The next morning, at first light.
"Lord Danzo, the Fourth and Lord Hiruzen have summoned you to the Hokage building for a meeting!" a Root ninja half-knelt on the ground, speaking respectfully.
"I understand," Danzo calmly replied, then asked, "What about the task I assigned to you all?"
"The entire public opinion of Konoha is already under your control!"
"Excellent!"
Satisfied, Danzo nodded and composedly walked out from underground.
"At last, it's time for this old man to step into the spotlight!"
...
On the streets, people were either cleaning up yesterday's debris or gathering in small groups discussing the previous day's events.
Among these murmurs, a "passerby" raised a voice of righteousness, "Such a man has no right to be Hokage! As Hokage, he couldn't defend against threats when danger arrived—he even secretly hid himself!"
Some of the surrounding crowd hesitated, "He hid? Impossible, right? The Hokage was probably just tied up with something important?"
The righteous passerby shouted loudly, "What could possibly be more important than saving the village?"
"This..."
"Don't you know yet? Before yesterday's chaos, Lord Danzo had already predicted this possibility, but our Hokage ignored it completely, resulting in all the disasters afterward!"
Fear breeds hatred. When they fell into desperation last night, naturally they had also hoped the Hokage would save Konoha, but the Hokage never showed up at all. Of course, they felt dissatisfied.
However, later when Seiki descended like a god from heaven, those dark thoughts temporarily faded away.
Now, provoked by these righteous passersby, that hatred flared up again.
"That's right! That man is definitely not worthy of being the Hokage!"
"But if he's unworthy, who else can become Hokage? Should we ask the Third Lord to return?"
At this point, the bystanders began offering suggestions.
"The Hokage must possess immense strength!"
"The Hokage must have a sense of responsibility—to save everyone when danger arises!"
"How..."
Someone excitedly clapped his hands together, "How about Seiki, of course!"
Immediately, two passersby were stunned.
"Wait, Seiki truly is an excellent candidate, but he's far too close to Minato Namikaze!"
"And he also gets along quite well with the Uchiha clan. Don't forget, the pattern of the tomoe in the Nine-Tails' eyes last night was clearly a Sharingan!"
However, this time, it wasn't so easy to steer the crowd.
After last night's disaster, Seiki's image in everyone's heart had practically become flawless.
"So what if there's a connection? Seiki isn't someone who would favor them!"
"That's right! If we're talking about strength, is there anyone stronger than Seiki?"
"Exactly! Seiki saved so many people last night and even thought about the post-disaster reconstruction!"
Behind them, Danzo passed by with a gloomy expression.
Now this—this was not what he had planned at all!
Clearly, he had acted faster than Seiki Shimaseki, held the advantage of early warning, and stood at the forefront when it came to dealing with the Uchiwa. So why wouldn't everyone support him?
That brat Seiki was simply younger, better-looking, stronger, more popular, and had more contributions… Other than these, what else did that kid have that could surpass him?
As Danzō was fuming, Seiki's voice came from beside him.
"Elder Danzō."
Danzō turned his head, letting out a discontented snort. "Come to show off your prestige, huh? Don't get too confident too soon. I still have tricks up my sleeve…"
Seiki shook his head slightly. "Elder Danzō, may we speak in private for a moment?"
Though puzzled by Seiki's intentions, Danzō naturally wouldn't show fear. "Fine, as you wish. You think I'm afraid of you?"
…
Right now, inside the upper meeting room.
Hiruzen's face was heavy with concern as he turned to ask, "Won't you stop Danzō?"
Minato sighed. "He didn't say anything wrong. I truly failed in my duties as Hokage — going to him first would only make me seem nervous."
Hiruzen frowned. "Then you'll just let him spread his rhetoric?"
"He merely wants me to step down from the Hokage position. Actually, this might not be a bad move at all." Minato replied casually. "If the masked man last night was really after the Hokage title, stepping down would at least keep Naruto out of harm's way!"
"Besides, even if I step down, that title won't fall into his hands!"
"That's true," Hiruzen nodded in agreement, then asked seriously, "Minato, do you truly believe the one who controlled the Nine-Tails last night was Madara Uchiwa?"
At this, Minato grew solemn as well. He hesitated briefly before shaking his head. "I'm not sure. From the way he referred to himself during our conversation and how he spoke about the Nine-Tails, he truly believed himself to be Madara Uchiwa. But both his dōjutsu and combat experience were far from the legendary level!"
Then Minato added, hesitating again, "But even if he isn't Madara, within the Uchiwa clan, it's difficult to find anyone matching the criteria. Even Fugaku's dōjutsu was significantly weaker than that of the Masked Man."
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe. "Could it be someone long thought dead or missing during the war, who inherited Madara's will and has now returned to take revenge on Konoha?"
Hearing this, Minato thought involuntarily of his own student who had been 'dug up' after death, but soon shook his head with self-mockery.
Obito was a good kid, but his talent wasn't great. Even with fifty more years of training, he'd never reach that level of strength!
And how could a kind-hearted boy like Obito ever commit such cruel acts?
Pushing those distracting thoughts aside, Minato said firmly, "I visited Fugaku last night. The Uchiwa clan's list of fallen and missing during the Third Great Ninja War contained no notable figures. Moreover, within just a few years, it's unlikely for anyone to grow strong enough to reach that level."
"In other words, the suspicious candidates should be traced back to the earlier two Ninja World Wars, and during the Second Great Ninja War, there was indeed a remarkably talented senior who went missing!"
Hiruzen's pupils suddenly narrowed. "You mean… Kagami?"
"
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately rejected his own idea. "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! Kagami is already dead! Moreover, even if Kagami were still alive, there's absolutely no way he would ever do anything to harm Konoha! He loved this village more than anyone!"
"Since you say so, Third Lord, I must have misunderstood then!" Minato let it go. "After all, I don't really know much about that veteran."
Sandaime let out a sigh filled with nostalgia. "If Kagami were still alive, relations between the village and the Uchiha would never have become this strained!"
Minato was taken aback—he hadn't expected the Third Lord to hold such high regard for that veteran.
"By the way, Third Lord, during our fight, that Masked Man accidentally revealed a secret—it's possible that some of the Kages from the other ninja villages have already been..."
Just then, the door burst open as a bandaged figure strode in.
"Heh heh, you two showed up pretty early!"
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