The plaza in the rear courtyard of the Hokage Building was vast and open, with a clear view of the Hokage faces carved into the cliff.
The election plaza had gathered nearly every Jonin in Konoha.
Except for those stationed at crucial border locations who could not leave, all of them had assembled here. They had also asked friends to carry their will and cast a vote on their behalf.
"Lady Tsunade!"
The many Jonin who had been murmuring among themselves saw Tsunade enter the election plaza. Though they had not seen her for a long time, Tsunade's bearing remained unchanged. Her confident, upright stride gave the Jonin, after Konoha's collapse, a measure of reassurance.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado welcomed Tsunade onto the election platform. Hyuga Neji arrived shortly afterward and stood beside Tsunade on the platform.
"The two Hokage candidate applicants have arrived. We will now begin the Hokage election voting..." Koharu Utatane said swiftly, wasting no time.
"Wait. Electing a Hokage concerns the Land of Fire, Konoha, and even the balance of the entire Shinobi World. How can you so casually have the Jonin immediately vote for a Hokage?" Hyuga Neji raised an objection. This election was fucking absurdly informal.
They were just voting like this?
"What do you want, Hyuga Neji?" Koharu Utatane's expression darkened. If Hyuga Neji had not possessed the strength to summon a fifty-meter-tall Steel Colossus and defeat the tailed beast Shukaku, Koharu Utatane would have long since turned hostile and joined Homura Mitokado in directly refusing Hyuga Neji's candidacy for Hokage.
Now, even Tsunade becoming Hokage—a certainty already set in stone—was being disrupted. Koharu Utatane's new resentment combined with her old grudge over Hyuga Neji's refusal to hand over the Flesh Repair Pill formula, and she gritted her teeth in hatred toward