Fourth Hokage?

Having walked the path of honor that represented a ninja, he arrived before the Third Hokage.

"Lord Hokage, honored advisers, isn't such a grand welcome ceremony a bit over the top?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took two puffs from his pipe before removing it from his mouth.

"You've worked hard, Minato."

"Kushina, go home first. We need to discuss something with Minato."

The many ninjas all departed. Their families, whom they had not seen for so long, were waiting for them.

Having been tempered by the battlefield, they needed to rest and recover properly.

Minato followed Hiruzen Sarutobi into the Hokage Building.

"Minato, what do you think the village is?"

Even though the candidate had already been decided, the Will of Fire still needed to be confirmed one more time.

"The village is our home, a place we must protect even at the cost of our lives."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was very pleased. This was how the Will of Fire was passed down without end.

"Very good."

Utatane Koharu took out the peace agreement beside him and handed it to Minato.

He was only the captain of a Leaf Village ninja regiment. He knew nothing about the contents or terms of the peace talks; he only knew that the war was over.

"What? They actually demanded that the Third step down? That's outrageous! How could you agree to such an unreasonable demand?!"

The Third Hokage rose from his chair and patted Minato on the shoulder.

"Minato, you must understand that the Will of Fire is passed down from generation to generation, and so too is the name of Hokage."

"I've been Hokage for most of my life. In truth, it is time to pass it on. I should spend the rest of my life with my family."

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned solemn. "Minato Namikaze, are you willing to bear the name of Hokage, protect the village, and pass down the Will of Fire for generations to come?"

Although Minato had always worked toward becoming Hokage, now that the day had truly arrived, he suddenly felt that he was not prepared at all.

He had wanted to refuse, but when he saw the Third's aged face and earnest gaze, the words at his lips became, "I will definitely protect the village!"

"Very good."

Hiruzen Sarutobi placed the Hokage hat from his own head onto Minato's.

"From now on, the village will depend on you, Minato! Don't put too much pressure on yourself. The two advisers and I will do our best to assist you!"

Even as Minato left, his mind was still a mess. In two days, he would officially take over as Hokage. The goal he had set back at the Ninja Academy had unexpectedly come true.

When he returned home, he saw Kushina cooking.

Kushina turned around with a ladle in hand. "Did the Third call you aside for something?"

"Did he give you a really harsh scolding?"

"It's fine, it's fine. Don't take it to heart. The Third criticizes people all the time!"

Kushina fired off several sentences in a row, leaving Minato completely unable to get a word in.

"No, it's not that..."

Kushina's impatience was on full display.

"Then what is it?"

"Well, he asked me to become the Fourth Hokage."

"Oh, that. Being Hokage isn't such a big dea—What?! Hokage?!"

Kushina excitedly hugged Minato. Kushina, who had wanted to become Hokage herself, had never expected to become the woman behind the Hokage instead. It was pretty good, really—her wish had come true in another way.

Uchiha Qingfeng returned to the Pharmacy. Minato Namikaze had returned to the village. Looking at his own frail body and his practically negligible strength, he was just a genin experience baby.

Although he knew the Nine-Tails' Rampage would happen, he was powerless to change anything.

For now, he did not dare tell anyone either. There were too many suspicious points, and there had to be traitors in the village. Talking carelessly might get him killed without anyone knowing why.

He picked up the gift box by the door. Who would send him a gift?

He opened it and saw a green jumpsuit. It was undoubtedly from Might Guy.

In the entire Ninja World, only Might Guy wore a jumpsuit as outerwear. With that color, anyone who ran into him in the middle of the night would definitely mistake him for a pervert.

He would not wear it, but Qingfeng appreciated the thought. He took it inside and put it away on a high shelf.

He took out the "Rusted Katana" he had drawn. Something unusable needed to be dealt with quickly.

Carrying the broken weapon, he went to Leaf Village's largest ninja tool shop, "Ninja Tool Full House."

Tenten's was a family-owned private business, while Ninja Tool Full House was a ninja tool shop directly operated by the village.

Thinking about how he had spent one hundred thousand ryo drawing this piece of trash, Uchiha Qingfeng made up his mind not to sell it for less than the price of two bowls of ramen.

"Boss, how much can this katana sell for?"

The shop owner took it from Qingfeng and began carefully examining it.

"Kid, where did you get this sword?"

Asking about its origins? Did he want to hear a story? Uchiha Qingfeng had no desire to waste time arguing with this black-hearted shopkeeper.

"It's been passed down through my family." After saying that, he deliberately turned around, revealing the Uchiha fan crest to make sure the owner saw it.

Hopefully, the owner had enough sense. The Uchiha still carried some weight.

The katana was covered in rust. The owner used every cleaning agent and rust remover in the shop, but it did not change in the slightest. It felt as though the rust was part of the blade itself.

Just as he was about to give up, the owner tried channeling Chakra into it one last time.

After all, it was a weapon brought in by an Uchiha. Only great clans would have things like this left over from the Warring States Period.

To his surprise, this ancient broken sword actually contained chakra-conducting metal. Judging by its conduction speed, if it were reforged, it could still be made into a chakra-conducting Kunai.

The owner was secretly delighted. As expected of a great clan—rich and stupid.

The owner, whose face had remained calm throughout, smiled. "Little Uchiha, how much do you plan to sell this rusty broken sword for?"

All those earlier steps had taken place behind the counter, so Qingfeng had seen nothing. As long as the Uchiha name was here, this owner would not dare cheat an Uchiha.

The Security Force was not to be trifled with.

"Boss, how much do you think it's worth?"

He had not expected this little brat to be so shrewd. He had originally planned to buy it outright as long as Qingfeng named a price. Then it would have been a willing transaction, and even the Hokage would not have been able to find fault with it.

But this little brat was asking him how much it was worth. If he gave the wrong figure, and the kid found out later...

"Here's the thing. Our appraisal shows that this sword is a weapon from the Warring States Period. As an artifact from that era, it does have some research value."

Uchiha Qingfeng was completely baffled. The trash he had drawn had become an antique? This was a business opportunity—a chance to make a fortune was right in front of him.

"So Ninja Tool Full House is willing to offer two hundred thousand ryo for this rusty Warring States katana."

"What? Two hundred thousand ryo?"

"Then three hundred thousand ryo?"

"Huh? Three hundred thousand ryo?"

Qingfeng's voice rose higher each time in surprise.

"Six hundred thousand ryo at most. If you don't agree, take it back."

"Deal, sold!"

He had never expected a piece of trash to be worth so much. Wasn't it perfectly reasonable to make a tenfold profit as a middleman?

Qingfeng tucked the banknotes into his clothes. But that Rusted Katana was definitely more than just an antique. Fortunately, he had another katana of his own, one that was not rusty. He just needed to find someone knowledgeable and ask.