Some time passed after Hiruzen retired as Hokage, so a temporary Hokage was chosen to manage things while the voting took place.
The person chosen for that position was not Tsunade, Jiraiya, or Orochimaru, as none of the three wanted the position.
One has hemophobia and is a medical ninja, the other is a degenerate who spies on hot springs and is obsessed with a prophecy from a talking toad, and Orochimaru, for his part, was not interested in the position either, as he was more concerned with research and did not want to interrupt it by having to deal with political sophistry.
So the person chosen ended up being my teacher, Sakumo-sensei.He was already a possible candidate for 4th Hokage due to his contributions during the Second Shinobi World War, as well as his strength and character in protecting his comrades no matter the situation.
This background earned him the recognition of the civilian ninjas, as with Sakumo-sensei they are confident that he will not stab them in the back as the Third and his advisors did.
-Sakumo-sensei, congratulations on your appointment as Hokage.
Knowing this, I went to congratulate him on his new position along with a gift inside a sealed scroll.
-Thank you, Kenji-kun, but I am not Hokage as such, it is only temporary," he said as he scratched shyly behind his head, trying to hide his embarrassment.
-Don't say that, sensei, I know you would be the most suitable for the position.
He didn't even have the chance to run for office because in the original work, neither Danzo nor Hiruzen wanted such a rival for their puppet candidates for Hokage as Minato or Orochimaru, so one would easily dismiss him as an option if we look at it from the perspective of just a viewer of the anime, but in this reality, the people are very supportive of Sakumo-sensei.
While it is true, as stated in some novels, that Sakumo's character did not make him suitable for Hokage, I believe that he is, since he is not corrupted by the darkness that Danzo advocates as necessary to be Hokage.
Come on, Sakumo is an elite jounin with a lot of experience and successful missions, as well as a great fighter.If we talk about political aptitude, Minato was not suited for it either, no matter how intelligent he was, since in the end, he was controlled by Hiruzen under the sophistry that he was too young and that it was the duty of the elders to guide the young, and I don't know what other bullshit like that.
In Sakumo's case, he now has a bad opinion of the Third Hokage after what they did to him, and it got even worse after hearing all those recent rumors.
Sakumo-sensei stared at me for a while with a serious face.
-It was you who spread the rumors, wasn't it?"
Busted, huh? But since Sakumo-sensei knows, there's no point in hiding it.
If Sakumo-sensei said so, it means he already used some detection jutsu and made sure no one could hear us, so I spilled everything.
-I had my own suspicions- I paused and turned my gaze to some random corner as if to remember something. -My mother's death was under strange circumstances, so I was investigating.S
akumo-sensei nodded in agreement, understanding the reason.
-After I obtained my mother's Sharingan, my vision became much clearer and allowed me to have a better memory. I also had to strengthen my Yin attribute to better withstand the dojutsu, so in the process, I noticed certain "ANBU" who did not seem to be from Konoha, so I ordered my ants and spiders to follow them in secret, discovering everything.
After my words, sensei sighed, accepting my words.It's good that someone is intelligent, so I don't have to explain everything, because their own minds are capable of connecting the dots and reaching a closer and more accurate conclusion about any situation.
-While I didn't like that you caused such political instability by leaking the information, I understand your reasons, so I will let your actions slide, since thanks to that, I was able to become interim Hokage, and it was also thanks to you that I am still alive today."
Sensei turned to his son, who was training with a sword in the courtyard of the house.
-Thanks to that, I can watch my son grow up in peace.He then bowed his head to the ground and declared."I have no way to thank you for your actions, but keep in mind that I, as head of the Sakumo clan, declare that I am grateful.Seeing him bow like that and thank me made me feel uncomfortable, but at the same time grateful that Sakumo-sensei was alive.
-Get up, sensei, I did this out of pure interest, because if my sensei had left, who would teach me sword techniques and other skills?
I shrugged as I made these statements, but Sakumo-sensei just smiled and let the matter drop.
Sakumo thought at the time: I know it's just an excuse to avoid putting pressure on me.
The candidates for Hokage were decided, and even some clan leaders submitted their candidacies, such as the leader of the Hyuuga clan, the eldest son of the Third Hokage representing the Sarutobi clan, and even the leader of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku.
But the most popular candidates were Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Sakumo Hatake. As I said before, Jiraiya and Tsunade withdrew from the race, so the most popular candidate now is Sakumo-sensei, and even the clans were speculating that he would be the winner.
Among the candidates, I sent some letters to the heads of the most important clans to also gain their support, such as giving concessions within the administrative system for the Nara clan, lowering taxes on food stalls for the Akimichi clan, and creating new jobs for the Yamanaka clan, first securing the support of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
It was not difficult to win the support of the Uchiha clan, as a member of their clan, albeit an adopted one, is a student of the Hokage candidate, thus ensuring better treatment for their clan and better job opportunities for its members.
