The Postwar Shinobi Era! Reforms in the Four Great Ninja Villages

News that Toji Zenin had become the Third Hokage spread with astonishing speed.

During the few days he spent meeting with the daimyō, word reached the ninja villages of every size around Konoha.

Iwagakure, Land of Earth.

After reading the report, Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki relaxed. "Konoha actually chose Toji Zenin as the Third Hokage. That's good news for Iwagakure."

Toji Zenin's reputation had been built largely on Konoha's wounded ninja. His presence had indirectly healed great numbers of them, allowing ninja who should have been out of the fight to recover and return to battle, driving up the Axis Alliance's losses.

The damage he had inflicted on the Axis Alliance indirectly was no less than that white-haired old ghost Tobirama Senju had inflicted.

But as Ōnoki had said, Toji Zenin becoming Hokage was good news for the Axis Alliance.

In their minds, Toji Zenin was a "nice guy."

That impression dated back to the Five Kage Summit. Toji had attended as a guard, but he had seemed nothing like a ninja. He was more like a scholar or a doctor—an idealistic fool like the First Hokage.

The difference was that the First Hokage was the God of Shinobi. He had earned the right to talk about ideals. What had Toji Zenin earned?

A ninja village's future depended heavily on the character of its Kage.

Toji Zenin was an idealist at heart. In Ōnoki's view, they might not even need to act. The weakest Hokage in history might drag Konoha down through his own decisions, step by step,

until it fell into decline.

When Tobirama Senju had been alive to set the overall direction, Toji Zenin had been a useful scalpel. Now that Tobirama was dead and no one held the blade, who knew? Toji's impulses might take over, and he