Chapter 236: Taking Sides and Stance, the "Insidious" Hokage-sama
"Did you hear? The granddaughter of the First Hokage-sama is running for the Fifth Hokage. It's Tsunade-hime, one of the Legendary Sannin, an elite ninja who accomplished great deeds in the previous Shinobi World War."
"Ah? Didn't the Third Hokage-sama retire yet? Why are they starting to select the Fifth?"
"I heard that Lady Tsunade feels the Third Hokage-sama has been the Hokage for too long. She believes the current Hokage-sama is too old, and an elderly Hokage is insufficient to lead the entire Konoha."
"Come to think of it, it's true, isn't it? The Hokage-sama is over sixty years old, right? Logically speaking, at that age, he should be enjoying his retirement. Even if a ninja's physical condition is better than us ordinary people, he shouldn't continue to serve as Hokage for that long, should he?"
"I think the Third Hokage has been doing a good job as Hokage, hasn't he? Is there really a need to switch to a new Hokage?"
"Heh, the village is in this state, and you still call that doing a good job? If the Hokage-sama had really done a good job, then why were Ikeizumi Uchiha's Military Police Force able to catch so many criminals?"
"Exactly! There were so many criminals hidden in the village, why did the Hokage-sama ignore them? Only when the Military Police Force arrested the people and revealed their crimes did we realize that there were so many murderers in the village! It's terrifying!"
In just one day.
Everyone in Konoha knew that Tsunade was running for the Fifth Hokage.
Although there were a few voices that stood on Hiruzen Sarutobi's side.
The vast majority of voices, however, sided with Tsunade.
No other reason.
It was purely because of some of Hiruzen Sarutobi's recent actions that many ninja clans in Konoha felt utterly disappointed.
And for the Konoha civilians, the Third Hokage had not made their lives better; instead, he allowed many murderers to lurk around them, causing them to lose sleep and appetite recently.
The reason why there were no similar public opinions in the village before was simply because no one would openly stand up to compete with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The only person who attempted to become Hokage, Danzō Shimura, would only resort to petty actions in the dark.
As for the former Uchiha hardliners who attempted a coup...
They were even less relevant, like a weed on the roadside, unnoticed by anyone.
However, Tsunade was fundamentally different from Danzō Shimura or the Uchiha hardliners she openly stated her intention, which was equivalent to a very public declaration to the entire village.
This was what stirred up such a public discussion.
And it attracted the attention and discussion of many people.
"Lady Tsunade " Shizune subtly swallowed her saliva. She said to Tsunade with a complicated expression: "It seems that most people in the village are willing to support you. Lady Tsunade hasn't returned to the village for a very long time, yet they still chose you over the Hokage-sama."
Shizune hesitated: "Lady Tsunade, is there something unusual about this? Isn't it a bit too abnormal? After all, for many people in the village, you are relatively unfamiliar. They only know you are one of the Sannin and the granddaughter of the First Hokage."
"It's not abnormal; on the contrary, it's very normal." Tsunade, however, said: "The reason is very simple the old man's actions have completely lost him popular support, and Ikeizumi's prestige is at its peak."
Tsunade slowly exhaled, she scoffed and said: "Actually, I am completely riding on the coattails of that brat, Ikeizumi."
Shizune was startled.
Tsunade explained: "Shizune, you are greatly underestimating the number of ninja clans who stand on the side of Absolute Justice. The Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, and Uchiha Clans will absolutely stand with Ikeizumi. Besides that, the Hyūga Clan will also be on Ikeizumi's side."
"Because the Hyūga Clan has been beaten into fear by Ikeizumi. Even the Hyūga Branch Family, who benefited, are deeply afraid of Ikeizumi. In this situation, they dare not stand with the old man."
"In this regard, many ninja clans who have suffered at the 'poisonous hands' of Ikeizumi will have the exact same reaction as the Hyūga Clan. The fear in their hearts makes them rush to stand on the side of Justice."
"This resulted in me securing the support of almost the majority of the Konoha ninja clans. And even, ha!"
Tsunade suddenly burst out laughing, but she wasn't gloating; rather, she felt a slight mockery towards Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Even some members of the Sarutobi Clan support me, not the old man. Some of the old man's actions have already thoroughly broken the hearts of his own clan members."
