You Become the Fifth Hokage

He continued carefully reading the documents on the desk. To resolve the difficulties the village currently faced, he needed to understand the village well enough.

As he read, he frowned. Konoha's system, the major Ninja Clans, domestic intelligence, foreign intelligence.

It was called a village by name, yet after the Nine-Tails' Rampage, the matters it affected were countless and tangled. Granted, Konoha had administrative departments to assist the Hokage with government affairs, but these were extraordinary times. As Hokage, he had to oversee everything himself. He had to get busy.

If the Fourth Hokage had not died...

He froze.

Right. He seemed to be a retired Hokage, forced to step back in and stabilize the situation because his successor, the Fourth Hokage, had died.

But after the Fourth Hokage's death, could the village really not choose another Hokage?

With that thought, he beckoned.

The meaning was obvious.

Whoosh! A person appeared at his side and dropped to one knee.

He was an Anbu member stationed nearby to protect the Hokage, and presumably one of his confidants.

"Hokage-sama, what are your orders?"

"You—"

He had originally wanted to ask: Who do you think in the village could become Hokage?

But then he realized that such words might, to some extent, be taken as a political statement.

He was not sure whether they would get out.

More importantly, he was not sure whether his confidant would misunderstand his intentions, assuming he wanted certain words leaked to sway people's hearts.

After all, political tricks over in Japan seemed quite accustomed to this sort of "ventriloquism." Confidants were generally the people who could interpret their superior's hidden meanings. Who knew whether this confidant might presume to interpret his hidden meaning and act on it?

He could hardly say that he was asking purely because he wanted to know who in the village could become Hokage, could he? That would sound far too suspicious.

Besides, how could an old Hokage possibly not know who in the village was qualified to become Hokage?

The moment he asked that, people would definitely assume he had ulterior motives.

So he could not put it that way.

He had to be more tactful.

"Who do you think in the village is more dependable?"

"...Naturally, the Council Elders, as well as your disciple, Orochimaru-sama."

It was an answer that offended neither side.

But he immediately seized on the key point.

His disciple, Orochimaru.

The emphasis on "disciple" meant he was undoubtedly the heir to his master's legacy. Politically, that made him the most reliable choice. Considering that the deceased Fourth Hokage had been young, Konoha's succession of Hokage should have been quite stable. With such stability, there should not have been any coup-born ascensions, especially when they were only at the Third and Fourth generations.

Such a stable succession ensured that the transfer of power would not carry excessive political risk. Add the status of disciple, and this Orochimaru should be an excellent choice.

He considered it for a moment.

"Call Orochimaru here."

"Yes."

He vanished in an instant.

He silently took a drag from his cigarette.

Some time later, the door to the Hokage's Office opened. Under the dim light of the desk lamp, a man entered the office, wrapped in an icy aura. Long black hair cascaded down his back, his skin was as pale as a corpse's, and sharp purple eyeshadow framed his eyes.

At the sight of him, he frowned. That appearance was hardly approachable.

To ordinary people, it was even somewhat frightening. Granted, ninja were an inherently terrifying profession, but Konoha was the official institution of a legitimate great nation. The leader of such an official institution would be better off looking more approachable.

But then he reconsidered. He wanted to retire, so why should he care about all that?

"Orochimaru."

He spoke.

Orochimaru, however, froze. His teacher's voice gave him a subtly different feeling.

His first thought was whether his teacher had noticed something.

That would not be strange. After all, he was his teacher. Though he had grown old, he was still that Hero of the Shinobi.

But soon, from the aged face before him, he saw unmistakable exhaustion.

His heart trembled. A trace of pity and sympathy arose within him, along with some mockery and disdain. There was also fear—fear that he himself would become like this one day: decrepit, senile, incompetent, weak...

The Third Hokage was doing it deliberately, deliberately showing such weariness.

With a tired expression, he said, "Orochimaru, what do you think of the village's current situation?"

"...It is very bad."

The Fourth Hokage had died, and there had been the losses from the Nine-Tails' Rampage. The old Jinchuriki had just passed away, while the new Jinchuriki had yet to grow up. Tsunade had left Konoha due to psychological trauma. That fool Jiraiya was still obsessed with the prophecies of those toads and had not returned either.

Though several years had already passed, White Fang's death had undeniably been a great loss to the village, both in the loss of a powerful fighter and in terms of morale.

What could not be ignored was that the Nine-Tails' abnormal behavior on the Night of the Nine-Tails had placed the Uchiha Clan in a very delicate position.

The stance of Konoha's strongest clan was suspect, while the Council of Elders fanned the flames behind the scenes. The entire village was now gripped by unease; it could be said that its people's unity was steadily crumbling.

The major Ninja Clans were also growing restless, while spies from the great nations constantly stirred, seeking opportunities to meddle.

It could be said that the situation was ugly.

Yes, faced with such an ugly situation, it was no wonder his aged teacher was so exhausted. Moreover, during this Nine-Tails' Rampage, Biwako, his teacher's closest companion, had also... After suffering such blows one after another, it was no wonder his teacher felt somewhat different from before.

Orochimaru came to an understanding and accepted that his teacher now felt somewhat different.

"Yes, it is very bad. The village's condition is terrible, and I am already old. It is truly difficult for me to keep holding on."

The implication behind those words—

Orochimaru's heart stirred. He sensed something, but quickly decided he was overthinking it. As far as he knew, old people simply liked to sigh over such things.

Besides, his teacher might be dangling an empty promise.

A veiled hint, but as long as it was not stated clearly, it did not count as a commitment.

A shameless trick of those in power.

Yet the facts proved that Orochimaru had thought too deeply—or rather, the course of events had already exceeded his understanding.

"Orochimaru, you will become the Fifth Hokage."

In an instant, the atmosphere froze.

The Anbu lurking nearby did not even dare breathe.

Orochimaru, too, stood rooted to the spot.

Only after a long while did he suppress his racing heartbeat from the sudden shock. Yet he could not conceal the dryness in his voice as he asked, "Teacher, what did you say?"

The Third Hokage slowly took a drag from his cigarette, exhaled a hazy cloud of smoke, and spoke to Orochimaru through it.

"I said, you will become the Fifth Hokage."

"..."

His pale throat bobbed involuntarily. Through the smoke, he vaguely saw that aged, exhausted face, whose gaze was nevertheless solemn and earnest.

He was certain now. His teacher was serious.