"Still couldn't convince him?"
"Yeah. We only told him there was something urgent to 'call him about,' but otherwise not to bother him—he's busy, and... Lord Haseo has come up with a new excuse now. He claims he's searching for folk remedies to cure childlessness. He said he won't return to the village until he's bred enough little brats to fill a whole railway freight car."
"..."
Railway freight car? What kind of unit is that? A measure of quantity?
At this moment, both Elders felt exactly the same—hearts pounding with one desperate wish: to dethrone the Hokage now, end the Fourth's reign, and bring in the Fifth's era.
Getting rid of Haseo once and for all and replacing the Hokage candidate—that would have been their final political play… Unfortunately, it was impossible.
Whether or not Haseo remained in Konoha, his current prestige was undeniable. If there had been any other ninja qualified to become Hokage back then, why would the Elders have chosen Haseo at all?
Wasn't it simply because there had been no way around choosing him?
Faced with Haseo's achievements, every other ninja in Konoha could only feel overshadowed and fall into deep admiration.
Therefore, no matter how furious they felt regarding Haseo's sudden departure from Konoha, the countermeasures they could take were extremely limited. Once he had become Hokage, there was no way he could step down within the next few years.
The only possible way to make this happen would be to announce the Fourth's sudden and mysterious death—but spreading such news would carry enormous risks for Konoha. Their recently stabilized internal and external situation might collapse once again.
Such a decision would clearly be unwise.
As for simply telling the truth and announcing that the Fourth had run away from home—it would frankly cost Konoha too much face.
Therefore, even after exhausting all possible thinking and despite their intense emotional anger, the Elders eventually had no choice but to calm down and regain rationality… At this point, the most reasonable approach was to help Haseo conceal the truth and create the illusion that he had always remained in the village.
Undoubtedly, this was blackmail—but the two Elders had no choice but to accept it.
Thinking back on it, why did Haseo delegate so many daily administrative powers of the Hokage to Uzumaki Shikou? Probably because he'd already planned to leave the village in advance; he had premeditated this move.
Just like how Kagenami could operate independently after separating from Haseo, it was clear he was treating Konoha the same way.
Uzumaki Shikou's authority originated directly from Haseo himself, and she essentially acted as his extended arm. Therefore, the situation wasn't hard to understand: Although the Fourth had left Konoha, he still controlled everything within it.
Enjoying all the power of the Hokage without bearing its burdens, pulling strings from afar, yet still free to wander the land with his wife… You really shouldn't go full Haseo on responsibilities.
Therefore, Konoha genuinely needed a responsible new Hokage who could finally discard that irresponsible individual entirely.
...
On the northern battlefield of Konoha, deep within the forests of the Land of Rice Fields, Sakumo Hatake was leading a small squad on a reconnaissance mission, secretly investigating Kumo's movements.
As the squad paused briefly, an eagle silently circled several times above the dense and continuous canopy. Thanks to its excellent dynamic tracking ability and sharp vision, it located its target.
Then it beat its wings forcefully, diving down rapidly and slicing through multiple layers of foliage before landing on Sakumo Hatake's outstretched arm.
Sakumo immediately removed the encrypted message tied to the eagle's claw. With a swift glance, he crumpled the paper into shreds.
The contents of the secret letter were brief and straightforward—information that Sakumo already knew, so he merely allowed the faintest trace of a smile.
"Is something happening, Instructor Hatake?" Minato Namikaze asked. At this time, he was part of Sakumo Hatake's personal guard unit—which demonstrated that his abilities had already been highly recognized.
"Nothing particularly important," Sakumo naturally wouldn't reveal anything about Haseo directly, but he still offered a few rather pointed "clues":
"Minato, in my generation, even the most talented ninja were practically always overshadowed by the Fourth. Take me as an example: when I finally became capable of operating on the battlefield, the Fourth was already chasing down Jinchuriki and cutting them down."
Of course, there was some embellishment involved. Most Konoha shinobi nowadays regarded the tales of Haseo's "Frostfield Battle" as greatly exaggerated—hardly surprising considering the Fourth Hokage himself had been decisively defeated during that conflict.
Still, there was certainly truth in what Sakumo said.
"Respect aside, for strong and confident shinobi who value individual strength, being from the same era as the Fourth is actually somewhat unfortunate... He was just too extraordinary.
Though Haseo never cared much for the title of Hokage from beginning to end, eventually becoming Hokage wasn't really surprising.
Within a generation, there's usually only one person capable of such achievements."
This principle was quite straightforward, and therefore, Sakumo understood it well. So why couldn't Danzo Shimura grasp it? Perhaps the latter was slightly obsessed.
