"Ah, it's alright, Minato. When I was young, I was just like you. Or rather, how many Konoha Ninja didn't dream of becoming Hokage?"
Dan Katō smiled and shook his head.
Minato Namikaze will be an important member of the Fourth Hokage's team in the future, and since he has already secured victory, he will not bother with him.
At this time, Konoha Ninja of high status, such as Tsunade Uchiha Meikyō, had already taken the stage to begin voting.
Next up were Jonin like Kurenai Yuhi and Shirakumo Tokinobu, who had already been confirmed to belong to Dan Katō's faction, and they quickly accumulated more than twenty votes.
Minato Namikaze currently only has two votes, cast by Jiraiya and Kushina Uzumaki.
Next came the nearly fifty votes from the Uchiha Clan and Inuzuka Clan Aburame Clan Ninja Clan, along with the twenty-odd votes from the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans under Torifu Akimichi's leadership.
More than half of the Konoha Jonin have already voted for Dan Katō.
This means that Minato Namikaze has essentially been eliminated from the Hokage Election.
At this point, Hyuga Hiashi led more than twenty Jonin from the Hyuga Clan Jonin cast their votes for Dan Katō.
They will choose whoever wins.
By this point, approximately 120 Jonin had already cast their votes for Dan Katō, representing nearly two-thirds of the total.
Seeing this, Minato Namikaze could not hide his disappointment, but he still turned around and Dan Katō.
Now, even those flat-out ninjas and ninjas from small and medium-sized clans who previously couldn't grasp the situation have cast their votes for Dan Katō.
And Minato Namikaze's vote count finally changed.
Kakashi voted for him.
"Kakashi, thank you."
Minato Namikaze composed himself as much as possible and patted Kakashi's head with a smile.
"And thank you, Kushina and Jiraiya- sensei."
Jiraiya sighed softly.
He felt that his disciple indeed had the potential to become Hokage, and was capable of becoming a Hokage even better than the Third Hokage. But unfortunately, it was fate that Minato Namikaze would most likely never become Hokage.
Kushina forced a smile and nestled into Minato Namikaze's arms.
Looking at Kushina in his arms and Jiraiya and Kakashi beside him, Minato Namikaze suddenly felt that it wasn't such a big deal if he couldn't become Hokage.
Even if I can't become Hokage, I can still protect the village, my comrades, and all the most precious things in the world with my life, just like the Hokage!
"From today onwards, I am no longer the Hokage, but an ordinary Konoha Jonin. I should also have the right to vote, right?"
The Third Hokage removed his Hokage hat, slowly walked down from the platform, and spoke to Dan Katō.
He only chose to step down when the outcome was already decided.
"Of course, you may do whatever you wish Third Hokage-sama."
Dan Katō bowed slightly and said.
He received more than two-thirds of the votes, and now it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he is the Fourth Hokage. No matter what the Third Hokage wanted to do, he couldn't change the outcome.
"That's good."
The Third Hokage nodded, casting his vote for Dan Katō. He then turned Jonin the dozen or so Sarutobi Clan who had remained motionless and reprimanded them:
"What are you all standing there for?!"
The Jonin of the Sarutobi Clan Jonin what was happening and went up to cast their votes for Dan Katō.
Upon seeing this, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance and sighed, making the same choice as the Third Hokage.
It is becoming a fact that Dan Katō will become the Fourth Hokage. The Third Hokage did this in order to protect the Sarutobi Clan.
After all, with the Third Hokage gone, it's uncertain whether the Sarutobi Clan can still reap the same benefits as before. But it's certain that if they offend the Fourth Hokage, the Sarutobi Clan's future will be bleak.
That's why the Third Hokage took this action to ease tensions between the two sides.
Jonin this, several Jonin from the Shimura Clan gritted their teeth and cast their votes for Dan Katō.
Ultimately, the Jonin vote resulted in Dan Katō passing with an overwhelming 182 votes.
Next, he will travel to the Daimyo's Mansion to gain the daimyo's approval.
Regardless of whether this matter is just a formality, given the kinship between Tsunade and the Daimyo, it's impossible for Dan Katō to be rejected by the Daimyo.
After returning from the Daimyo's place, you can go back to the village to hold the Hokage Ceremony and announce the birth of the Fourth Hokage to Konoha and the Ninja World.
