But Tsunade had her weaknesses. Though she was Hashirama Senju's descendant and the current princess of the Senju Clan, her strength did not stand out among candidates for Hokage.
Monster Strength Fist was powerful, but the rising generation had already caught up.
Her status as the Senju Clan's princess was what made her suited to the position of Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes flickered as he kept turning it over in his mind.
He really was getting old. It was time to consider a successor.
He had held the position for a long time since Minato Namikaze. Now the generation that had once been young was growing up too.
Even his own son, Asuma, was nearly a steady, middle-aged man.
"Haah!"
After a long while, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a deep sigh.
The rise of the Land of Rain only threw Konoha's shortcomings into sharper relief, leaving him with deeply mixed feelings as Hokage.
Fortunately, after the Six Kage Summit, the world had entered a brief era of peace.
Konoha still had time!
Time flew. In the blink of an eye, Xia Le had been back in the Hidden Rain Village for half a month.
The conclusion of the Six Kage Summit had established the Land of Rain's new standing: it now ranked among the Six Great Nations.
As Rain Shadow, Fugaku Uchiha was in high spirits these days, with a smile that seemed permanently fixed on his face.
Over the past half month, he had been reorganizing the Land of Rain's vast territory.
Using the existing settlements as a foundation, he planned eight major cities.
Each of these cities was slated to have a Ninja College that would admit students from far and wide.
Expanding education and pushing hard on infrastructure—that was Fugaku's next task.
"Our population, territory, and resources