The Death of the Fourth, the Third Resumes the Throne

"The Fourth Hokage unfortunately fell in action while confronting the Nine-Tailed Fox. For now, I will temporarily assume the position of Hokage until the Fifth Hokage emerges."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood upon the Hokage platform as the wind fluttered the Hokage haori.

Everyone's mood was heavy.

The Fourth had held the position for less than a year before that radiant Hokage passed away, leaving all residents and shinobi unsettled.

Who would have thought he would not fall in the war, but rather perish when facing the Nine-Tails.

Tobitake Tonbo was also in the crowd.

Standing alongside Dokuro Kei and the others, he looked at the octogenarian Third.

Why wasn't it the Third who sacrificed himself? he thought. With the forbidden techniques left behind by the Second and jutsu developed by others, surely there must have been a corresponding countermeasure.

The Nine-Tails had existed for thousands of years; there was no reason it could only be controlled now.

Perhaps the Third was not skilled in Sealing Jutsu and could not seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto's body.

Perhaps that was a bit far-fetched—the original story never said so—and no matter how clever his brain was, he could not figure it out.

"Sigh, the war finally ended, and now things are probably going to be chaotic for a while again!" Sheng Shimon sighed.

"Indeed, it's going to be tough from here on out!" Tobitake Tonbo largely agreed.

The impact of the Fourth's death was enormous.

It was just like the death of the Third Kazekage, the Third Raikage, or any other Kage.

Each would trigger a massive impact on the geopolitical landscape of the Shinobi World.

The disappearance of the Third Kazekage had led to the Third Shinobi World War.

The death in battle of the Third Raikage had led to Kumogakure's defeat in the war.

Next came the death of the Third Hokage, which would result in a hollowed-out interior for Konoha.

With Minato Namikaze's death this time, resources invested in Konoha by the Land of Fire or other nations would surely be snatched up by other villages.

The most direct consequence would be a reduction in mission volume—the very thing that affected Konoha's foundation the most.

According to Tobitake Tonbo's judgment, the Land of Fire and other nations, seeing that the Fourth had died less than a year after taking office, would grow distrustful of Konoha, leading to a decrease in missions.

A decrease in missions meant the growth of Konoha's shinobi would decline, and the resulting impact would be a chain reaction.

To stabilize the situation in Konoha, the upper echelons did not risk choosing another Hokage, choosing instead to have the Third continue to give his remaining energy to stabilize the village.

With the Third back on the throne, the next step was pacifying the spirits of the dead.

With the death of the Fourth, alongside a large number of Jōnin who had perished dealing with the Nine-Tails, the people gathered before the Memorial Stone were filled with grief and indignation.

Among them, those most heavily impacted were Kakashi, Iruka, and the others.

As for Tobitake Tonbo, he had already attended many memorial pacification ceremonies; after every war, there would be one.

Fortunately, his family was still safe.

Thus, his focus was primarily on pacifying the spirit of the Fourth.

He held deep respect for this sunny Fourth Hokage.

And for his wife.

Their character was lofty.

A long time had passed since the Nine-Tails Incident.

The living pressed on.

"Tobitake Tonbo, Lord Hokage has an order for you to head to the Hokage Office at once."

Just as Tobitake Tonbo was holding a book titled Theoretical Research on Barrier Ninjutsu in his hands, studying it intently, an ANBU member suddenly appeared.

"Do I need any preparation?" he asked, closing the book.

At this point, a year and a half had passed since the Third resumed the throne, and Tobitake Tonbo's height had also grown significantly. He worked conscientiously in the Analysis Division without ever slackening.

He could not fathom why the Hokage was suddenly looking for him.

ANBU: "No."

Tobitake Tonbo walked out of his house. The sun was shining brightly in the center of the sky, signaling a clear day without clouds.

In his mind, he kept pondering the possible reasons the Third wanted him.