With the Hokage Election a great success, Meikyō finally had some free time to focus his energy on the Pirate World.
For the next few years, the Ninja World will be peaceful overall, and there won't be many things that would warrant his intervention.
Pirate World.
When Meikyō arrived here using the Reincarnator's Wristwatch, the Shadow Clone's movements only paused slightly before being replaced by the native using the Mirror Body Flicker Technique Movement.
Sitting cross-legged in the cabin, Meikyō quickly sorted out the memories transmitted by the Shadow Clone within just a few seconds.
The Arlong Pirates have been defeated by Sabo, Kuina, and Koala.
As one of the minor bosses Luffy encountered in the early stages, the Arlong Pirates are a good benchmark for measuring the strength of the three of them.
After defeating the Arlong Pirates, Koala voluntarily left a portion of Arlong Park's wealth to the villagers of Cocoyasi Village and Poconoya Village, and seems to have also formed a good relationship with Nami and Nojiko.
She hid 80% of the remaining treasure, waiting for the Revolutionary Army to "accidentally" discover it and use it as funding for the Revolutionary Army.
Twenty percent was left on the ship as the source of income for the group's voyage.
In addition to these, they also received the last legacy of the Arlong Pirates.
The Moo Moo the Sea Cow.
This large, adorable-looking sea cow was controlled by Meikyō using Genjutsu to help them pull the boat.
Now, with the help of Moo Moo the Sea Cow, their ship is about to land in Loguetown.
There, Meikyō could use the relationship she had built with Yumushiki to travel directly through the Calm Belt to the Grand Line with the navy's warships.
Not everyone who travels to the Grand Line goes through Reverse Mountain; that route is quite dangerous.
In pursuit of safety, many caravans pay a fee to the World Government to allow their fleets to follow naval warships through the Calm Belt —the warships have Seastone embedded in their hulls, which can ward off dangerous Sea King.
As for the lack of wind in the Calm Belt, that's not a big deal. There are many ways to replace wind as the power source for ships, and if you pay enough, you can even have naval warships pull your ship ahead.
Therefore, the navy has missions such as escorting merchant ships every now and then, which makes those merchant ships like to band together, hire the navy, and form a fleet that can cross the Calm Belt.
This could bring huge profits to the navy and the World Government.
Meikyō and his crew weren't wanted pirates, and given their connection to Yumushiki, they should be able to...
The ship docked at the port of Loguetown. After leaving the Moo Moo the Sea Cow to guard the ship, Meikyō and his group passed through the archway that read "Loguetown" and entered the bustling street.
"You guys can look around on your own and buy whatever you want. I'll go register at the Marine Branch base."
Meikyō greeted Kuina and the others, then turned and headed towards the Marine Branch.
He hadn't walked far when he noticed that the way the passersby were looking at him was a bit strange.
Even if someone with a knife on their back is following you, this tracking method is full of loopholes in front of a qualified ninja.
"This is..."
Meikyō frowned slightly, then deliberately slipped into the crowd, turned a few corners, and disappeared into a corner of a small alley.
He brought his hands together, one above the other, to form a hand seal, and the Transformation Jutsu was successfully activated.
When they emerged from the alley, Meikyō had transformed into a blond young man wearing a long blue robe.
After transforming into Minato Namikaze, Meikyō went to a newsstand and bought the latest issue of the newspaper.
During the first two days of sailing at sea, they did not encounter News Bird, and therefore had no way of knowing the latest political news.
"Shocking! The prince of the Bourgeois Kingdom has been expelled from the country because he's too handsome?"
"A severe drought has struck! Rainfall has ceased throughout the Alabasta Kingdom, except for the capital Alubarna, due to suspected illegal use of 'Dancing Powder'!"
Without lingering on world news, Meikyō quickly turned to the East Blue section of the newspaper.
"The Death of Captain Kuro! Morgan, the New Hero of the Marine Branch 153!"
"The new dishes launched by the Baratie have been well received!"
"The Suna Town in the Konome Islands has been reduced to ruins, and the suspect is...?"
Meikyō frowned slightly and looked at the third news item.
The top photo on the cover of this page is of a destroyed town, and below that are photos of Meikyō, Kuina, Sabo, and others.
