Chapter 124: Konoha Village's First Hokage Impeached from Office
Time came to noon.
The tense atmosphere within Konoha Village gradually relaxed. The wartime lockdown had been lifted by order of Jonin Commander Jiraiya—Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo, and Advisor Elders Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were unable to perform their functions for various reasons, so it fell to Jiraiya, who currently also held the position of Jonin Commander, to temporarily wield Konoha's supreme power.
Jonin Commander might sound unremarkable, but it was actually a key position second only to the Hokage's advisor and advisor elders. In fact, its actual authority exceeded even the advisor elders—it was responsible for overseeing all jonin in the village, ANBU excluded.
Currently, the Jonin Commander was Jiraiya.
Oh, right—
The Third Hokage's order to capture or kill Hyuga Ritsu had also been revoked. Even though Ritsu and his teacher Hiruko had used force to defeat and capture alive the Third Hokage, the Hokage's advisor, and both advisor elders, brazenly committing this act of rebellion...
But precisely because of what Ritsu and Hiruko had accomplished, it forced Jiraiya to exercise his temporarily-held supreme authority to revoke the Third Hokage's "chaotic order"—otherwise, he'd face a truly comprehensive civil war within Konoha Village, one that would very likely result in mutual destruction.
Jiraiya, temporarily wielding the village's supreme authority, simply didn't have the courage to trigger this civil war that might destroy Konoha. He could only forcibly suppress his disgust and dislike for Ritsu, choosing to compromise and endure.
Moreover, with the village's upper ruling group fallen and unable to perform their functions, Jiraiya alone obviously couldn't handle all the affairs.
So a temporary ruling group formed with Jiraiya at the core, along with Orochimaru, Hyuga Ritsu, Uchiha Fugaku, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Torikaze, Aburame Shibi, Namikaze Minato, and other village department heads and clan leaders.
—The ANBU director hadn't come, because the current ANBU director was Sarutobi Hiruzen's eldest son, currently under protective detention.
—The Administrative Department had no director. That department was the two advisor elders' territory.
Namikaze Minato could sit here because he was deputy commander of the Northern frontline camp. Additionally, he had the strong support of the Nine-Tails jinchuriki backing him.
These dozen or so people gathered in the Hokage building's large conference room, beginning a lengthy meeting. As heated debates and discussions unfolded, orders were successively transmitted, making Konoha Village's stalled violent machine begin operating again.
Of course, all this was only temporary.
A snake couldn't move without a head. Konoha Village couldn't remain without a Hokage indefinitely.
After handling all urgent matters—like controlling ANBU and Root, temporarily housing the Hidden Mist Village's diplomatic delegation, and other problems that absolutely had to be addressed—the meeting's agenda naturally concentrated on how to respond to the Hyuga Clan Head's impeachment of the Third Hokage, whether to truly make the Third Hokage step down, and then begin the Fourth Hokage election work.
However—
Before that, they needed to wait for search results.
Before anyone realized it, the time had reached 4 PM.
No one had eaten lunch, but no one complained of hunger either. Only because talking so much left their mouths dry did they continuously drink tea. Pot after pot of tea was drained. The service personnel responsible for serving tea had nearly run their legs thin.
"Knock, knock."
A knocking sound rang out.
Yamanaka Inoichi pushed open the door and entered. His expression was grave and gloomy, his mood as heavy as being forced to swallow a large ball of rice cake.
"Inoichi, do you have results?"
Jiraiya sitting in the main seat immediately asked.
The corners of Yamanaka Inoichi's mouth twitched. For a moment, he didn't speak. Only after Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Torikaze sitting on one side of the conference table both nodded did he take a deep breath and say with great difficulty, "I just used Mind Reading Technique on Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo as well as Advisor Elders Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, reading their memories."
"After verification, Hatake Kakashi's interrogation results are accurate. Several years ago, the rumors in the village targeting Hatake Sakumo were indeed spread by people under Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo's orders. Both advisor elders also indeed added fuel to the fire. Of course, their purpose wasn't to force Hatake Sakumo to commit suicide—they only planned to suppress the increasingly influential Hatake Sakumo at the time. Hatake Sakumo ultimately choosing suicide was also beyond their expectations."
"How nice of you to say! They'd already done things to that extent—did they still expect my father to live on bearing shame and humiliation? They fundamentally left my father no way out!"
Standing behind Minato, Kakashi angrily spoke up, glaring furiously at Yamanaka Inoichi, dissatisfied with how Inoichi's words glossed over what Shimura Danzo and the others had done.
Yamanaka Inoichi's expression stiffened.
This wasn't him trying to cover up or embellish for Shimura Danzo and the others. What he'd said was actually the true memories he'd read. However, comparing what Danzo and the others had done with the memories and thoughts in their minds, these village higher-ups were indeed extremely hypocritical.
