A shinobi in a gray uniform and a fox mask landed in front of Torifu and knelt down on one knee.
"Torifu-sama, Hokage-sama would like to see you."
"Oh? An Anbu member? What does Tobirama-sama want?"
The Anbu shinobi shook his head. "I don't know, Lord. Hokage-sama only ordered me to summon you."
Torifu nodded. "Alright, you can return and report back. I'll go after I get a drink."
The shinobi bowed his head, then vanished in the next second.
Torifu went back into the house and got a glass of water. What could be so important this early in the morning? He wasn't going to be forced to do some hard labor again, was he? Naori was coming back today, and he was planning to go welcome her!
Even though he didn't want to go, as long as the man was Hokage for a day, Torifu had to obey. But these days of being ordered around wouldn't last much longer. After all, Torifu was about to be forced into the position of the Third Hokage. If he had a choice, he really didn't want to be Hokage. But unfortunately, there was no one in the village suitable for the role right now. All the alternative options that Torifu had proposed were all berated by Tobirama. If this got out, all the elite Jōnin would suffer a sudden and heavy blow. For the villagers' mental health, Torifu decided not to tell them.
Alas, it seemed a person with a sense of responsibility and compassion like him was destined to suffer and work hard. When would this forced labor ever end!
After a brief fit of madness, Torifu left the house. His body shifted, and he turned into three Cloud Cranes, flying towards the Hokage's Office Building. The villagers hadn't seen Torifu travel in this form for a while, so when they saw it again, they found it quite new and all waved at him. But in this form, he couldn't use his hands to wave back, so he could only let out a few cries to acknowledge them.
The three Cloud Cranes then gathered together in front of the Hokage's Office Building and turned back into Torifu.
The guard bowed respectfully to him. "Torifu-sama."
"You've been working hard."
He then walked into the building. For Torifu, the only time he felt a hint of pleasure after becoming a leader was when someone bowed and saluted him.
He arrived at the office and knocked on the door, then pushed it open.
"Tobirama-sama, you sent for me?"
Tobirama nodded. "Yes, I have something for you. It's about that assassination attempt on Kushina a few days ago."
Torifu was a little confused. Wasn't that just a story about a few rookie thugs running into a tough opponent? How could there be a follow-up? So it wasn't for Minato... cough, cough...
Tobirama took a letter out of a drawer and handed it to Torifu. "Read this yourself. The situation is a little more serious than it seems."
Seeing how serious Tobirama was, Torifu stopped joking and took the letter to read it.
"Uzumaki Ashina, the Daimyō of the Land of Whirlpools, the leader of Uzushiogakure, and the head of the Uzumaki Clan, has gone missing, and his nine sons are fighting for the position of Daimyō, with one already dead?"
Torifu was in disbelief after reading the contents of the letter. This Uzumaki Ashina had way too many titles! And no matter what, the Land of Whirlpools was just a clan government. Whether it was the shinobi or the common people, they were all members of the Uzumaki Clan. One could say that their positions as Daimyō and leader didn't have much power. It was no different from being a clan head, just a more pleasant-sounding title. Was it really worth killing one's own brother for the position of leader? Since when did the Uzumaki Clan become so brutal?
A clan being able to establish a country on the sea wasn't just because of the Hidden Leaf Village's help; it was also because of their strong family cohesion, where everyone worked together! For a clan like that to have a bloody incident over the position of leader, and even kill their own brothers, Torifu didn't understand and was completely shocked.
"Did you finish reading? Doesn't it seem a little dramatic?"
Torifu nodded. "Is there any other news?"
"Of course. This letter was sent by Ashina's second son. He hopes that the Hidden Leaf Village can send aid to the Land of Whirlpools to help him put down the rebellion."
Torifu put the letter back in the envelope. "At a time like this, we can't just listen to his side of the story. Who knows if he's really putting down a rebellion or if he's the traitor himself?"
Tobirama smiled and took out another letter, handing it to Torifu. "Read this one."
Torifu took it and looked at it carefully, and he saw that the content of this letter was almost identical to the previous one! Torifu looked at Tobirama, and before he could ask, Tobirama said, "This letter was sent by his eldest son. I have a total of nine identical letters here."
"They are from all nine of Ashina's sons. Every single one of them wants to borrow our army to put down a rebellion. It seems they have all decided that their other brothers are traitors."
This... For a moment, Torifu couldn't tell who was good and who was bad from the letters. The nine princes all had their own stories, but their ultimate goal was to borrow the Hidden Leaf's army to help them quell the rebellion and reunite the Land of Whirlpools.
For a tiny country like the Land of Whirlpools, to have all this going on, Torifu suspected they had too much time on their hands.
"Tobirama-sama, what do you think?"
Tobirama spread his hands. "The Land of Whirlpools is our most trusted ally and also Mito's home country. It's only right that we send someone there. The only problem is deciding who we should help after we arrive."
Tobirama's eyes landed on Torifu, and seeing that look, Torifu knew he was in trouble! This old coot was trying to set him up!
"You're not planning on sending me to deal with all this mess in the Land of Whirlpools, are you?"
Tobirama smiled and nodded. "Of course. As the Hokage's successor, you still need a training session, and this is the best opportunity for you."
Torifu really wanted to say, "Are you treating me like an idiot just because I'm not mad?" I am truly angry!
"Tobirama-sama, I personally wiped out the Hidden Cloud Village. Did you have that kind of training before you became the Second Hokage?"
Tobirama said calmly, "No."
"See!"
Tobirama then said earnestly, "It's precisely because I lacked all these kinds of hardships and training that I always feel exhausted at work!"
"Many things could have been handled better, but because I lacked experience, I couldn't be perfect. I don't want you to have that same regret. You should understand my good intentions."
Torifu nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I'll go blow up the Hidden Leaf Village right now. Let's just not live anymore."
What the hell was this peaceful life? I'm not living anymore!
Every time Torifu wanted to enjoy a peaceful life, something would always come to stop him! It was either some kind of bullshit system mission or the old man sending him on another mission! It was like they never wanted him to have a good time! He finally had two days of peace, and now this mess in the Land of Whirlpools had to happen! A tiny country like that was putting on a show like the Nine Princes' Succession Struggle!