For the Hyuuga clan, I had to send a secret letter to the head of the Hyashi clan promising that, together with Orochimaru, we would seek a solution to remove the sealed bird seal, as well as better jobs than those previously held by the Mitokado, Utatane, Sarutobi, or Shimura clans, and also give them concessions on a new mining company, taking advantage of their Byakugan, which can see through things.
Orochimaru was not accused of anything this time, as on previous occasions I promised him greater support for his experiments and gave him advances from my own research, as well as test subjects who were dangerous criminals, rebel ninjas, and spies from other villages, so he stopped listening to Danzo, as it is more convenient for him to have the support of someone who can get him more test subjects and funds and avoid problems in the future that would delay his research and experiments.
Now that I have played the role of political agitator and propagandist, I have time for my own activities.
-Young master, I have brought you everything you requested- said Maki as she handed me the scroll with all the materials for my new experiment. -May I ask what exactly it will be used for?
I took the scroll from her hands and put it in my ninja pocket tied around my waist.
-You'll see what it's for, since you're coming with me.
Maki's eyes widened in confusion, but then she returned to her usual expression.
-Understood, young master, I'll go get those two.
I nodded in agreement and took some other scrolls that were sorted by category from a hidden drawer under the floor of my room.
After Maki brought Samui and Mabui, the four of us left the village on a mission to hunt down bandits, so they let us leave the village. Since I no longer have ANBU watching me for the hokage transition, I can move more freely, so no one will ask why I was late, not even a nosy bastard who meddles in my affairs.
The mission itself was easy. I used Samui and Mabui as bait to lure those bandits, then pierced their bodies with needles dipped in putonotoxin, which made them collapse.
Then ordered Samui and Mabui to finish them off while I tied up the ones I was going to use for experimentation. Maki gave each of them a kunai to complete the order.
They hesitated a little at first, but after swallowing hard, they plunged the kunai into the necks of those bandits.
-Haah.
It was the first time they had killed, so they were both pale and their legs and hands were shaking from the experience.
It's understandable; that's the real reaction of someone killing for the first time.
That's how it was when I had to shoot the enemy soldier in my past life. Those criminals you just killed were the rookies of this organization. The ones I captured are those who have committed the most crimes, but you don't have to feel guilty.
They did things worse than taking the lives of others. Samui and Mabui looked at me with tense and confused expressions, but after thinking about it for a while, their expressions softened, and they did breathing exercises to calm themselves.
-We understand, young master."
Maki looked approvingly at Samui and Mabui and patted them both on the head. I made some hand seals and summoned two bears.
-Use these summoned beasts to transport yourselves."
I climbed onto the larger bear and took Samui with me and Mabui with Maki to prevent them from falling, and we began to move toward my cave lair.
As for the bandits, I tied the ones who were still alive to the bears so they could be dragged along the way, and I put the corpses in a sealed scroll.
A few hours passed, and we finally arrived at my experiment cave. I untied the bandits and took the corpses inside the cave. I gave each bear a corpse to devour as a reward and placed the living bandits on stone tables.
-Young master, what will you do with these bandits?"
As I took out the scroll Maki had given me at the beginning, I turned to Samui and explained the situation.
-I'm testing new sealing methods as well as some toxins on their bodies.
You could say I'm investigating whether I can seal poisons and toxins inside the human body for use or to be activated and injected into the body as soon as the seal is activated to poison the subject.-
I think for a moment as I prepare the special ink and place it on the table.
-You could say it's for keeping secrets, like the Sunagakure jutsu of injecting a needle into the brain to make them forget their identity until there is a trigger to deactivate it and thus recover their memories, but this version is so that if the subject talks about a certain topic, the poison is injected into their body to shut them up.
Samui looks at me with wide eyes while I already have the brush on the ink and begin to make the engravings as I channel chakra to perform the sealing.
While I do this, Maki is guiding Mabui around the base and explaining everything about it. I know they are spies from Kumogakure, but I have my reasons for showing them this laboratory, as in the near future I will make them my assistants and when they graduate from the ninja academy, I plan to take them on as my students with me as their instructor, but that is still a few years away, so I have already ordered them to take their time at the academy.
Even if they report this to the Raikage, it will only increase Kumogakure's interest, so they may take measures to take me back to the Land of Lightning this could sound like a narcicist but if they sent Samui and Mabui, i can think in that way, but because of my position as a student of the next Hokage, their movements are blocked, so I have a measure against that.
As I think about it, I finish engraving the poison and toxin seal inside the subject's body. On another bandit, I engrave only the toxin seal to test the effect of each one, to see if it is worth killing them or letting them live in agony.
