Heir

"Jiraiya-sensei is still inside the Hokage Office right now. I wonder what the Hokage has in mind, keeping him in there all by himself," Uchiha Matsuri responded.

"The Hokage Office, is it?" Sarutobi Yoshihiko said, his tone heavy with implication.

Inside the Hokage Office.

After Uchiha Matsuri and the others had left, the Third Hokage asked straight to the point, "Jiraiya, after this mission, what do you think of those two little ones, Minato and Matsuri?"

As the standouts among the first batch of students since the Ninja Academy reopened, Uchiha Matsuri and Minato Namikaze naturally received the Third Hokage's focused attention.

Especially since the Third Hokage was nearing the retirement age of fifty, he naturally needed to pay extra attention to the candidates for the Fourth Hokage.

As the Third Hokage's direct students, the Sannin were undoubtedly the most promising candidates to inherit the position of Fourth Hokage. Among the Sannin, the one the Third Hokage favored most was none other than Orochimaru, who was known as a genius. Therefore, as things stood, Orochimaru was the most likely to inherit the position of Fourth Hokage.

Next were Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade. However, because Jiraiya was naturally laid-back and loved his freedom, he would certainly never agree to take on the position of Hokage. As for Lady Tsunade, while she had never explicitly opposed the idea of becoming Hokage, her focus was primarily on medical ninjutsu, making it unlikely that the Third Hokage would nominate her.

In summary, of the three, only Orochimaru had both the ability and the desire to inherit the position of Hokage. Moreover, Orochimaru was currently first in line for the succession.

The second line of succession fell to the generation of the Sannin's disciples. Orochimaru had not yet taken on any disciples (his squad subordinates did not strictly count as disciples), and Lady Tsunade's disciples were almost exclusively medical ninjas. Thus, the only ones with the potential to inherit the Hokage position were Jiraiya's two disciples, Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Matsuri.

If you were to ask whether people like Shimura Danzō or Hatake Sakumo had a chance to inherit the Hokage position, you would be sorely mistaken.

Regarding Shimura Danzō, the Third Hokage knew him inside and out. It was precisely because he understood Shimura Danzō's character so well that the Third Hokage was determined never to pass the position of Fourth Hokage to him.

As for Hatake Sakumo, unfortunately, he was not a direct disciple of the Hokage lineage. Looking at the history of the Hokage, almost all had inherited the position as direct disciples of the previous Hokage's line. Therefore, it was unlikely for Hatake Sakumo to inherit the position.

Seeing the Third Hokage asking for his observations, Jiraiya thought for a moment, then said, "Both Minato and Matsuri have impeccable character. Both possess strong team spirit and a sense of responsibility. They both dream of becoming Hokage..."

Jiraiya listed a whole host of observations, covering everything from their character to their personalities.

After listening to Jiraiya's statement, the Third Hokage puffed on his pipe and asked, "How are the abilities of these two little ones?"

"Ever since Minato learned the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique, his strength has increased significantly; his capabilities already exceed those of an average chunin. As for Matsuri's strength, it's hard to say," Jiraiya said.

"Hard to say?" The Third Hokage felt a hint of surprise.

"Yes. I always get the feeling that Matsuri hasn't shown his full range of techniques. From medical ninjutsu to the Yin Seal, and then the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, Matsuri's strength has repeatedly forced me to revise my understanding of him. Relying on these three things, Matsuri is enough to hold his own against an average jonin," Jiraiya said slowly.

"An average jonin, you say..." Hearing this, the Third Hokage muttered to himself.

As the two standouts of the same class, Minato Namikaze had already reached a level beyond a chunin thanks to the Flying Thunder God Technique. If Uchiha Matsuri could indeed go toe-to-toe with an average jonin, then at the very least, in terms of raw strength, Uchiha Matsuri was half a step ahead of Minato Namikaze.

After pondering for a while, the Third Hokage suddenly asked, "Jiraiya, which of the two do you think is more suitable for the position of Hokage?"

Hearing the Third Hokage suddenly pose this question, Jiraiya asked in confusion, "Sensei, if we're talking about the Fourth Hokage, isn't Orochimaru more in line with your wishes?"

"Orochimaru?"

Hearing Jiraiya's words, the Third Hokage couldn't help but recall the cold gaze Orochimaru had inadvertently revealed over a decade ago, and he shook his head.

Without answering Jiraiya's question, the Third Hokage simply said dismissively, "Orochimaru is also under consideration."

Seeing that the Third Hokage had not answered his question directly, Jiraiya said, "If I must choose between the two, please forgive me, but I cannot make a choice yet."

"Oh?" the Third Hokage asked curiously.

"First of all, compared to Matsuri, Minato is more gentle, sunny, and patient. But Minato's flaw is that he is too kind; he might not be able to accept certain dark realities, and in terms of raw strength, he is slightly inferior to Matsuri."

"As for Matsuri, compared to Minato, he is more rational, has more ideas, and is stronger. His flaw is that his unpredictability is too great. At the same time, although Matsuri hasn't spent his childhood with the Uchiha clan, he is, after all, still a member of the Uchiha Clan."

Jiraiya analyzed rationally.

On the streets of Konoha.

After parting ways with Sarutobi Yoshihiko's squad, the three members of Team 5 walked aimlessly through the streets of Konoha.

"Minato, is something on your mind?" Uchiha Matsuri asked suddenly.

"No, why?"

"Then let's head to the Training Ground and have a good spar," Uchiha Matsuri said with a grin.

"Huh?"

Minato Namikaze looked at Uchiha Matsuri with black lines on his forehead.

Seriously, why did this guy suddenly decide to spar with him?

In stark contrast to Minato Namikaze, Kiba Inuzuka perked up the moment he heard Uchiha Matsuri wanted to spar with Minato.

"Great! When are you starting? I'm going to watch," Kiba Inuzuka said excitedly, draping his arms around Uchiha Matsuri and Minato Namikaze, not a hint of fatigue on his face.

"Since you're willing, I'll accompany you to the end," Minato Namikaze said with a smile.

Although he hadn't shown it, Minato Namikaze had been brooding over his narrow defeat to Uchiha Matsuri a year ago. Now that the other party had initiated the challenge, Minato Namikaze accepted it readily.

However, just as the three of them were about to reach the Training Ground, Kiba Inuzuka suddenly stopped the two who were about to enter.

"What's wrong, Kiba?" Uchiha Matsuri asked.

Seeing Kiba Inuzuka bowing his head in thought, a bad premonition arose in Uchiha Matsuri's heart.

"I think I smell four unfamiliar chakra signatures," Kiba Inuzuka said seriously.

"Unfamiliar scents? Why is that something to be alarmed about?" Minato Namikaze asked in confusion.

In these peaceful times, it was quite common to have a few ninjas from other villages within Konoha.

"Besides those four unfamiliar scents, I think I also smell a very strong scent of blood."