The smoke curled upward, stinging the nose, yet clearing the mind.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff and felt a little more alert.
He was already very old. He had served under the Second Hokage, lived through the Second Shinobi World War, and remained in office to this day.
Thanks to Chakra, ninja grew quickly. They could be sent to the battlefield at five or six, and their bodies matured by the time they were eight or nine. At eleven or twelve, they were already about the size of adults.
But constantly draining their bodies' cellular energy to mix with Chakra also made them age quickly.
Anyone who lived to their forties or fifties was considered long-lived.
Aside from that old geezer Ōnoki of Iwagakure, Hiruzen Sarutobi was among the oldest in the major ninja villages.
Recently, Hiruzen had been feeling increasingly weary. He could no longer handle all his work with the boundless energy he once had.
He had realized it was time to find a young, able-bodied leader to take over as Hokage.
His first choice was naturally his prized student, Orochimaru.
However, Orochimaru's reputation in the village had been poor lately. Perhaps it was because of that last mission, when he had led a team and several Konoha ninja had died.
The Third Hokage shook his head. Orochimaru had actually done very well.
The deaths of those ninja had also brought the village substantial benefits.
"Orochimaru met with senior officials from Sunagakure and brought up the worsening tensions between our villages. They reached an agreement that Sunagakure would stop making trouble behind our backs. That alone has multiplied the survival rate of our ninja sent out on missions!"
The Third Hokage sighed. Unfortunately, this was something they couldn't discuss openly.
Otherwise, the families of the ninja who had