He was an elite of the Analysis Division, and with his outstanding abilities there, he had been promoted to Special Jonin. The reason he achieved this rank was his Mind Reading Technique, which had already surpassed Yamanaka Inoichi.

Since the Analysis Division rarely fought and rarely displayed other combat capabilities, it was most likely an escort or support mission.

Some missions required going out into the field to extract intelligence in the shortest possible time, just like how he and his comrades had extracted information from Kisame in the original story.

Knock, knock!

Tobitake Tonbo arrived at the Hokage Office and knocked on the large door.

"Lord Hokage, Tobitake Tonbo reporting for audience."

"Come in."

Creech!

He opened the heavy door and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi looking over as well, a massive stack of documents in front of him and two ninjas assisting by his side.

"Lord Hokage."

"Mm, it looks like you've trained diligently these past few years; you're getting sturdier and sturdier," Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled.

"Lord Hokage, to correct you, that's handsome, tall, but definitely not sturdy."

Tobitake Tonbo had a slender figure, so he really could not be considered sturdy.

"Haha, indeed, my old eyes are failing me." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled.

This kid really didn't give him any face at all!

"I called you here to give you a mission."

"Yes."

"You know, the war and the Nine-Tails Incident caused a massive loss to Konoha's core strength, and we still haven't recovered after a year and more."

"Yes." Tobitake Tonbo naturally understood.

He just didn't know what he was trying to express.

"Here is the thing. Your abilities have been recognized by me and the advisors, and you're also someone who has experienced the battlefield with rich experience.

Therefore, for the newly graduated Genin of the Ninja Academy this time, I want you to lead a squad. I wonder what your thoughts are?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in a tentative tone.

"Lead a squad?"

Tobitake Tonbo hadn't expected this; he had wasted a long time guessing.

Even though he wanted to quietly develop in the Analysis Division, his persona was that of a man who inherited the Will of Fire. How could he possibly refuse such a thing?

Besides, he hadn't been out for a long time, and leading a squad actually seemed pretty good.

He could appreciate the scenery of the ninja world.

"No problem. Contributing to Konoha's blazing fire is a duty I cannot refuse."

Tobitake Tonbo spoke with absolute certainty.

Listening to his resonant and powerful words, Hiruzen Sarutobi was extremely satisfied; he truly hadn't misjudged the person.

More than a year ago, he felt that this kid was someone who had inherited the Will of Fire, and now it was still the same.

"Very well, this is the roster of the squad you will lead."

Hiruzen Sarutobi handed over a list, and Tobitake Tonbo took it.

He opened it to look: "Umino Iruka, Mibu Shinobu, Teksen Shiso."

Mibu Shinobu

The first one he knew, and then he looked at their profiles.

Umino Iruka: Theoretical grades excellent, actual combat grades medium, Three-Body Technique mastery excellent, Taijutsu average.

Mibu Shinobu: Theoretical grades good, actual combat grades medium, Three-Body Technique mastery excellent, Taijutsu average.

Looking at the photo, it was someone whose head was wrapped up just as eccentrically as his own, with only a few hairs sticking out from the top and his facial features exposed.

Teksen Shiso: Theoretical grades excellent, actual combat grades excellent, Three-Body Technique mastery excellent, Taijutsu excellent, proficient in space-time ninjutsu and ninja tool manipulation.

Mm, the photo showed a boy whose hair was wrapped up, and he actually looked quite like a protagonist.

Yo, it looks like I'm going to be the teacher of Naruto's teacher, though looking at the data, Iruka is still more suited for teaching!

Why does Mibu Shinobu wrap his head up? Doesn't he think it's ugly? Plus, you don't have my kind of good looks.

Teksen Shiso gives off a strong sense of deja vu of Tenten from the later generation's Konoha 11!

Without even graduating, he's already proficient in space-time ninjutsu and ninja tool manipulation. It seems his family is quite well-off, and his parents' strength shouldn't be too low either.

Inside, Tobitake Tonbo made judgments about his three disciples.