Chapter 257: The Appointed Hokage, White Zetsu Appears
The people gathered at the scene were all stunned, looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi in disbelief, and finally at Akiyama Makoto.
Makoto's brow furrowed slightly. Hiruzen Sarutobi... this guy really had no brain.
After Minato Namikaze died in the Nine-Tails' attack, he had served as Hokage for more than ten years, yet he had never cultivated or designated a successor. Even today, he was still deluding himself that he could hold on for another five years.
Knowing full well that there were many problems with this Chūnin Exam, and that Orochimaru had already appeared and had been plotting for a long time, he still insisted on holding the exams for the sake of Konoha's reputation, and as a result, almost had his pants pulled down in public.
If it were just these operations, it would be one thing. At most, Hiruzen would be similar to the evaluation in the original story: a once-great shinobi hero who became a muddled old fool in his old age when it came to governing Konoha.
But his operation just now was enough to prove that Hiruzen, who had played with political manipulation all his life, probably didn't even understand what politics was. It was a classic case of a villain racking his brains only to be outdone by a fool's flash of "inspiration."
This guy had actually just tried to forcibly appoint Makoto as the next Hokage!
Leaving aside the fact that becoming Hokage required the consensus of Konoha and the approval of the Daimyō.
Hiruzen still didn't understand that one of the main reasons for the frequent chaos in Konoha was that the transfer of power under his reign was not clear enough. This ultimately led to the various clans being disunited, afraid to bet their loyalty on the new Hokage.
Even if Hiruzen had casually designated Kakashi or Asuma as his successor, giving them the qualification to be temporary Hokage in a crisis, the various clans of Konoha would have had a target for their loyalty in the next generation, and Konoha's cohesion would be much stronger than it was now.
But what did Hiruzen do?
A flash of "inspiration" ten seconds before his death. How were the clans that had once followed him, his partners, and his disciples supposed to deal with this last will?
Accept it?
Would the Daimyō agree? Could Makoto convince the public? Convincing the public wasn't just about being a hero. As Hokage, Makoto would have to balance the interests and conflicts between the various clans and maintain the political structure of the village and the country. Clearly, Makoto hadn't gone through any training in this area—in the eyes of the Konoha ninja.
Finally, and most critically, did Makoto himself agree? If he didn't, no one in Konoha could force him!
Conversely, what if everyone refused Hiruzen's last wish before his death?
Wouldn't that be disrespecting the Third Hokage and completely negating everything he had done? Would the clans that had followed the Third Hokage be seen as disloyal and be alienated and purged by the new Hokage in the future?
From the perspective of a ninja or a Konoha civilian, these things naturally didn't need to be considered.
But as a Hokage, did Hiruzen really not have these things in his head?
Makoto felt that there was at least a little.
Otherwise, the absurd incident of letting Hizashi Hyūga die in place of Hiashi Hyūga to pay with his life for the Cloud Head Ninja who tried to kidnap the heiress of the number one clan in Konoha would not have happened back then.
But that was all. He really didn't have much else. It was no exaggeration to describe Hiruzen's manipulative methods as "muddled."
Fighting wars, deploying troops, or personal combat power, Hiruzen might not have many problems.
As for the rest, Makoto felt that Tsunade, a wandering ninja who had seen big shots and the world, and even had good relationships with the Daimyō and nobles, was at a higher level than Hiruzen in this regard.
Many people's gazes shifted back and forth between Jiraiya and Makoto. Hiashi Hyūga looked even more intently at Makoto, wanting to find the answer in his eyes.
If Makoto was interested in this position, then the Hyūga clan would openly support him today.
Unfortunately, Makoto's ambition truly did not lie here. But he couldn't say it in this environment.
The current Makoto was no longer alone. He didn't want to do it, but there might be many people behind him who wanted him to do it, because it concerned their vital interests.
For example, the Hyūga clan ninja, whose members almost never held important positions in Konoha, might have the opportunity to re-enter Konoha's core circle. This could mean countless amounts of real gold and silver.
Even with the Caged Bird Seal, Hiashi didn't need to worry about the Hyūga ninja betraying him, but he still needed to consider the food and clothing of so many ninja in the Hyūga clan. Not to mention that Hiashi also had to ensure that the humiliation of the past would not happen again to the Hyūga clan.
The Hyūga clan was like this, and the Yamanaka clan and others were the same.
So Makoto spoke again. "Lord Jiraiya, we still have a lot of things to do. While I can, my little bit of medical ninjutsu might still be able to help."
"Indeed. Everyone, don't gather here. Clean up the battlefield and rebuild our homes."
"As for the remaining matters, the Hokage's Office will consider them carefully."
Jiraiya spoke, and Kakashi, Guy, and others responded one after another. Seeing such powerful ninja taking action, the others naturally couldn't fall behind.
Makoto released twenty shadow clones, running in different directions.
Having already revealed the Flying Thunder God, he didn't need to hide anymore. His figure flashed and appeared beside people who needed help, continuing to build his reputation and popularity.
He could choose not to be Hokage, but the more he didn't want to be Hokage, the more he had to work towards becoming a good Hokage. Only in this way could he maximize his value.
What was this value?
He didn't care about money, nor did he care about power in Konoha. However, there were some things he had to care about.
