Minato Namikaze fell silent for a moment. "The war isn't over yet. Small-scale fighting is still ongoing."
"So, according to the Third Hokage, Lord Xia Le and the others may need to remain stationed there for a while longer."
Kakashi curled his lip, seemingly in mockery. "Sensei, don't become someone else's puppet."
Minato Namikaze shook his head and looked at him earnestly. "Don't you trust me, Kakashi?"
Kakashi paused, then nodded. "Of course I trust you, Minato-sensei."
"The Uchiha Clan's situation is complicated."
"But I promise I'll handle this properly!"
Minato Namikaze spoke solemnly.
"All right!"
Kakashi nodded, then left.
On the seventh day after Minato took office as the Fourth Hokage...
The news reached Konoha's camp on the Northwest Border.
"What did you say?"
"Minato has become the Fourth Hokage?"
When Fugaku Uchiha heard the news, he sprang straight out of his seat.
Yes, he actually sprang up.
All the passion that had filled him recently cooled completely, as though someone had dumped a bucket of piss over his head. He even began trembling with rage.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you old fox!"
Fugaku let loose a torrent of curses inside his tent without the slightest restraint.
Brimming with ambition, he had come up with at least a dozen ways to compete for the position of Fourth Hokage during this time.
Yet he had never expected the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, to pull the rug out from under him. Before he even returned to Konoha, everything had already been settled.
Inside another tent...
"Clan Head Fugaku is cursing the Third Hokage. What's wrong with him?"
Shisui asked curiously.
"Heh, losers in a power struggle generally look just like your clan head does right now."
"To put it simply, he's beside himself with rage!"
Xia Le said with a chuckle.
Itachi glanced