Chapter 3 You Be the Fifth Hokage
He continued to carefully examine the files on the table. To solve the problems the village was currently facing, he needed to have a sufficient understanding of the village.
He frowned as he looked at the information. The Konoha village system, the various ninja clans, domestic intelligence, and foreign intelligence.
Despite its name being a village, the Nine-Tails' attack has unleashed a multitude of complex and interconnected events. While Konoha has administrative departments to assist the Hokage in handling state affairs, these are extraordinary times, and the Hokage must oversee everything and be constantly busy.
If the Fourth Hokage hadn't died...
He was taken aback.
Yes, he seems to be a retired Hokage who had to step in to stabilize the situation after the death of his successor, the Fourth Hokage.
After the Fourth Hokage's death, is it possible that the village cannot elect another Hokage?
Thinking of this, he waved.
The meaning is obvious.
Whoosh! A person appeared beside him, kneeling on one knee.
The Anbu members who were nearby protecting the Hokage should also be his confidants.
"Lord Hokage, what are your orders?"
"you,"
I was originally going to ask, who do you think in the village could become Hokage?
But then I realized that, to some extent, this might be seen as a political statement.
He wasn't sure if it would get out.
More importantly, he was unsure whether his confidants would misunderstand him, thinking he was about to leak something to manipulate people's hearts.
After all, Japanese politics seems to be quite adept at using ventriloquism, and trusted confidants are usually people who can interpret their superiors' ventriloquism. Who knows if this trusted confidant will presumptuously interpret ventriloquism and then act accordingly?
He couldn't very well say that he asked the question simply because he wanted to know which people in the village could become Hokage, could he? That would be too suspicious.
Besides, how could you, a veteran Hokage, not know who in the village is qualified to be Hokage?
If you ask that question, you will definitely be seen as having ulterior motives.
Therefore, you can't say that.
To be more tactful.
"Who do you think are the most reliable people in the village?"
"...Of course, it's all the advisors and elders, and your disciple, Lord Orochimaru."
This is a statement that avoids offending either side.
He immediately grasped the key point.
His disciple, Orochimaru.
If he is emphasized as a disciple, then he is definitely the successor. This is undoubtedly the most reliable politically. Considering that the deceased Fourth Hokage was a young man, the succession of the Hokage in Konoha should be quite stable. With such stability, there should be no possibility of a coup d'état, especially since he is only the third or fourth generation.
This stable succession ensures that the transfer of power will not involve significant political risks. Furthermore, given his status as a disciple, Orochimaru should be a very good choice.
He thought about it for a moment.
"Call Orochimaru over here."
"yes."
It vanished instantly.
He silently took a drag of his cigarette.
After a while, the door to the Hokage's office opened, and in the dim light of the desk lamp, a man with a cold aura, long black hair, skin as pale as a corpse, and sharp purple eyeshadow walked into the office.
Upon seeing this person, he frowned; the person's appearance was not exactly approachable.
Even to ordinary people, it seems somewhat terrifying. Admittedly, the profession of ninja is inherently terrifying, but Konoha is an official institution of a legitimate great power, and it's best for the leader of such an official institution to appear more approachable.
But then he thought to himself, he wants to retire, why should he care about so much?
Orochimaru.
He spoke.
Orochimaru was taken aback. The teacher who spoke gave him a subtly different feeling.
His first thought was, "Has the teacher noticed something?"
It's not surprising, after all, he was his teacher, and even though he was old, he was still the same Ren Xiong.
However, he soon noticed obvious fatigue on the teacher's aged face.
A sudden tremor ran through him; a subtle mix of pity and sympathy arose, tinged with mockery and disdain. And there was also a fear—a fear that he too would become like that, so decayed, old, incompetent, and weak…
The Third Hokage did it on purpose, deliberately showing this fatigue.
He looked exhausted and asked, "Orochimaru, what do you think of the village now?"
"...This is very bad."
With the death of the Fourth Hokage and the losses from the Nine-Tails' attack, the old Jinchūriki had just passed away, and the new Jinchūriki had not yet matured. Tsunade left Konoha due to psychological trauma, and that idiot Jiraiya was still obsessed with the prophecy of those toads and had not returned.
Although several years have passed, it must be said that White Fang's death was a great loss to the village, both in terms of losing a powerful figure and in terms of the morale of the villagers.
It cannot be ignored that the Uchiha clan was placed in a very delicate position because of the strange behavior of the Nine-Tails on the night of the Nine-Tails.
With the strongest clan in Konoha having questionable stances and the elders stirring things up behind the scenes, the entire village is now in a state of panic, and morale is increasingly low.
The various ninja clans were also restless, and spies from various countries were constantly making moves, trying to find an opportunity to stir things up.
It's fair to say the situation is quite ugly.
Yes, it's no wonder the aging teacher is so exhausted in the face of such a terrible situation. Moreover, during this Nine-Tails' rampage, his closest companion, Lady Biwako, also... Suffering such blows one after another, it's no wonder the teacher feels different to him than before.
Orochimaru had an epiphany and accepted the feeling that his current teacher was different from what he had expected.
"Yes, it's very bad. The situation in the village is terrible, and I'm getting old. It's really hard for me to keep going."
The meaning revealed in those words.
Orochimaru's heart skipped a beat, sensing something, but he quickly realized he was overthinking it. As far as he knew, old people were naturally prone to sentimentality.
Moreover, it cannot be ruled out that the teacher is just making empty promises.
Ventriloquism is a tacit suggestion, but unless it is explicitly stated, it does not constitute a promise.
A shameful trick by those in power.
However, as it turned out, Orochimaru was thinking too far ahead, or rather, the development of events was beyond Orochimaru's comprehension.
"Orochimaru, you should become the Fifth Hokage."
For a moment, the atmosphere froze.
The lurking agents nearby didn't dare to breathe loudly at that moment.
Orochimaru stood there, stunned.
After a while, he managed to calm his racing heart, which had been shaken by the sudden shock, and asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Teacher, what did you say?"
The Third Hokage slowly took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled a hazy cloud of smoke, and spoke to Orochimaru through the smoke.
"I said, you should be the Fifth Hokage."
"..."
His pale throat bobbed slightly as he peered through the smoke at the aged, weary face with its earnest and sincere gaze.
He was certain that the teacher was serious.
End of this chapter...