With This Merit, Can I Become Hokage?

"The sky is high, the clouds are pale; I watch the wild geese fly south. One who has not reached Wake is no true hero; counting the journey, twenty thousand li have passed. On the high peaks of Kumogakure, flags billow in the west wind.

"Today, with the long rope in hand, when shall I bind the Azure Dragon?"

Zhengyi led the Konoha ninja to a town in the Land of Lightning called Wake.

According to intelligence, the Third Raikage was currently locked in a great war with Iwagakure, leaving the defenses within the Land of Lightning hollow; if things went well, they might even be able to strike at Kumogakure itself.

Dodai, the elite jonin left behind to guard Kumogakure, felt as if the sky had collapsed upon hearing the news.

Where did a thousand ninja come from?

A thousand ninja!!

"Lord Third and A have taken all the village's ninja away," the chunin reporting the mission said with a guilty conscience.

"Enough! Do you intend to shift the blame onto the Raikage?!"

If the village were to fall, they would become the greatest sinners in the history of Kumogakure.

Fortunately, this Konoha force was a mixed bag and lacked the strength for a sustained advance.

Dodai hurriedly led the collective Anbu and remaining ninja of Kumogakure to reclaim the lost territory.

He would wait for the Third to return! He would then offer his life to atone for his failure.

Zhengyi knew they could never hold the towns of the Land of Lightning.

Thus, he did something that would change the course of ninja history.

After entering Wake, he raided the local nobility and distributed their assets to the local impoverished residents.

Having done this good deed without leaving his name, he led the Konoha ninja in a retreat to continue attacking the next target.

By the time A and Killer B rushed back with the frontline ninja, they encountered Konoha ninja who, aided by the villagers of the Land of Lightning, were engaging them in guerrilla warfare.

"Aaaah!! Didn't you say those cunning Konoha bastards went southwest?"

In the wilderness, A grabbed a town resident by the collar.

This was the man who had just pointed the way, claiming he knew the whereabouts of the Konoha ninja.

This bastard had led them this way and that.

Every time they asked, he claimed they were about to find the Konoha ninja.

Yet, they had almost run out of the Land of Lightning, and there wasn't a single hair of a Konoha ninja to be seen.

"It was here, I saw them go this way with my own eyes."

"Konoha is on the sun, go chase them there." The villager stiffened his neck and looked toward the sun, wearing an expression that said, "Kill me if you dare."

Slaughter the cattle and sheep, prepare the grain, open the city gates to welcome Zhengyi; when Zhengyi comes, no taxes are collected.

Eat their fill, wear their clothes; if it's not enough, there is still Zhengyi.

Lord Zhengyi said he was the Child of Prophecy from the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, the one who would bring peace to the ninja world!

Peace!

He had truly seen it!

Zhengyi had distributed the land to them and told them they were not allowed to kneel.

"Kill me."

"Kill one of me, and thousands more will stand up."

"Kisama!!!" A's hand tightened on the collar, itching to smash him to death.

But being sharp-minded, he knew that if he did so, he would be falling right into Zhengyi's trap.

That brat!!

"Hey, hey, you've all been fooled by Zhengyi of Konoha!" a Cloud ninja roared in anger.

"Hmph, what do you know?" came the disdainful, contemptuous reply from the villager.

Do I not know who treats me well?

"Baka."

"Who gave you permission to kill the residents of the Land of Lightning?"

In Maimi Square, many residents of the Land of Lightning were gathered today. In the center knelt a ninja with a face full of defiance, his chakra sealed and bound tightly with ropes.

It was said that when the Konoha ninja entered the town last night, a special jonin from the Sarutobi Clan had engaged in looting as per custom.

This was an old tradition from the Warring States period: after capturing enemy territory, one would plunder the enemy's supplies—in plain terms, it was the slaughter of a town.

The ninja population was full of vitality and under great pressure; the Konoha treasury could not support giving out rewards, so to prevent Konoha ninja from committing large-scale crimes, the Second and Third Hokage had chosen to tacitly approve of these "small matters" during the three Great Ninja Wars, provided no citizens of their own nation were harmed and no one reported it.

Privately killing a few residents generally resulted in no disciplinary action for the ninja.

Because the laws of the Land of Fire do not protect foreign citizens.

But today, Zhengyi broke the rules and chose to kill a member of the Sarutobi Clan.

"What crime have I committed? You cannot kill me! Zhengyi! You are merely a Chunin, what right do you have to kill me? I have rendered meritorious service to Konoha!"

"Sarutobi Hayate, I have kept your contributions to Konoha in my mind. When taking Maimi City, you were the first to charge into battle, using your clan's secret technique, Fire Style: Ash Pile Burning, to claim the greatest merit."

Zhengyi seemed to recall Sarutobi Hayate's battle record, and a desire to cherish talent welled up within him. However, after hesitating for a moment and shedding two tears, he said, "But, for those who harm innocent townspeople, whether they are my brothers, my teachers, or my own children, I will not let them go."

"Execute him!"

Everything! It was all so that his teacher could become Hokage!

He had led the Konoha ninja to achieve such great merits; if his teacher still could not become Hokage, then there must be some dark conspiracy at play!!

"Biwako is my cousin, who dares to kill me?!"

"Even if the Hokage's wife is your cousin and the Third Hokage is your uncle-in-law, so what?" Zhengyi spoke loudly so that the onlookers in Maimi could hear that the person being executed had connections.

"Harming innocent villagers..."

Zhengyi's righteous words were very moving, provided one ignored the things he had done for Orochimaru.

But it sounded better if phrased differently.

Zhengyi dwelled in the darkness, yet his heart yearned for the light, his heart yearned for justice!

"Kill him."

A long line of people pleaded for mercy, and a large group of ninja clan members jumped out to intercede for Sarutobi Hayate.

He was actually a relative of the Konoha Hokage? Just when people thought Zhengyi would take the opportunity to step down and handle the matter coldly.

However, that did not happen.

Zhengyi held the Kusanagi Sword in his hand.

This was a gift from Orochimaru; when the sword was swung, it was as if Orochimaru himself were present, and it could be used to command disobedient ninja.

Zhengyi used this Kusanagi Sword to sever the head of the lawbreaker.

With Zhengyi here, there was fairness.

Regardless of what Zhengyi had done in the past, he enforced military discipline very strictly.

The ninja of the future Konoha should be sacred and must never be tarnished by petty scoundrels.

"You! You actually killed him?" Aburame Shibi was stunned; so it wasn't just for show? But...

"This is going to be troublesome." A certain Jonin from the Nara Clan rubbed his temples.

Assuming that after Konoha redistributed the land, the favorability of the people in the Land of Lightning was at 60.

It had now soared to over 80.

Konoha! It was an army of justice!

Konoha! They had truly come for the sake of peace and the liberation of the Land of Lightning!!

In the early hours of the morning, Konoha captured another town. Although the days were warm during the beginning of spring, the temperature difference at night was extreme, and the cold wind was bone-chilling.

Zhengyi led his ninja to sleep right on the road.

This was the scene that the residents of the Land of Lightning saw when they stepped out of their homes at dawn.

Say no more!

There was nothing left to say!

The favorability of the residents of the Land of Lightning +1 +1 +1... it went off the charts.