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi Red Swordsman who has defeated many sword masters on the Grand Line, is considered by many to be an admirer of Shanks, one of the newly crowned Four Emperors, due to his powerful swordsmanship and red hair. According to an interview with Captain Rat of the Marine Branch 16 in the East Blue, a few days ago, this powerful swordsman, along with his newly recruited subordinates, got into a dispute with the Arlong Pirates, which had split off from the Sun Pirates, and killed them."
"Shortly after that, Suna Town, located near Arlong Park, was devastated."
"Captain Rat believes that since both the Alvida Pirates and the Arlong Pirates, located in the Konome Islands, had already clashed with Tsugikuni Yoriichi, this swordsman known as 'Little Red-Haired' is the only suspect. Everyone, please be careful!"
"World Economic News reports for you."
Meikyō, his face dark, flipped through the newspaper.
"Hey buddy, you've been looking for so long, are you going to buy it or not? If you keep looking, I'm going to charge you!"
The newspaper owner, wearing floral shorts, fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan and spoke to Meikyō.
Meikyō raised his head slightly, left a Beli banknote, took the newspaper, and turned to leave.
A vast amount of Mental Power rapidly searched through his mind, and past memories surfaced one by one.
That scumbag colonel who, despite being a naval officer, collaborated with Arlong to oppress the people?
It seems that one of my men killed Arlong, causing him to suffer heavy losses, but he didn't dare to come to me personally, so he used my status as a naval captain to pull this stunt?
Meikyō immediately had the idea of returning.
It wasn't that I was afraid; rather, I wanted to go to the 16th Marine Branch and invite this Captain Rat for a cup of tea.
At a previous meeting of the Revolutionary Army's high command, they had already finalized part of their next course of action.
The strongest member of the Revolutionary Army besides Dragon, Meikyō, should try to become Shichibukai, and then, like Doflamingo, seize a territory in the New World as a springboard for the Revolutionary Army to expand into the New World.
It's worth mentioning that Bartholomew Kuma is also Shichibukai and currently the king of the Sorbeth Kingdom in the South Blue.
That place was also one of the Revolutionary Army's secret bases in the South Blue.
Previously, Meikyō was worried about how to obtain a spot among the Shichibukai since he wasn't a pirate.
After all, in addition to having sufficient strength, you also have to be a pirate to be a Shichibukai, because the definition of Shichibukai is a great pirate who is recognized by the World Government and has the right to privateer.
You might ask Meikyō to do the same kind of burning, killing, and looting as other pirates, but if it's about attacking the Navy, especially those scoundrels within the Navy, he has no qualms about it.
Loguetown Marine Branch, Base Chief's Office.
"Captain Rat, Rear Admiral Yumushiki of the G2 Branch does not approve of your application to list Tsugikuni Yoriichi and his gang as wanted criminals. He believes that swordsman Tsugikuni Yoriichi neutral strongman that the Navy can win over, and he requests to personally go to the East Blue to investigate the matter."
"This... Fleet Admiral Sengoku, this is not in accordance with the rules! Moreover, the Suna Town incident was definitely Tsugikuni Yoriichi. If it wasn't him, did you expect me to lead the Sixteenth Branch Navy to do it?"
Captain Rat in sweat, held the Den Den Mushi and spoke.
On the other sofa, a young, white-haired man was smoking a cigar, looking at Captain Rat with a mocking gaze.
During his years in the East Blue, Yumushiki's swordsmanship improved considerably thanks to occasional guidance from Meikyō. After his strength increased significantly, he was discovered by Garp, who was visiting his hometown. After being recommended, he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and now serves as Vice Admiral Gumile's second-in-command at the G2 Branch on the Grand Line.
After that, Smoker came to Loguetown to replace Yumushiki.
"I understand what you mean. Yumushiki and Tsugikuni Yoriichi have a personal relationship, and there is a possibility that he is protecting Yoriichi. Therefore, I rejected his application."
Captain Rat couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
"The Fleet Admiral Sengoku was brilliant!"
"Well, the investigation still needs to continue. For Nezumi, you'll stay at the Loguetown base. I've ordered Smoker to head to the Konome Islands for the investigation once you arrive in Loguetown."
Upon hearing the last part of Sengoku's words, Captain Rat stood frozen in place.
What kind of situation is this?
If the investigation finds out what he's already done, wouldn't he be locked up in Impel Down Impel Down? No, at least he could live in Impel Down, but Captain Rat isn't a Devil Fruit User, so he probably wouldn't even get an Impel Down.