Mitokado Homura remained silent for several seconds before he finally murmured, "Hiruzen… after all, he's already been Hokage for a very long time. Trying to find someone within the village who can be compared with him is very difficult. First, they must possess equally high—or at least slightly inferior—prestige, and second… they must have sufficient strength."
There was one more sentence that Mitokado Homura did not voice—it would be best if that person were not standing on the same side as Hiruzen.
Otherwise, replacing the Hokage would be meaningless, because Hiruzen could still act as Konohagakure's Supreme Elder behind the scenes.
Of course, if he were to say those words aloud, that would truly make him a complete traitor.
Mitokado Homura was not yet heartless enough toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He still leaned somewhat toward Hiruzen.
"What about Tsunade?" Yet at that moment, Uchiha Keizumi suddenly gave a name, causing Mitokado Homura to freeze for a second.
Because he realized… this candidate did seem rather suitable!
Tsunade, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, and one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha—during the Great Ninja War, she had saved countless lives through her medical ninjutsu, and her prestige among the shinobi was actually quite high.
Moreover, she had recently had a falling-out with Hiruzen, clearly making it impossible for her to stand on his side.
"Wait…"
Unable to help himself, Mitokado Homura turned to look at Uchiha Keizumi and said, "Keizumi, why do I feel… as if you had already appointed Tsunade to succeed Hiruzen's position long ago…"
A sudden chill crept through his heart, as if Uchiha Keizumi was far from as simple as everyone imagined.
The man seemed to possess a scheming depth that he could not fathom.
He seemed to have long since made various contingency plans for the current situation of Konohagakure.
Uchiha Keizumi merely replied indifferently, "It's only because, among the current candidates in Konoha, she's the most suitable one."
"Then what about Jiraiya? He's also in Konoha, and he's one of the Sannin as well. He has a high reputation in Konoha too, and he isn't entirely on Hiruzen's side either." Mitokado Homura felt as if he had gone insane—he was actually discussing changing the Hokage with Uchiha Keizumi.
"But he stands on the side of an unrealistic delusion," Uchiha Keizumi said slowly. "A foolish man who seeks to find a so-called savior to save and reform the entire shinobi world—if you let such a person become Hokage of Konoha, it's possible the village might end up even worse than it is now."
Mitokado Homura very much wanted to ask—would appointing a drunken, self-indulgent gambling addict as Hokage really be any better than what they had now?
But upon thinking carefully, he suddenly realized…
Lately, Tsunade seemed to have been going to the Konoha casinos far less often.
Back when Tsunade had first returned to Konoha, she had visited the casinos almost every day, losing several million ryō each time—becoming the casino's greatest benefactor (or rather, its fattest sheep).
Yet in recent days, the number of times Tsunade went to the casino had been decreasing by the day. From several times a day, it had become once every three or four days.
And the reason wasn't that she had run out of money.
It seemed rather that she had started to have other things keeping her busy.
For example…
Establishing a new medical corps outside of Konoha's system.
It was said that these past few days, Tsunade had been running around everywhere for that purpose, so busy she was nearly losing her mind. Yet no one knew what force was driving her, keeping her from giving up and instead gritting her teeth to persist, running back and forth tirelessly.
Such a transformation almost made Mitokado Homura fail to recognize Tsunade.
Hmm…
Strictly speaking, it wasn't exactly a transformation—after all, before she fell apart, Tsunade had always possessed that kind of passion.
It was only after her relatives and lover had died one after another…
That Tsunade fell into the quagmire of life's confusion.
"Perhaps…" Mitokado Homura knew perfectly well that he didn't have to answer Uchiha Keizumi's question, but for some reason, he still spoke up: "Tsunade really is quite suitable… at least as a backup candidate for Hokage. Mm… actually, Koharu and I had long ago chosen the backup candidates for the next Hokage—one of them is Tsunade, and the other is Jiraiya."
After saying that, Mitokado Homura hurriedly left the Uchiha Police Force headquarters without delay, afraid that if he stayed any longer, he might not be able to stop himself from saying even more.
That would truly be a betrayal to Hiruzen…
His conscience wouldn't be able to bear it.
That would make him a real traitor.
Mitokado Homura comforted himself inwardly, believing that he was only doing this for the sake of the Mitokado Clan and Konoha's future.
He was being forced to act this way.
"…That guy seems to be some big shot from Konoha, right? If I remember correctly, his name should be Mitokado Homura. I've seen his name and portrait on the bounty list of the ninja world's underground black market—if I'm not mistaken, his bounty was around twenty-five million ryō."
As that voice sounded...
Biwa Jūzō stepped out from behind a folding screen in the Police Force Commander's office—he had been concealing his presence there ever since Mitokado Homura had entered.
Biwa Jūzō remarked with a sigh, "Uchiha Keizumi, don't tell me you're planning a coup in Konoha? I was just about to join you, and here you've already put on such a grand show. Did I just walk right into a troublesome whirlpool on my own?"
Hearing the self-mocking tone in Biwa Jūzō's voice, Uchiha Keizumi said indifferently, "You don't need to concern yourself with Konoha's affairs. What you need to focus on is the situation in the Land of Water—Kirigakure."
Biwa Jūzō narrowed his eyes, asking with a trace of impatience, "So you're already planning to move against the Land of Water? But…"
Biwa Jūzō asked doubtfully, "You haven't even finished dealing with Konoha yet, and you still have to face the Hokage next. In such a situation, can you really spare attention to handle the Land of Water's affairs as well?"
