If Teacher and Minato Fell in the Water, Who Would You Save? Third Hokage.

Orochimaru had not been on the battlefield for some time, choosing instead to "hide" in the rear to process paperwork.

The people of Konoha possessed the Will of Fire, which meant that regardless of whether the villagers speaking were truly willing to die for the cause, they simply wanted their village to strike outward! Fight! Strike hard! Fight to establish confidence! Fight to establish their identity!

They did not care that war meant death; after all, it was not them who were dying.

This destined that the villagers cared far more about military achievements than civil administration.

This could be seen from the fact that Hashirama's prestige in Konoha far exceeded that of Tobirama, who had established the various systems of the village.

The villagers did not know or see the value of Orochimaru's role; they only knew that Orochimaru sat in his office every day, sheltered from the wind and rain.

As for Minato's role, they were all too clear: he rushed between the various battlefields of Konoha, solving one difficult problem after another for the village.

Supporters of Minato had already begun to emerge within the village.

Orochimaru did not take it to heart; based on his contributions during the Second Shinobi World War and his partial contributions in the Third, Minato wanting to beat him was nothing more than a pipe dream.

But his student.

He did not know if it was paranoia or something else.

"Teacher!" The moment Zhengyi entered the office, Orochimaru tapped the table, signaling two Anbu to come out and forcibly drag him away.

"Teacher! Why won't you listen to my loyal advice? How could this student ever harm you?"

"It is not loyal advice." Orochimaru sighed, then continued to bury his head in his paperwork.

Why was Zhengyi so suspicious?

Processing documents lately was truly exhausting; he genuinely wanted to pursue his grand plan for immortality.

If only Zhengyi could come to the office to help him.

But every time this child came, he would spread panic.

Perhaps it was the filter of childhood memories, but Orochimaru could not imagine that the teacher who cherished him most would be as biased toward his "younger son" as Zhengyi claimed.

Zhengyi was dragged out of the Hokage office building, and he truly thought, Orochimaru! Just keep charging forward with your eyes closed.

He addressed him by his given name.

It was only because Orochimaru was open-minded and not so rigid that Zhengyi escaped a beating.

"Come then, let these eyes of mine watch how you lose to Minato."

It seemed that whenever a "loyal subject's" remonstrance was ignored, they would shout something like this, so Zhengyi shouted it too.

If I die, I die.

I am going to die eventually anyway.

It would be better to die at this moment, to die before my reputation is ruined, before people start cursing my name.

"The Hokage requests your presence."

Just as he walked out of the Hokage office building, Zhengyi was summoned by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

With his Crystal Ball, how could Hiruzen Sarutobi not know about the things Zhengyi said to Orochimaru every single day?

Saying it once or twice is fine.

But saying it constantly.

What are you trying to do?

Are you the Hokage of this Konoha, or am I?

Do I not even have the authority to decide who becomes the Hokage?

Yes, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want to give the position of Hokage to Orochimaru.

This was his own deliberation.

To put it in the most intuitive terms.

If one day Konoha were to face an unprecedented crisis.

Both Orochimaru and Minato knew the secret technique of the Uzumaki Clan called the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which could force a one-for-one trade with an enemy.

Minato would certainly sacrifice himself without a second thought.

But Orochimaru... he would definitely become the first Hokage in history to run away when danger arrived.

Therefore, he had been building momentum for Minato while weakening the influence of Orochimaru's faction.

He could promote the people in Orochimaru's camp as good children and good students, but he could never promote them as good ninja.

Hiruzen Sarutobi hoped that Orochimaru could take over the work of people like Koharu and become an assistant to Minato.

To others, this would be an honor.

But Orochimaru's expectation was to be Hokage, to be the favorite of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He was destined never to get these two things from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Perhaps they each had their own advantages, but Hiruzen Sarutobi simply felt that Minato was better; there were far too many reasons for that.

Zhengyi was brought into the office.

"Young child, it seems you said quite a lot to Orochimaru." Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a slight headache; he hadn't expected a reckless youth to try and disrupt his plans.

If Orochimaru were to act out right now and take his subordinates to contend with Minato, even he would have no choice but to compromise.

Therefore, he hoped to keep things under wraps for a while, at least until Minato's influence was on par with Orochimaru's.

"Third Hokage, do you not love my teacher?" Zhengyi didn't answer, asking this instead.

"Love?" Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned. Saying 'love' felt a bit too mushy, but at the end of the day, he had watched Orochimaru grow up. He replied, "Of course, I value Orochimaru highly."

"And what about Minato?"

"I value him highly as well."

"Then if my teacher and Minato both fell into the water, who would you save first?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but imagine the scenario; if those two fell into the water, he would probably save the wa—

"They are ninjas; they can walk on water. Why would they need me to save them if they fell in? What kind of question is that?" Hiruzen Sarutobi was left between laughter and tears.

Political figures like him had to be responsible for the words they spoke.

There were so many Anbu in the Hokage office building; what if even a whisper of this leaked out?

If he spoke in favor of Orochimaru, it would be tantamount to supporting Orochimaru as the next Hokage, and a crowd would flock to support him.

If he spoke for Minato, Orochimaru was right next door listening.

Logically, after Hiruzen Sarutobi said that, anyone with a bit of emotional intelligence would stop pressing the issue.

But for the sake of his teacher, Zhengyi was going all out. "I need an answer from you, Third Hokage. This is very important to my teacher."

"Hmm... then ask again."

So, Zhengyi asked the question once more.

This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi's answer was, "I would summon Enma, and save them both."

"You can only choose one."

"Choose one? Then Enma and I will each choose one."

Zhengyi: "..."

This old Third Hokage really knew how to play dumb.

He knew that no matter how he asked from here on out, he wouldn't get an answer.

Just then, Biwako arrived to deliver lunch, resolving Hiruzen Sarutobi's great crisis.

Biwako walked straight past Zhengyi. It was difficult for her to show a smile to the person who had killed her nephew, even if her nephew had broken the law; that should have been left to the village to decide, not handled by killing him on a whim.

If a frontline commander could execute a village Jonin based on their own will without facing consequences afterward, then she had a question: what if a Konoha frontline commander found an excuse to kill their political rival? Would that commander also go unpunished?

Although she knew it was done in a moment of urgency, Zhengyi killing Sarutobi Hayate had set a terrible precedent.

Because Hiruzen Sarutobi's temperament was like Hashirama's, he hadn't reprimanded Zhengyi for the incident, which led to a cold war between him and the rule-abiding Biwako.

"Eat." Biwako liked to keep a straight face.

As it happened, Hiruzen Sarutobi was henpecked, but! This was a bento made by his loving wife. He raised an eyebrow at Zhengyi; he had his wife delivering lunch, but what about you, the boy who tried to sow discord between me and Orochimaru?

"Third Hokage, I have a question I'd like to ask you." Seeing this, Zhengyi suddenly feigned confusion.

"If it's that same question from before, then please leave. This old man needs to eat his loving wife's bento."

Biwako's face flushed red, and she nudged Hiruzen Sarutobi with her elbow, telling him to watch what he said.

"It isn't that. I want to ask, if the Third Hokage's wife and the advisor Danzo both fell into a river, who would you save?" Faced with Biwako's confusion, Zhengyi gave a rough explanation.

Come to think of it, Biwako was a bit curious herself, and she looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."

This was even harder to answer than choosing between Orochimaru and Minato.

When he looked up, the brat had already run off.

"Monkey, would you save me or Danzo?"