If Danzo were still alive, he would probably be furious upon hearing Meikyō's words.
Dan Katō was also filled with many emotions at this moment.
More than a decade ago, they plotted for years and made countless efforts to seize the position of Hokage, and finally managed to take it ten years ago.
Ten years later, when he expressed his intention to pass on the Hokage position to Meikyō, this guy actually wanted him to serve for another ten years.
What kind of nonsense is this?
Dan Katō a wry smile and continued:
"No, Meikyō, in the current village, only you can be the Hokage. Although I hate to admit it, in the current situation, I am truly incapable of shouldering the responsibilities that a Hokage should bear. In the current village, only you have the ability. Whether it is strength or prestige, you have surpassed all the previous Hokage. At this time, replacing the Hokage with a more talented and outstanding one will better boost the morale of the ninjas."
Thoughts raced through Meikyō's mind.
Is the position of Hokage tiring? Of course it is, and Dan Katō is undoubtedly the most stressed and mentally pressured Hokage in Konoha right now.
The First Hokage was carefree and left everything to Tobirama Senju. He only needed to make decisions on important matters, and even if these decisions were flawed, Tobirama Senju, the external brain, would clean up the mess.
Tobirama Senju was exceptionally capable and accomplished the most practical tasks. He also perfected the initial system of Konoha. After the First Hokage's death, Tobirama Senju took on all the affairs of Konoha, big and small, but at least those matters were within his own scope of handling.
Needless to say, the Third Hokage Hokage was quite diligent when he first took over Hokage. Although his abilities were somewhat lacking, he had Danzo to do the dirty work for him, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu to help with administrative affairs, and the rich legacy accumulated by the previous two Hokage. In the early stages, he also had Mito Uzumaki as Mito Uzumaki, and in the later stages, the Sannin rose to prominence. No matter how poor his abilities were or how much he squandered the wealth, he could still get through it all thanks to Konoha's strong foundation.
But Dan Katō was less fortunate.
Hokage hadn't even been Hokage for two years when he started causing trouble, and his strength and influence only grew stronger.
Being the Hokage must be incredibly stressful.
"Okay, then."
Meikyō made up her mind that she would definitely find a way to develop something like artificial intelligence to help her deal with these things.
Meikyō took over as Hokage, there was actually no need for a vote of confidence or anything like that.
During the First Hokage's era, there was Madara who could compete with him. Even though the First Hokage wanted to hand over the position to Hokage, Tobirama Senju created a voting process to push Hashirama Senju the position.
The Second Hokage was directly appointed by the First Hokage. At that time, the First Hokage had the prestige within the village to directly designate his successor, and the Second Hokage was the only qualified person in Konoha at that time.
The same applies to the Second Hokage appointing the Third Hokage as successor. He has the prestige, but the Third Hokage lacks the prestige and ability, so he needs the help of his old classmate.
When it came time to select the Fourth Hokage, the Third Hokage no longer had the power to push someone into the position. This was not only because he himself was inferior to the previous Fourth Hokage Hokage, but also because there were too many people capable of succeeding him. The Third Hokage himself could not suppress factional infighting and could only vote.
As for the Fourth Hokage, history has entered another cycle. The difference this time is that only Meikyō can become the Fifth Generation Kage, and even Dan Katō, the Fourth Hokage, wants to retire early.
After the meeting.
Uchiha Clan Compound.
"So, the Uchiha is finally going to have a Hokage!"
Uchiha Yu leaned back in his recliner, basking in the sun, smoking his pipe, his face full of satisfaction.
"Meikyō, when I was young, I was at most a Jonin. Even though I was considered pretty good among Jonin, I was definitely far from your current level. But I have lived for more than eighty years, so I still have some experience to share with you. Of course, what I say may not be correct, but I think it should still be of some help to you."
Uchiha Yu put down his pipe and got up from the recliner.
"No matter what you think now, you must take over the position of Hokage as soon as possible. I can see that you are averse to trouble and do not want to be entangled in all sorts of trivial matters. But you can choose not to care and just hold the title of Hokage. You can take charge when you want to. After all, your strength is there. Strength is the foundation of everything. No one in Konoha can stand in your way no matter what you want to do."
