Chapter 39 Matters at the Top
The Hokage's office.
Everyone else had left, leaving only the Hokage and Souji.
The Souji, holding the newly awarded Jonin certificate, smiled and said:
"Thank you for your guidance, Hokage-sama. I have learned a great deal from the competition just now!"
"Cough cough..."
Upon hearing Souji's "thank you," the Hokage felt awkward again, his eyes showing some dissatisfaction.
He's still thanking me at this point... Is this kid doing this on purpose?!
And you even gave me pointers... What did I give you pointers on?
That kid definitely did it on purpose!
"Although I wasn't taking it seriously at all, you did a really good job.
Even Orochimaru and the others haven't managed to win a single game against me," the Hokage said with a forced smile.
"In the entire Hidden Leaf Village, only Minato and you can win a match against me."
"Watergate?"
Souji was somewhat surprised to suddenly hear Minato's name.
"You should also know that Minato's most powerful technique is the Flying Thunder God Technique, right?"
"Yes, I know."
"The Flying Thunder God Technique... This was created by my teacher, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
It belongs to the category of space-time ninjutsu and is of a very high level.
It also requires a very high level of aptitude from the practitioner.
Over the years, there have been people who have managed to learn it, but it is very difficult to use in battle and has almost no practical value."
"The only one who can truly use it with ease is Minato."
"I see..."
The Souji nodded solemnly.
"So even the Hokage was helpless against Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique?"
"Ahem... It's not that we're helpless! How dare you talk like that?"
The Hokage's eyes were unfriendly as he angrily said:
"I was just letting you juniors win! Souji... it seems a single victory in this match has made you quite arrogant?
How about I spar with you properly again?"
"Just kidding," Souji said with a smile.
Fighting a serious Hokage won't give him the same advantage as before; it'll be a thankless and arduous task.
However... Minato managed to defeat the Hokage in the competition by using cheat codes, but he did it all on his own.
This guy is simply the chosen one of the ninja world, he's amazing!
The Hokage muttered a few words, then continued:
"I've covered most of what I needed to say about your promotion to Jonin.
Now, let's talk about your plans. Are you interested in joining the Anbu?"
"The Dark Guard..."
The full name of the Dark Division is the Special Assassination Tactics Unit.
It was established by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and was directly commanded by the Hokage.
It was similar in nature to a special forces organization, and its main duties were assassination and torture, which were bloody and dark.
It was one of the faces of Konoha and could be said to be the most 'ninja' department in Konoha.
Joining the Dark Side...
While the animal masks in the Dark Side are cool, there are few other benefits, and the Dark Side missions are very busy and time is not flexible, so Souji has no interest in it.
"Please forgive me for refusing, I do not wish to join the Dark Side."
"Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
"No... Lord Hokage, this is fine for now."
"Alright then." The Hokage was slightly surprised.
Unlike Chunin, Jonin are assigned to high-level management positions regardless of which department they go to; that is, the department they go to represents the power they wield.
Even though many people don't care much about power, they still have connections with family, teachers, students, and so on.
Out of consideration for these people's needs, they will still try to secure a good position.
People who don't try to secure a position for themselves are extremely rare.
Actually, it's not that Souji doesn't really care, the problem is that the really good positions have already been taken, and he doesn't really care about the remaining ones.
So after considering it, I decided to keep it for now, and wait until the war has caused some casualties and the position becomes vacant.
By then, I will be stronger and more famous, and then I will see if there is a better position.
Even if one doesn't have a specific position, one still has the basic authority of a Jonin, such as the ability to mobilize Anbu personnel, issue orders to ninjas below the Jonin level, and even change the mission content on the spot as needed.
Having these permissions is actually convenient enough for me to do what I want.
The two chatted for a while longer.
"Well then, I'll have to trouble you from now on. I just received a message that the situation in the Land of Rain is not good, and Jiraiya has been injured... So I've decided that a Jonin-level ninja will set off a day earlier to provide support."
"Tomorrow, Advisor Mitokado will lead twenty Jonin, including you, to the Land of Rain at top speed."
"Mitokado consultant?"
The Souji was somewhat surprised that the leader of this reinforcement was this veteran.
"Hmm, you find it surprising?"
"Yes, a little."
The Hokage glanced at Souji and said in a deep voice:
"Actually, I roughly know that many young people in the village don't like the advisors.
Maybe your previous low profile was because you were dissatisfied and disappointed with us old guys..."
"..."
The Souji listened silently, offering no comment.
While the idea that he kept a low profile because of dissatisfaction and disappointment is pure speculation, the truth is that he simply couldn't afford to be arrogant before he was out of the loop.
However, it's quite nice to hear the Hokage talk about things from the higher-ups.
"Now that you're a Jonin, you should know a lot of things, so I'm being frank with you…
Actually, the advisors aren't as bad as you think.
They've been following the Second Hokage since they were young, fighting countless battles, big and small.
They've made invaluable contributions to Konoha's current peace and prosperity.
They're just getting older now, so they won't be on the front lines immediately, but that doesn't mean they won't go…"
"The difficulties of managing Konoha, with a population of nearly 100,000, are unimaginable to you young people...
There are many reasons behind everyone's love and respect for me.
They have made me a good person, while they are willing to be an unlikable bad person."
"I actually have quite a few problems, such as not thinking things through and being prone to acting on emotions.
Therefore, I often need them to offer objective, calm, and even cold opinions, which leads everyone to misunderstand that they are malicious bad people."
"Ordinary villagers are fine, but as a Jonin who is a core member of Konoha, especially a promising young Jonin like you, I hope to minimize any misunderstandings you may have about the advisors."
Souji listened silently, then after a moment's thought, asked softly:
"Lord Hokage, the advisors you mentioned... do they include Advisor Shimura?"
"Um!?"
The Hokage's eyes instantly turned quite sharp.
Souji remained calm and composed, exchanging glances with the Hokage.
After a long silence, the Hokage sighed softly and said slowly:
"Alright, you can go back now and get some rest. We'll head to the Land of Rain tomorrow."
The Hokage didn't say anything more, and Souji also took his leave.
As he walked out, Souji glanced back at the Hokage Building.
He already knew what the Hokage was talking about.
Let alone leading Konoha with a population of 100,000, even leading ten people, it's impossible to rely entirely on good-natured people and righteous heroes.
The leader plays the good cop and the deputy plays the bad cop; that's basically impossible.
However, the Hokage was right about one thing: he was indeed prone to acting on his emotions.
Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi at his peak could easily kill such toxic figures as Danzo and Orochimaru, he tolerated them for decades because of personal feelings.
These two... will definitely become obstacles if I want to become the Fourth Hokage.
Fortunately, I have absolutely no feelings for them, so there's no problem with not being able to do it.
If the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, can't bring himself to do it, then I, the Fourth Hokage, Mochizuki Souji, will!
This is also a way of respecting the elderly!
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