Kazu's sudden appearance had dramatically increased the difficulty of Black Zetsu's "Save Mom" master plan.
Originally, Madara could've found a successor like Obito, passed things down generation after generation, and eventually brought Ōtsutsuki Kaguya back.
But now Obito's "shadow" was gone, and Madara was hanging by a thread.
So Black Zetsu's new plan was simple: revive Madara first.
It's hard to find a perfect pawn like Madara.
Besides, the Ten-Tails had already absorbed four tailed beasts—only five were left. Once all nine were gathered, he could resurrect his "mother," Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
…
Kazu safely brought Madara's body back to Konoha. This time, Madara was sealed completely inside a sarcophagus—no chance to get stolen again.
Still, Kazu couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his gut.
Like he'd overlooked something.
What am I missing…?
Before he could think it through, the next day arrived.
Kazu followed Hiruzen through the handover of authority across the village's departments, meeting the senior officials familiar with each division.
Now that Kazu held the seat of the Fourth Hokage, his old post—head of the Administrative Department—had to be handed off as well.
So the question became: who would be the new head of Administration?
Kazu's first thought was his "little brother" who always ended up carrying bodies—Minato Namikaze.
"Third Hokage-sama, why not put Minato in charge of Administration?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "That won't work. Minato should be appointed head of ANBU."
"Isn't the ANBU Commander Sakumo Hatake?"
Hiruzen sighed. "No. Sakumo made a serious mistake. He can't remain ANBU Commander."
Kazu immediately understood.
This was Sakumo's original tragedy: he abandoned the mission to save his comrades, got blamed by the village, then even the people he saved turned on him. Eventually, crushed by the isolation, he chose suicide—leaving Kakashi with that lifelong shadow.
The story wasn't always spelled out clearly, but Kazu could see the whole chain now.
It was basically the classic "trolley problem."
If you're the conductor and there are ten kids on one track and one kid on the other—
Save the ten, and the one dies.
Save the one, and the ten die.
Sakumo chose to save the comrades in front of him, sacrificing Konoha's thirty-year intelligence network in Sunagakure.
Later, because Konoha lacked intelligence, more people died—
and in the end, Sakumo killed himself.
That was the reality.
It really was a brutal choice.
"So," Hiruzen said quietly, "this will be the first thing you handle after taking office—how you deal with it."
Kazu glanced at Hiruzen.
Old monkey… you're really good at passing the hot potato.
Bang.
Kazu's shadow clone dispersed, and all the information it had gathered returned to him at once.
At the same time, at the entrance of the Hokage Building, two figures stepped out—
Kazu and Hiruzen.
That was the split: the clone handled paperwork and department handovers, while the original body handled the Hokage inauguration.
Hiruzen placed the Hokage hat on Kazu's head—the one with the bold "Fire" character on it.
Then he draped the Hokage cloak over his shoulders—white with the red flame trim.
"Fourth Hokage!"
Hiruzen stepped aside, clapping with a smile on his wrinkled face.
Kazu lifted the brim of the hat with his left hand, revealing his calm, handsome face—his mouth faintly curved.
"Thanks for everyone's support. From today on, I am the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure!"
He spoke loudly to the sea of villagers and ninja in front of him.
"Fourth Hokage-sama!"
"Hokage-sama!"
"Kazu-sama!"
"…"
News of the Third Hokage's abdication and the Fourth Hokage's succession spread instantly.
In the blink of an eye, the entire shinobi world shook.
Land of Water — Kirigakure.
In the Mist Village, the newly crowned Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, held a meeting with the elders.
"I didn't expect Hiruzen Sarutobi would retire this quickly," an elder said, "and then hand the seat to someone that young."
"According to our intel," another reported, "the Fourth Hokage—Kazu—fought Madara yesterday at our bay and changed the geography of the entire coastline."
Yagura sighed. "Yeah. A hero born in chaos… and still that young. He has strength even Madara couldn't handle. Even with the Three-Tails right in front of him, he wouldn't care."
Kirigakure had long known the Three-Tails existed, but hadn't gone after it—partly because they lacked the right jinchūriki candidate, and partly because the Land of Water's geography isolated them from most mainland wars.
But a tailed beast was still a tailed beast—just as tempting to the Mist as to any other village.
Someone else spoke.
"And if you think about it… this whole mess started because Kumogakure tried to kidnap the jinchūriki candidate, Uzumaki Kushina."
"Then Kumo got hit with two major defeats back-to-back. Even the Raikage's son and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki got dragged into it."
"It's like Kumogakure personally delivered Konoha their Fourth Hokage."
Another elder snorted. "Kumo started the conflict… got beaten down… and somehow the other side walked away stronger."
Yagura's voice was low. "What surprises me is Konoha. They've always claimed they love peace… yet lately they've turned into this."
Land of Lightning — Kumogakure.
In the Raikage's office, the Third Raikage slammed his fist down.
Rumble!
The wooden desk exploded into splinters, and the floor cracked.
The office was on the first floor—thankfully—otherwise the ceiling below would've collapsed.
"Unforgivable… absolutely unforgivable!"
Kumo's operations had failed again and again, and Kazu was at the center of it.
Now Konoha had turned Kazu into a hero and crowned him the Fourth Hokage—wasn't that just a slap in the Raikage's face?
And his own son was still a prisoner in Konoha.
The thought of having to negotiate with some "brat" in the future made the Third Raikage's blood boil.
…
Across the shinobi world—major countries, minor countries, great villages, small villages—shinobi everywhere were shaken.
A shinobi not even eighteen had jumped from low-level ninja to top-tier in a single month… then straight into the Hokage seat.
It sounded absurd.