For example, right now, he could openly touch every disheveled woman, and their families and lovers had to look at him with gratitude.
Because right now, his identity was the hero who saved Konoha. He was diagnosing their physical condition as a medical ninja. Even if he said they needed to sit down and wait for him for half an hour, no one would dare to say no.
What's more, he was indeed treating their bodies.
He healed injuries, treated illnesses, and if they had neither, he helped them strengthen their bodies. In short, he aimed for universal praise.
Unfortunately, in order not to arouse suspicion, he also had to diagnose the men.
Fortunately, most men in Konoha would actively say they were fine and hope that Makoto would help the old, weak, women, and children first.
Most of the time, Makoto would follow the flow. Unless he encountered someone who was seriously injured or holding on by a thread, he would take the initiative to treat them.
Under Makoto's operation, twenty shadow clones earned a full 63 simulation attempts in one day, bringing his total number of simulation attempts to an astonishing 89!
If he continued to work hard, breaking a hundred simulation attempts today would not be a problem.
Unfortunately, there was no one left who needed his treatment for the time being. The first thing most people said when they saw him was: "Lord Akiyama, you've worked hard. Please rest early. Leave the rest of the work to us!"
He couldn't really force women, the elderly, and children to let him treat them for half an hour. He could only retreat for now. In the future, he would slowly obtain simulation attempts through excuses like universal physical examinations and opening clinics.
By the time he returned home, the sky had already darkened.
His home was close to the old Uchiha compound. One could imagine how remote it was. It could even be said that it was almost completely unaffected, as not a single enemy ninja had attacked here.
But just as he was planning to rest for a while, a figure suddenly appeared and stopped at the foot of his mansion, its aura faint.
His pupils constricted. Is what's meant to come finally here?
Ever since he obtained the Mind's Eye of Kagura, he had kept it active, or at least had a shadow clone keep it active, to prevent the existence of White Zetsu.
White Zetsu could use the Mayfly technique to merge his body with the earth and plants to achieve high-speed movement, cutting off all aura emissions while the jutsu was active.
Previously, Makoto had vaguely concluded that his current Mind's Eye of Kagura could not find a White Zetsu who had activated the Mayfly technique.
But White Zetsu wouldn't keep the Mayfly technique active all the time. Just like ordinary sensory ninja wouldn't keep their sensory abilities active 24 hours a day without interruption; their own chakra simply couldn't support it.
The White Zetsu in front of him was clearly like this. perhaps thinking that Makoto's home was very remote, or feeling that being underground was safe enough, he paused the Mayfly technique.
Since that was the case, don't blame Makoto for killing this guy who dared to spy on him from underground with a single blow.
He wouldn't sit idly by while the other party listed him as a surveillance target. He had no interest in letting Obito share the daily sights and sounds of his home.
As for whether killing a White Zetsu would arouse Obito's suspicion, he believed that at least this time it wouldn't. Obito should still be in the Hidden Mist Village at this time, unaware that Makoto had risen like a rocket.
This was probably also the reason why White Zetsu came here, wanting to get more intelligence from him.
He silently arrived directly above White Zetsu. He didn't stop, but casually touched the nearest tree, leaving a Hiraishin mark.
Then, after entering his home, he suddenly appeared with full firepower. His whole body was enveloped in lightning, and he held a kunai also wrapped in lightning in his hand. He then shot the kunai into the ground like a cannonball.
In an instant, the head of the White Zetsu twenty meters underground was shattered. But his action wasn't over yet.
He activated Earth Style: Underground Submarine Voyage to drill into the ground, pulled out White Zetsu's corpse, and quickly sealed it.
Not only that, but he also burned all the grass and tree roots around White Zetsu's location with Fire Style, and then used Earth Style to move this large area of earth to the center of the village, far away from his home.
After doing all this, he returned home with the scroll sealing White Zetsu.
Not long after, in an underground space in the Land of Water, a White Zetsu emerged beside Obito and said, "A White Zetsu in Konoha died. No intelligence was left behind. What should we do?"
Obito frowned slightly. "It didn't die during the Konoha Crush plot, but died now—was it discovered?"
White Zetsu continued, "The remaining White Zetsu report that Konoha is busy cleaning up the mess and has shown no signs of discovering us."
Obito's brow slowly relaxed.
Although theoretically White Zetsu couldn't be discovered, in reality, there had been cases of White Zetsu dying over the years.
After all, the White Zetsu currently used for reconnaissance were mass-produced types created by Madara Uchiha using Hashirama cells. Their combat power was very weak, and they could only be used as pawns due to their characteristics.
It wasn't strange for such a White Zetsu to die in an accident.
"Have the remaining White Zetsu retrieve the corpse of this one, and continue monitoring Konoha."
"Especially that guy named Akiyama Makoto. I want to know why he became so strong."
Obito naturally already knew Makoto's name, because Zetsu's surveillance of Konoha was pervasive.
But Makoto's strength had actually deceived even him. This was very unusual.
Who had secretly cultivated him, or had he been hiding his strength all along?
Especially since he had mastered the Flying Thunder God. This was a ninjutsu that had once caused Obito great pain.
And now that Makoto could even use Shadow Clones plus Flying Thunder God, the threat of this guy was already big enough for him to pay close attention.
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