Sarutobi Clan Compound
"Minato, what took you so long? What happened?"
Shikaku Nara and the others waited a long time before Minato Namikaze finally arrived. But Shikaku suddenly noticed that Minato, who was always cheerful and sunny, looked deeply dejected today, as though he had suffered a tremendous blow. All his vitality was gone.
Jiraiya asked worriedly, "Minato, what's wrong?" They had only been apart for a short while. How had Minato ended up like this?
In his eyes, Minato Namikaze was resilient, exceptionally skilled, and almost the perfect ninja. Almost nothing could shake him. Yet now he looked as though his will had been crushed.
"Shikaku, what's the truth about the votes?"
Minato Namikaze suddenly raised his head and looked at Shikaku Nara, his eyes filled with intense unwillingness to accept it.
"I miscalculated, Minato. This was my fault."
Seeing Minato Namikaze's expression, Shikaku Nara guessed that he might already know about the votes for the Fourth Hokage and could not help apologizing.
"They may have noticed what we were doing in secret and taken countermeasures. At the time, I thought this was your last chance to turn things around, Minato, but..."
"This isn't your fault, Shikaku..." Hearing that, Minato Namikaze lost heart and gave a bitter smile. Even his voice was weak. "I didn't do enough. It has nothing to do with you."
Listening to their conversation, Jiraiya was still completely confused. He only knew that Minato had received very few votes, but that should have been a normal result.
To be honest, even if he had run for Fourth Hokage himself, his connections could not have competed with Tsunade's and Orochimaru's. Besides, more than forty people had voted for Minato.
"Lord Jiraiya, the only people who voted for Minato were ninja from the Ino-Shika-Cho and Sarutobi clans,