"Just like the First Hokage fifty years ago, Tobirama Senju was basically in charge of more than 90% of the village's affairs. But once the First Hokage wanted to do something, no one could stop him. The entire village would do everything in its power to carry out the First Hokage's will. That's what absolute strength and prestige bring."
"The same as you."
Uchiha Yu took another puff of his pipe, exhaled a smoke ring, and continued:
"Moreover, now that Minato and Kushina have joined forces, they possess combat power surpassing that of a Kage. Once Fugaku and Shisui also awaken their Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, how will Dan suppress them? In the past, you were Dan's successor and the absolute heir of Konoha, so it didn't matter that your strength surpassed Dan's. On the contrary, it could stabilize Dan's position and increase his prestige."
"But after that, only you can keep things under control when you become Hokage. Fugaku and Shisui are both your clansmen, and Shisui is even your younger brother. Minato Namikaze has a gentle and calm personality and you have a good relationship with him. Whether from the perspective of your own strength or from the perspective of balancing the various forces in the village, you are the only candidate."
Meikyō sat at the stone table, listening to Uchiha Yu's account, and couldn't help but nod.
There is a saying, "When things reach their peak, they begin to decline."
When a power reaches its peak, once it shows even the slightest sign of decline, it will quickly weaken and become difficult to recover.
From a historical perspective, Konoha has reached an unprecedented peak, and even in the entire Ninja World, it is the era with the most and strongest high-end combat power since the Sage of Six Paths.
In the past, having the strength of a Kage Level was enough to become a Kage. The weaker the strength, the greater the role that intelligence and numbers could play in battle. Even a slightly weaker Kage Level could potentially defeat a stronger Kage Level if the tactics were well-planned.
This is why Danzo, despite being weaker than the Third Hokage, was always eyeing the Hokage position.
From this perspective, he does indeed have the strength to become a Kage, and everyone's strength is not so great that it cannot be overshadowed by other factors.
If this kind of thing can happen when the leader and a very small number of individuals under his command are of similar strength, then if someone with only the strength of Kage Level were to be ranked above multiple Super Kage-level, there would most likely be problems.
Once Konoha loses Madara as an external pressure, who knows what will happen? Even with my Six Paths level strength as a backup, it's still not something that an ordinary Kage Level Dan Katō can control.
"I understand, Grandpa Yu. I'll make all the necessary preparations for the next period of time."
Meikyō nodded to Uchiha Yu.
Anyway, my goal for the next period of time is to stay in the Naruto World, understand the various Kekkei Genkai, and try to fuse with the Kekkei Mōra.
This is a rather time-consuming task.
Furthermore, the plan is to eliminate Uchiha Madara and completely eliminate the current crisis in the Ninja World.
Then I can leave a Wood Clone in the Hokage's Office while my main body roams around.
"Judging by the time, it's almost time. Let's go. We still have to attend Itachi's funeral. After all, I've watched this kid grow up."
Uchiha Yu slowly stood up from the recliner, and Meikyō made a gesture to help him up.
"I don't need your help. I plan to walk more while I can still walk without crutches."
Uchiha Yu waved his hand and slowly walked out the door.
Meikyō touched his nose, said nothing, but picked up a few bunches of chrysanthemums from the table and followed.
To be honest, he hadn't experienced the feeling of walking slowly like this in a long time.
During the Mangekyo era, he would conserve his eye power and not use Amenotejikara lightly. However, after mastering the Flying Thunder God, he rarely traveled normally anymore.
Now that he has mastered the ability to replicate Blast, he hardly ever travels normally anymore, instead simply casting a Teleportation Circle to get there in one step.
Walking around the streets now, I can see some changes that have taken place in Konoha in recent years—with the promotion of the two high-ranking officials, Meikyō and Orochimaru, Konoha's technology is developing extremely rapidly, and many modern products have already appeared.
Although it doesn't yet resemble the international, modern metropolis of the future Boruto: Naruto Next Generations era, many high-rise buildings have already been constructed.
"We've arrived at the Memorial Stone."
Uchiha Yu's aged eyes swept around, and all he saw were people dressed in black, holding chrysanthemums, just like them.
"The funeral hasn't started yet, I'll go and pay my respects to the others first."
Uchiha Yu took the two bunches of chrysanthemums and walked to the other side.
That's where his son and daughter-in-law, who died in battle decades ago, stood.
