As Makumi's final words fell, all the elders present showed satisfied expressions.
At the same time, the worry that had been hanging in their hearts finally settled, and relieved, reassured smiles appeared on their faces almost in unison.
After all, the position of Hokage, while holding great authority, was not a lifelong post.
Once a new Hokage took office, the former Hokage would no longer hold any real power.
At present, Rengoku was merely missing and had not truly passed away.
At this moment, the Uchiha clan possessed four individuals who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, instantly making them the strongest fighting force in Konoha Village.
Under such circumstances, without the approval and support of the Uchiha clan, it would be almost impossible for Namikaze Minato to smoothly obtain power.
Fortunately, when it came to the authority of the Hokage, neither the Uchiha clan as a whole nor the core figure Rengoku himself seemed to value it all that much.
Thus, a potentially fierce struggle for power was avoided.
During this exchange, Makumi inadvertently revealed several extremely important pieces of information.
First, the relationship between the Uchiha and Minato was extremely good.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Minato could be considered part of the Uchiha faction.
Second, Namikaze Minato had actually already been successfully revived long ago. Otherwise, Rengoku could not possibly have made all those arrangements and preparations in advance.
Even more interesting was the fact that the true intention behind many of the policies Konoha had recently implemented was deliberately showing weakness to the enemy.
It was just a pity that the enemy had not taken the bait as easily as expected.
Since even the powerful and influential Uchiha clan had no objections, the atmosphere in the entire meeting hall naturally became extremely lively.
Everyone began to offer congratulations, "Congratulations on the Fourth Hokage's reappointment!"
"Congratulations on the Fourth Hokage's reappointment!"
"Congratulations on the Fourth Hokage's re...!"
One after another, the elders below voiced sincere and enthusiastic congratulations.
These words were not spoken out of deliberate flattery, but represented their genuine recognition and acceptance of the policies issued by the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.
In fact, during the period when Rengoku had temporarily left the village, there had been many matters that even Nara Shikaku found difficult to decide on alone.
In the end, it was Namikaze Minato who had quietly made the key decisions behind the scenes and finalized them.
At this moment, Minato wore a gentle smile and lightly nodded to each elder present in turn.
His calm and composed demeanor showed that he had already quickly adapted to and stepped into the role of the village's leader.
Minato spoke slowly, "Regarding the issues following the end of this war, I plan, in the name of the Hokage, to formally invite the Stone Village, the Cloud Village, and the Sand Village to send envoys to come and discuss matters together."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present felt their hearts jolt. The slightly noisy scene instantly quieted down, and all eyes focused on Minato.
After all, in the previous fierce ninja war, due to Rengoku's sudden disappearance,
none of the participating sides could truly be considered victors. One could say they all ended in failure.
Now that Minato was taking the initiative to invite the Stone, Cloud, and Sand villages for negotiations, his intentions were obvious.
Last time, those three villages had brazenly invaded the Land of Fire for no reason at all. This account had to be settled, and they had to give a reasonable explanation.
Although the Stone Village and the Cloud Village had suffered relatively smaller losses in that war, with Minato now stationed in Konoha, they would absolutely not dare to rashly provoke anything like an economic war again.
As for the Sand Village, they were the ones who had suffered the most severe losses in that war.
So, this so-called negotiation was, frankly speaking, about making the Sand Village obediently pay a huge sum of compensation to close the matter.
Minato had barely finished speaking when the elders below hurriedly raised their hands.
"I second!"
"I second!"
"I second!"
Ever since Hiruzen led everyone away from Konoha Village, the situation within the village had undergone tremendous changes.
The once-existing purely dovish leaders had disappeared, and most of those remaining now held neutral positions.
As for the Uchiha clan, there was no need to say more. That clan had always been known for its bravery and prowess in battle.
And ever since Rengoku ascended to the position of Fifth Hokage, he had never made any compromises toward external forces.
Whenever a problem arose, he would choose to strike directly without mercy.
The tough and decisive approach Minato was now displaying toward foreign affairs was almost exactly the same as that of the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Rengoku.
Seeing Minato act with such decisiveness and resolve, the elders below could not help but beam with joy.
Especially Nara Shikaku, the highly respected elder. At this moment, even his deeply wrinkled face showed a smile. Having a Hokage make decisions was good.
He no longer had to rack his brains thinking everything through.
Minato picked up the thick volume placed on the table and said, "Here, in the name of the Fourth Hokage, I announce that we will begin expanding Konoha Hospital!"
He paused, then added, "This expansion will be based on the hospital's current size and will be expanded to five times that size!"
As Minato's words fell, the entire meeting room first sank into brief silence, followed immediately by a faint stir.
The elders seated below looked at one another, and traces of surprise appeared on their faces almost simultaneously.
However, despite their doubts, everyone maintained proper etiquette and order, quietly listening to what Minato would say next.
Minato continued, "As for the reason for this expansion, please first take a look at the materials that will be distributed shortly."
"Here, Shikaku, please trouble you to distribute these materials to all the elders present."
With that, Minato briskly handed over a thick stack of documents that had already been prepared to Shikaku, who was standing nearby.
Shikaku had originally come to this meeting merely as Shikaku's assistant and had not been informed beforehand that he would be responsible for distributing materials.
Moreover, Minato himself had not brought an assistant to the meeting today.
So under these circumstances, the task of distributing the documents naturally fell to Shikaku.
Shikaku gave a slight nod to show his understanding, then quickly began handing out the materials to each elder present.
As each elder received the documents, they could not wait to open them and take a look.
When they saw the contents displayed in the materials, everyone could not help but suck in a sharp breath.
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