If Sakumo Hatake continued to gain rit and grow his reputation, with the Daimyo's support, he could very well beco a candidate for the Fourth Hokage.
But Danzo wanted to beco Hokage, which is why he opposed Sakumo.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, on the other hand, wasn't eager to retire just yet, nor was he willing to give up his power, which led him to temporarily side with Danzo.
After all, his intentions were good. If Sakumo held any grudges, he'd direct them at Danzo and not Sarutobi Hiruzen.
It was Danzo who opposed you, not , Hiruzen thought to himself.
"Orochimaru, can I trust you with this?" Hiruzen asked.
"I'll take care of it," Orochimaru responded, not rejecting the cooperation with Danzo.
At this ti, it seed that Orochimaru still harbored so desire for the Hokage position. Since Danzo had chosen him, Orochimaru simply stepped up.
With Orochimaru's agreent, the Third Hokage continued, "I'll have Jiraiya and Tsunade assist-"
"I'll stay in the village. Let Jiraiya go," Tsunade interrupted, standing up before the Third Hokage could finish.
She refused to leave the village.
Initially, Tsunade hadn't planned on refusing, but the mont Hiruzen began to speak, Takuya pinched her waist under the table.
Only then did she stand up in protest.
You brat, just wait. You have no idea what's coming. Doesn't anyone teach you not to pinch a woman's waist? And you did it with so much force!
Tsunade glared at Takuya, who responded with an innocent look.
"Alright then, Jiraiya it is," Hiruzen said, "And you'll need to select suitable mbers for the Jonin team. I'll have Shikaku Nara assist you."
Shikaku's father, Nara Shikashige, had already grown old and pushed his son into the lilight.
As a gesture of appreciation for his loyal subordinate, the Third Hokage wanted to give Shikaku Nara an opportunity to gain experience and recognition.
"Fine," Orochimaru replied, glancing at Shikaku standing quietly nearby. He didn't reject the suggestion.
He did indeed need soone to help handle so of the more tedious matters.
"Since the sea is the Mist ninjas' primary battlefield, I want the village to assemble a small, but highly capable, elite unit to be stationed along the border," Hiruzen continued.
"This unit will be composed of selected mbers from the different clans. I ask for everyone's cooperation."
The village needed to be well-prepared for a potential war before it actually began, and stationing people along the border to guard against sudden attacks was a part of that preparation.
This unit needed to be made up of elite forces and would be led by Orochimaru to the front lines.
Upon hearing the Hokage's request, representatives from each clan agreed to provide their full support.
After leaving the Hokage's office, Nawaki curiously asked, "Takuya, Minato, do you think we'll be sent to the front lines?"
"Who knows? That depends on what Lord Hokage and Orochimaru decide," Minato replied uncertainly.
Even though Jiraiya and Orochimaru were their ntors, there was no way to know until they were actually selected.
"Maybe," Takuya said.
He had no idea whether their squad would be chosen and sent to the front lines. However, during the eting today, he noticed sothing-Orochimaru seed to be striving for sothing.
This was unlike Orochimaru's usual deanor.
Orochimaru had so desire for the position of Hokage, but he never actively fought for it. In the original story, even when he found out that the Third Hokage had chosen Minato, he didn't say a word. He simply continued down his darker path.
But now, Orochimaru was trying to attain sothing-sothing he didn't care for in the original story. It was strange.
Could it be that Orochimaru decided to give it his all and fight for the position of the Fourth Hokage?
The thought amused Takuya.
Well, people change, after all. Perhaps Orochimaru had seen things differently now.
Although, to Orochimaru, becoming Hokage was probably still less interesting than his research.
"What do you an, 'maybe'?" Nawaki asked, looking at Takuya walking ahead of him. "Minato, what do you think Takuya is trying to say?"
Is it what I think it is?
Minato also found Takuya's use of "maybe" a bit telling.
"I think he ans that we may not be chosen," Minato replied.
"Why?" Nawaki was confused. "Our team is strong, especially Takuya. He's adept at Lightning Release-he'd definitely be able to suppress the enemy in battle. Why wouldn't
they choose us?"
"Is it because of the Hokage?" Nawaki wondered aloud, naturally assuming that it was the Third Hokage opposing Takuya again.
After all, Hiruzen had a track record, and it wasn't a good one.
Should I explain? Minato hesitated. He wasn't as naïve as Nawaki.
From Takuya's seemingly ambiguous statent, he deduced a lot. The real issue wasn't with
the Third Hokage-it was with Orochimaru.
"I think what Takuya ant was that Orochimaru may not choose us," Minato said.
"?????" Nawaki was even more bewildered.
Our teacher wouldn't choose us?
Now Nawaki was thoroughly confused.
He could understand if the Third Hokage didn't want to choose their squad, but Orochimaru?
There was no animosity between him and Takuya. They had no bad blood.
"Why don't you go and ask him?" Minato said with a mischievous grin, trying to provoke
Nawaki into confronting Orochimaru.
Nawaki stared at him. Do you think I'm stupid?
Is that sothing you can just ask?
Ignoring the two of them, Takuya walked off on his own to the hotpot restaurant's second
floor. He poured himself so tea and waited.
After a while, the door to the private room opened, and Tsunade walked in, sitting in the chair
across from Takuya.
"You were worried that if I went to the front lines, so people would start acting out in the village?" Tsunade asked.
She had initially planned to assist Orochimaru, but after Takuya's hint, she chose not to go.
Instead, she pushed Jiraiya to take on the role.
"Not just that soone might act out-I'm certain so will," Takuya replied.
What had started as a re suspicion had turned into a certainty.
If Tsunade left, certain individuals would undoubtedly cause trouble.
Turning to look out the window, Tsunade frowned. Those old geezers.
She said, "I'll keep a close watch. They won't have a chance to take anything that doesn't belong to them. I'll personally inspect everything that leaves the logistics division."
Previously, Tsunade hadn't cared much.
But now that she held the position of Head of the Logistics Division, anyone who tried to get around her would find themselves out of luck. She wouldn't give them the opportunity. "What about those two boys?" she asked, looking around, sensing for chakra. She couldn't find Nawaki or Minato anywhere. Turning back, she gave Takuya a questioning glance.
Takuya shrugged. "They're still discussing whether our squad will be chosen to go to the
front lines."
"Oh," Tsunade said, amused.
Having been around Takuya long enough, she was one of the few who understood him well. Just from his tone, she could guess what he was thinking. She teased him:
"You think Orochimaru won't choose you?"
"Unless the situation becos very intense, I doubt it," Takuya replied casually.
There was no need to hide it-after all, he wasn't badmouthing Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru made think about a lot of things today," Takuya added.
"What about him seed off?" Tsunade asked. She hadn't noticed anything. To her, Orochimaru seed like the sa old Orochimaru.
It's just that the aura around him-the one she disliked-was growing heavier.
If anything was off, only Orochimaru would know for sure. Perhaps Danzo knew sothing
too.
Just as Takuya suspected, Orochimaru chose several mbers from the various clans,
including so elite civilian ninjas.
But Takuya's team wasn't among those selected.
Next Bonus: 1800 Power Stones (''))
(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read up to chapter 340 at patreon/Emiko1.
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