If Your Teacher and Minato Fell into the Water, Who Would You Save, Third?

Orochimaru had been away from the battlefield for a while, "hiding" in the rear to handle paperwork.

The Will of Fire in the hearts of Konoha's people meant that, whether the villagers who spoke up were genuinely eager to die for the cause or not, they wanted their village to attack outward! Fight! Fight hard! Fight until they felt confident! Fight until they felt proud!

They didn't care that people died in war. After all, it wasn't them who were dying.

This meant that, compared to civil affairs, the villagers cared more about military accomplishments.

You could see that in how Hashirama's prestige in Konoha far exceeded Tobirama's, despite Tobirama having established all kinds of systems.

They didn't know what Orochimaru did, and they couldn't see it. All they knew was that he sat in his office every day, sheltered from the wind and rain.

But they understood Minato's contributions all too well. He raced across Konoha's various battlefields, solving one problem after another for the village.

Minato was gradually starting to gain supporters in the village.

Orochimaru didn't take it seriously. Given his achievements in the Second Shinobi World War and some of his contributions in the Third Shinobi World War, the idea that Minato could beat him was pure fantasy.

But his student...

He seemed to have some kind of persecution complex or something.

"Teacher!" The moment Zhengyi entered the office, Orochimaru tapped on the desk, and two Anbu appeared to drag him out by force.

"Teacher! Why won't you listen to my advice? Would your student really harm you?"

"That wasn't advice." Orochimaru sighed, then went back to burying himself in paperwork.

Why was Zhengyi so suspicious?

Handling paperwork lately was exhausting. He really wanted to get back to his pursuit of immortality.

If only Zhengyi could come help him in the office.

But whenever the boy showed up, he spread panic.

Maybe it was the rose-colored glasses of childhood, but Orochimaru simply couldn't imagine that the teacher who had always doted on him could be as biased toward his "younger son" as Zhengyi claimed.

Zhengyi was dragged out of the Hokage office building. He really did shout, "Orochimaru! Just keep charging ahead with your eyes closed!"

He'd called him by name.

Orochimaru was open-minded and not especially old-fashioned. Otherwise, Zhengyi would've gotten a beating for sure.

"Come on, let me see with my own eyes how you lose to Minato."

It seemed every "loyal subject" whose advice went unheeded shouted something like that. So Zhengyi shouted it, too.

So what if he died?

He was going to die someday anyway.

Better to die now, before his reputation was ruined and people started cursing and insulting him.

"Lord Hokage would like you to come by."

As soon as he left the Hokage office building, Zhengyi was summoned by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

There was no way Hiruzen, with his crystal ball, didn't know what Zhengyi kept telling Orochimaru every day.

Once or twice was one thing.

But he kept at it.

What was he trying to do?

Who was the Hokage of Konoha—you or me?

Didn't the old man get to decide who became Hokage?

As a matter of fact, Hiruzen didn't want to give the Hokage position to Orochimaru.

He had his reasons.

To give the most straightforward example:

If Konoha ever faced an unprecedented crisis, both Orochimaru and Minato knew a secret technique of the Uzumaki Clan called the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which could force a one-for-one exchange with the enemy.

Minato would act without hesitation and give his life.

But Orochimaru... would surely become the first Hokage in history to flee when danger struck.

So Hiruzen had been building up Minato's support and weakening Orochimaru's faction.

He could promote the people in Orochimaru's faction as good kids and good students, but he absolutely couldn't promote them as good shinobi.

Hiruzen hoped Orochimaru would take over the work of people like Koharu and become Minato's aide.

For most people, that would be an honor.

But Orochimaru expected to become Hokage. He also expected Hiruzen to favor him.

He was never going to get either of those things from Hiruzen.

They each had their strengths, but Hiruzen simply thought Minato was the better choice. There were plenty of reasons why.

Zhengyi was brought into the office.

"Young man, it seems you've said a lot to Orochimaru." Hiruzen was a little troubled. There was always some hothead trying to disrupt his plans.

If Orochimaru chose this moment to challenge him and bring his subordinates into a contest against Minato, even Hiruzen would have to compromise.

That was why he wanted to keep things under wraps for a while, at least until Minato's support matched Orochimaru's.

"Third, don't you love Teacher?" Zhengyi didn't answer. Instead, he asked a question of his own.

"Love?" Hiruzen was taken aback. Calling it love sounded a little embarrassing, but at the end of the day, he had watched Orochimaru grow up. "Of course I think very highly of Orochimaru."

"What about Minato?"

"I think highly of him, too."

"Then if Teacher and Minato fell into the water, which one would you save first?"

Hiruzen couldn't help imagining it. If they both fell into the water, perhaps he'd save Min—

"They're shinobi. They can walk on water. Why would I need to save them if they fell in? What kind of question is that?" Hiruzen laughed helplessly.

People in politics had to be accountable for what they said.

There were so many Anbu in the Hokage office building. What if even a little of this got out?

If he said Orochimaru, it would mean he supported Orochimaru as Hokage, and a whole crowd would go vote for him.

If he said Minato, Orochimaru was listening next door.

Normally, someone with a little tact would have known not to press the matter after Hiruzen's answer.

But for his teacher's sake, Zhengyi was giving it everything he had. "I need an answer from you, Third. This is very important to my teacher."

"Hmm... Then ask me again."

So Zhengyi asked the question again.

This time, Hiruzen answered, "I'll summon Enma and save both of them."

"You can only choose one."

"Only one? Then Enma and I will each save one."

Zhengyi: "..."

The old Third sure knew how to play dumb.

He knew there was no point asking again. Hiruzen wouldn't give him an answer.

Just then, Biwako Sarutobi arrived with lunch, saving Hiruzen from his predicament.

Biwako walked right past Zhengyi. She found it hard to smile at someone who had killed her grandnephew. Even if her grandnephew had broken the law, the matter should have been discussed and resolved by the village—not settled through a killing on his own.

If a frontline commander could kill a Konoha jonin at their own discretion and face no consequences afterward, she had a question: what if some frontline commander in Konoha made up an excuse to kill a political rival? Would that commander also face no consequences?

She knew Zhengyi had acted in the heat of the moment, but his killing of Sarutobi Hayate had set a terrible precedent.

Because Hiruzen was like Hashirama in temperament, he hadn't reprimanded Zhengyi over the incident. As a result, Biwako, who believed in following the rules, had fallen out with him and was giving him the cold shoulder.

"Eat." Biwako was fond of keeping a stern face.

Hiruzen, for his part, was very much henpecked. But this was a lovingly prepared lunch from his wife! He raised his eyebrows at Zhengyi. He had a wife who brought him lunch. What about you, boy who was trying to drive a wedge between him and Orochimaru?

"Third, I have a question for you." Seeing this, Zhengyi suddenly pretended to be confused.

"If it's the same question as before, then leave. I'm about to eat the lunch my wife lovingly made for me."

Biwako blushed. She nudged Hiruzen with her elbow. "What are you saying?"

"It's not that. I wanted to ask: if Lady Hokage and Advisor Danzo fell into a river, who would you save?" Zhengyi explained the scenario to Biwako, who looked puzzled.

Come to think of it, Biwako was a little curious, too. She looked at Hiruzen.

Hiruzen: "..."

This was even harder to answer than whether he'd save Orochimaru or Minato.

When he looked toward Zhengyi, the rascal had already run off.

"Monkey, would you save me or Danzo?"