After finishing the seal, I activate my Sharingan and force them to say the keyword:
-Who is the Third Hokage?
The bandit with the lost look begins to speak in a robotic voice:
-It's Hiru...-His voice is interrupted as I deactivate the Sharingan by activating the seal in my contact lenses, breaking the hypnosis, and I proceed to observe their reactions.
-AAAAHHHHH!
The poison seal was designed to be administered quickly through the subject's bloodstream while accelerating the pulse to speed up the poisoning process, while the subject with ponerotoxin writhes in great agony, as I programmed his seal to inject large amounts into every sensitive part of his body.
The bandit's eyes widen, his skin turns pale, and his body begins to sweat profusely as he screams and writhes in agony. I begin to record the results and make extra notes of my observations of this experiment.
The first bandit with poison falls dead immediately to the ground, while the other bandit seems to be begging for the experiment to stop, but due to the extreme pain, he cannot even utter a word.
I should add paralyzing poisons to make the agony longer and prevent them from escaping, but on second thought, if I want to silence them, I think it's better to use a poison that can burn their brains, so that even the Yamanaka cannot extract information from them.
But this experiment can be called a success, as it has brought me closer to the desired result.
-Samui, I want you to take these bandits to the back of the cave. Once you get there, be careful not to fall into the pit, so it would be best if Maki accompanied you.
Samui tilts her head but then nods and takes the bandits' bodies away.
As such, the sealing was good, but I need ninja bodies to do the next experiment, so I'll take advantage of the approaching war to collect some enemy ninjas as prisoners.
I'm continuing with the experiments to create seals to ensure that the others don't talk too much, but I would also need a parasitic seal to constantly monitor the words spoken by the subject, as well as a remote detonator, so I can place them on Maki, Samui, and Mabui.
I think I would need to study Danzo's cursed tongue seal, but for that I need the bodies of root ninjas or some living ones to study that method.
I happen to have root ninja corpses, so I can study their seal, but I must take my time to modify it to my liking.
While I was thinking about that, Samui came over with a hardened expression, as if she had just seen something horrible, but she came to report that she had completed the task.
-I imagine this is the first time you've seen this, right?
She remained silent for a moment, but after that pause, she spoke.
-How can ants eat a human being in a matter of minutes?
I stroke her head lightly to reassure her.
-They won't hurt you, they only eat corpses, so nothing will happen to living people.
-Really?" she asked timidly.
-Yeah, really. I bred these ants specifically to eat corpses, so I can quickly clean up any evidence of murder.
I do have a variant that eats living people, but those are sealed inside a special scroll, and I need to completely cover my arms with a special material so they don't climb on me when I open the container.
You could say it's similar to the Aburame's forbidden technique, but it's different in that I have control over the ants and can use the Sharingan to force them back into their container.
There are many experiments I want to conduct, but for that I'll need more funds and personnel, which is why I brought Samui and Mabui.
I make copies of my research and put them in separate scrolls, pretending that I am trying to hide them from Samui and Mabui, while making sure that they are watching me.
-Well, we're done for now."
I "accidentally" drop one of the scrolls with my notes and start to lead the way back, leaving my cave-laboratory with Maki.
Samui and Mabui, still inside, notice that a scroll has fallen to the floor and go to pick it up.
-Mabui, what are we supposed to do with this? Do we return it?"
Mabui stopped Samui from speaking and said quietly,
-Let's give this to Lord Raikage. I think it will be valuable information for Kumogakure."
They both nodded in agreement and left the place to return to the village.
A few days later, that scroll reached the hands of the Third Raikage, who was doing his usual work at the time and now held it in front of him.
-Heh," he laughed ironically. -Dodai, I think we underestimated that brat.
Dodai's eyes widened in surprise, but then he frowned slightly as he approached the Raikage.
-What do you mean, Lord Raikage?"
The Third Raikage A stood up and handed the scroll to Dodai, who, after reading it, let out a sigh full of complex emotions.
-Indeed, Lord Raikage.
Attached to the scroll was a coded letter addressed to the Raikage.
A/N:
There was some initial confusion regarding the clone technique. There's an explanation for this: I watched the Spanish-dubbed version of Naruto, so both the shadow clone and clone techniques sound almost exactly the same in the series. My apologies for that.
Another point to clarify: the Flying Thunder God technique is rarely used because it risks crashing into a tree or wasting chakra unnecessarily.
But changing the subject, I have some future plans for this war. I'm also a War Thunder player, so I think you have some idea of what's coming. Of course, it's not like I can create tanks in a matter of weeks or even a year, so it would be something later, or I'm not really sure. I'd like your opinion on this.