And he'd been implicated in being resented by Hatake Kakashi—truly an undeserved calamity.
His heart was full of bitterness. He'd known this assignment wouldn't be good, that it would definitely offend people. But unfortunately, his brain invasion techniques were the strongest in the village, and facing requests from Jiraiya, Minato and others, he truly couldn't refuse.
He could only steel himself to accept this hot-potato assignment.
"Kakashi."
Minato reprimanded his student standing behind him. "Inoichi is only stating the results he searched for. He's not helping anyone cover up or embellish."
"I'm sorry, Inoichi-senpai. I'm not targeting you. I'm just furious at Shimura Danzo and the others' hypocrisy!" Kakashi bowed his head toward Yamanaka Inoichi in apology.
"It's fine, it's fine."
Yamanaka Inoichi's face twitched as he repeatedly expressed that he didn't mind.
At this moment—
Jiraiya tapped the table with his knuckles. "Inoichi, what about the other issues? Are they all accurate too?"
"Pretty much."
Yamanaka Inoichi answered. "There are discrepancies in details from the report Kakashi submitted, but basically they're all due to ambiguities from word choice. The general content is about the same. The act of selling the Hyuga Clan Head's and several Uchiha clan jonin's intelligence to the Mist ninja is accurate."
Uchiha Fugaku's expression was dark as stormwater, his entire body radiating fierce killing intent.
"However, the intelligence on Hatake Kakashi's squad being sold truly wasn't Shimura Danzo's instruction. There really was a third-party unknown force intervening."
Yamanaka Inoichi emphasized.
Regarding this—
Kakashi expressed no opinion, because his previous interrogation results were the same. It indeed wasn't Shimura Danzo who'd instructed dealing with him, this son of Hatake Sakumo. There truly was third-party interference.
"Third party..."
Jiraiya pondered briefly, then skipped over this matter. Such things obviously couldn't be investigated clearly in a short time. Better to leave it for the Fourth Hokage to investigate!
Yes—
With Yamanaka Inoichi verifying and confirming the authenticity of Kakashi's interrogation results, his teacher Sarutobi Hiruzen stepping down had become inevitable. Though up to now, everything had been Shimura Danzo's doing with no accusations pointing at Sarutobi Hiruzen...
But without Sarutobi Hiruzen's protection and indulgence, Shimura Danzo wouldn't have had the opportunity to commit so many evil deeds.
Even taking ten thousand steps back and saying Sarutobi Hiruzen truly didn't know—he still couldn't escape the label of incompetent and foolish.
No matter what, with things having developed to this point, Sarutobi Hiruzen was already destined to be unable to continue as Third Hokage.
"The matter of colluding with the Mist envoys is also accurate?"
Jiraiya asked again.
"Yes."
Yamanaka Inoichi lowered his head in answer. "I searched the brain of Mist chief envoy Hyakubei. It was indeed Shimura Danzo who sent people to contact him, promising to return Samehada and other ninja tools and release prisoner Suikazan Fuguki in exchange for the Mist ninja accusing the Hyuga Clan Head."
Hearing Yamanaka Inoichi's answer, Jiraiya closed his eyes full of disappointment. For a moment, his mood was so depressed he didn't even have the strength to speak!
The conference room's atmosphere was also heavy and oppressive.
Who could have imagined the dignified Hokage's advisor would do such shameless things—actually selling out the village's interests to join hands with enemies to persecute village comrades? Utterly shameless!
At this moment—
Hyuga Ritsu spoke up. "Jiraiya-senpai, Orochimaru-senpai, Akimichi Torikaze-senpai, and all colleagues present—here, I once again impeach Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzo, and Advisor Elders Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. Their virtue and ability no longer qualify them to enjoy any position or authority. Please remove them from all their duties and identities!"
As Jonin Commander temporarily wielding the village's supreme authority, Jiraiya's position was naturally highest.
And Orochimaru, also one of the Legendary Sannin, served as supreme commander of the Eastern battlefield. His authority and position also exceeded the various department heads.
Though Akimichi Torikaze lacked a specific position, as a student and one of the guards of the former Second Hokage, and as an elder of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, his position was also quite high.
Speaking of which, previously Sarutobi Hiruzen had sent people to contact Akimichi Torikaze to join forces against Ritsu. But Torikaze, on the advice of the Nara clan's former leader and the Yamanaka clan's current leader, hadn't rashly entered the fray, avoiding becoming a prisoner and now leveraging his seniority to occupy a high position in this temporary ruling group.
"The Uchiha clan seconds the motion."
Uchiha Fugaku decisively followed up at this moment.
