What happened at Konoha Hospital was not the end, but only the beginning.
The Intelligence Department, the Logistics Department, the Mission Dispatch Center...
Wherever Hiruzen Sarutobi's trusted followers dared to lead a strike or slack off, Gengetsu did not waste a single word on them.
If they dared to stop working, they would never work there again!
With a wave of his hand, Gengetsu dismissed them on the spot, then immediately arranged for members of the Uchiha Clan to take over their work.
As the foremost clan in the shinobi world, the Uchiha Clan had no shortage of people!
Whether it was medical care, intelligence analysis, or logistics management, members of the Uchiha Clan were fully capable of handling it.
Moreover, the Uchiha Clan had always been arrogant to the bone. Usually, the higher-ups suppressed them so much that they could hardly hold their heads up. Now that one of their own had finally become Hokage, how could they not give it their all?
Anyone who dared to undermine Konoha or disobey the Fifth Hokage's orders was an enemy of their Uchiha Clan.
Under Gengetsu's series of maneuvers, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others' plan not only failed to cause Gengetsu any losses, but instead gave the Uchiha Clan an opportunity to seize power in Konoha.
They had truly shot themselves in the foot.
In a conference room within the Sarutobi Clan compound, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura sat around the conference table, each looking grimmer than the last.
According to their original plan, all they needed was for the department heads to go on strike together and bring the village's operations to a standstill. Then they could force Gengetsu into submission.
Faced with the mess of an entire village grinding to a halt, what could a teenage brat do besides obediently bow his head and beg them for help?
But they had never imagined that Gengetsu would act so simply and decisively!
Refusing to work? Then get out!
He had simply dismissed all those supervisors in key positions and replaced them with members of the Uchiha Clan!
That move had pulled the rug out from under Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two, leaving them stunned.
Not only had it failed to cause Gengetsu the slightest trouble, but the trusted followers they had painstakingly planted in the various departments had instead been rooted out, dealing another devastating blow to their power!
"Sarutobi, what on earth are we supposed to do now?"
"Say something!"
Utatane Koharu demanded loudly, her face full of anxiety.
"That's right! Sarutobi, we absolutely cannot let them keep striking like this!"
"Gengetsu has already dismissed the heads of several key departments for slacking off and replaced every one of them with Uchiha Clan members!"
Mitokado Homura spoke anxiously as well.
It had taken them decades of painstaking work, planting trusted followers everywhere, to get their own people into power as the heads of those departments.
If Gengetsu used this opportunity to remove all those department heads, their power would truly be stripped away completely. They would no longer even have the right to speak in Konoha!
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a fierce pull on his pipe, his face full of frustration and helplessness.
"Send word. Have everyone stop striking immediately, return to their posts, and fully cooperate with Gengetsu's work!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with great reluctance.
He had not expected things to turn out this way either.
Originally, Hiruzen Sarutobi had believed that secretly undermining Gengetsu's authority would allow him to control the boy with ease.
They had once used this very method to control the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi had never imagined that this tried-and-true tactic would prove utterly ineffective against Gengetsu, a teenage Uchiha brat!
Gengetsu had refused to play by their rules, using swift, forceful measures to disrupt their plan.
Damn Uchiha Gengetsu! Damn the Uchiha Clan!
Hiruzen Sarutobi now hated the Uchiha Clan intensely as well.
If not for the Uchiha Clan members, his strike plan would never have failed.
"Sarutobi, what should we do next? Are we really going to let that Uchiha brat Gengetsu keep throwing his weight around as Hokage?"
Utatane Koharu spoke with extreme reluctance.
At her words, Hiruzen Sarutobi snorted coldly.
"Hmph! Don't worry! Gengetsu won't remain Hokage for long."
Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe and spoke confidently.
"Oh? Sarutobi, do you have a new plan?"
Hearing this, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi expectantly.
"A plan? This time, there's no need for any complicated plan!"
"The Nine-Tails' Rampage dealt Konoha an unprecedented blow. The daimyo of the Land of Fire has already received word..."
"Judging by the time, the envoy sent by the daimyo of the Land of Fire should be arriving in Konoha soon!"
