"Have you heard? The First Hokage's granddaughter is going to run for Fifth Hokage. I mean Princess Tsunade-sama of the Legendary Sannin—the elite kunoichi who earned huge merits in the Great Ninja Wars."
"Huh? The Third hasn't retired yet, has he? Why are we already picking a Fifth?"
"Word is, Tsunade-sama thinks the Third has been Hokage for too long. She says he's old now, and an aging Hokage isn't fit to lead all of Konoha."
"When you put it like that… He's over sixty, right? At that age he should be enjoying retirement. Even if a ninja's body holds up better than ours, he shouldn't be clinging to the Hokage's seat that long."
"I actually think the Third's done a pretty good job. Do we really need a new Hokage?"
"Heh. Look at the village. You still call that 'doing a good job'? If he truly had, how did Uchiha Chizumi's Police Division manage to arrest so many criminals?"
"Exactly! With that many criminals hiding among us, why did the Hokage ignore it? We only found out after the Police Division hauled them in and made the charges public—turns out we've been living next to murderers! It's terrifying!"
In just one day, everyone in Konoha knew Tsunade was coming out to run for Fifth Hokage.
There were a few voices siding with Hiruzen Sarutobi, but the overwhelming majority backed Tsunade.
The reason was simple: Hiruzen's recent actions had left many ninja clans bitterly disappointed. And for ordinary villagers, the Third hadn't made their lives better; instead, they now learned killers had been lurking around them for years, leaving them anxious and sleepless.
In the past there'd been no public debate like this simply because no one dared step up to challenge Hiruzen openly. Shimura Danzō had tried to become Hokage, but only through backroom scheming. As for the Uchiha radicals who once attempted a coup—people treated them like roadside gossip, not worth caring about.
Tsunade was different from Danzō or the radicals—she openly declared her goal, practically announcing it to the whole village. That's what stirred up all this talk and drew everyone into the argument.
"Tsunade-sama—" Shizune swallowed, her expression complicated. "It seems like most of the village is willing to support you. Even though you haven't been back for a long time, when people choose between the Hokage and you, they're picking you."
She hesitated. "Doesn't that feel off? It's a little abnormal, isn't it? To many in the village, you're still unfamiliar. All they really know is that you're one of the Sannin and the First Hokage's granddaughter."
"That's not abnormal at all—it's perfectly normal," Tsunade replied. "The reason's simple: the old man's actions have lost him the people, and Chizumi's prestige is sky-high."
Tsunade let out a long breath, snorted, and said, "Honestly, I'm riding on that kid Chizumi's coattails."
Shizune blinked.
Tsunade explained, "You're underestimating how many ninja clans stand on the 'absolute justice' side. The Ino–Shika–Cho and the Uchiha will absolutely back Chizumi. On top of that, the Hyūga will be on the same side."
"The Hyūga have been scared straight by Chizumi— even the branch house that benefits from the current system fears him. In that situation, they won't dare stand with the old man."
"And the other clans Chizumi has 'dealt with' will react just like the Hyūga. Fear will push them to hurry over to the side of 'justice.'"
"That means I end up scooping up over half of the ninja-clan support. Heck—"
Tsunade suddenly laughed, not out of schadenfreude, but with a trace of self-mockery on Hiruzen's behalf.
"Even some of the Sarutobi clan support me rather than the old man. His choices have already broken their hearts."
"Sure, they all know I'm joined at the hip with Chizumi. But I'm still not Chizumi, so they'll tell themselves they're supporting a Sannin of Konoha, not him."
"As for the weather-vane clans—once they see so many clans backing me, they'll swing my way too."
Shizune stared, dumbfounded.
If that's how the "ninja-clan vote" looks, doesn't that leave the Hokage completely sidelined? The Third probably can't command the clans anymore… and he might not even be able to command the Anbu, not after his prestige took such a hit there recently.
"As for Konoha's civilians…" Tsunade went on, "To ordinary people, it doesn't really matter who becomes Hokage. It's just something to chat about—'we hope the new Hokage is better than the old one.'"
"If Konoha were an ordinary village with few or no ninja, the civilians' voices would be crucial. But Konoha is a shinobi village. The clans' 'defection' alone is enough to leave the old man scrambling."
"Wouldn't surprise me if before long he tries to meet me in private to talk."
"Did you think all this up yourself, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune blurted, suddenly feeling as if Tsunade had become a stranger—like a gambler and boozer had somehow turned into a savvy political operator overnight.
Tsunade yawned and admitted, "As if. I wasn't born a Hokage, how could I know everything? This is all stuff that kid Chizumi said to me in private. I only remembered a part of it."
She paused, looked out the window, and said, face complicated, "Chizumi also said—if the old man asks to meet me in private, I should be careful. He thinks the old man might try to kill me."
