyone had their own judgment.
And so, gradually, a voice began to be heard.
"Tsunade, step down! Lord Danzō, step up!"
Now, Tsunade understood completely how the White Fang had been driven to suicide by the villagers.
As if it were a game, the villagers joined the ranks of those forcing her to abdicate. Perhaps they just felt a sense of accomplishment in impeaching a Kage.
More and more villagers took to the streets, shouting, "Tsunade, step down!"
Perhaps she should never have taken the position of Hokage in the first place. This position was destined for someone with a strong heart.
For example, Ishiro, who could shamelessly boast in his newspaper that he, like Hashirama Senju, could suppress four villages by himself.
For example, Hiruzen, who could calmly accept being called the "Strongest Hokage."
For example, Danzō, who could give a detailed account of how he had defeated Ikura and Kawakita.
But for a ninja with a weak heart, not only could they not become Kage, but even threatening a Kage's position would come at a price.
For example: the White Fang.
Finally, a few days later, Tsunade announced her official abdication.
She had chosen to compromise. Her only condition was that Danzō personally clear Kakashi's name. She had chosen to trade her own political life for Kakashi's.
Danzō finally became the Sixth Hokage, as he had wished.
Unlike the "Acting Hokage" of the original story, this time he was the official Hokage. Trusted by the villagers, recognized by the Daimyo, voted in by the jonin—the legitimate Sixth Hokage!
For the first time, he sat openly on the Hokage's throne, and declared霸气: "The shinobi world has finally begun my era!"
Having just taken the position, he prepared to govern diligently and begin a drastic reform of the various corrupt policies of the previous three Hokage.
And Tsunade, the former Fifth Hokage, left Konoha with Shizune on the very day of her abdication.
"Perhaps I should never have come back," she said to Kakashi, who had come to see her off.
With that, she walked away without looking back.
Konoha had lost another Kage-level fighter. And with her personality, even if the village were to face a disaster in the future, she probably wouldn't return.
Compared to the messy negotiations with Konoha, the ones with Suna were much smoother.
Faced with Ishiro's unreasonable demands, Rasa had no standing to resist.
First, he ceded a small half of the Land of Wind to Iwagakure and the Akatsuki respectively.
It should be noted that this agreement was only between the two villages and had nothing to do with the countries themselves. Although the northern Land of Wind was occupied by Iwagakure, politically it still belonged to the Wind Daimyo. It was just that militarily, it was under the control of Iwa and the Akatsuki. In exchange, they would receive a portion of the military funds that the Daimyo would have originally paid to Sunagakure. The borders of the Land of Wind and Land of Earth did not change. On the contrary, because Iwa had taken over a portion of its territory, the cooperation between the two countries had actually become closer. It was because of this that the Wind Daimyo had no thoughts of supporting Rasa. In fact, because Rasa now controlled less territory, he gave him less funding.
Besides the territorial changes, Rasa also gritted his teeth and agreed to Ishiro's demand for the Gold Dust.
Iwagakure. The Tsuchikage's office.
Ishiro and the others were celebrating this great diplomatic victory.
Holding the two treaties, Ishiro said, "I never expected the Uchiha extermination incident to have such a good effect. Kakashi didn't defect, which is a bit of a pity, but Tsunade leaving is even better. Her skin is too thin; she's not suited to be Hokage."
Ōnoki and the others all nodded, looking at him with extremely strange expressions.
Ishiro, with his thick skin, pretended not to notice. "Since Danzō has taken power, let's call Kajiyama Ri back. Give him a peaceful environment to engage in his internal strife. We don't want him to hold back because our people are in Konoha. For the time being, let's not put any pressure on him. The previously established strategy of suppressing Konoha can be put on hold. During this time, we will focus on development. By the way, a while ago, Danzō—no, I should call him the Hokage now. A while ago, the Hokage gave us a lot of good things. Let's go over them. Kawakita, have you looked at that Konoha-Style Kenjutsu? How is it? Does it need improvement? Can it be directly promoted in the village?"
Hearing him mention the Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, Kawakita immediately perked up. "That Hokage must have been in a really bad situation at the time. He was very trustworthy in that cooperation. This kenjutsu style, from the basics to the advanced techniques, is very complete. It has been of great help to me."
He took out the scroll. "I've written some notes in it to help everyone learn it quickly, but I haven't finished yet. There are some advanced techniques that I haven't mastered myself."
Kawakita's swordsmanship was self-taught. Although he had reached the Kage level through the guidance of many masters, his theoretical foundation and depth were far inferior to the likes of the White Fang, Hanzō, Mifune, or Killer Bee. So, not only could he not advance further, but even learning S-rank sword techniques was difficult for him.
After reading this complete style, all the various techniques and theories he had learned were connected. Many things he had known how to do but not why were now clear to him.
Hearing this, Ishiro looked at him. He felt that his aura was slightly different than before, but it probably hadn't reached the point of a qualitative change.
"First, organize the basics and promote them," Ishiro said. "As for the advanced techniques, you can study them carefully. There's no hurry. Besides you, there are no other sword masters in the village anyway. By the way, the most important thing is to compile a set of basics suitable for academy students. How you write it is up to you. When you don't know what to do, just remember how many wrong paths you took as a child, and think about how to prevent the children of today from doing the same."
Kawakita nodded. He was already thinking about how to write the academy's kenjutsu textbook.
Ishiro then looked at Bella. "Senior Bella, have the barrier squad study the method for making large-scale storage scrolls quickly. These are strategic items; the more, the better. Didn't the Hokage also give us a few finished products? If necessary, they can be dismantled for research."
Bella nodded. "Don't worry. I've already arranged for it. But this thing is very high-tech; it won't be figured out in a short time."
Ishiro nodded and made no further demands.
As for the last two items Danzō had given—the Yamanaka clan's mental secret techniques and the Nara clan's shadow secret techniques—Ishiro had other plans. The mental techniques, he had given to Katsumata and Natsuki. That research would also take time. As for the shadow techniques, Iwagakure currently had no suitable researchers. He planned to look at them himself first. This special type of Yin Release, he felt, would be of great use in his future research on Black Zetsu's body.
Afterward, the group discussed how to spend the two sums of money they had gotten from Konoha and Suna. Especially the pile of Gold Dust from Rasa. At the mention of it, Bella couldn't stop smiling.
The only thing they found difficult to handle was the thirty-percent share of the Land of Hot Water they had gotten from Konoha. Iwagakure was short on manpower in the short term and didn't have the energy to take over the country like they had with the Land of Wind. This matter could only be temporarily shelved. Only after the current class graduated early would they have enough ninja to establish a branch there.
The meeting ended, and everyone left. Ishiro sat alone, thinking about how to deal with Danzō now that he was in power.
But his thoughts were interrupted by a small matter.
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