Meikyō also went to the place where the original owner's parents were and paid her respects.
After the worship ceremony, footsteps approached Meikyō's side.
"Life is so fragile, isn't it, Meikyō -kun? With the Mangekyō Sharingan, Itachi was a powerful figure who could have threatened the Kage of a village in the past, yet he left this world at such a young age. Don't you think life is a very sad and cruel thing?"
It's obvious that Orochimaru said those words.
The old philosopher is one of them.
Because of the funeral, Snake Uncle was wearing a black kimono this time.
"Perhaps so. We are destined to have a lifespan far longer than that of ordinary people. Even if one day we reach a point where we can no longer make progress in our cultivation techniques, we will still have other means to escape the limitations of lifespan. We will eventually have to learn to get used to the passing of other passersby in our lives."
Meikyō stood up without turning around.
"Looks like I don't need to persuade you to change your mindset anymore. We really are the same kind of people."
Orochimaru smiled.
Meikyō did not answer, but only said:
"The funeral has begun. Get back to your units."
The two walked forward together along the path.
The crowd quickly made way for the two Konoha High Command officials.
At the very front of the crowd was not Dan Katō, the Hokage, but three other members of Uchiha Itachi's family.
Uchiha Mikoto embraced Sasuke, and the two of them wept bitterly. Uchiha Fugaku gently comforted his wife and son, his expression sorrowful.
The news that Uchiha Itachi sacrificed his life while on a mission as an undercover agent has already been announced in the village. As a result, many people still came here spontaneously to bid farewell to the young ninja who had been burdened with infamy for more than a year.
Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Jin led the way, along with two other Konoha Ninja, carrying the coffin through the crowd.
Because Uchiha Itachi died almost without a complete body, leaving behind only his Mangekyō Sharingan besides his ashes, his clothes were also found in this coffin in addition to his ashes.
He didn't wear the Akatsuki Organization's red cloud black robe, nor did he wear the Konoha Rogue Ninja Forehead Protector. This was to fulfill Uchiha Itachi's dying wish and die as a Konoha Ninja.
Therefore, it contained Shisui's Shisui Jonin Vest, Uchiha Itachi's small Uchiha turtleneck coat worn in the Ninja Academy, and so on.
It's worth mentioning that among the other two Konoha Ninja, one was Kazemaki Kibata, the Jonin who Jonin the team during Uchiha Itachi 'Genin days, and the other was a middle-aged man in his forties.
Kuroda Ofune was Uchiha Itachi's teacher at the Ninja Academy, and also the teacher of Meikyō, who was less than ten years old at the Ninja Academy twenty years ago.
Yes, he was even Shisui's teacher at the Ninja Academy.
The main reason is that he trained Uchiha Meikyō, and the class he led at the time later included Kazemaki Kibata and Inuzuka Tsume, making a total of three Jonin. In addition, eight people from that class survived and became Special Jonin —actually, there should have been nine, but one died during a mission.
The success rate is astonishing.
Therefore, he has always been the most recognized teacher in the Ninja Academy, and he has always been the one teaching the elite class of the Ninja Academy. That is why he has served as the teacher of Shisui and Itachi.
The funeral has ended.
The following day.
Biological Science Laboratory, inside the newly established First Scientific Research Institute of Konoha.
After finishing their work on Uchiha Itachi's funeral, Shisui and Fugaku began their life of being studied here.
"I never expected that you, Meikyō, would make such great progress in biological sciences. Whether it's methods or techniques, you've far surpassed me, your teacher."
Standing before the instrument that Meikyō had painstakingly modified and handcrafted overnight, Tsunade's heart was filled with complex emotions.
Meikyō smiled but didn't say anything.
The One-Punch Man World has a very high level of world-class technology.
Not to mention Genus, who is practically the pinnacle of biology in the One-Punch Man World.
Given her close relationship with such a super scientist, how could Meikyō not try to learn from him?
It wasn't really stealing anyone's knowledge. Meikyō simply used his Rinnegan to quickly read through most of Genus's collection of books and then used his immense Mental Power to memorize them.
If there's anything you don't understand, just ask Genus. If Genus can't explain it clearly either, then just give a live demonstration.
With the Mirror God Eye in hand, Meikyō can understand with just a glance.