The Third Hokage Steps Down

The sunlight over Central Street grew brighter.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, remained bent at the waist. His words, "I was wrong," had barely faded before they seemed to split the street open.

Some people were stunned.

Some breathed a sigh of relief.

Others turned deathly pale.

A Hokage admitting fault was no small matter in Konoha.

And Naruto's next demand was that he step down.

The Third Hokage slowly straightened.

He looked at the child before him, his eyes filled with exhaustion, guilt, and the last stubborn resolve he had as Hokage.

"Naruto, Hokage isn't a position someone can simply resign from."

Naruto was unsurprised.

"So you still want to keep your seat?"

The Third Hokage's voice was low.

"The village has just endured a night of turmoil. Danzo is dead, Homura is dead, Koharu has lost power, and both the Sarutobi and the Uchiha have been drawn into the old case of the Nine-Tails' Attack. If the Hokage steps down now, the other ninja villages will think Konoha is collapsing from within."

Naruto looked at him.

"They won't think it."

"They'll know soon enough."

The Third Hokage had no answer.

It was too blunt.

A Tailed Beast Bomb had struck Root last night. Konoha's leaders had faced a public reckoning on Central Street, and the Uchiha and Sarutobi had nearly confronted each other. There was no way to keep all of that quiet.

Spies from Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure would surely send word back.

Konoha could no longer hide its turmoil.

Jiraiya stepped forward.

"Teacher, Naruto is right. If you stay in the Hokage's seat, the village's tensions will only keep building. What we need now is someone who can stabilize things, at least for a while."

The Third Hokage looked at him.

"You?"

Jiraiya shook his head at once.

"I'm not suited to it."

Naruto spoke. "Tsunade."

The Third Hokage's eyes flickered.

Jiraiya turned to Naruto too.

"You know Tsunade?"

Naruto offered no explanation.

"The First Hokage's granddaughter. One of the Sannin. A medical ninja. She has the standing, the strength, and enough distance from the Advisor system."

Quite a few ninja present were taken aback.

A six-year-old child spoke about the next Hokage with a clearer grasp of the matter than many Jonin.

The Third Hokage fell silent.

Tsunade was indeed the best choice.

But she had been away from the village for years, suffered from a fear of blood, and might not be willing to return.

Naruto looked at the Third Hokage.

"You can stay on temporarily for seven days."

"Bring Tsunade back within those seven days."

"During that time, every file in the Hokage Office concerning me, the Nine-Tails, the Uchiha, Root, or the Advisors must be sealed. The Konoha Military Police Force, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Jonin from all three sides will guard them together."

The Third Hokage frowned.

"The Konoha Military Police Force cannot access the Hokage's files on its own."

Naruto nodded.

"That's why it won't be on its own."

He pointed to Jiraiya and Kakashi.

"They'll be there too."

Kakashi visibly froze.

He had not expected to be named.

Naruto turned to him.

"You were my father's student."

Kakashi went rigid.

There was no warmth in those words, yet they struck him like a knife to the chest.

At last, he could no longer hide behind silence.

Kakashi lowered his head.

"I'll help guard them."

Jiraiya nodded too.

"I'll find Tsunade and leave a toad here to relay messages and oversee the sealing of the files."

The Third Hokage looked toward Uchiha Fugaku.

Fugaku stepped forward.

"The Konoha Military Police Force accepts joint oversight. We won't access the core files alone."

It was a concession.

It also gave the Third Hokage a way to yield.

The Third Hokage knew he had no better choice.

If he refused, Naruto could reveal more documents or even force him out. By then, Konoha would have lost any chance of handling this with dignity.

"All right."

The Third Hokage's voice was hoarse.

"I'll stay on temporarily for seven days."

"Tsunade will be recalled within that time."

"Root is dissolved, effective immediately. Every Root member will be registered and investigated."

"The Hokage Advisor system is suspended, and its associated authority will be sealed."

"All files concerning the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki will be reviewed."

Hushed discussion rippled through the crowd.

Root, dissolved.

The Advisors, stripped of power.

The Hokage, stepping down in seven days.

Any one of those would have shaken Konoha under ordinary circumstances.

Now all three had come at once.

Naruto showed no satisfaction.

He walked to the long table and picked up the living-expense ledger.

"And the money."

The Third Hokage looked at him.

Naruto said, "For every tael missing from my parents' estate, repay ten."

Utatane Koharu's expression changed.

The Third Hokage nodded.

"It will be repaid."

Naruto picked up the remaining half of his mother's letter.

"Investigate whoever burned the letter."

"We will."

"The Ninja Academy hostage incident. Investigate everyone involved."

"We will."

"A public statement clearing the Uchiha."

The Third Hokage paused.

Uchiha Fugaku, Tekka, Shisui, and Itachi all looked at him.

At last, the Third Hokage spoke.

"We'll make a public statement."

Some of the Uchiha had tears in their eyes.

They had waited six years to hear those words.

Finally, Naruto picked up the Growth Intervention Contingency Plan.

"From today on, no one gets to plan my life for me."

The Third Hokage looked at him.

"What do you want to do?"

Naruto tossed the scroll into the sealed storage box.

"I'm not going to be Hokage."

Many people froze.

Everyone had expected Naruto to use his status as the Fourth Hokage's son to demand the position, or at least a place among future candidates.

Instead, Naruto said he did not want it.

"I don't need your approval."

He looked at the Third Hokage, then at everyone on the street.

"I just want you to give back everything you owe me."

The Nine-Tails grinned inside the Sealing Space.

He liked that line.

It sounded far better than any talk of the Will of Fire.

Just as the Third Hokage was about to dismiss the crowd, hurried footsteps sounded in the distance.

A ninja from the Intelligence Division rushed to the entrance of the street and dropped to one knee before the Third Hokage.

"Lord Third!"

"Urgent report from the border! The Kumogakure Delegation has suddenly changed course and is approaching Konoha."

"They're demanding confirmation of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's condition and a renegotiation of compensation for the Hyuga Incident."