After a busy day, they had finally taken care of everything related to the funeral. Third Hiruzen let out a long breath, picked up the pipe on his desk, lit it, and took a deep drag. Smoke immediately curled through the air.
Minato Namikaze had been Hokage for less than a year, and now he had died in the sudden Nine-Tails Incident. Nothing like this had ever happened in Konoha's history. No matter what, he deserved a grand funeral.
But the Fourth Hokage's death had left the position vacant, and that was something they had to resolve immediately.
Thinking of this, Third took another deep puff from his pipe. What a headache...
Do they need to choose a Fifth Hokage? Hiruzen thought. Konoha had a few strong candidates, but every one of them fell short in some way. They were either too young or not strong enough to command respect.
If only Jiraiya were here. Hiruzen sighed. He would have preferred Jiraiya to take the position, but Jiraiya was too carefree. And because of what had happened with Tsunade years ago, he couldn't stand the village leadership. He had even withdrawn from the Fourth Hokage selection of his own accord, so there was no point hoping he would step up now.
He had also considered Orochimaru, but in the end, he had abandoned the idea. Ever since Minato Namikaze became Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru had been acting stranger and stranger. Hiruzen had heard some rumors from Anbu, and if they were true, he absolutely couldn't let Orochimaru become Hokage.
It seems I'll have to take up the position again. We can consider the Fifth Hokage once the village has fully stabilized. Hiruzen made up his mind. As dusk settled, he changed into a black ceremonial robe and headed out.
The funeral