The most difficult hurdle had already been crossed by Ritsu. What followed was simply fighting with the wind at their backs. No matter how poor his abilities, he wouldn't fail to know what to do now.
Moreover, the Uchiha clan were genuine victims with the right to demand justice from the village.
The others maintained oppressive silence, mouths clamped shut like clam shells, gazes roaming like searchlights constantly peering at others' expressions.
Then—
Someone who logically shouldn't express an opinion at this time was first to speak up, breaking this oppressive, stagnant, suffocating heavy atmosphere.
"I also second the motion."
Minato kept a straight face, expressionlessly casting his vote in favor.
This stone's fall immediately stirred up a thousand ripples!
Gazes—surprised, suspicious, or hostile—fell on Minato. Regarding this, Minato remained unmoved, his back ramrod straight, calmly accepting these gazes.
Sitting in the main seat, Jiraiya's expression was complex. Sarutobi Hiruzen was his teacher, Namikaze Minato his student. So hearing Minato second Ritsu's impeachment truly left his heart a jumbled mess, indescribable.
However—
What Shimura Danzo had done was truly too vile. As Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen also bore inescapable responsibility.
In Jiraiya's heart, he actually also harbored much dissatisfaction, feeling Sarutobi-sensei had been too indulgent toward Shimura Danzo, allowing today's disaster to brew!
"The Nara clan also seconds the motion."
Nara Shikaku cast the Nara clan's vote in favor. The Ino-Shika-Cho clans shared the same spirit and advanced together. Once the smartest, most astute "Deer" made the decision, the remaining "Boar" and "Butterfly" would naturally follow without hesitation.
The Sarutobi clan head sitting opposite stared incredulously at Nara Shikaku and the others. He desperately wanted to curse the Ino-Shika-Cho's betrayal of the Sarutobi. But this clan head wasn't some brainless fool either. He understood clearly that the Sarutobi clan's situation going forward would definitely be terrible. Tearing off the facade with Nara Shikaku and the others now would be the worst, poorest choice.
With the three Ino-Shika-Cho families' declarations, this impeachment's success was already set in stone. The Hyuga clan, Uchiha clan, the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans, plus Minato representing numerous civilian ninja—there was no room left for reversal.
Ultimately—
With the Sarutobi clan's one vote against, a minority abstaining, and the majority agreeing, Ritsu's impeachment motion was officially passed.
Later, they only needed everyone present to sign and seal the document, then publicly announce it. Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others would be officially stripped of all identity and status.
Of course—
Being stripped of identity and status was only a beginning. The crimes Shimura Danzo and the others had committed wouldn't be written off because of this. Afterward, they'd still face trial and receive appropriate punishment.
However, barring accidents, Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't face trial. Even impeached and removed from office, he'd still been Hokage for so many years, representing the village's dignity. And his disciples and grand-disciples remained deeply entrenched.
Like the two Fourth Hokage candidates with the highest support—Orochimaru and Namikaze Minato—one was Sarutobi Hiruzen's student, the other his grand-student.
Moreover—
This was still with Jiraiya himself having no interest in competing for Fourth Hokage.
Otherwise, if Jiraiya wanted the Fourth Hokage's seat, he probably wouldn't even need to compete. The Fourth Hokage would inevitably belong to him. Because as his student, Minato definitely wouldn't compete with his teacher and would fully support Jiraiya. And Jiraiya's popularity in the village far exceeded Orochimaru's...
"Let's finalize this matter. When the document is drafted, everyone sign it." Jiraiya said, utterly exhausted.
Honestly, compared to meetings, he'd rather fight someone. Whether the Raikage, Tsuchikage, or some other formidable character—he wasn't afraid. But these meetings... they truly left one physically and mentally exhausted!
Before long—
The Hokage building's professional secretaries drafted the document and delivered it to the conference room. Everyone took turns reviewing it. After confirming there were no problems, they signed their names and stamped their personal seals.
Impeaching the Hokage and those in power—and actually succeeding—had no established precedent to follow. No one had previously considered that a Hokage might be impeached, much less that such an impeachment would actually succeed. They could only grope their way forward like this.
After everyone except the Sarutobi clan head had signed and sealed it, Jiraiya fell silent for another moment before ordering someone to publicly announce this jointly-discussed decision.
At this time—
Outside the window, the sky had darkened.
Time had reached dusk. Someone's belly finally couldn't endure the hunger, letting out a loud rumble.
"Today's meeting ends here for now!"
Jiraiya's gaze swept over the two rows of people at the table. "Tomorrow morning at 8 AM, please arrive on time. We'll continue discussing the Fourth Hokage election. Everyone go rest now!"
With a grand wave, he declared the meeting's end.
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