Kirigakure Frontline Commander Zhengyi

Unlike the inauguration ceremonies for Kage in other villages or those of previous Hokage, this one was different.

Under the suggestion of Zhengyi, Orochimaru's inauguration ceremony took on a scientific flair.

Every villager who came to observe could receive a free can of Whey Protein Powder, thirty eggs, a bag of red dates, and 250g of beef.

Anyone in Konoha who could still walk showed up; freebies were simply too tempting. Each person clutched their share while standing beneath the Hokage office building, looking up at Orochimaru on the balcony.

Zhengyi leaned against the railing on the top floor of the Hokage office; from this day on, he would implement absolute justice, bringing liberation and freedom to the villagers.

Orochimaru was giving a speech, bringing out a blackboard that detailed the minimum daily nutritional intake he recommended for the villagers.

It was quite ingenious.

Other Kage relied on their tongues to tell the masses about their future political leanings!

But Orochimaru used a Nutrition Matrix to tell the people: from now on, Konoha would no longer be ignorant. We must approach everything with dialectics, we must approach everything with materialism, and we must approach everything with scientific rigor!

He proposed three "musts."

What a unique Fourth Hokage! He was determined to make the village wealthy—so it could supply his experiments.

Orochimaru's face was thus carved into the Hokage Rock of Konoha, becoming a part of history.

Minato and Jiraiya could rack their brains all they wanted, but they still couldn't figure out how Orochimaru had become Hokage.

How could the Third Hokage possibly agree to Orochimaru becoming Hokage?

Did Orochimaru launch a coup?!

But according to the news coming from Konoha, Orochimaru had ascended to the position of Fourth Hokage peacefully!

This whole affair was bizarre!

On what grounds did Orochimaru ascend peacefully? Why didn't the old man step in to stop it?!

"Master Jiraiya!"

Minato had already told Jiraiya about that future.

Back in the Country of Roran, Naruto had told him many things about the future, crying and begging him to save Master Jiraiya, because one day in the future... Master Jiraiya would die in battle in Amegakure.

It was just a pity that Naruto and Yamato were both illiterate—and historically illiterate at that. Their knowledge was limited, and the intelligence they provided was simply not enough to go on.

In the future, the Fourth Hokage was supposed to be him, but now the Fourth had become Orochimaru; the future had actually changed.

What would happen to Naruto's timeline?

Although he was very clever, Minato was strictly half-illiterate; how could he know anything about parallel timelines or the multiverse?

"Minato! I still support you, but Orochimaru as Hokage..."

Jiraiya possessed a great deal of intelligence, and he had already begun to suspect that the population losses in the Land of Fire were all the work of Orochimaru.

Could a person like that be a good Hokage?

"But Master, even if we are filled with resentment, what good does it do?" Minato was full of frustration and helplessness.

He had lost to schemes and plots, and naturally, no one would be convinced by that.

Moreover, having seemingly concluded that Orochimaru was the culprit behind the Nine-Tails Incident, Minato and Orochimaru were in a state of blood feud. He could not pledge loyalty to Orochimaru, yet he did not want to abandon the Konoha he loved.

"Master Jiraiya, I really don't know what to do."

For the first time, Minato felt lost regarding the future of Konoha.

Who could truly bring peace to Konoha? Who could truly allow the villagers of Konoha to live a prosperous life?

"Master is also lost." Jiraiya was no different; the Child of Prophecy hadn't even become Hokage and had been pushed aside. Who could he go to for justice?

Could it be that everything Minato was experiencing now was a trial, and only by enduring various hardships could Minato understand the true meaning of the world and thereby bring true peace to the ninja world?

Many of Minato's supporters were already thinking of giving up on him. The other side had already won and already controlled Konoha; should they surrender to Orochimaru?

Now that Orochimaru was Hokage, his very first order was to make Zhengyi the frontline commander for the Kirigakure front.

It wasn't to let Zhengyi seize power, but to let him use the title of commander to rack up merit.

There were even dozens of Anbu acting as bodyguards to protect Zhengyi's safety!

This was truly a case of a child stumbling into a high position; a thirteen-year-old commander, yet everywhere he went, he had dozens of Anbu hidden by his side.

What made the frontline ninjas of Kirigakure even more disheartened was that Orochimaru's nepotism had reached the point of fabricating facts. He had the newspapers publish that when Zhengyi was twelve, he had commanded Konoha ninjas in several incursions into the Land of Lightning, resolving a dire crisis for Konoha.

Who would believe that?

Twelve years old! So outstanding!

Then why didn't the Third Hokage publish it in the papers last year?!

He had truly gone to great lengths to manufacture some achievements for his student.

Sigh...

Zhengyi had long passed the age of youthful arrogance and the need to show off by slapping faces; he no longer felt the urge to parade his strength through military drills or other performative displays.

Tsk...

What on earth was this?

It was all a bit too extravagant.

His daily routine since arriving at Kirigakure consisted of drinking tea, reading newspapers, and managing logistics and transport.

As long as the people from Konoha didn't cross him, he generally didn't interfere with anything.

Well, he did interfere a little.

He would occasionally summon a few Uchiha to question them.

"Do you want to awaken your eyes?"

A certain handsome Uchiha: "?"

Yes, the Uchiha that Zhengyi summoned were all aesthetically pleasing.

Every student and successor of the Second Hokage had inherited some of his skills to varying degrees.

Zhengyi seemed to have acquired a special affinity for the Uchiha, having conducted deeper research into them.

According to his findings, it seemed that the more beautiful an Uchiha was, the easier it was for them to awaken their eyes; beautiful Uchiha were more likely to draw people's gaze, making it easier to cast genjutsu, and thus, beautiful Uchiha were more likely to survive on the battlefield—it was the law of nature!

Applause, if you understand.

He hadn't spent all these years with Orochimaru for nothing.

"Bastard! We Uchiha are not tools for you big shots to amuse yourselves with!" The handsome Uchiha assumed Zhengyi was trying to proposition him.

Back when Obito was still alive, he had mentioned that a man named Zhengyi used to love hugging him to sleep when they were kids because he was afraid of the dark.

It must be you!

Afraid of the dark, my foot! You had ulterior motives! You were after our Uchiha bodies.

"Are you sick in the head?" Zhengyi looked the handsome Uchiha up and down; he was good-looking, sure, but he was a man.

He tossed a book at the handsome man. "Do whatever you want."

"What is the meaning of this?" The man took the book from Zhengyi, unsure whether to leave or ask more questions.

Actually, if he had to make a sacrifice to secure benefits for the Uchiha, it wouldn't be entirely out of the question.

Seeing that Zhengyi ignored him, the Uchiha man felt awkward and stood where he was, starting to read.

Half an hour later!

He walked out with a pair of two-tomoe Sharingan activated, glaring at everyone with such murderous intent that it looked like he wanted to beat them all to death.

"What are you looking at?!"

When a comrade tried to show concern, he was glared back into silence.

The book was about NTR.

It told the story of a loving couple who had a cute daughter; the Uchiha man had initially assumed it was a heartwarming novel.

Unexpectedly, the wife's first love returned to the country, the daughter started calling the first love "Daddy," and the three scumbags proceeded to torment the protagonist in every disgusting way imaginable.

The finale.

The wife and daughter knelt and begged the husband for forgiveness, but the husband declared he no longer loved them, focusing entirely on making them regret their actions.

I regret your...

Trash!

Idiot!

F*** you!!!

Why don't you just go die?

Watching this spineless cuckold, the proud Uchiha successfully awakened his eyes.