Naruto, Nobody Wants to Be One!

Orochimaru was filled with deep emotion; he knew his teacher had become corrupt and weak.

But he had not expected that one day, Hiruzen Sarutobi would be unable to clear his name.

This was truly ironic.

Orochimaru quickly lost interest; he had never wanted to be Hokage in the first place, only wishing to study science in peace.

Yamanaka Chujiu handed the scroll filled with corpses to Orochimaru, who unsealed them one by one to inspect their condition.

The quality of the corpses was excellent, and he was quite satisfied as he resealed them before taking out a scroll filled with cash and handing it to Yamanaka Chujiu.

Chujiu did not shy away from unsealing it to count the banknotes right in front of him.

The money from the corpses did not belong to him alone; he had to share it with the Konoha ninja who helped clear the ruins, pay tribute to the supervising Jonin, and hand over a cut to Hiruzen Sarutobi's Hokage office.

If even a little was missing, he would end up losing even the money he made from selling intelligence.

Watching Yamanaka Chujiu counting the money so seriously, Orochimaru suddenly spoke up: "Chujiu, would you like to be my student?"

Yamanaka Chujiu: "Huh?"

Orochimaru explained with rare patience: "I see that you have excellent talent, and you are also gifted in scientific research; you are more suitable to be my student than Anko."

"By becoming my student, you can learn my ninjutsu and knowledge, and I can even help you become the Fifth Hokage."

Yamanaka Chujiu could sense that beneath Orochimaru's calm demeanor lay a storm of emotion, filled with sincerity and expectation, without a hint of deception.

Orochimaru really wanted to take on an apprentice!

It must be said that Yamanaka Chujiu was deeply tempted.

Not because he wanted to be Hokage; he had never once thought of becoming Hokage.

What was so good about being Hokage? You had to look after the livelihoods of Konoha, maintain the Konoha ninja, fight on the front lines against the four other Kage, and even risk your life against super-monsters like the Nine-Tails.

Even if the Third Hokage never left the village, he couldn't stop the Sky Village from attacking the gates, nor could he stop Obito Uchiha from infiltrating the village to unleash the Nine-Tails.

What was even more disgusting was that the Hokage had to worry about every trivial matter; the Seventh Hokage had to split into hundreds of shadow clones and still couldn't find a moment of peace, exhausted like a dog.

Hokage? Not even a dog would do it!

What tempted Yamanaka Chujiu was Orochimaru's knowledge; although it seemed quite sinister, he really could achieve immortality.

Even the Monkey King asked before learning his craft: "Can this lead to immortality?"

Yamanaka Chujiu also wanted immortality.

The path to immortality he was currently walking was one he had carved out himself; it was too dangerous, too unstable, and had no precedent, offering no guarantees whatsoever.

Orochimaru's path of Living Corpse Reincarnation had been verified in the future—a path to immortality where one could never be killed no matter how many times they were struck down.

So, Yamanaka Chujiu was tempted.

But he still had concerns, very significant concerns.

Becoming Orochimaru's student had its benefits, but it also carried enormous risks.

Once the Third Hokage restored his position, Orochimaru would become an S-rank missing-nin; could a missing-nin's student ever have a good ending?

Yes, Anko was doing well.

That was because Anko was upright and open; could he, Yamanaka Chujiu, withstand such scrutiny?

He would only be able to defect along with him.

Outside of Konoha, there were head-hunters like Kakuzu, super-monsters like Nagato, and even Orochimaru himself was often battered and bruised; wouldn't he be even more miserable?

Yamanaka Chujiu helplessly demurred: "Lord Orochimaru, I truly want to be your student, but I am afraid..."

Orochimaru sneered, not at Yamanaka Chujiu, but because he sensed that he was not being held in high regard by the refusal.

That Yamanaka Chujiu did not think highly of his future was something Orochimaru could not help but believe.

He took his own uncertain future as a premise, reverse-engineered the reasons leading to this outcome, and then matched them one by one with the reality of the situation.

Soon, Orochimaru understood why Chujiu had refused.

The Third Hokage's restoration would inevitably be questioned, and since he couldn't suppress it through administrative means, he would eventually have to manufacture a more shocking scandal to divert the attention of everyone in Konoha.

There was no scandal more suitable, nor one more capable of helping Hiruzen Sarutobi bear the pressure of public opinion, than Orochimaru conducting human experiments.

Orochimaru had distinguished military service, a resounding reputation, and a passion for researching ninjutsu; there was no need to frame him—everyone would believe he was capable of human experimentation.

Ruining Orochimaru's reputation would not only divert the villagers' attention but also eliminate the final competitor.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi was the only one left in Konoha suitable to be Hokage, his restoration would no longer be the greed of an ambitious man, but the act of an old Hokage stepping in to save the day in a time of crisis.

How could the villagers blame the Third Hokage then?

Hiruzen Sarutobi was the "Strongest Hokage in History"; at sixty years old, he still had to carry Konoha on his shoulders—could his restoration even be considered a problem?

Everyone would have to piously thank the old man!

As for how he became the only candidate left...

That was none of your business!

As for whether Hiruzen Sarutobi would intensify his efforts afterward, carving flesh from the ninja and the villagers...

"Then don't you worry about it either!"

Orochimaru felt his heart turn cold, and he said indifferently, "You could have become my apprentice before I changed my mind, but now, get out of my sight."

Yamanaka Chujiu nodded, "You got it! Lord Orochimaru, I'm rolling out right now!"

With that, he nimbly retreated from the laboratory.

Humming an off-key tune with a scroll full of money strapped to his back, Yamanaka Chujiu strolled over to the residential district for civilian ninjas.

As soon as he approached, several children spotted him and rushed over with cheers.

"Big Sister Chujiu is here!"

Chujiu flew into a rage, "You are not allowed to call me sister!"

The children replied, "But you are a sister!"

Chujiu stomped his feet in fury:

"Do you think I want to look like this?"

"All of you, call me Brother Chujiu!"

"Otherwise, no more candy for you!"

"Big Brother-Sister Chujiu!"

"Argh~~~ I'm going to die of anger!"

Despite his fury, the hot-headed Yamanaka Chujiu still distributed the candies to the little ones and coaxed them to go off and play.

He complained to the girl who remained behind, "Kazamatsuri Harume, you aren't going to call me sister too, are you?"

Kazamatsuri Harume smiled, "Brother Chujiu, you really are too beautiful; you do look just like a sister."

(↑↑Chujiu, who has the appearance of a girl despite being a boy↑↑)

Yamanaka Chujiu could only sigh helplessly. As the younger brother of Yamanaka Inoichi, the fact that he shared the exact same face as the newborn Ino was truly exasperating.

When his hair was short, Chujiu had only been delicate-looking, but after crawling through the mud on the battlefield with no time to tend to his hair, it had grown into a luxurious mane, and the situation had changed completely.

More than one comrade had told him, "I really want to poison you until you're mute."

There were even comrades who had been swayed, saying, "Chujiu, as long as it's you, I don't care about gender."

At the time, Yamanaka Chujiu had been so furious his lungs felt like they would explode, and he had wanted nothing more than to smash those guys' heads in, but now, those words had become his deepest memories.

The comrades who had once said these things to him had all fallen into the cold, muddy waters of the Land of Rain, never to joke with him again.

Thinking of his fallen comrades, Yamanaka Chujiu couldn't help but sigh inwardly, yet he forced a brilliant smile onto his face and reached out to ruffle Kazamatsuri Harume's hair.

The little girl stared, stunned, "Brother... Sister Chujiu, when you smile, you're even more beautiful..."

Yamanaka Chujiu: "...Fine, I won't smile anymore."