"Therefore, people like us might've been destined to play second fiddle, but you're different... Honestly speaking, Minato, you're actually quite lucky.
So... push forward, work hard, I believe in you."
"...Understood, Instructor Hatake."
Minato could comprehend the meaning and expectations within Sakumo's words, yet what puzzled him was why Sakumo would suddenly bring up these topics.
Indeed, who would normally imagine that the Fourth Hokage would leave home and disappear?
Among his generation of ninja so far, nobody seemed to have displayed better qualities than Minato—both his abilities and personal charisma stood out significantly. Thus, having high hopes for his future performance and achievements was completely normal.
Although he'd never become the Fourth, reaching the Fifth or even Sixth generation still held tremendous hope—and realistically speaking, the chances were extremely high.
Minato Namikaze's path to the upper echelons was quite smooth. Regardless of the influence brought by his mentor in ninjutsu, at the very least Haseo would not oppose Minato becoming the next Hokage—perhaps just because of the fixed impression in Haseo's mind, he wouldn't raise any objections to this matter.
After a heartfelt reminder to Minato Namikaze, Sakumo Hatake turned around, shook his arm slightly, and watched as that falcon flapped its wings and soared away. In an instant, it broke through the shade of the forest and the pure white clouds, rushing toward the higher sky...
Scenes flashed through Sakumo's mind one after another, prompting him to form a certain thought...
In fact, Haseo truly lived up to his name—he was a figure like a "storm," sometimes free-spirited, sometimes fierce. Ultimately, he was someone who refused to be bound and thus never got bound.
Hmm, was this considered praise from an old friend?
No, what Sakumo meant was... Haseo was more like a natural disaster.
Unlike Hatake Sakumo, who received news from Uzumaki Shikou, Orochimaru received a brief personally written message directly from Haseo, containing content both concise and heartbreaking:
1. Your salary is gone.
2. Your research funds are gone.
3. If it's time to go, just go. Don't wait until they drive you out—it will ruin your reputation otherwise.
So then, what kind of expression should Orochimaru make at a moment like this?
Seriously? Encouraging someone to become a Missing-nin is illegal, let alone when it comes to persuading a comrade.
What kind of situation was this...
"Self-exile" for Haseo, and "officially sanctioned defection" for Orochimaru?
However, with Orochimaru's personality, if he continued staying in Konoha, eventually something problematic would certainly arise. His way of thinking, his methods, and especially his attitude toward life were things generally unacceptable to ordinary people.
Except for a few forbidden techniques he hadn't yet had the chance to see, what else did Konoha have left that Orochimaru could possibly miss? During the Third Hokage's lifetime, Orochimaru had already seen most of Konoha's secret arts. Through many private channels, he had also exchanged for or even secretly stolen some of the restricted ones—he had seen plenty, whether permitted or forbidden.
Therefore, there was really nothing worth missing about Konoha... aside from the cultural landscapes of the Hot Spring Town and the long legs of the Uzumaki district.
Everything appeared calm on the surface, but behind the scenes, everything was already decided; only the lower-level ninja didn't sense the turbulence among the elite.
To them, as long as they could still see a fake Fourth Hokage clocking in every day, that was enough.
Everything seemed peaceful, right?
The person most deeply affected by Haseo's departure was probably Uzumaki Shikou. She had sensed this coming all along, yet when it finally happened... she herself couldn't quite define her feelings.
Feeling lost?
But how can you miss what you've never really had?
The golden-haired King got everything—but that's just how these things usually play out. Men's choices always seem to follow the same "universal standard"—like going for the ones with a better figure or a younger face.
Shikou and Haseo were close in age, whereas Tsunade was a "young lady" in need of care and protection.
Right now there was just one thing on Shikou's mind — something that concerned Tsunade but didn't concern Lord Haseo much.
"Chiho, now that Tsunade-sama has left with Lord Haseo, what about Yayoi's condition? She's been receiving regular treatments from Tsunade-sama, but now..."
Yayoi's physical condition was complicated. But now Konoha's best physician had run off.
"Tsunade-sama did mention this," answered Black Cat. "She said once she settles down, Yayoi could commute back and forth and continue the previous regular treatments."
To Shikou's surprise, Tsunade had actually made plans for this matter. It showed that Lady Katsuyu was at least more responsible than her husband.
Black Cat's words relieved Shikou.
But reality always turned out ironically frustrating — ultimately, she still owed Tsunade a favor.
Yet if one really had to say it, were Shikou and Tsunade rivals in love? Probably not. Tsunade had trapped herself within her own boundaries, while Shikou never once stepped beyond her own world.
Still, it just didn't feel fair — why would someone like Haseo suddenly become the center of everyone's attention?
That defied logic. It made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
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