Hyuga Hiashi froze for a moment.
Then, realizing something, he nodded.
"Shinji."
"Hiashi."
The two exchanged a glance and raised their teacups, clinking them together. "We'll be heading to the front soon, so we shouldn't drink. Shall we toast with tea instead?"
"With tea instead!"
Clink!
The cups touched.
"Hiashi, do you think putting a true civilian ninja in charge would have a better effect on Konoha?"
Shinji set down his teacup.
"After all... Tsunade and Jiraiya are still, at the end of the day, the Third Hokage's successors."
"Besides, in my opinion, the problems with Konoha's Hokage system have been entrenched for a long time. Replacing one Hokage won't solve them in the short term... Of course, that's only my personal view. It still needs further refinement."
Hyuga Hiashi paused.
He lowered his head in thought.
Indeed...
Those two were both the Third Hokage's students!
But the Konoha of today was no longer the village it had been at its founding decades ago. Ever since the Second Hokage established the Ninja Academy, more and more small clans and civilian ninja had stepped onto Konoha's stage.
Scattered, they were of little consequence, but together, they were a force that could not be underestimated...
The Yuhi, Haruno, Gekko, and Mitarashi, for instance, among others...
Even now.
Konoha's major clans still controlled the village's major departments.
But one thing could not be denied.
Every department was staffed by a vast number of civilian ninja.
Their rise was impossible to stop. Without all those civilian ninja, Konoha could never have endured the losses of the Second Shinobi World War and the last war. After all, in every shinobi world war, Konoha had fought four nations alone...
Every bloody war left Konoha severely wounded.
And at those times.
The vacancies left by the deaths