But after everything Kazu had done this month—plus who he was—
it also felt inevitable.
And it took real guts for Hiruzen to hand over power like that.
…
That afternoon, in the Hokage Building's conference room, Kazu held his first major meeting as the Fourth Hokage.
Everyone present was a high-ranking official of Konoha.
"Hokage-sama," someone reported, "we've received letters of congratulations from Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Sunagakure, and… Kumogakure. They all claim they want peaceful communication. Should we reply to each one?"
Kazu nodded. "Yes. And while we're at it—any movement from Iwa or Suna lately? The Third Hokage mentioned concerns."
A senior official answered, "Yes, Hokage-sama. Both Iwagakure and Sunagakure have been quietly mobilizing. We suspect their target is either us or Kumogakure."
"Of course, if they want to attack us and avoid the Land of Rain—where Hanzō the Salamander is based—they'll have to pass through the Grass and River countries first. That buys us some time."
Another official slammed the table verbally.
"But our intelligence network in Sunagakure has been wiped out! That massive loss was caused by Jōnin Hatake Sakumo!"
"We have no information about Suna's movements now!"
Immediately, several hands shot up.
"I demand severe punishment for Hatake Sakumo!"
"Hokage-sama, I second!"
"Hokage-sama, this is an extremely serious incident. Sakumo did it knowingly. He must not be spared!"
Kazu watched them with a faint smile.
These voices came from the Administration Department, the Education Department, the Interrogation Unit—and the newly formed Supreme Council (basically the elders).
Behind them stood the pressure of various clans. They were clumped together for a reason.
This wasn't only about Sakumo.
First, they wanted to weaken Kazu's growing influence and prevent "his people" from dominating Konoha.
Second, they wanted to grind the Hatake down into the dirt.
Sakumo's achievements in the Second Shinobi World War made him a legend—this incident was the perfect excuse to cut him down.
Because if Sakumo walked away from this, then with Kazu as his supporter—Kazu being Kakashi's sensei—Sakumo might recover with new merit later.
And the Hatake could rise into the ranks of Konoha's top clans.
That would threaten the existing balance.
They didn't want to see that.
So they struck now—
On Kazu's very first day as Hokage—before he'd even had time to fully get his footing.
A clean impeachment, while he was still settling into the chair.
And behind these officials were even more clans backing them.
They were fine with Kazu becoming Hokage—
They just didn't want the civilian-born families rallying behind him and pushing into the top power tier.
Kazu tapped the table.
"Alright."
The room fell quiet.
"What you're saying isn't completely unreasonable," Kazu said calmly. "Bring Sakumo here. And while you're at it—bring Minato Namikaze as well."
People blinked. Calling Sakumo made sense.
Calling Minato too… why?
Not long after, Sakumo and Minato arrived and half-knelt before Kazu.
"Hokage-sama."
"Hokage-sama."
"Stand," Kazu said. "Minato—call in ANBU's 'Eighteen Arhats.'"
Minato blinked, then nodded. "Yes!"
He vanished instantly.
The officials exchanged looks.
When did ANBU have something called the "Eighteen Arhats"?
That name was something Kazu's shadow clone had worked out with Minato earlier—eighteen of ANBU's strongest chūnin, grouped as the current backbone of the unit.
Kazu turned to Sakumo.
"Hatake Sakumo. I've heard you exposed a thirty-year intelligence network in Sunagakure. Is that true?"
Sakumo lowered his head, guilt in his eyes.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. That's correct. This was my responsibility. I accept punishment."
Kazu looked at him.
Sakumo really was the kind of person who'd get crushed.
Too honest. Too straightforward.
He didn't explain himself—just took everything onto his own shoulders.
In a world like this, if you don't know how to redirect blame, the blame will bury you.
People like Sakumo—loyal, kind, protective—were exactly the sort who'd get destroyed by politics.
The moment Sakumo admitted it, someone immediately pounced.
"Hokage-sama, we cannot tolerate behavior that harms Konoha!"
"He's admitted it! The consequences are incalculable!"
"I beg you—strip him of the 'Hokage's Sleeve' title!"
"Hokage-sama, remove his honors and demote him to chūnin!"
Sakumo's shoulders trembled slightly, head still bowed—holding back his anger.
Minato, standing nearby, clenched his fists.
"Senior Sakumo has contributed so much to Konoha—how can you do this?!"
He immediately got shouted down.
"Minato Namikaze, watch your words!"
"This isn't your place to speak!"
"What qualifications do you have to judge this? Do you know how much Konoha lost?!"
Bang.
Kazu's voice cut through the room.
"Enough."
Silence.
Kazu spoke slowly.
"Let's cut the nonsense."
"You're saying Sakumo destroyed a thirty-year intelligence network in Sunagakure."
"I don't think we need that network."
"And I don't think it's a problem."
The room exploded.
Sakumo looked up, stunned—he hadn't expected Kazu to defend him like this.
"Hokage-sama… what do you mean?"
"What do you mean we don't need it? Without intel, we won't know what Suna is planning!"
"Hokage-sama, you're still too young—do you understand how many Konoha ninja will die if Sunagakure attacks while we're blind?!"
"Hokage-sama, you can't protect Sakumo like this!"
Voices piled on.
Kazu lightly tapped the table again.
The room quieted instantly.
"Relax. I'm not finished."
"If we don't have a spy network…" Kazu said evenly, "you don't have to worry about Sunagakure suddenly launching a surprise war."
"It's simple."
"If we take Sunagakure…"
"…then we won't have to worry about anything."
The room went dead silent.
Kazu's eyes were calm—almost cold.
"If they want war…" he said, voice flat as a blade, "…then we'll give them war."