Determination

"Lord Minato!!!"

"Lord Minato is so handsome!"

"Yeah, and he's so strong, and his smile is so warm."

"Mm, I heard he was a major factor in this victory. He's really so reliable."

"If only he were our next Lord Hokage!"

"He definitely will be. Someone as outstanding as Lord Minato was born to become Hokage!"

"Actually... I think Lord Shiro, the God of Ninjutsu, is pretty good too. He's young, and—"

"Hey, hey, Lord Minato and the others are here! Lord Minato!"

This was only one small snapshot of the welcoming ceremony. Interestingly, every topic of discussion had been condensed down to the Lightning Country—or, no, to be precise, onto Minato himself. Whenever anyone mentioned somewhere else, a voice that appeared from nowhere would steer the conversation back to Minato.

Needless to say, this was naturally Shiro's handiwork. It was the fastest way to farm prestige, simple and crude. Of course, that was also because the Third Hokage's Anbu were secretly supporting him. Otherwise, the tiny bit of power Shiro and Tiezhu had accumulated was not nearly enough to matter in Konoha.

Orochimaru and the others walking in the second row heard the villagers' words and all glanced at Shiro beside them. By tacit agreement, none of them voiced an opinion.

Some of them, such as Orochimaru and Fugaku, were on Shiro's side, so naturally they had no objections. Orochimaru's ambitions were no longer set on becoming Hokage, and as for Fugaku, he understood very clearly what the Uchiha needed right now.

As for the others, they either supported Minato or knew what was going on. This kind of one-sided public opinion was not something Shiro could accomplish alone. Anyone who could stand at the front as a representative was no fool.

Thus, the welcoming ceremony ended amid such