Shizune jumped. "No way! How could the Hokage do something that extreme? Chizumi must be biased because they're at odds—he's probably imagining the worst."
Tsunade nodded. "I also think the old man wouldn't go that far—so long as he can truly let go of everything he's holding."
"Forget it. Enough gloomy talk."
She waved her hand and flopped back, groaning, "I'm exhausted! I'm already starting to regret all that big talk—if it's this tiring before I'm even Hokage, what's it going to be like after?"
Shizune: "…"
She couldn't shake the feeling that Tsunade was unreliable. Could she really unseat the Third and become the Fifth?
…
Meanwhile, out at sea—
"Defector Jūzō Biwa is on this ship. He hasn't noticed the three of us. If we team up for an assassination, can we take down one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
Three Kirigakure shinobi, disguised as ordinary sailors, huddled in a cabin to talk in secret.
"It'll be tough," one frowned. "You two are only chūnin. I'm a special jōnin, but the three of us together against a seasoned jōnin is still a stretch."
"Best case, we tie him up for a bit. If Jūzō sees he can't finish us quickly, he'll just run. And if he wants to run, we can't stop him."
Another said darkly, "Then we should send a summoning beast back to the village with his location and let the village dispatch Anbu to handle him."
The other two agreed. They summoned a strange four-limbed fish, stuffed a message scroll into its mouth, opened the porthole, and tossed it into the sea.
They exhaled in relief—then froze the moment they opened the door to leave.
"Long time no see," said a cold voice. "Back in Kiri we might've crossed paths only once, I probably wouldn't even remember you. But you clearly know me—otherwise you wouldn't have sent a summoning to report back."
Jūzō Biwa leaned against the wall, arms folded, a cruel smile on his lips as he stared at the three Mist shinobi.
"This merchant ship sailed from a Land of Fire port. Why are Mist shinobi in Land of Fire? And I can see it on you—the glaring, scarlet sins."
A crisp, pleasant voice came from the other side. The three spun around to see a young woman cradling a sword, watching them quietly. The three tomoe glowing in her scarlet eyes made their hearts sink—"Uchiha!"
They whipped their heads toward the only remaining escape route and saw… a fat orange tabby squatting there, licking its paw and smoothing the fur on its face.
"Meow. This way is closed," the cat said.
The three Mist shinobi realized they were blown. Jūzō—one of the Seven—was the obvious nightmare. The Uchiha girl with three tomoe didn't look easy either. The only soft target was the talking cat.
"Run!"
Acting on the same thought, one shinobi gritted his teeth, barked the order, yanked out a kunai, and charged the tabby. "Out of the way, fat cat!"
He lifted his right leg to kick the obstruction—but in the instant before his foot landed, his eyes widened.
The small orange tabby swelled in a blink, ballooning until its massive body blocked the corridor. Those narrowed feline eyes burned with killing intent.
Crap— flashed through his mind.
A heartbeat later the cat—Jujirō—brought a huge paw crashing down. The gust from the blow howled; the shinobi barely had time to stumble backward on instinct.
Too slow.
Claws raked his face, parting flesh like paper and shearing away half of it. Blood sprayed.
The other two Mist shinobi went cold, but as products of the Bloody Mist, the idea of surrender didn't exist in their vocabulary. They clenched their teeth, unfurled scrolls, and deployed their tools—
—and one of them suddenly froze, flailing at empty air with wild terror, as if seeing something no one else could.
Uchiha Izumi walked up calmly, drew her blade in a flash, and slit his throat, sending his head rolling. Clearly he'd been trapped in her Sharingan genjutsu.
At the same time Jūzō's Kubikiribōchō rested against the last shinobi's neck. His voice was icy in the narrow corridor: "Recall your summoning."
The Mist shinobi ground his teeth. "Jūzō Biwa! You betrayed the Bloody Mist. You'll pay in blood!"
Jūzō cut his head off without hesitation.
Watching the body fall, he turned to the nearby onlooker—Uchiha Chizumi—and said, "Can't be helped. They've been thoroughly brainwashed—Bloody Mist shinobi with nothing left inside. Kiri will probably learn where we are soon."
"It doesn't matter," Chizumi said coolly. "We didn't kill them to block their message to Kirigakure. We killed them so they'd pay for their crimes."
…
Evening. Konoha.
Shizune stepped out with Tonton in her arms to buy Tsunade dinner—and nearly jumped out of her skin.
"H—Hokage-sama!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before her. Shizune swallowed, suddenly feeling guilty for no reason.
"Shizune," Hiruzen said, expression complicated but forcing a mild smile. "Tsunade's inside, yes? Go tell her the old man would like to see her."
Shizune stiffened. Tsunade's warning flashed through her mind.
Gulp.
Her instincts blared a red alert. She couldn't shake the feeling the Hokage was up to no good. Even his gentle smile… looked a little sinister.