Amegakure

Danzo pointed at Fugaku, his face red with anger and his lips trembling slightly, wishing he could immediately order every Uchiha killed.

All the jonin lowered their heads to stifle their laughter, inwardly giving Uchiha Fugaku a thumbs-up along the way. What guts!

"Hahaha..."

Tsunade laughed without restraint. "Sensei, I think you should just stay on as Hokage, so Konoha doesn't end up destroyed."

Jiraiya chimed in at just the right moment. "Sensei, neither Tsunade nor I will become Hokage. For Konoha's sake, you should stay on as Hokage.

"I've heard about what's happened lately, too. If someone else really does become Hokage, I won't attack people from my own village."

"Even the Uchiha can use genjutsu to save people. Why can't you change? Stop bringing up my great-uncle every day.

"If my great-uncle really knew about your dirty deeds, he'd kill you for sure.

"I can't stand another minute in this Konoha. My opinion is that the Third Hokage should stay on as Hokage.

"Sensei, don't come looking for me again unless Konoha has been destroyed!"

With that, Tsunade left the Hokage Building without caring how anyone reacted. If the Fourth Hokage and Kushina hadn't suddenly died, she wouldn't have wanted to return to Konoha at all.

Not long after Tsunade left, Jiraiya gave his opinion as well:

"I agree with Tsunade. If any of you have other suggestions, vote on them yourselves.

"Sensei, I'm leaving, too! I hope you seize this opportunity. Sigh..."

With those two having spoken, the Hokage position could only go to the Third Hokage. After all, those two were Konoha's most respected and strongest ninja.

With both of them supporting the Third Hokage, no one else would dare support Danzo even if they wanted to.

This was a time when war could break out at any moment. If Danzo took office but couldn't command Jiraiya and Tsunade, that would be a serious problem.

Seeing that Jiraiya and Tsunade had spoken, Mitokado Homura stood up and said:

"I announce that the candidates in this Hokage election are Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō.

"There is a sheet of paper in front of each of you. Please..."

Danzo clenched his fists, his eyes full of anger. He had never imagined that the Third Hokage would be shameless enough to want to become Hokage again.

He knew he was certain to lose this time. There was no need even to announce the votes. The number of jonin in the Uchiha Clan alone was enough to overwhelm the other clans.

Just as Danzo had expected, the gap in votes was enormous. Even Mitokado Homura, who was counting them, froze briefly.

To save his old friend's dignity, Mitokado Homura decided to alter the vote counts, as long as it didn't affect the result.

"Ahem! According to the vote tally, Shimura Danzō received 99 votes and Hiruzen Sarutobi received 102 votes. Hiruzen Sarutobi will resume the Hokage position. Nominations for the Fifth Hokage will be held at a later date."

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly stood up. "I won't bother with formalities. War could come at any moment. I will leave for the capital immediately. Everyone, prepare to go to war.

"The Uchiha, the Hyuga, and each of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans will assign one jonin to the Anbu to accompany me to the capital.

"Danzo, Homura, you two are to begin rooting out the other nations' spies in Konoha immediately.

"Koharu, make sure our logistical support is ready."

"Yes!"

As expected of a Hokage who had experienced three shinobi wars, he showed no fear in the face of the coming war, nor did he make any mistakes in issuing his orders.

In the Third Hokage's view, the main concern in this war was guarding against the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water. The other two great nations had been crippled in the previous war and had yet to recover.

Konoha's current strength was just barely enough to face two great nations at once. If necessary, he could still call Tsunade and Jiraiya back.

Of course, he wouldn't neglect to guard against the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, either. That was precisely why he had sent a letter to Hanzō in the Land of Rain.

The Land of Rain lay between those two nations. As long as it allied with Konoha, it would be able to keep those two nations in check.

What the Third Hokage hadn't expected, however, was that Amegakure seemed less than welcoming toward Konoha's visitors.

Kakashi and his two companions stood inside a three-story building. A damp, rotten smell seeped into their noses, making Uchiha Yan frown involuntarily.

Tap, tap...

Footsteps sounded inside the building. In the dim light, Uchiha Yan could clearly see a man wearing an Amegakure forehead protector slowly approaching them.

"My apologies! Lord Hanzō does not wish to see you. Please leave."

"We'll leave once we've delivered the letter!"

"I told you! Lord Hanzō does not wish to see you."

What kind of person was Kakashi? He was someone who would use any means necessary to complete a mission. How could he possibly turn back just because of a few words from them?

Kakashi fixed the man with a sharp stare. "Jonin Furukawa, I'm not negotiating with you. The Hokage's letter must be delivered to Hanzō in person. Move aside!"

"Kakashi, this is Amegakure, not Konoha. You cannot act as you please here."

The moment he finished speaking, more than a dozen figures suddenly appeared around them, surrounding Kakashi and his two companions.

Seeing this, Hyuga Taichi quickly activated his Byakugan, ready to fight at any moment.

Watching the tense standoff, Uchiha Yan couldn't stop grumbling inwardly. They were only delivering a letter. Was all this really necessary?

Seriously, Hanzō, just meet us and take the letter. Burn it if you don't want to read it. It won't kill you...

Wait! Yahiko died during the Third Shinobi World War, and Nagato has already awakened his Rinnegan. Could Hanzō already be dead by now?

At that thought, Uchiha Yan quickly stepped forward, his face wreathed in smiles:

"Jonin Furukawa, we're all just trying to carry out our missions! Why draw weapons? A fight wouldn't be good for anyone.

"An expert like you must know how strong Captain Kakashi is. Although he's no match for you, he can still take care of the teammates beside you.

"Why don't you go ask for us again? Konoha is willing to pay for information on the Akatsuki. The terms are all in this letter.

"If Senior Hanzō still refuses, then we'll have no choice but to leave."

"What!"

Furukawa instinctively shouted, then seemed to remember something and immediately changed his tone:

"All right! I'll ask for you one last time!"

"Thank you for your trouble!"

Kakashi looked at Uchiha Yan with some confusion. Everyone knew the Akatsuki had long since ceased to exist. As for the Nine-Tails incident, the Hokage had merely picked an arbitrary target in the shinobi world for everyone to take revenge on.

Ordinary villagers didn't know, but how could ninja like them fail to understand? He couldn't understand why Uchiha Yan would say that.

After a long while, Furukawa returned to the three of them:

"My apologies!"

"Thank you, Jonin Furukawa. We'll be leaving, then!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Yan pulled Kakashi along to leave. Kakashi, however, did not move. Instead, he placed a hand on his forehead protector, preparing to lift it.

Seeing this, Uchiha Yan quickly grabbed both of Kakashi's hands and spoke in a low voice:

"Don't act rashly! The Sharingan can't see the truth. Only the mind's eye can see the truth.

"Trust me. Hanzō will definitely come out to meet us. Let's go outside and discuss this first."

Kakashi looked at Taichi and Yan, then glanced at the surrounding ninja. He stopped what he was doing, turned, and left.

They followed Kakashi out of the building. Raindrops fell on their heads, soon soaking all three of them.

As they walked down the street, Uchiha Yan kept watching their surroundings.

Countless street vendors hawked their wares in the rain. They were all selling food, and the prices weren't high, seemingly within ordinary people's means.

Most importantly, these villagers didn't avoid them when they saw them. They even called out to sell them things.

These scenes further supported Yan's guess. Hanzō might already be dead, and Nagato might already be secretly taking over the Land of Rain.

"Yan, it's all rain. What's there to look at?"

"The people! Their expressions and their food can tell us about the Land of Rain's economy, and why Hanzō won't see us."