Who Will Be Hokage

"The changes in Konohagakure are truly remarkable! Wasn't it just attacked? It seems like they haven't suffered much damage."

On the streets of Konohagakure, a middle-aged ninja with a full head of white hair looked around with a curious expression.

"Lord Jiraiya, this is all thanks to Dr. Vegapunk's invention. The buildings are restored very quickly, and even the collapsed Hokage Rock has returned to its original state."

Beside the middle-aged man was a young man with similarly white hair, a languid gaze, and a generally lazy demeanor.

"It is precisely because of Dr. Vegapunk that Konohagakure has not completely fallen into chaos."

"That's truly remarkable," Jiraiya sighed. "It's a pity I wasn't in Konohagakure back then... I never imagined Nagato would end up like this."

"Excuse my bluntness, but even if you were in Konohagakure, the outcome would probably not have changed."

The white-haired youth shook his head, a bitter smile on his face, "The Rinnegan is indeed the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths. That Uzumaki Clan ninja was terrifyingly strong. If he hadn't only wanted to capture the Tailed Beast and hadn't intended to completely destroy Konoha would probably be a ruin by now."

"You have to understand that Konoha is much stronger than before with Dr. Vegapunk's help, but under those Rinnegan, almost no one has any chance to resist."

Hearing this, Jiraiya fell silent, and finally sighed, "Indeed... even Kakashi now can stand up to me. Even if he uses his ultimate Sage Mode, I don't have much of a chance of winning. This shows the strength of Konoha now."

"Under these circumstances, even if the Konoha ninjas joined forces, they would still be no match for Nagato. Even considering that most of the elites were fighting on the front lines, Nagato's combat strength was probably no less than that of the First Hokage!"

"It seems I made a wrong choice back then!"

Nagato, what's wrong with you? What happened? Thinking back to that introverted boy who always covered his eyes with his hair, and now to the Tailed Beast Raider who makes the Five Great Shinobi Villages feel like they're facing a formidable enemy, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

"Jiraiya, you've finally arrived!"

When Jiraiya finally arrived at the Hokage Tower, he saw two slightly anxious figures.

"Hmm, Elder Mitokado, Elder Utatane? What's wrong with you two?"

Jiraiya glanced at the two elders with some curiosity and asked.

"This isn't the place to talk, Jiraiya, come with me!" Utatane Koharu whispered to Jiraiya. Kakashi Hatake, who was standing to the side, seemed to understand something. "Then I'll be going now, Lord Jiraiya, Elders!"

As he spoke, Kakashi waved his hand and immediately left, looking like he was making a hasty retreat.

Seeing Kakashi's eagerness to avoid him, Jiraiya felt something was off and had a bad feeling. However, it was too late to run now, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow the two elders to a secluded room.

"Jiraiya, we had Kakashi invite you back this time because we hope you can become the Fifth Hokage of Konoha!"

"Huh!? Me!? Become Hokage?! No way!" Jiraiya shook his head like a lotus leaf. "I'm not cut out for this at all, and isn't Konoha doing well right now? It doesn't seem like there's any crisis."

"It's precisely because Konoha is doing so well now that we have to bring you back. Otherwise, Konohagakure might become something Vegapunk would have made!"

Utatane Koharu, her face filled with anxiety, exclaimed, "It's ridiculous! That Vegapunk isn't even a Konoha ninja; he's practically a clone! The Daimyo actually wants him to be Hokage! And the Konoha ninjas actually agreed?"

Hearing this, Jiraiya felt a terrible headache coming on. He had left Konoha to escape these political struggles, but now that he was back, he was being dragged into it again. "Well, I think Vegapunk did a good job too! Konoha can't do without him now..."

"Jiraiya, why do you share this view? Who knows what Vegapunk is really thinking? After all, he's not Konoha ninja!"

Looking at the nagging elders, Jiraiya only found them annoying. In the end, he simply shook his head and said, "Anyway, I'm not going to Hokage. You can just find anyone to be Hokage. Konoha is full of talent these days, isn't it? I think Kakashi is pretty good. Even I'm almost no match for him!"

"Kakashi rejected our request long ago..."

So I'm just a substitute! Jiraiya amused and exasperated. "Then let's go find Hyuga Hiashi Uchiha Fugaku! Their strength is definitely enough, right?"

"No, these people are clan ninjas, and they all need Vegapunk's help. They won't come out to compete with Vegapunk!"

When the Third Hokage and Danzo were in existence, Konoha could use Vegapunk as a mere tool. But now that the Third Hokage and Danzo both died in the attack, Vegapunk is naturally unchecked. No clan can truly control Vegapunk; they will only be attacked and become tools for other clans in Konoha to curry favor with Vegapunk.

Without a united front, Vegapunk could easily control these clans. As for the ordinary ninjas, although they hadn't seen Vegapunk much, they knew that their increased strength was mostly due to Vegapunk inventions, so their impression of Vegapunk couldn't be bad.

This led to the two advisors and elders being astonished to find that when Vegapunk emerged from the Laboratory, he had become the most popular candidate for Hokage of Konoha, commanding immense support. Not to mention, the current Daimyo of Konoha was already on his side.

However, Jiraiya had long since grown to loathe politics, Jiraiya Konoha. He had no desire to be used as a pawn by those two old men.

Jiraiya becoming Hokage himself?! How many divisions would he have under his command? Although Jiraiya Konoha, it was just that—a good reputation. Because of his capricious personality, he had almost no truly trusted subordinates. He relied on his Toad to gather intelligence. How could someone like him possibly govern Konoha? In the end, wouldn't he still have to rely on those two old men?

On the contrary, Jiraiya thought it would be better to make Vegapunk Hokage. There would be no complicated interests involved, and he could use his skills to mobilize the power of the entire ninja village. Perhaps he could really revitalize the decaying Konoha!