Uchiha Keizumi said, "I'll leave Konoha's affairs to Tsunade. If she can't even take down Sarutobi Hiruzen, then she's not fit to become the next Hokage of Konoha."
Biwa Jūzō was dumbfounded. "Don't tell me that Tsunade-hime of the Legendary Sannin has already become your subordinate?"
"No," Uchiha Keizumi said frankly.
Biwa Jūzō asked doubtfully, "Then why are you so sure she'll do exactly as you say?"
"She will," Uchiha Keizumi said calmly.
Biwa Jūzō couldn't make sense of it no matter how much he thought about it. However, from Uchiha Keizumi's words, he did catch another implication—since Keizumi was entrusting the matter of the Hokage to Tsunade, that meant he was likely planning to personally make a trip to Kirigakure himself!
This…
At that moment, Biwa Jūzō suddenly felt somewhat lost. Could it really be possible that the Bloody Mist policy which had plunged Kirigakure into such a state would one day come to an end? And the one to end it… would actually be an outsider?
…
Afternoon.
Tsunade stared in shock at the expressionless Uchiha Keizumi before her, and for a moment, she nearly gave up thinking altogether.
"Huh? What?!!"
It took Tsunade several seconds to recover; she stared at Uchiha Keizumi's face for a few more seconds.
Then, unable to help herself, she began pacing back and forth, looking as though she wanted to speak but kept stopping herself, only to want to speak again.
After finally sorting out the chaos in her mind, Tsunade turned toward Uchiha Keizumi and said, "All I said was that I'd try to bypass the old man and establish a new Konoha medical corps on my own."
"Then the shinobi of this medical corps could provide a certain degree of medical support for the Police Force's shinobi. Both sides could cooperate with each other—only then could justice endure in the long run, and we could also avoid too many irreparable casualties."
"But the problem is…"
"I never said I wanted to be Hokage of Konoha! Just hearing about such a position makes my scalp tingle! Once you sit in that seat, you probably won't even get a single day of rest, right?"
Seeing the somewhat exasperated Tsunade, Uchiha Keizumi said in a calm tone, "If you want to establish a new medical corps, then you can't avoid the Third Hokage. Especially since your goal is set on the students of the Ninja Academy—there's no way to get around him."
"And moreover…"
Uchiha Keizumi paused and said, "If you were to serve as Hokage of Konoha, the implementation of Absolute Justice throughout the Land of Fire would progress even faster."
"The speed at which Justice would correct the Land of Fire's twisted and distorted moral concepts would also be much faster and more effective than we initially anticipated."
"Once you sit in that position, there are things that—no matter if they're said a hundred times or ten thousand times—no one would listen to… but if you say them just once, people will follow."
Seeing Tsunade's expression suddenly freeze before him, Uchiha Keizumi continued, "Since you've chosen to stand on the side of Absolute Justice, that means you wish for the shinobi world to become a little better. Sometimes, you must remove all obstacles standing before Justice—only then can the seeds of Justice be sown across the shinobi world."
Tsunade's expression grew complicated. "If I don't become Hokage, then Konoha Village and the Land of Fire… are they beyond saving?"
Uchiha Keizumi said, "You can look at what the Third has done."
That single sentence blocked everything Tsunade had wanted to say.
"What about Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked.
"Do you really think he's capable?" Uchiha Keizumi countered simply.
"…Tch, that guy really has been completely fooled by those toads from Mount Myōboku." Tsunade irritably ruffled her own hair. "Is it really necessary to drive the old man off the seat? He's already so old—maybe he'll just suddenly drop dead someday."
Uchiha Keizumi said indifferently, "You should understand what the word 'procrastination' means to Justice."
"Yes, yes, I know! It means delayed Justice! It means innocent victims! It means evil people who shelter the perpetrators! It means deepening twisted and distorted ideologies! In serious cases, it will… it will cause Nawaki's tragedy to repeat itself…"
Tsunade took a deep breath.
As she spoke, for some reason, she suddenly fell silent.
No one knew how long that silence lasted before Tsunade raised her head and met Uchiha Keizumi's gaze at arm's length. She asked somewhat blankly, "If the Hokage changes, will that really change a lot of things?"
"It can't be guaranteed one hundred percent," Uchiha Keizumi replied slowly. "Because it depends on how much resolve you yourself have."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes slightly. "Wait a second… could it be that the reason you want me to become the next Hokage of Konoha is just to use me as a tool to oppose the old man?"
Uchiha Keizumi said, "If that's how you prefer to interpret it, then you can interpret it that way."
Tsunade clicked her tongue and said, "Alright, alright! I'll think about it."
After watching Uchiha Keizumi leave, Tsunade slowly exhaled a deep breath.
Behind her, Shizune, who had been listening to their conversation, was already trembling in fear.
Swallowing hard, Shizune waited until Uchiha Keizumi's figure completely disappeared before timidly asking, "Tsunade-sama, are you really going to compete with the Third Hokage for the position of Hokage? Isn't that… a bit too outrageous? You know, even though the Hokage-sama is a bit older, his health is still quite good."
"And… and the Hokage-sama is your sensei too!"
Hearing Shizune's anxious words, Tsunade glanced back at her and said speechlessly, "I never agreed to Uchiha Keizumi's proposal, so what are you panicking for? Why are you trembling while talking?"
Shizune said weakly, "Because, judging by Tsunade-sama's personality, if you had wanted to refuse outright, you would have already said so in a firm tone. But you said you'd think about it… which actually means you've already made up your mind about what to do."
Tsunade: "…"