"Although the Sarutobi Clan ninja know that Ikeizumi and I are working together, I am ultimately not Ikeizumi, so they will self-hypnotize that they are not supporting Ikeizumi, but the Konoha Sannin."
"As for those opportunistic ninja clans, when they see so many ninja clans willing to support me, they will also side with me."
Shizune was dumbfounded.
In this case, regarding the "support of the ninja clans," wouldn't the Hokage-sama be completely marginalized?
The current Hokage-sama probably can't even command those ninja clans anymore, can he?
Hmm...
That Hokage-sama might not even be able to command the ANBU.
After all, his authority in the ANBU had significantly dropped a while ago.
"As for the Konoha civilians "
Tsunade slowly said: "For ordinary people, it makes no difference who becomes Hokage. Who becomes Hokage is merely gossip in their eyes, because the Hokage is too distant from them. The only expectation they have is that the new Hokage will be better than the old Hokage."
"If Konoha were an ordinary village with no or very few ninja, the voices of the Konoha civilians would naturally be important. But Konoha is ultimately a ninja village. The 'betrayal' of the ninja clans is enough to give the old man a major headache."
"Perhaps before long, the old man will want to meet with me privately to talk."
Shizune hurriedly said: "Did you think of all this, Lady Tsunade?"
She suddenly felt that Lady Tsunade had become somewhat unfamiliar.
It was as if a drinker and gambler had inexplicably transformed into a seasoned political operator who understood all this strange knowledge.
Tsunade yawned and admitted casually: "How could that be possible? I wasn't born to be a Hokage. How could I know everything? That brat Ikeizumi told me all this when we were chatting privately. I only remembered a small part of it."
After a pause.
Tsunade looked out the window with a complicated expression and said: "Ikeizumi also said if the old man asks to meet with me privately, he told me to be careful, because the old man might want to kill me."
Shizune was shocked: "Impossible, right? How could the Hokage-sama do such an extreme thing? Maybe Ikeizumi had a conflict with the Hokage-sama, so his speculations about the Hokage-sama tend toward the extreme, right?"
Tsunade nodded: "I also think the old man won't want to kill me, provided he can truly let go of everything he possesses."
"Forget it, let's not talk about such bothersome topics."
Tsunade waved her hand, lying down weakly and lamenting: "I'm so tired! I already regret saying those big words. It's so tiring even before becoming Hokage. What will it be like when I actually become Hokage?"
Shizune: "..."
She felt inexplicably uncertain about Lady Tsunade. Can she really oust the Third Hokage and become the Fifth Hokage of Konoha?
Shizune felt a sense of suspense.
At the same time.
On the sea.
"The Mist rogue ninja Jūzō Biwa is on this ship! He shouldn't have noticed the three of us. If we cooperate to assassinate him, can we kill this former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
Three Hidden Mist ninja, disguised as ordinary sailors, were secretly discussing in a cabin on the ship.
"It's difficult." One of them frowned: "The two of you are only Chunin. Although I am a Tokubetsu Jōnin, it is still very difficult for the three of us to deal with an experienced Jōnin."
"At most, we can only tangle with him for a bit. Jūzō Biwa will probably choose to flee if he finds he can't defeat the three of us quickly. If he wants to run, we won't be able to stop him."
Another person said in a deep voice: "It seems we can only send out a summoning creature to quickly rush to the Hidden Mist Village and inform the village of Jūzō Biwa's whereabouts, allowing the village to dispatch ANBU ninja to deal with him."
This proposal was approved by the other two.
They immediately summoned a summoning creature it was a strange, four-limbed fish.
The three Hidden Mist ninja stuffed the intelligence scroll into the strange fish's mouth.
Then they opened the cabin window and threw the strange fish into the sea below.
After completing all this, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as the three of them stood up and casually pushed the door open to walk out.
The footsteps of the three Hidden Mist ninja suddenly froze at the same time.
Their expressions also changed.
"Heh, long time no see. Although I might have only met you once when I was in the Hidden Mist Village, or I might not remember who you are at all. But you should recognize me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have sent out a summoning creature, attempting to relay information to the village."
Jūzō Biwa leaned against the wall, arms crossed, gazing at the three Hidden Mist Village ninja with a hint of cruel sneer.
"This merchant ship departed from a port in the Land of Fire. Why are ninja from the Hidden Mist Village here in the Land of Fire? Furthermore, I see glaring scarlet crimes on you."
Just then, a crisp and pleasant voice sounded from the other side.
