Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Uchiha Kō, who was a head taller than him, and smiled. "Congratulations."
Uchiha Kō shook his head. "It's all for the benefit of the villagers. There's no need for congratulations." Uchiha Kō's polite words were met with cheers from the villagers.
"Always bring a girl!"
"May you always bring your sister!"
The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, nodded. It has to be said that Uchiha Kō was very capable. With just one sentence, he mobilized the villagers' enthusiasm, and coupled with his past actions, he immediately won over 90% of the public's support.
Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly became serious. "Uchiha Kō, I, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, ask you: Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the village, to burn yourself out, to illuminate the path for Konoha, and to dedicate your life to everyone?"
"I, Uchiha Kō, am willing to inherit the will of my predecessors, to take pride in the prosperity of Konoha, and to be ashamed of Konoha decline. I will sacrifice myself, burn myself, and dedicate myself to making Konoha the number one village in the Ninja World!" Uchiha Kō declared resolutely.
The villagers gasped in disbelief. They had thought it was just a formality, but Uchiha Kō had made such a vow: the greatest village in the Ninja World! What a grand ambition!
The young people's eyes blazed with passion and determination, eager to join the battle and serve their village. The elders, on the other hand, smiled, believing it was only right; Konoha should indeed be the greatest village!
Sarutobi Hiruzen somewhat stunned, clearly not expecting Uchiha Kō to say such a thing. He paused for three seconds, then coughed twice, "Where the Konoha dance, the fire will never die. I hope you can shoulder the responsibility of Hokage and bring prosperity to Konoha!"
After saying this, Sarutobi Hiruzen removed Hokage hat and held it in his hands. Uchiha Kō lowered his head, and Sarutobi Hiruzen Uchiha Kō, his eyes filled with relief and satisfaction.
He felt a weight lift from his shoulders; from this moment on, the heavy responsibility of Konoha would be entrusted to Uchiha Kō!
Uchiha Kō looked up and bowed to Sarutobi Hiruzen. Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't let us down."
"We? "Uchiha Kō immediately realized that it must refer to Sarutobi Hiruzen and Senju Tobirama.
Uchiha Kō nodded, "Of course!" Sarutobi Hiruzen, having received a reply, slowly walked down from the high platform, each step deliberate and slow.
Uchiha Kō turned to the villagers and said, "Uchiha Kō will live up to everyone's expectations!" He then raised his arm and shouted, "Long live Konoha! Long live the villagers!"
The villagers cheered, overjoyed at the succession of the Fourth Hokage, Uchiha Kō.
"Long live Konoha! Long live the Hokage!"
"Long live Konoha! Long live the Hokage!"
After the succession ceremony concluded, Uchiha Kō was taken to the Hokage Office by the former Anbu and sat on the throne that had once belonged to Sarutobi Hiruzen, approving documents.
At noon, Uchiha Kō convened the representatives of all the major clans and commoners in the village for his first meeting since taking office.
This time, everyone was present. Uchiha Kō sat in his seat, head down, approving documents without saying a word, as if he were the only person in the office.
The heads of the various clans frowned, puzzled. What was Uchiha Kō trying to do? Was he going to give them a hard time? No, based on their understanding of Uchiha Kō, he wasn't that kind of person!
When the two Hokage assistants Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, opened the door and walked in, Uchiha Kō paused, then raised his head, his eyes filled with coldness, causing the heads of the various clans present to tense up.
They came for the two former Third Hokage's Hokage! Some lowered their heads, not daring to look at Uchiha Kō, some stared at Uchiha Kō, and others looked at Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura with schadenfreude.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura in their hearts and forced themselves to stay alert.
"Oh, our two Hokage assistants have arrived! Quickly, quickly, arrange seats for them," Uchiha Kō said to the Anbu with a smile.
The crowd's expressions were somewhat strange; they didn't understand what Uchiha Kō was going to do, but it was clearly best to remain silent at this moment.
"Lord Hokage, there's no need for such politeness."
"Yes, everyone is doing this for Konoha."
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura went on and on, as if it were perfectly normal for Uchiha Kō to do what he did.
"Heh." Uchiha Kō sneered, "With the assistance of the two Hokage, you've worked tirelessly for Konoha. Your efforts during this period have demonstrated your strength. However, with great power comes great responsibility."
"Therefore, I hope that you two can select three hundred ninjas from your clans to serve as spies for my village. I'm sure you two Hokage are highly respected and will not have any objections, right?" Uchiha Kō's words were like sharp knives, piercing the hearts of the two men.
Utatane Koharu Mitokado Homura turned pale; they were furious! Who knew that Uchiha Kō would flatter them first, only to then order them to send clan ninjas on infiltration missions!
It should be noted that the mortality rate for undercover missions is as high as 90%, and most of these missions are carried out by civilian ninjas and war orphans. Now, they are making ninjas from these two clans do it.
Isn't this blatantly sending two families to their deaths?
The other clans' expressions changed as they looked at Uchiha Kō. They knew that Uchiha Kō was different from the Third Hokage; he meant what he said, and if he told you to go, you had to go.
"How dare you! Uchiha Kō, you're harming our own village!" Utatane Koharu roared.
Mitokado Homura's face was grim. "Exactly! Everyone knows this mission has the highest mortality rate, and our ninjas are mostly adults, which greatly increases the risk of them going undercover!"
"You're clearly sending our ninjas to their deaths!" Utatane Koharu exclaimed in fury.
"Heh, high risk of infiltration? High mortality rate? Is that your reason for shrinking back? Who doesn't have people die? Who hasn't done infiltration? Do you two think the Utatane Clan and the Mitokado family are superior?" Uchiha Kō attacked the two from the moral high ground.
Nara Rokumei's eyes lit up. "The Lord Hokage is absolutely right. With the two Hokage assisting, please prioritize the overall situation!"
The Ino-Shika-Cho had long been in cahoots with the Uchiha Clan —no, they were working together in cahoots, or rather, they were cooperating.
At this moment, although it's unclear why Uchiha Kō wanted to have two Hokage as his assistants, Nara Rokumei was determined to support Uchiha Kō.
"Hehe, Nara Clan Head is right. We should prioritize the overall situation. So please, both Hokage, assist us in selecting someone quickly. If you can't choose one, I'll choose one for you."
"The Utatane Fengda, the Mitokado Qing, Utatane Youxin, the Mitokado Zhan..." With each name read by Uchiha Kō, the two men's faces paled a little.
"He knows, he knows everything!" Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance, a chill creeping up from their feet.
Look at the stupid things they did; they thought that by tarnishing Uchiha Kō's reputation, they could prevent him from being Hokage Uchiha Kō.
That's a joke. Uchiha Kō was appointed by the Second Hokage and supported by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. What makes Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura think they can change these people's minds?
Today's update includes 4 chapters, mainly about political struggles.
Hope you all enjoy it! Please urge me to update, and support me with a like and a comment!