"Two old guys, how boring."

Vegapunk's clone slowly pressed a button on his glasses. The screen projected onto his retina instantly changed; the original Jiraiya and his two advisors vanished, replaced by the appearance of the Uchiha Clan's territory. A group of Uchiha stood there, secretly holding a clan meeting.

"The Uchiha... are a group of people who are respectful on the surface but have ambitions in their hearts... Konoha's carriage looks bright and shiny, but in reality, the horses pulling the carriage each have their own ideas, and the whole carriage, from the main beam to the parts, is almost rotten."

"If it weren't for the fact that the other major ninja villages also had similar problems to varying degrees, and that Konoha had a deep foundation and always had powerful men appearing to save the day when things were desperate, the entire Konohagakure would probably have been overthrown by the other ninja villages long ago."

"I don't want to waste my time arguing with these things... it's a complete waste of my research time!"

The negotiations between the two advisors and Jiraiya were like talking to a brick wall. Jiraiya kept mumbling and agreeing for a while before preparing to pack up and leave.

He was afraid that the weakened Konoha would be attacked by other ninja villages, so he returned to Konoha immediately after Kakashi found him.

However, he has now discovered that although Nagato killed the Hokage of Konoha, stole the Jinchuriki of Konoha, and killed a large number of Konoha Ninja, Konoha's own strength has not decreased much, and it is still more than enough to protect itself.

What's the point of staying here under these circumstances? Besides, Konohagakure has plenty of strength these days; one more won't make a difference, and one less won't make a difference either.

However, just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by someone unexpected.

"Dr. Vegapunk, is there something you need from me?"

Jiraiya spoke somewhat awkwardly, twisting his body as if fleas were crawling on him.

Well, I just overheard the two advisors talking behind my back. Although it was those two old guys who were really talking badly about me, and it had nothing to do with me, Jiraiya still felt a little awkward facing the person directly.

"There is indeed something, Jiraiya. Did you agree to the requests of those two advisors?" Vegapunk asked slowly, sitting in his chair.

"Uh... Dr. Vegapunk, I don't understand what you're talking about?" Jiraiya thought to himself, feeling a sense of foreboding. At the same time, he was also very angry with the two advisors. Were these two senile? How did the news reach Vegapunk's ears so quickly?

"Don't worry, I really do want to have a good talk with you. I can guess why those two consultants contacted you, since they've contacted other people before."

"Jiraiya, do you really want to be Hokage now?"

Jiraiya scratched his head, looking at the Blond Boy in front of him. He felt that the other party seemed to be older than himself. He looked only sixteen or seventeen years old, and if you counted the time that was cloned from him, he was only three or five years old. How come he seemed so mature?

If clones are this monstrous, then what kind of person is the real Vegapunk?

Since Vegapunk had asked, Jiraiya didn't want to lie and said directly, "Indeed, the two advisors wanted me to become Hokage, but I refused!"

"Why? If it's because of me, you don't need to do this. I don't really care about the so-called Hokage."

Vegapunk spoke up, saying that Jiraiya becoming Hokage was an acceptable outcome for Vegapunk. Jiraiya, Jiraiya had little desire for power and a deep affection for Konoha, so being a tool was the best thing for him.

"It has nothing to do with you. It's mainly because I don't like being restrained!" Jiraiya shook his head. "Besides, I have other things to do right now!"

Jiraiya used to work tirelessly for the Child of Prophecy, but after Vegapunk traveled through time, the Great Toad Sage's ability to Future Sight in his dreams basically stopped working. So now, Jiraiya is investigating the reason why the Great Toad Sage's ability to Future Sight has stopped working.

However, with the changes in the Ninja World, Jiraiya had a vague premonition that these things were probably related to Vegapunk's true form. However, seeing that the changes Vegapunk brought to the Ninja World were relatively positive, Jiraiya did not want to interfere anymore, but he was also prepared to observe Vegapunk's true form more closely, and he did not want to waste any more time in Konoha.

Besides these, there is another important thing...

"The other things you mentioned, you don't mean spying, do you?!" Vegapunk said with a sidelong glance and a disdainful look.

"Cough cough cough cough," Jiraiya coughed violently, patted his chest, and said with a flushed face, "Gathering materials, that was just gathering materials!"

"Yes, yes, yes, using material for your own erotic novels is like your teacher spying on you with a Crystal Ball Tenten; you could call it protecting the safety of the women's bathhouse!"

With his hands clasped behind his head and leaning back, Vegapunk propped his feet up on the table and said disdainfully.

"Vegapunk brat, be serious, this isn't the point we're talking about right now!"

Although he spoke very seriously, Jiraiya and his face was flushed, and he didn't seem very confident no matter how you looked at it.

With a slight smirk, Vegapunk said, "By the way, I found the Third Hokage's Telescope Crystal Ball and the matching Telescope Technique in his office. If you're willing to become Hokage, you can keep it!"

"Huh!?" For a fleeting moment, Jiraiya was indeed tempted, but after seeing Vegapunk's ambiguous smile, he calmed down and said seriously, "Do you think I'm someone who's so easily tempted?"

"Tch," Vegapunk scoffed, then said, "Looks like neither of us really wants to be the Hokage! You want to go do research, and I want to do my own research. We don't have that much time to do the job of Hokage."

"If that's the case, then which sucker should the Hokage choose to take the fall?"

"Hey, what do you mean by 'a sucker' or 'a fool'? Hokage is the ultimate goal for all Konoha Ninja!"

"Come on, I'm not a ninja! Not to mention you, a true-blue Konoha Ninja, haven't you been looking down on me all along?"

"I wasn't being picky! I just... I just... had other, more important things to do!"

"Spying!?"

"I already said it was for research, not spying!!"