When the three Hidden Mist ninja were startled and immediately turned to look, they saw a young girl holding a ninja sword, silently looking at them.
The three tomoe in the young girl's scarlet eyes made the Hidden Mist ninja silently gasp "Uchiha Clan!!!"
They hastily looked in the only direction they could escape.
But they didn't expect a fat orange cat to be squatting there.
The orange cat was licking its paw while grooming the fur on its face.
Then, the orange cat spoke in human language: "Meow, this path is blocked."
The three Hidden Mist ninja immediately realized they were exposed.
Jūzō Biwa, needless to say, was one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and in the minds of the three, he was publicly recognized as the most difficult adversary.
The Uchiha girl with the Three Tomoe Sharingan did not seem like an easy target either.
The only soft target was that cat that could talk!
"Run!!!"
As this thought flashed through their minds simultaneously, one of the Hidden Mist ninja immediately gritted his teeth and shouted. He unhesitatingly drew a kunai and charged towards Kijirō.
"Get out of the way! Fat cat!!!"
The Hidden Mist ninja raised his right foot with a cold face, attempting to kick this obstructive orange cat aside.
But the instant his foot was about to kick out.
His eyes suddenly widened a bit.
He saw that the short orange cat instantly expanded and enlarged, its massive size blocking the corridor within the cabin. Its narrowed cat eyes were filled with killing intent.
This is bad! these two words flashed through the Hidden Mist ninja's mind.
The next second, Kijirō slammed a paw down towards him!
The huge cat paw carried a whistling wind. Its speed was so fast that the Hidden Mist ninja only felt a flash before his eyes, causing him to instinctively retreat immediately.
But he was still a step too slow.
The sharp claws on the furry cat paw touched the skin of his face, easily slicing through the delicate flesh, directly shearing off half of his face. A massive amount of blood immediately sprayed out!
The other two Hidden Mist ninja were horrified by the sight, but the ninja from the Bloody Mist Village, which came out of the Bloody Mist Village, did not have the word "surrender" in their life dictionary.
They clenched their teeth, took out scrolls, and released their respective ninja tools.
But the next instant.
One of the Hidden Mist ninja suddenly froze all over, as if his eyes saw things that others couldn't. He frantically and fearfully slashed the air with the ninja tool in his hand.
Ikeizumi Uchiha (the girl) slowly walked up.
The ninja sword in her hand was unsheathed and drawn. In a flash, it slashed across the opponent's neck, separating the Hidden Mist ninja's head from his body!
Clearly.
The reason why the Hidden Mist ninja became so bizarre was that he had fallen under the Genjutsu of her Sharingan.
At this moment, Jūzō Biwa's Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Sword) was placed on the neck of the last remaining Hidden Mist ninja. His cold voice rang out in the corridor: "Call your summoning creature back."
The Hidden Mist ninja gritted his teeth: "Jūzō Biwa! You who chose to betray the Bloody Mist Village will one day pay the price in blood!"
Jūzō Biwa ruthlessly sliced the opponent's neck.
Watching the Hidden Mist ninja's head fall to the ground, Jūzō Biwa turned around and looked at Ikeizumi Uchiha (the boy), who was calmly observing from not far away. He said: "It's impossible. They have been completely brainwashed and have become Bloody Mist ninja without any human emotion. I'm afraid the people of the Hidden Mist Village will soon know our whereabouts."
"It doesn't matter." Ikeizumi Uchiha said indifferently: "The reason for killing them was not to prevent them from relaying information to the Hidden Mist, but to make them pay the price for the crimes they committed."
Evening.
Konoha.
Shizune carried Tonton and went out, preparing to buy dinner for Lady Tsunade. But as soon as she stepped out of the inn door, she saw someone who surprised her greatly, making her body instinctively shudder.
"Ho Hokage-sama!!!"
Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi standing before her, Shizune couldn't help but subtly swallow her saliva.
She felt inexplicably guilty.
"Shizune " Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was complicated, but he forced a faint smile and said kindly: "Tsunade is inside, right? Go back and tell her that I would like to have a meeting with her."
Shizune was suddenly alarmed.
She suddenly remembered what Lady Tsunade had said earlier.
Gulp
Shizune swallowed. Her preconceived notions made her alarm bells ring. She felt that the Hokage-sama had an ulterior motive!
Even his kind smile...
Seemed somewhat insidious.