Chapter 13: A Boiling Konoha, Restless Shinobi
Over the span of just a few short days, the Hidden Leaf Village had become like a pot of water left too long over an open flame—
boiling violently, with no sign of cooling down.
First came whispers that Kumogakure might be preparing to tear up the alliance.
Then, almost immediately after, news of the Hokage's death struck the village like a thunderclap.
Arriving alongside that grim report were the surviving members of the Hokage Guard Platoon.
Yet before the villagers could even finish celebrating Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others' safe return, another shocking rumor erupted—
That the Guard Platoon had abandoned the Hokage and fled back to the village on their own.
And that wasn't the end of it.
Just as doubt and disbelief still lingered, the Uchiha clan suddenly stepped forward.
In broad daylight, right on the main streets, they intercepted Sarutobi Hiruzen and openly demanded answers about Uchiha Kagami's whereabouts.
"Six people left Konoha—why did only five return?"
"Why is the only missing member of the Guard Platoon a shinobi from the Uchiha clan?"
Hiruzen's response was simple—
They had been separated during pursuit by Kumogakure.
Pursuit.
Hiruzen had used the word pursuit—
hunted by Kumogakure.
That single word was quickly seized upon by certain interested parties, twisted, and broadcast throughout the village—
The Guard Platoon hadn't merely abandoned the Hokage.
They had scattered in panic—
and in the chaos, even lost one of their own.
Was the missing man alive or dead?
No one knew.
No one knew who had started the rumors either.
But once ignited, they spread like wildfire through dry forest—
unstoppable, uncontrollable.
To the point that Hiruzen himself almost felt as if the rumors hadn't begun because of him at all—
as though they had simply been waiting for him to return.
A delusion.
It had to be.
As public opinion surged to a breaking point, Hiruzen—only recently returned to the village—had no choice but to gather a large crowd before the Hokage Tower.
Mostly chūnin and jōnin.
There, he personally addressed the rumors consuming Konoha.
They had not abandoned the Hokage.
It was Lord Tobirama himself who ordered them to fall back.
And before his death, the Second Hokage had personally designated Sarutobi Hiruzen as his successor—the Third Hokage.
"Protecting the Hokage is a duty the Guard Platoon can never shirk," Hiruzen declared earnestly.
"And we never once considered fleeing or abandoning that responsibility…"
"The situation was critical. At that moment, we were not only members of the Guard Platoon—we were also the Hokage's disciples and subordinates. Obeying the Hokage's command was our foremost obligation…"
Standing in the plaza before the Hokage Tower, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke at length, explaining their circumstances with visible sincerity.
And to be fair—
His explanation did sound convincing.
But how should one put it…
Taken on its own, Sarutobi Hiruzen's version of the truth didn't sound completely unreasonable.
After all, Senju Tobirama was hardly the type to cling to life at any cost. In a true crisis, it wasn't impossible that he would choose to stay behind.
But viewed within the current climate of public opinion—
The picture became deeply unsettling.
Faced with a powerful enemy, the Hokage chose to hold the rear alone in order to save the Guard Platoon, only to be brutally slain by shinobi of another village—his body lost, his fate unconfirmed.
And then, the five survivors of the Guard Platoon returned to the village in disgrace…
only to immediately declare that they would inherit the position of Third Hokage, citing the Hokage's last words?
Look at this. Really look at it.
Does this sound like something a human being would say?
Do you people have any shame?
Are you even human?
And since when did the Hidden Leaf Village ever recognize something called "designating a Hokage by last words"?
Even Lord Hashirama—the village's founder—had gone through a proper, legitimate election process.
According to the formal procedures established by Lord Tobirama himself, shouldn't it go like this?
First, nominate Hokage candidates.
Then, convene all jōnin for a Jōnin Confidence Vote.
Finally, submit the result to the daimyo for approval.
To put it bluntly—wasn't it precisely through this system of voting that Lord Tobirama ensured Uchiha Madara was voted out, allowing Hashirama and then Tobirama himself to become the First and Second Hokage?
Those two brothers, even when passing power between themselves, respected rules, institutions, and due process—fair, transparent, and aboveboard.
So why was it that when it came to you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, a single unverified deathbed statement was suddenly enough to place you on the Hokage's throne?
As a result, after Hiruzen publicly recited what he claimed were the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama's last words, he was met with something unexpected—
Silence.
Perfect, synchronized silence.
Even several chūnin and jōnin from the Sarutobi clan themselves couldn't bring themselves to speak up in his support.
Even his own clansmen felt that this was going too far.
After all…
Lord Tobirama's body wasn't even cold yet.
In the end, it was Nara Shikatsune—a senior jōnin of the Nara clan—who stepped forward in time to smooth things over. He suggested that Lord Tobirama's final words were not a formal designation, but merely a nomination.
Hiruzen reacted quickly.
Though he still didn't understand all the undercurrents at play, he immediately promised—publicly—that he would follow the complete and proper procedure to become Hokage.
Today's gathering, he explained, was merely to relay Lord Tobirama's last words.
There was no intention of bypassing the Jōnin Confidence Vote.
He expressed his grief over the Second Hokage's death, as well as his hatred toward Kumogakure shinobi.
And he vowed that once the Hokage election concluded—regardless of whether he himself became the Third Hokage—he would immediately head to the front lines to avenge Lord Tobirama.
Yes. Kumogakure shinobi.
Because Kinkaku and Ginkaku had never declared themselves missing-nin.
What they launched was a full-fledged armed coup.
If that coup had succeeded, there was every chance that Kinkaku would already be the Third Raikage.
Thinking of those two grotesque monsters—bodies wreathed in crimson tailed-beast chakra, wielding tools said to have belonged to the Sage of Six Paths—
the young Sarutobi Hiruzen found it nearly impossible to imagine who could defeat them, let alone kill them.
After Hiruzen's improvised response and solemn assurances, the majority of the jōnin accepted him as a Hokage candidate, agreeing to hold the official Jōnin Confidence Vote five days later.
Including Hiruzen himself, any jōnin of the Hidden Leaf could nominate themselves—or be nominated by others—as a Hokage candidate and participate in the election.
And Hiruzen?
He hurried down from the Hokage Tower rooftop, packed up all the personal items he had just moved inside, and even sealed the doors with a notice.
Without looking back, he grabbed Nara Shikatsune and plunged straight into the Nara clan compound.
He needed answers.
What exactly had happened in Konoha while he was gone?
Why had the "Third Hokage position," personally designated by Lord Tobirama, been downgraded to a mere candidate slot in less than half a day?
Why was it that the Second Hokage's last words—repeated word for word—had failed to convince a single shinobi?
Why were so many people looking at him with open suspicion?
This was nothing like what he had imagined.