Chapter 556: The Only Hokage Candidate

Chapter 556: Chapter 556: The Only Hokage Candidate

"Have you all heard? Lord Danzo personally led a team yesterday and rescued both the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the eldest daughter of the Hyuga main family!"

"I heard about it last night..."

"Apparently, he rescued them from the rogue shinobi Orochimaru. If Orochimaru hadn’t escaped so quickly, Lord Danzo probably would’ve taken care of him too..."

Throughout the streets and alleys of Konoha, people gathered in small groups of two or three, discussing the news.

And every conversation revolved around the same topic: Danzo had personally led a rescue operation yesterday, successfully bringing back the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the eldest daughter of the Hyuga main family.

In just one night, the news had spread throughout the entire village, becoming the talk of the town.

Even more coincidentally, Danzo’s rescue operation had taken place precisely one day before the village’s vote of confidence in the Third Hokage.

Thanks to this rescue operation, Danzo’s reputation and popularity within the village had soared.

Previously, the villagers had only heard that the village had an advisor elder named Danzo. As for what kind of person he was, what achievements he had to his name, and other such details, they knew practically nothing.

In fact, even among Konoha’s shinobi, very few were genuinely familiar with Danzo.

The vast majority of Konoha’s lower- and middle-ranking shinobi merely knew that the village possessed a secret organization called Root, and that Danzo was the man who controlled it.

Precisely because Danzo had always operated from the shadows, his prestige among ordinary villagers was relatively low. Thus, even if he managed to force the Third Hokage to step down, directly taking his place would not be easy.

After all, the village still had qualified Hokage candidates such as Jiraiya and Tsunade.

That was why he had joined forces with Orochimaru to stage this entire rescue operation.

Undoubtedly, with the vigorous publicity campaign carried out by Root’s shinobi, this staged rescue operation had achieved excellent results.

After suffering setback after setback, the village desperately needed a victory to release its pent-up frustration and boost morale.

And at precisely this moment, Danzo had delivered a victory to the village, satisfying the psychological needs of most Konoha shinobi!

Inside the Hokage’s office.

The Third Hokage stood before the window with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out at the rebuilt village.

Thanks to the unified planning, the rebuilt village had a much more rational layout than before. Every district had been utilized to its fullest potential.

Although the reconstruction had cost an enormous sum of money, the results were evident. In just a few months, the village had almost completely recovered the prosperity it had enjoyed before the catastrophe.

Jiraiya and Tsunade were also in the office, though both wore rather gloomy expressions.

Whoosh...

Suddenly, an ANBU appeared in the office. After saluting the Third Hokage, he reported, "Lord Hokage, the vote of confidence has begun!"

The Third Hokage waved his hand. "Thank you for your hard work. You’re dismissed."

After the ANBU departed, Tsunade frowned and said, "Sensei, are you really going to let him do whatever he wants?"

The ’him’ Tsunade was referring to was naturally Danzo, the man who had single-handedly instigated this farce of a confidence vote.

The Third Hokage sighed softly, his expression weary as he remarked, "The position of Hokage carries the expectations of far too many people. Since he wants to give it a try, let him try."

Jiraiya asked somewhat doubtfully, "Is it really appropriate to entrust the village to someone like Danzo?"

The Third Hokage turned his gaze toward Jiraiya and said displeasedly, "And whose fault is that? You’re the one who refuses to shoulder this responsibility!"

Jiraiya shrank back slightly and promptly fell silent.

When Danzo began stirring up public opinion against the Third Hokage throughout the village, the Third had already decided to take responsibility for the village’s destruction, step down from his position as Hokage, and have Jiraiya succeed him as the Fifth Hokage.

Unfortunately, Jiraiya, who had long grown accustomed to his carefree lifestyle, outright rejected the Third Hokage’s proposal.

Left with no choice, the Third Hokage approached Tsunade instead. However, just like Jiraiya, Tsunade refused without the slightest hesitation.

Looking at his two students before him, the Third Hokage felt an enormous headache coming on. Whenever moments like this arose, he couldn’t help but miss the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, who had died so young.

Time slowly passed.

The three people in the Hokage’s office fell into silence. None of them spoke another word as they quietly awaited the final voting results.

After a long while, several of Konoha’s higher-ups and clan heads, including Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu, Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, and Nara Shikaku, arrived at the Hokage’s office together.

Thud...

Danzo slammed his cane heavily against the floor and announced to the Third Hokage, "Hiruzen, the results are in. Unfortunately, you have failed to pass the vote of confidence held by all the village’s jonin."

Utatane Koharu took over and said, "Hiruzen, from this moment onward, you will relinquish the title of Hokage. However, as the Third Hokage, you retain the right to nominate the next Hokage. Do you have a candidate in mind?"

The Third Hokage was not surprised by the voting results.

Konoha was the foremost of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, having survived three Shinobi World Wars without suffering such devastation. Yet it had been reduced to ruins in a single night.

No matter how one looked at it, someone had to step forward and shoulder the blame.

Thus, the Third Hokage calmly accepted the voting results and turned his gaze toward Jiraiya and Tsunade, who stood nearby.

However, both Jiraiya and Tsunade avoided his gaze, turning their faces away.

If the Third Hokage were no longer around, their sense of responsibility might have compelled one of them to step forward and shoulder the heavy burden of becoming Hokage.

But with the Third Hokage still present, neither of them, having little desire for power to begin with, could muster the slightest interest in taking up the position of Hokage—a seat perched atop the mouth of a volcano.

Seeing the Third Hokage fall silent, Utatane Koharu sighed.

After the Third Hokage stepped down, all of the village’s advisor elders would be qualified to nominate a candidate for the next Hokage.

However, Koharu found herself facing the same awkward predicament as the Third Hokage: she possessed the right to nominate someone, yet had no suitable candidate to put forward.

Jiraiya and Tsunade were clearly unwilling to take over the position of Hokage.

Meanwhile, the younger generation of the Hokage’s faction, such as Kakashi and Shizune, lacked both the strength and prestige necessary to shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the Hokage. They were simply incapable of handling the complicated situation currently facing the shinobi world.

At that moment, Danzo stepped forward.

Sweeping his cold gaze across everyone in the office, he declared, "I nominate myself to succeed Hiruzen and become the next Hokage!"

Uchiha Fugaku’s eyes narrowed upon hearing this, but ultimately, he remained silent.

Although Danzo had always maintained a hostile attitude toward the Uchiha, he was ultimately isolated and lacked sufficient support.

Furthermore, in his bid to seize the position of Hokage, he had completely fallen out with the Third Hokage’s faction.

Thus, Fugaku believed that even if Danzo ascended to the position of Hokage, he would not dare do anything to the Uchiha.

Hyuga Hiashi wore a hesitant expression.

However, since Danzo had only just rescued his eldest daughter, Hinata, it would be difficult for him to openly question Danzo.

Therefore, he too could only choose to remain silent.

Seeing that Konoha’s higher-ups, including the Third Hokage, Utatane Koharu, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, as well as the patriarchs of prestigious clans such as Fugaku and Hiashi, had all chosen to remain silent, the heads of the other clans, represented by Nara Shikaku, had little choice but to follow suit.

And so, amid everyone’s silence, Danzo became the sole candidate for Hokage...