The Four Kage Are All Optimistic About Minato Namikaze~~

With the conclusion of the Hokage selection, the Third Shinobi World War gradually drew to a close.

The treasuries of every village were in a state of total emergency.

The only ones capable of continuing the fight were the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.

Let Kumogakure go one-on-one with Konoha? A was certainly not stupid, but he was furious; he had been deceived by that animal Orochimaru!

What happened to the Byakugan he promised? What happened to the Hyuga Clan members he was supposed to send over?

How many times had Kumogakure struck Jiraiya on his behalf?!

If they hadn't helped drive Jiraiya away, his power base in Kumogakure would have long since been swallowed up by Jiraiya and his men.

Just you wait.

Why did Ōnoki pull back his fists and choose to cease hostilities?

Because he wanted to watch a good show in Konoha.

He knew, to some extent, how Orochimaru had become Hokage.

Taking advantage of Minato being away with his supporters to ascend to the position of Hokage using an edict from the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire—this destined Orochimaru's foundation to be unstable.

Not only that, but he also lacked filial piety.

He hadn't handled his relationship with the previous generation of Hokage well, leaving both sides at a bitter impasse, and Orochimaru had even driven Hiruzen Sarutobi's family out of Konoha.

Based on intelligence regarding Minato gathered by Iwagakure's Anbu, Ōnoki judged him to be a man of supreme virtue who would not engage in infighting with Orochimaru during the war, but if the war were to stop...

Heh, that would be hard to say.

He hoped this Minato would lead a Loyalist Army back to fight Orochimaru in Konoha.

Everyone in the shinobi world wanted to screw Konoha over.

War is merely the continuation of politics.

If they couldn't gain anything by continuing the war, they had no choice but to stop and seek other avenues.

The Third Mizukage was nearly cursed to death by the high-ranking officials of his village.

Why don't you just go die?

You didn't lead us to a single victory in the shinobi war.

Of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, four were dead, two had defected, and the remaining one, Suikazan Fuguki, spent every day wailing about how much that punch had hurt, claiming that the one who opened the Seven Gates was not human; he was sick of war to his very core.

And now, they had even lost the Three-Tails.

You tell us, are you a mole sent by Konoha?

Under immense pressure, the Third Mizukage was stifled to death; he was a sinner of Kirigakure, and he deserved his fate.

Following this, a man with a baby face named Karatachi Yagura took over the position of Mizukage.

The first thing he did upon taking office was to demand that Orochimaru return the Three-Tails; if he didn't, Kirigakure would fight Konoha to the bitter end, and the war would continue indefinitely.

They assumed that because Orochimaru's foundation was unstable, he would be eager to compromise.

As it turned out... he was not...

Orochimaru led his troops in person, and a single descent of Manda crushed quite a few Mist ninja.

After calculating the casualty ratio between them and Konoha, Karatachi Yagura hurriedly shifted his strategy.

Konoha was a place of outstanding talent, where geniuses emerged from time to time to lead the trends.

The previous generation had the Sannin of Konoha.

This generation had Minato Namikaze.

Come!

Let us see how the Minato of the new era challenges the remnants of the old.

As the Third Shinobi World War neared its end, newspapers wanted to interview the Kage of each village about their post-war sentiments.

Ōnoki was the first to mention in a public setting, during a press interview, that he held the Yellow Flash of Konoha in the highest regard, expressing his deep regret that the Yellow Flash had not become Hokage.

"I don't know if there was any dark manipulation in Konoha's Hokage selection."

"In any case... I wish Orochimaru well; although he is a bit inferior to Minato, he is still a decent junior."

He sighed in front of the reporters with a look of feigned regret.

Following this, the other Kage followed suit.

Kazekage Rasa: "I have met Minato in person; he is very high-spirited and gentle with others. Oh, by the way, we have even eaten together in private."

"Orochimaru? I don't know, we aren't very familiar~ Haha, perhaps I'll have a chance to get to know him someday."

"Peace with Konoha? For Minato's sake, I am willing to maintain an alliance with Konoha."

Raikage A: "I once crossed paths with Orochimaru back in the day. He seemed a bit fearful of Killer Bee and me, perhaps."

"Still, if the chance ever arose, I truly would like to test my mettle against Minato. I have no idea which of us is faster."

Mizukage Karatachi Yagura: "Minato exerted immense pressure on us. Did Orochimaru become Hokage simply because he took advantage of Minato being away? I find that rather unfair to Minato."

"We feel sorry for Minato; he was a very honorable opponent."

Newspapers from every nation were filled with such evaluations of Minato from the various Kage; you could not find a single disparaging word.

Snakes are known for holding grudges; kick one, and it will remember you for a lifetime.

Inside the Hokage Office, Orochimaru noted down each of these names.

Rasa! You are doing very well!

Kirigakure front lines.

Zhengyi was handling the aftermath. It would likely be only a few more days before the Great Ninja War ended completely.

Because of his presence, and the fact that his teacher had personally led the campaign last time, Minato and his supporters appeared very disciplined and did not congregate together.

Seeing Orochimaru wearing the Fourth Hokage Haori made many people feel indignant! That should have been Minato's.

And now, there was Zhengyi riding on top of them!

The commander of the Kirigakure front lines should have been one of them, too!

The ones who should have returned to the village to enjoy the praise and honor of the villagers were supposed to be them?!

"Zhengyi! Why are you the commander of the Kirigakure front lines?" Obito, with half his body pale and an eye patch covering his missing eye, walked in to report on his mission, only to find that his direct superior was actually Zhengyi.

Since Rin did not die, Obito naturally never awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Not only that, he had freeloaded a White Zetsu from Madara, along with some Hashirama Cells.

He did not tell anyone about Madara.

He wasn't stupid.

The old man clearly wanted to spend his twilight years in peace and didn't want outsiders bothering him; how could he possibly let Konoha ninjas disturb Madara?

Perhaps it was loneliness.

Before he left, Madara had said that he would definitely come back.

Heh, what a dishonest person. Wasn't he just trying to get him to come back and keep him company?

Zhengyi didn't even dare to look into Obito's eyes. He... sigh...

"What's wrong?" Obito felt that Zhengyi should have been overjoyed to see him. He was still alive, after all!

Back then, when he was nearly crushed to death by rocks, Zhengyi's actions had moved him deeply, and he had forgiven Zhengyi for it.

But why was Zhengyi acting so guilty?

He had heard from Kakashi that he and Zhengyi had perfectly fulfilled their promise to him; Rin had been protected very well by them.

Fine, this great one would give him a fair chance to compete for Rin.

"You?" Obito leaned in, frowning, and scrutinized Zhengyi's face with his one eye.

"W-what? Is something wrong with me?" Zhengyi felt Obito's breath on his face, and the guilt he felt toward Obito made him retreat step by step.

"Why haven't you replaced your eye with my Three-Tomoe Sharingan?"

Obito figured that was why Zhengyi was acting so guilty—he must have been afraid that Obito had come to take the Sharingan back.

Sigh...

Was he really that petty?

What is given to you is yours; Obito did not have such a stingy personality as to take it back.