Inside the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi finally breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the figures of Jiraiya and Tsunade through his crystal ball.
When Jiraiya and Tsunade pushed open the doors to the office, Hiruzen cut straight to the chase.
"Ian Uchiha is now unstoppable."
He briefly informed the two of everything that had transpired over the past few days, deliberately emphasizing Ian's strength, his brutality, and his covetousness for the position of Hokage.
"Tsunade, we absolutely cannot allow the Uchiha clan to become the Hokage!"
"I plan to nominate you as the Fifth Hokage in half a month."
Hiruzen looked at Tsunade.
"With your prestige among the villagers, your status as the First Hokage's granddaughter, and my assistance, you will definitely be elected."
"When the time comes, we will use the 'will of the people' and the 'greater good' to force him to back down!"
"This is our last chance!"
Upon hearing Hiruzen's plan, Tsunade furrowed her brows tightly, while Jiraiya fell into deep thought beside her.
...
In the days that followed, under Hiruzen's secret instruction and promotion, discussions regarding the candidate for the new Hokage began to spread among the villagers of Konoha.
Tsunade's medical contributions, the legend of the "Sannin," and her status as the "Princess of Konoha" and granddaughter of the First Hokage were repeatedly publicized and emphasized.
Under intentional guidance, the villagers gradually came to see her as the only hope to save Konoha and inherit the Will of Fire.
Furthermore, during this propaganda campaign, Hiruzen deliberately avoided mentioning the Uchiha clan, and gradually, the villagers forgot about the events of that night.
The one-month deadline had arrived.
Early that morning, the plaza in front of the Hokage building was already packed with a massive, dense crowd of people.
Expectation was written all over every villager's face. They had already begun to fantasize about a future where Konoha would once again march toward glory under the leadership of Princess Tsunade.
"Dong—"
A long, resonant bell chime rang out, and the crowd instantly fell silent.
Wearing the Hokage's official robes, Hiruzen slowly walked up to the high platform.
His face looked much older than it had a month ago. His deeply wrinkled visage was filled with profound sorrow and exhaustion, and every step he took was unusually heavy, as if he were carrying the sins of the entire village on his shoulders.
Seeing the Hokage's exhausted appearance, the villagers could not help but feel a pang of heartache.
Catching their subtle expressions, Hiruzen smiled faintly. It seemed his Transformation Jutsu was quite effective.
Feeling that the emotional atmosphere had not yet peaked, Hiruzen did not speak immediately. Instead, he used his cloudy eyes to gaze sorrowfully at the faces looking up at him from below.
That heartfelt grief, brought on by the thought of the deceased Danzo, infected the entire plaza.
Finally, he spoke, his voice spreading to every corner through an amplification ninjutsu.
"I, the Third Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi, am guilty!"
"It is I who failed your trust. It is my poor judgment of character that allowed parasites like Danzo, Koharu, and Homura to occupy high positions in the village for years and commit heinous crimes."
"And it is my incompetence that led to the tragedy of the Uchiha clan."
He bowed deeply, his head drooping almost to his chest.
"I no longer have the face to hold the position of Hokage."
Below the stage, the Anbu ninjas who had been arranged beforehand immediately began to shout.
"Lord Third! This is not your fault!"
"You were deceived too!"
The villagers' emotions were instantly stirred. They were simple-minded, and they were forgetful.
Hiruzen slowly straightened up, tears glistening in his eyes, and his voice suddenly rose in volume.
"I will resign from the position of the Third Hokage, but Konoha cannot go a single day without a leader!"
"Konoha has fallen into a crisis due to the rebellion of the three elders. In this moment of peril, the First Hokage's granddaughter, one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade, has put aside past grievances and resolutely returned to the village!"
"She used her medical ninjutsu, unparalleled in the ninja world, to heal a massive number of the wounded!"
"She is the one who has inherited the Will of Fire, the best candidate to lead Konoha toward a new beginning!"
"I propose that Tsunade take over as the Fifth Hokage!"
As his words fell, a tsunami of cheers erupted from the crowd.
"Lady Tsunade!"
"Fifth Hokage!"
