Konoha's Hokage Election

At such a crucial time as electing a Hokage, no matter how busy the front lines were, the Jonin had to rotate back to vote.

In a non-emergency Hokage election, candidates needed nominations from the higher-ups, and the Hokage would then be decided based on the votes of Jonin, Chunin, Genin, and villagers.

If it came down to vote counts alone, Orochimaru would definitely lose.

So he had forcibly changed the nature of the competition. The size of one's faction mattered most, while votes accounted for only a small part of the qualifications for becoming Hokage.

Minato returned from the Land of Loulan with a heavy heart.

The Nine-Tails Rebellion had seemingly been man-made!

The Nine-Tails' childbirth was a crucial secret within the village. Only the higher-ups could possibly have known about it. Among Konoha's upper ranks, those who had direct conflicts of interest with him... the truth could only be...

In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Minato whether he was firmly determined to become Hokage.

He was truly afraid that after paving the way for Minato, Minato would yield the position to Orochimaru out of concern for friendship with a fellow villager.

Minato had already changed his mind. Slowly closing his eyes, he said, "I'm determined."

Orochimaru.

You could hurt me! But you absolutely could not hurt my family! My Kushina.

Disaster should never befall one's family!

Why did you hurt Kushina?

According to Yamato, who had come from the future, the Fourth Hokage and his wife had both died on Nine-Tails Night. At that moment, Minato's heart went cold.

If Naruto was his child...

Then Naruto's experiences over these years...

Orochimaru!!!

When Masaichi heard about the Hokage election, he handed the army over to Hayakawa Rin, Kurosaki Ren, and Tsukishima Yoru before rushing toward Konoha.

He also brought back thirty Jonin and seventy Chunin in case of emergencies.

He had thought Hiruzen Sarutobi had grown anxious and was preparing to make Minato clash with Orochimaru right now.

He had not expected...

Konoha was blanketed with propaganda declaring that the Hokage candidates were Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

Now this was troublesome!

Inside Danzo's Root base.

All three of them were silent.

They had expected their enemy to be Minato Namikaze, but they had never imagined it would be Jiraiya.

"What do we do now?" Danzo found the problem extremely thorny.

Jiraiya was a man who disregarded minor formalities for the greater good. He had no shortage of core supporters or backing. Even Homura and Koharu were very satisfied with him, making this difficult to handle.

Originally, those two had remained neutral in the competition between Minato and Orochimaru.

Now, both of them had joined Jiraiya's camp as well.

Masaichi had a headache. Before absolute power, any scheme or trick was useless.

Aside from Konoha's local forces.

Jiraiya also had Mount Myoboku's full support.

As for Orochimaru's Dragon Grounds, those stinking snakes who followed whichever way the wind blew—how many benefits would they have to offer before gaining their support?

What Masaichi lacked now was time. Given enough time, he had plenty of ways to make Orochimaru win.

But the other side had done something very shrewd. Rather than seeking the position for Minato, they first fought to secure it for Jiraiya.

"We'll take it one step at a time, Orochimaru-sensei."

Since even Masaichi said that, Orochimaru knew this time was dangerous.

However, they had long planned that if they failed in the Hokage race, they would defect and establish a ninja village.

He would invent technologies to make their village strong! Masaichi would steer its development and earn him research funds. They would return more than a decade later to take revenge on Konoha. They had discussed all of this in secret behind Danzo's back.

If Danzo was willing to come with them, they could leave him a high-ranking position too!

But Danzo was stubborn-minded. He only wanted to become Konoha's Hokage and would never leave with them.

It was better if he did not come along.

They feared that just as their village began developing and attracting talent, Danzo would ruin everything.

Danzo was deeply worried. Minato was so young...

Yet he noticed that Orochimaru and Masaichi did not seem anxious at all.

Could it be that the two of them had already devised a proper plan?

Then he no longer needed to worry either.

On the day of the Hokage election.

Jiraiya was pushed into the spotlight to face Orochimaru.

Inside the Jonin conference room.

Today's agenda was the position of Fourth Hokage.

Jiraiya had never imagined that one day, things between him and Orochimaru would reach this point.

"Orochimaru." He had a thousand things he wanted to say to Orochimaru.

But Orochimaru felt only contempt for Jiraiya. Just like their teacher Sarutobi, he hesitated over everything, wanting this and that. In the end, what could he possibly gain?

"...Sigh." Jiraiya opened his mouth, but ultimately chose silence.

The prophesied child spoken of by the Great Toad Sage, who would bring peace to the Ninja World, was clearly not Orochimaru.

"I nominate Jiraiya for the Hokage election." X3

The village's Hokage and two advisers exchanged glances. After rising to their feet, they nominated Jiraiya.

"I nominate Orochimaru for the Hokage election."

After the three of them sat down, the last remaining adviser, Danzo, stood up alone and isolated.

From the very beginning, Orochimaru had lost the initiative.

There were countless ninja supporting Jiraiya.

Nara Shikaku put away his final concern and let out a heavy breath. If things went smoothly, Jiraiya could become Hokage today. They could then ask Orochimaru to leave the office and vigorously support Minato.

His idea had indeed been correct. Making Jiraiya Hokage had caught Orochimaru's faction completely off guard.

He secretly glanced at the unwillingness and helplessness on the faces of Orochimaru's people.

Everyone believed Jiraiya had it in the bag.

After Jiraiya held the position for a year or two, he could hand the Hokage seat over to Minato Namikaze. Orochimaru would be completely cut off from becoming Hokage and cast out of the political center from then on.

"I also believe Lord Jiraiya can become a good Hokage!"

"Village taxes have been too high lately. They've been crushing us so badly we can barely breathe. Lord Jiraiya will definitely give our concerns more consideration."

One after another, the crowd declared their support for Jiraiya.

Those supporting Orochimaru did not even dare speak.

Could they only defect?

But Jiraiya, of all people, wanted to be modest. "Well, well, thank you all for your kind support, but what qualifications do I, Jiraiya, have? Other than this handsome face, I don't think my personality is very suited to being Hokage."

"You should find someone more virtuous and capable for the Hokage position."

"Me, Hokage? I don't think I'd do a good job."

His words came from the bottom of his heart.

He truly did not want to become Hokage. He was only prepared to force himself to do it for two years because of Minato.

With his personality, he could not simply shamelessly take the Hokage position.

Therefore, in Jiraiya's expectations, the Third Hokage, his student Minato, and the village higher-ups would soon persuade and plead with him. Only after modestly refusing several times under those circumstances would he agree to become Hokage.

And another thing!

He did not want to become a puppet of the higher-ups.

You were the ones begging me to become Hokage, not me seeking the position. If you went against my policies later, then just wait and see.

Jiraiya had some brains after all.

Even if he served as Hokage for only a year or two, he would hand every bit of the Hokage's authority over to Minato intact.

Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled. This little rascal was still as clever as he had been in childhood.

Then he would indulge Jiraiya's wishes and have Koharu and the others plead with him.