A calculating smile curved Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips.
"The daimyo's envoy! That's right! We can use the daimyo's envoy to deal with Gengetsu!"
Utatane Koharu rose to her feet in excitement.
"Exactly! If the daimyo's envoy takes a dislike to Gengetsu and reports him to the daimyo of the Land of Fire upon returning, then once the daimyo learns of it and refuses to approve Gengetsu's succession, Gengetsu won't be able to serve as Hokage either!"
Mitokado Homura slapped his thigh, his eyes immediately lighting up.
To become a true Hokage in Konoha, gaining the village's internal approval alone was far from enough.
Nominally, Konoha belonged to the Land of Fire. The Hokage's final appointment required the approval and formal investiture of the daimyo of the Land of Fire.
If the daimyo of the Land of Fire refused, then no matter how much authority Gengetsu wielded within the village, he would only be an Acting Hokage, without legitimate standing!
Clearly, after suffering a crushing defeat in the village's internal political struggle, Hiruzen Sarutobi intended to use someone else to do his dirty work, relying on the daimyo of the Land of Fire to rein in Gengetsu and drag him off the Hokage's seat for good.
Elsewhere.
News that Gengetsu had led the Uchiha Clan in swiftly crushing the strikes across the various departments had already spread throughout Konoha.
Konoha's major shinobi clans-the Hyuga, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Aburame, Inuzuka Clan, and others-were all closely watching this power struggle.
They were also very curious whether the newly appointed Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Gengetsu, would win this bloodless war, or whether Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, who had controlled Konoha for decades, would have the last laugh.
At that moment, inside a barbecue restaurant on one of Konoha's bustling streets.
Meat sizzled with fat on the iron griddle, giving off an enticing aroma.
Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Chōza Akimichi, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, were sitting there eating barbecue.
"Shikaku, what do you think of Gengetsu, the newly appointed Fifth Hokage?"
Inoichi Yamanaka set down his sake cup and looked at Shikaku Nara across from him, asking with a serious expression.
Chōza Akimichi, sitting beside them, also looked over curiously.
Of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Shikaku Nara was the smartest, so whenever they had questions, they would ask him.
At the question, Shikaku Nara pondered for a moment before saying:
"Actually, I used to hear Lord Fourth mention Gengetsu often."
"Lord Fourth thought very highly of Gengetsu and had great hopes for him. He even told me privately that he intended to groom Gengetsu as the next Hokage."
As Shikaku Nara recalled Minato Namikaze's words from when he was alive, a trace of nostalgia and emotion showed in his eyes.
"I just never expected Lord Fourth to die so young, or for Gengetsu to become Hokage so soon."
Clearly, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had already been very familiar with Gengetsu.
During the Third Shinobi World War, they had teamed up with Gengetsu many times to complete extremely dangerous missions on the battlefield.
The three of them sincerely admired and acknowledged Gengetsu's terrifying strength, as well as his decisiveness and his calm, astute mind.
But they had never imagined that the situation would change so quickly. Yesterday, the Fourth Hokage had been in charge; today, Gengetsu had already become the Fifth Hokage.
"Yeah! Who could have imagined that old bastard Danzo would do something like that? Stealing Wood Release and the Sharingan, and even triggering the Nine-Tails' Rampage... Danzo was completely insane!"
Chōza Akimichi swallowed the meat in his mouth and could not help slapping the table as he spoke angrily.
"Whatever the case, Gengetsu taking power is far better than that treacherous bastard Danzo becoming Hokage. Let's hope Gengetsu can do a good job as the Fifth Hokage and lead Konoha out of its current difficulties."
Inoichi Yamanaka could not help nodding in agreement.
However, Shikaku Nara shook his head slightly, his brows drawing tightly together.
"Inoichi, Chōza, it's not that simple."
Shikaku Nara continued, his tone growing somewhat heavy.
"Being Hokage isn't that easy."
While the three ate barbecue and chatted, Gengetsu walked over from a distance.
"Shikaku, Inoichi, Chōza!"
"It really has been a long time!"
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