As Hokage, He Had to Answer to the Village

Outside the Hokage Building.

With his chakra short sword on his back, White Fang ignored every greeting from the Genin and Chunin coming and going.

Some of the Jonin looked at him with complicated expressions.

They had received the news that morning, but out of respect for this veteran, they had not spread it around. Some of the Chunin and Genin still did not know what had happened.

But it would not stay secret for long. Before much longer, word would probably reach the Hokage Building.

Their silence and complicated looks did not mean they thought White Fang was in the wrong. They simply did not want to make this veteran feel any worse.

After all, the target had been a Kage!

Besides, wasn't it just a failed mission?

Everyone in the Leaf Village except White Fang had failed before.

Hadn't even the Hokage themselves failed at some point in their youth?

They understood his decision. What they could not quite understand was the attitude of the Hokage and the village leadership.

They had left a decorated shinobi standing outside the building alone-and he was also serving as Anbu Captain.

Yes, the Anbu Captain at the time was White Fang. He was also the first shinobi to hold that position while still going out on missions day in and day out.

Never mind the claim that he had abandoned an opportunity other shinobi had created for him to save a teammate.

Did the Leaf Village have anyone capable of creating an opportunity for someone else to kill a Kage? Was anyone that powerful?

Who, besides the Hokage?

If such a person existed, why didn't they dare reveal who it was?

But hadn't the Hokage been sitting comfortably in the Hokage Building all along, smoking his pipe and peeping on women bathing?

Apart from fools and those with malicious intentions, everyone who understood the situation knew what was going on.

As for the villagers, they were merely a bunch of ignorant fools who believed every rumor they heard.

The thought that faithful servants were discarded once they had outlived their usefulness began to take root in the minds of the sharper observers.

But they were powerless. Beyond silently cursing the damned leadership, there was nothing they could do.

Just then, a shinobi dressed in Anbu gear flickered into view before White Fang and said respectfully, "Sir, Lord Hokage would like you to go home and recuperate for a few days."

White Fang looked at the shinobi and nodded expressionlessly.

He was beginning to regret it. He regretted not listening to his younger brother sooner, and he regretted trusting this village too much.

"So power really does corrupt people's hearts?"

White Fang stared at the Hokage Building, murmuring in a daze.

"Sir."

The Anbu shinobi before him shuddered at those words and quietly tried to warn him.

White Fang seemed not to notice. He continued muttering, "This village really has rotted through. It isn't the village it used to be anymore."

"Please, don't say any more. Go home and rest. You have to trust Lord Hokage."

The Anbu shinobi looked worriedly at his superior.

This veteran, renowned for his composure, seemed to have broken down.

White Fang looked at the half-sleeve from a Hokage's robe tied around his arm and gave a self-mocking smile.

Lord Hokage. It was precisely because he had trusted Lord Hokage too much that he had ended up like this.

If he had chosen to complete the mission rather than save the Hokage's son, the entire Hatake Clan would probably have been condemned to death!

A moment later, he decisively tore off the sleeve and offered it to his subordinate.

"Sir, you..."

The Anbu shinobi's eyes widened. He opened his mouth but could not find the words.

"Give it back to the Hokage. I don't need it anymore."

Since choosing to save the Hokage's eldest son and abandon the mission, this was the first time White Fang had spoken up.

"Sir, Lord Hokage..."

"He is your Lord Hokage. He isn't mine anymore."

With that, White Fang looked at the Hokage Building again and murmured to himself, "You should be satisfied with this outcome, shouldn't you?"

When the Anbu shinobi did not take it, he simply withdrew his hand and let the half-sleeve flutter to the ground.

Having done all that, he turned and left.

He walked away without hesitation. At that moment, apart from his son and younger brother, there was nothing left in the village he cared to stay for.

As for his dream of becoming Hokage, a Leaf Village like this did not deserve his life.

"Sir."

The Anbu shinobi stared at his retreating figure in a daze, unable to recover for a long time.

His idol, a man who had fought on the battlefield for the village since the age of seven-was this how he ended up?

Would he meet the same fate someday?

Only after a long while did he pick up the sleeve and head into the Hokage Building.

When he reached the Hokage's Office, he still said nothing. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the Hokage sleeve in his hand and put down his pipe.

He sighed. "So Sakumo has chosen to bid farewell to his life as a shinobi this way? But a shinobi cannot simply walk away whenever he pleases."

His subordinate did not need to explain. He had already seen everything through the window.

The Third was in his middle years, his strength at its peak.

Though he had held the Hokage position for only eight years, the Leaf Village had long since come under his control.

Thanks to the Second, taking control of the Leaf Village had gone smoothly.

And over those eight years, every dissenting voice had vanished.

Apart from Tsunade and Senju Nawaki, the main bloodline of the Senju Clan had died out. The remaining members had long since integrated into the village. They were no longer Senju.

As for the Uchiha Clan, the other nations were watching hungrily, and war could break out at any moment. He still needed their fighting strength.

So all he needed was for Kagami, who had the ability to lead them, to die, and then to divide the Uchiha into factions headed by different elders.

As for the remaining shinobi clans, they were all obedient. Those who were not had already fallen.

Inside the office, the Anbu shinobi stood stunned for a moment before dropping to one knee, the Hokage sleeve in his hands. He said earnestly, "Lord Hokage, the village needs White Fang."

The Third placed his pipe between his lips and blew out a smoke ring. Looking at the Anbu shinobi, he said, "Let Sakumo rest for a while. Don't worry. The village will not forget his contributions. In the meantime, you will serve as acting Anbu Captain. That position no longer suits him."

"Lord Hokage..."

"Shishō."

The Third interrupted him. "After this incident, others will object if he remains in that position. I have to give the three advisers an answer, and the village as well."

"Lord Hokage."

Mitarashi Shishō declined. "If I become Anbu Captain, the others won't accept it. I'm not strong enough, either."

He was a clever man. He knew that even though White Fang was his superior, there was someone else to whom he owed his allegiance. That was why, when White Fang ran into trouble, the Third had thought of him first.

But precisely because he was clever, he understood that whoever took over now would be seen as an ungrateful traitor by those elite shinobi.

White Fang's personal charisma was not to be underestimated. The appeal of the Shinobi World's Greatest Swordsman, Konoha's White Fang, far surpassed even Orochimaru's in his early days.

To draw a comparison, Madara and the First had defined one era.

And in the Leaf Village, this was now the era of White Fang and the Sannin.

An era in which one man's reputation eclipsed that of three people with powerful connections.

Only afterward would the Fourth's era come.

Shishō refused, but the Third ignored his objections and said firmly, "Sakumo was younger than you when he became captain. I have faith in your abilities. It's settled. You may leave."

"Yes, sir."

Shishō had no choice but to give in.

After he left, the Third looked out the window with a complicated expression.

What would his old friend do? He hoped his friend would go far enough that he could step in to settle the incident and win over the people's hearts.

He, too, wanted to do as he pleased. Unfortunately, he was the Hokage.

He had to answer to the village!