"Long live Lady Tsunade!"
The villagers raised their arms high, venting all their hopes and passion.
Tsunade stood behind Hiruzen, her brows slightly furrowed. She actually did not want to be Hokage, but she wanted even less to see the Konoha her grandfather built be manipulated by the Uchiha.
Listening to the deafening cheers in his ears and looking at the impassioned villagers below, Hiruzen's face flushed with excitement.
He swept the edge of the plaza out of the corner of his eye and noticed that not a single member of the Uchiha clan was present.
'Have they yielded?'
'As expected, under the pressure of the "will of the people" and the "greater good," even that monster has no choice but to bow his head.'
Thinking of this, Hiruzen's heart completely settled. He even began to calculate whether the position of "Hokage Assistant" he had previously promised to Ian was a bit too high.
'An empty title as a Konoha elder is enough to dismiss the Uchiha.'
Right at that moment, he discreetly shot a subtle glance toward a certain direction in the VIP seating area below.
The four emissaries from Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure understood implicitly.
A burly Kumogakure emissary was the first to stand up, his voice booming like a bell.
"Our Kumogakure supports Lady Tsunade becoming the Fifth Hokage! And we promise not to instigate any wars for ten years!"
"The same goes for our Iwagakure!"
The representatives from the other ninja villages also responded one after another.
After speaking, the Iwagakure emissary added.
"I heard Konoha also has someone named Ian Uchiha who wants to be Hokage!"
"None of our four great ninja villages wish to see an evil Uchiha become Hokage. If Konoha insists on choosing him as Hokage, you will be making an enemy of the entire world! The three hundred thousand ninjas of my Iwagakure are not to be trifled with!"
The emissaries from Kirigakure and Sunagakure also voiced their stances, their words fierce and brimming with murderous intent.
Their words revealed that as long as an Uchiha became Hokage, the Fourth Great Ninja War would immediately break out!
These words were like a basin of cold water poured over the villagers' heads.
The fear of war overwhelmed everything else.
They subconsciously equated the Uchiha with war.
The villagers' disgust toward the Uchiha reached its absolute peak at this moment.
In that very instant, a terrifying aura that could not be described with words descended from the sky.
The tens of thousands of villagers in the plaza, along with Hiruzen and the four village emissaries on the stage, felt their souls freeze in that split second.
Everyone struggled to look in a single direction, completely out of their own control.
A group of Uchiha figures had appeared there at some unknown point.
The one leading them was none other than Ian Uchiha.
Behind him stood the entire Uchiha clan.
They stood there quietly, the Three Tomoe in their eyes flashing with an eerie, icy crimson light.
Hiruzen realized in horror that these Uchiha clansmen were completely different from a month ago.
Their auras had become violent and gloomy, and the chakra within their bodies was constantly surging.
And most importantly, every single one of them had the Three Tomoe!
What a terrifying growth speed! What a terrifying force!
Looking at the pale-faced Hiruzen on the high platform, Ian couldn't help but chuckle.
"Old geezer."
"It seems you've lived too comfortably during this past month of peace, to the point where you dare to treat my words as empty wind."
His gaze swept over the equally pale emissaries of the four villages before finally landing on the ignorant masses below.
"Do you think that with these ignorant fools you've incited and these few noisy bugs, you can dictate my decisions?"
Hiruzen's back was already drenched in cold sweat, but he forced himself to hold on, bringing out his final trump card.
"Ian Uchiha! Turn back before it's too late! Do you really want to plunge all of Konoha into the flames of war just for the position of Hokage?!"
"Do not make an enemy of the entire world!"
"Hahahahahaha—!"
Answering him was the deafening, maniacal laughter of the Uchiha clansmen.
The laughter was filled with disdain, madness, and arrogance, as if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Suddenly, the laughter came to an abrupt halt.
The eyes of all the Uchihas turned incomparably cold.
Ian spoke slowly, "I didn't come here today to be some bullshit Hokage in the first place."
"This village, and even this world, is far too boring."
"I declare."
"From this moment on, the Uchiha clan declares war on the Five Great Ninja Villages."