The Wager Is the Hokage Position

Minato Namikaze praised Uchiha Daiki's Advanced Body Flicker Technique.

But that was not what Uchiha Daiki wanted.

At that moment, Uchiha Daiki smiled faintly and looked meaningfully at Minato Namikaze before suddenly asking, "Do you think someone with my strength can become Hokage?"

"I mean the Fourth Hokage."

"What?"

A flicker of surprise passed through the depths of Minato Namikaze's eyes before quickly vanishing.

As he watched the Uchiha man before him, who was even a few years younger than himself, he could not help but grow deeply interested.

"You want to become Hokage?"

Minato Namikaze asked.

"I heard some news that you're the most likely Successor to the Third Hokage."

"Born a civilian and rising into a genius of your generation, dazzling everyone on the battlefield of this shinobi war—you truly are outstanding."

"However..."

At this point, Uchiha Daiki slowly curled his lips into a silent smile and chuckled.

He did not say what came next. Instead, he raised his head to look at Minato Namikaze again and proposed, "Then let's compete."

"You're quite a ways behind me right now."

"Before this war ends, let's see who can kill more enemies. But this won't merely be a simple contest, Minato-senpai."

"If you lose, then if you truly become a candidate to succeed the Hokage in the future, I want you to choose to withdraw."

Uchiha Daiki's words immediately made Minato Namikaze's expression turn solemn.

He stared deeply at Uchiha Daiki without rushing to give an answer.

"It seems you're also very interested in the Hokage Position. May I ask why you want to become Hokage?"

This probing move was quite clever.

It allowed him to avoid directly answering Uchiha Daiki's condition while also uncovering the deeper reason behind it, thereby finding a way to resolve this seemingly sharp issue.

Yet Uchiha Daiki completely refused to play by the usual rules. Smiling, he asked in return, "What, do you think I'm not qualified to be Hokage? Or that the Uchiha Clan isn't qualified to lead Konoha?"

Those words made Minato Namikaze's heart stir slightly.

Two sharp glints flashed through the depths of his eyes, and the way he looked at Uchiha Daiki changed.

It was as though he had come to know this Uchiha clansman anew.

"So you're doing this for the Uchiha Clan..."

As for the grudges between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan—

In truth, anyone living in Konoha who had even a slight understanding of the village's ruling structure and the distribution of power and interests among its major clans would know a little about them.

Even if they were not involved, they had at least heard some rumors.

Much less a genius shinobi like Minato Namikaze.

Although he had never involved himself in the open and covert struggles between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan, Minato Namikaze knew part of the situation.

Hearing Uchiha Daiki say this now, he had already guessed the real reason.

For a moment, Minato Namikaze's gaze became somewhat complicated.

Uchiha Daiki did not answer his question. Instead, seeming to dodge it, he said, "The enemies on this battlefield will basically withdraw from the Land of Fire within the next few days."

"Next, we'll need to find another place to compete. If you're worried about losing, you can leave first."

After saying that, Uchiha Daiki flashed away, activating the Advanced Body Flicker Technique and arriving a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.

Watching his rapidly departing back, Minato Namikaze's eyes grew slightly grave.

He pulled out a Flying Thunder God Kunai and lightly wiped it with his hand.

Then, with a boom, he vanished from where he stood.

At the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War, Stone Village's target had not actually been Konoha.

Their first attack had been against the Land of Lightning, which lay across the sea from them.

Unfortunately, the Third Raikage of Kumogakure had been far stronger than expected, using his own strength to forcibly withstand the assault of ten thousand Stone Village ninja.

In the end, the heroic Third Raikage fought more than ten thousand Stone Village ninja for three days and three nights before dying of exhaustion.

But he had also dealt Stone Village's forces a devastating blow, causing a large number of Stone Village ninja to perish.

Because of this, Stone Village had no choice but to shift its target to the Land of Fire, hoping to carve off a piece of the besieged Land of Fire.

But in reality, they had already been severely weakened—and chosen the wrong opponent.

Over the past few days, attacks resulting in Stone Village ninja casualties had occurred one after another across the battlefield, with dozens or even hundreds killed at a time.

What made the Stone Village ninja even more uneasy was that they did not even know who was attacking them, or who was hunting down their fighting forces.

Some said it was Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash.

Others said it was "Body Flicker Shisui."

Still others said it was Uchiha Daiki, the Man Who Surpassed the Body Flicker Shisui.

There were even some utterly absurd claims that the spirits of Konoha's fallen ninja had appeared and ambushed Stone Village's forces.

No matter how the enemy guessed, these successive defeats cast enormous shadows over every one of them.

As a result, the Land of Earth's higher-ups had no choice but to order their combat forces to withdraw temporarily and avoid needless sacrifices.

Today, the final Stone Village ninja unit assigned to cover the main force's retreat was also about to leave the Land of Fire.

At this moment, they were less than three kilometers from the Land of Fire's border.

In the forest, dozens of figures took turns covering one another as they broke through at high speed, setting traps along the way to prevent the enemy from pursuing them.

The primeval forest was silent, with no sounds beyond the chirping of insects and the droning of cicadas.

Just as these Stone Village ninja covering the main force's retreat believed they were about to withdraw successfully and return safely to their homeland, a violent explosion suddenly erupted behind them.

After a thunderous boom, the entire forest was instantly swallowed by thick smoke and firelight.

Although the shockwave from the explosion had been blocked by layers of towering trees, greatly reducing its force, it still blasted a massive crater fifty meters across into the vast forest.

"Our Explosive Tag trap has been triggered! Everyone, be careful!"

Even though the explosion was so massive that any pursuing enemy who triggered the trap had most likely been blown to pieces, these Stone Village ninja did not dare relax. Instead, they became even more tense.

At the very moment their pace faltered, at least ten kunai suddenly appeared before them and shot toward them with lightning speed.

Strangely, these special kunai, longer and sharper than ordinary kunai, did not seem to be attacking them at all. They merely flew past their sides.

Just as the Stone Village ninja were still deeply confused, the unexpected happened.