The next day, at the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Fire.
During the high-level meeting between both sides.
The Daimyo sat at the head of the long table. Representatives from Konoha sat on the right side of the table, with other officials from the Land of Fire seated opposite them.
"The Third, are you really planning to resign from your position as Hokage?" The Daimyo opened his folding fan slightly, using it to cover his mouth while asking, "You're clearly doing a great job!"
"I bear undeniable responsibility for this war!" The Third's expression was heavy. "Moreover, I'm already quite old. It's time to let the younger generation take over."
Danzo interjected from the side, "Now we need a Hokage who can bring change to the village and help ninjas clarify their responsibilities. The Fourth Hokage must be such a person!"
"I see," the Daimyo did not try to persuade him further. "Then what do you think, The Third?"
Danzo quickly jumped in, "I recommend Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin (the Three Sages). He possesses formidable power, an unyielding will, and outstanding achievements from two Great Ninja Wars. He would undoubtedly make an ideal Fourth Hokage!"
The Daimyo gently waved his fan. "What do you think, The Third?"
After a moment of contemplation, the Third replied, "I recommend Minato Namikaze!"
"Minato Namikaze?" Danzo suddenly turned his head, narrowing his eyes. "He didn't even choose Seiki Shimaseki of all people?"
"Oh right, I vaguely remember hearing that name before. Seems like an exceptionally talented individual." Seizing a rare opportunity to voice his own opinion, the Daimyo excitedly closed his folding fan and tapped it against his left palm. "Come to think of it, I believe there's another shinobi equally impressive to Minato Namikaze—called Shima... Shima something, right? Was that his name?"
A nearby official quietly reminded him, "Seiki Shimaseki!"
"Oh right, Seiki Shimaseki!" The Daimyo suddenly realized.
Glancing at the Third, Danzo continued fanning the flames. "To be precise, Seiki Shimaseki should actually be an even more outstanding ninja than Minato Namikaze. He more than deserves the credit for single-handedly ending the Third Great Ninja War!"
"How strange! Why would Hiruzen recommend someone less capable than Seiki Shimaseki for Hokage? Could it be... just to make it easier for you to control things from behind the scenes?"
"That's enough, Danzo!" The Third cut him off coldly, then turned toward the Daimyo to explain, "Seiki Shimaseki is indeed an exceptional genius, but he personally believes his abilities aren't yet sufficient to fulfill the duties of Kage. That's why he privately recommended Minato Namikaze as the next Hokage!"
"Ah! If even he personally recommends Minato Namikaze, this must truly be an excellent choice!" The Daimyo nodded approvingly and reopened his fan decisively. "Then I shall hereby appoint Minato Namikaze as the Fourth Hokage!"
Meanwhile, at the Cloud Village.
At a Jonin Meeting.
"Konoha has the Will of Fire, which makes it far more likely to produce geniuses than other villages. Iwagakure has the Stone Will and does an excellent job maintaining village unity and stability!" one Jonin declared. "Therefore, I believe we Cloud shinobi should also establish our own Will of Lightning! For instance, where clouds gather, thunder rolls constantly, and lightning will keep lighting up our village..."
"Wait a second!" another Jonin couldn't help but interrupt with a critique. "Isn't your 'Will of Lightning' just too obviously copied?"
"What do you mean by 'copied'?" The proposing Jonin glared back. "Paying homage shouldn't count as plagiarism... Homage... In the world of ninja, can imitation really count as plagiarism?"
As everyone was debating this 'Will of Lightning', suddenly a Chunin rushed in looking flustered, bringing an urgent report.
"Raikage-sama! It's terrible! Yugito has fainted!"
A, who had almost fallen asleep during the discussion about the 'Will of Lightning', immediately snapped back to attention and asked urgently, "What happened? Why did she collapse suddenly?"
"I'm not entirely sure either, but it seems something is wrong with the seal."
Without hesitation, A quickly summoned the Sealing Team and headed toward Yugito's residence.
Even though Cloud Village treats jinchuriki more kindly than other villages, not everyone accepts them.
Just like B, who lived far away in the Raimei Ravine, Yugito also resided in a remote area distant from the main village.
When A arrived, the medics were already done with their diagnosis.
A cut straight to the point, asking, "Exactly what's happening?"
"Yugito's body shows no abnormalities, but her seal appears to have become unstable," reported the Medical Ninja. "For this matter, you'd better have someone more specialized take a look."
"Rayming, you check it out," A ordered the head of the Sealing Team he had deliberately brought along.
"Yes sir!"
Rayming observed for a moment before hesitating as he spoke, "Raikage-sama, do you still remember the Chunin Exams four years ago?"
"The Chunin Exams? Of course I remember!" A replied solemnly.
How could he forget that event — the official stage where his "greatest rival" made his debut in the shinobi world?
"At that time, Yugito suffered a serious defeat, and a foreign seal was layered on top of her original one!" Rayming recalled. "Back when the great war was about to begin, we temporarily bypassed that foreign seal using Multiple Sealing Release techniques to ensure our critical combat strength wouldn't be compromised."
"Since nothing unusual happened afterward, we neglected further follow-up procedures. Looking back now, that foreign seal might have been causing problems for quite some time; only Yugito's sheer willpower kept things barely stable."
"Now that the war has ended, removing the driving force sustaining her, that seal has started destabilizing rapidly, leading to Yugito's condition worsening fast!"
"What an idiot! Why did she insist on handling this alone? Does she think the war won't go on without her?" Despite his sharp words, A's tone betrayed genuine concern as he asked, "So what should we do now?"
"The only solution is to properly remove that foreign seal using standard procedures."
"Raimei hesitated before speaking, 'So you're saying we might have to turn to Konoha...'
'Oh, just have Konoha send us Shimaseki Seiki to save our people!' A said calmly.
Everyone present was stunned by the Raikage's brazen statement!
You're the Raikage, not the Hokage!
Dodai whispered cautiously, 'Raikage-sama, we were still enemies with Konoha only days ago!'
'So what? We've already declared a ceasefire,' A waved his hand dismissively. 'If they refuse, that's disrupting peace and forcing us to restart the war!'
A shinobi in the room hesitated, 'But... but we might not be able to defeat Konoha right now, right?'
A scoffed at this, 'Fool! Do you think Konoha dares to start a war? Everyone would brand whoever restarts the war as a criminal of the shinobi world!'
Seeing A's stubborn 'even if this starts a war and gets me killed, I'll bet Konoha won't dare fight' attitude, Dodai couldn't help but admire him, muttering, 'Raikage-sama has truly become a worthy Raikage!'
Still, he quietly added one more thing, 'Actually it doesn't necessarily have to be Shimaseki Seiki. I heard that Minato Namikaze also knows that sealing technique!'
A slightly furrowed his brow. Truthfully, he had wanted this opportunity to gauge the strength of his "rival for life." But since Dodai had already spoken this much, he couldn't show too much obvious interest.
'Then let the Third Hokage choose either one of them and send them over!'
After thinking for a moment, Dodai added, 'Relying on Konoha for just one sealing technique will hurt Cloud's reputation. What if we use restoring diplomatic ties with Konoha as an excuse to trick someone into coming over first?'
Though A knew their village had little reputation left, this suggestion made perfect sense, so he readily agreed, 'Fine, we'll do it your way!'
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