"I am the Fifth Hokage!"
"Amano Yuu!"
As Yuu's confident, powerful voice echoed out, the crowd below erupted into a frenzy of fervent cheers.
"Hokage-sama!"
"Amano-sama!"
"Godaime-sama!"
"Konoha banzai!"
The villagers' approval rating for Yuu was astronomically high. In their eyes, he was the very embodiment of talent, power, and heroismmuch like the Fourth Hokage had been in his time. More than that, Yuu was the single greatest shinobi - a meritorious warrior of the recent shinobi war, the one who had protected the village. He was also the Third Hokage's personal disciple! To have such a young, powerful Hokage guarding the village filled the hearts of Konoha's citizens with genuine happiness and pride.
The shinobi, too, felt their morale surge. Compared to being led by an aging Third Hokage like Sarutobi Hiruzen, they far preferred to follow this young, powerful, and prodigiously talented Godaime.
Within the crowd, Konohamaru watched Yuu standing there, the focus of all attention, his own resolve hardening. "I'm definitely going to become Hokage one day too!" he shouted.
"Heh~~"
Beside him, Sasuke let out a derisive snort. He thought Konohamaru was just like Naruto. If that idiot hadn't left with Jiraiya, he'd definitely be spouting the same nonsense right now. But Sasuke knew better. Yuu was only eighteen, just a few years older than Naruto and Konohamaru. Barring some catastrophe, neither of them would ever live long enough to see the Hokage's hat. The line of succession was now a closed road.
Next to Sasuke, Ino, her dazzling golden hair tied into a high ponytail, stared up at Yuu with sparkling eyes full of worship. "Godaime-sama… so cool…"
"Un~~"
A girl with snow-white pupils and long, pale lavender hair standing beside Ino nodded silently in agreement. This was Hyuga Hinata. She wholeheartedly endorsed Ino's statement. Yuu was kind... maybe, handsome too.
"Not just handsome, but incredibly strong too~~"
A girl with vibrant red hair and glasses, standing on Hinata's other side, chimed in. This was Karin. The look she directed at Yuu was one of utterly undisguised adoration. During the recent Chunin Exams, she'd been in danger, and Yuu had stepped forward to save her. Every time that memory replayed in her mind, her heart felt fit to burst with a saccharine sweetness. Later, he'd even given her refuge in Konoha. Her heart was now completely, utterly filled with him.
Everyone present watched Yuu, their minds swirling with myriad thoughts.
And Yuu himself, looking down upon the cheering masses, felt a surge of pure, unadulterated pride blaze within him.
His name was Amano Yuu. In a past life, he had been a negotiation expert, highly skilled in psychology and micro-expressions. He was also kind of an otaku of anime, manga, and novels. Eighteen years ago, he had crossed over from Earth into this world of Naruto, landing in Konoha. His nearly thirty-year-old body had miraculously shrunk to that of a one-year-old. Fortunately, he'd been found and adopted by an ordinary shinobi couple, saving him from starvation.
In the 48th year of Konoha, when he was six, the Kyuubi attacked. Using his foreknowledge, he'd managed to help his adoptive parents escape the disaster. But a year later, in Konoha 49, his foster parents had tragically died on a mission abroad, and he was once again gloriously orphaned. It was this event that truly made him realize the brutal cruelty of this real shinobi worldfar removed from the animated series he remembered. That same year, he enrolled in the Ninja Academy, beginning his journey to become a shinobi.
He possessed no golden finger, no cheat code. His only advantages were his knowledge of the plot, an adult's thought process, and his expertise in psychology and micro-expression analysis. The one thing that surprised even him was that, despite not being a native of this world, his talent for cultivating chakra was exceptional. He'd condensed his chakra in a single day. Learning to walk on water, climb trees? Mastered in minutes.
His adoptive parents had been just a lucky Chunin, leaving him nothing but two common Fire Release jutsu. Luckily, he remembered the training method for the Rasengan and mastered this seal-less A-rank jutsu in under three days.
From that point on, he began to play it safe and lay low. He hid his true aptitude while training in secret to grow stronger. He never forgot that Konoha's Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen were both master schemers. For the next six years, he was within the Ninja Academy. By the time he graduated as a Genin, his chakra reserves were already nearing Jounin level. Combined with his precise chakra control and mastery of the Rasengan, his actual combat strength was at the level of a Tokubetsu Jounin.
It was then that he began to implement the plan he'd been preparing for six years.
A plan to become Hokage.
He knew the truth of this world. Bloodline was everything. The sealed-away Otsutsuki Kaguya and the future invading Otsutsuki clan were the true adversaries. He had no special bloodline, but he refused to be ordinary. He planned to use the position of Hokage as a stepping stone, amass every available resource, and charge towards a higher level of power.
To that end, he began to slowly reveal his talent. Over the course of nearly a year, he successfully entered Sarutobi Hiruzen's field of view. Yuu knew Konoha's tradition: the Hokage seat was a game for the in-crowd. The First: Hashirama Senju. The Second: his brother, Tobirama Senju. The Third: the Second's student. The Fourth: Minato Namikaze, the Third's student's student. The Fifth: Tsunade, the Third's student, and granddaughter of the First and Second. The Sixth: Kakashi, the Fourth's student. The Seventh: Naruto Uzumaki, the Sixth's student, the Fourth's son, and also the Third's student. The power had always remained within one group. Unless you possessed absolutely invincible strength, your only choice was to join. And that's exactly what Yuu did.
While currying favor with the Third, he also started Konoha's very first newspaper. On the surface, he just used it to serialize novels he wrote to make money or publish a bit of gossip. But in reality, he was subtly controlling the village's public opinion. He understood the importance of public opinion all too welljust look at the White Fang of Konoha, who'd been driven to suicide. Furthermore, he'd chosen to walk the path of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, molding himself into the image of an outstanding shinobi from a common background.
During this time, he never forgot to build good relationships with Might Guy, Kakashi, the Konoha 12, the Hyuga clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and others. Of course, he was exceedingly careful in all he did. He never forgot the existence of Konoha's resident scapegoat master, Shimura Danzo!
Finally, he succeeded in moving the Third Hokage with his image as the "ideal successor to the Will of Fire," becoming his final student, and even gained access to the Scroll of Seals, where he learned the Flying Thunder God Technique. Perhaps it was because he was a transmigrator, but he had a peculiar talent for spatial techniques. The Flying Thunder God, a jutsu almost no one could even begin to master, was easily learned by him. He then secretly inscribed the Flying Thunder God formulae all over Konoha's hidden corners and some locations outside the village, making himself virtually untouchable.
With all this in place, he began using his newspaper to build momentum for himself, full-force, without an ounce of fear towards Danzo. And then, he simply continued to苟, waiting until Orochimaru launched the Konoha Crush, watching as the Third died. That's when he bared his fangs.
Wealth. Prestige. Youthful yet powerful. Well-connected. And far more politically savvy than the Third or his cronies. After years of meticulous planning, he had finally become the Fifth Hokage, younger even than the Fourth had been.
Ding!
Just as Yuu looked down upon the crowd, his spirit soaring with monumental ambition, a mechanical sound abruptly echoed within his mind.
"You have been invited to join the Hyperdimensional Guild!"
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