Looking at the Third who was grinning at him, Gintoki rolled his eyes and shrugged nonchalantly.
"How about letting Gin-san do it? That position is basically just like a company president, right? Don't let my appearance fool you—I used to run a massive company called Yorozuya Gin that took up a whole page in Jump! I've got plenty of experience as a president, you know!"
Just as Kakashi and Itachi froze in shock at this nonsense statement, standing dumbfounded in the rain, the Third chuckled again.
But this time, he quickly stopped, his expression turning serious as his small eyes locked onto Gintoki's.
"Then, if you became Hokage, what would you do? What measures would you take for the village and its ninja?"
"From Monday to Sunday, the three-colored dango at the dango shop is specially reserved for the Hokage! Officially incorporate sweets into the daily meals of the Konoha Hokage! Parfaits on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, dango on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. On Sundays, just settle for pudding as dessert!"
"Is that all?" the Third Hokage asked again.
"Oh! One more thing! The ninja uniforms must be reformed! Especially the girls' uniforms—whether they're Jounin or Chunin, it's mandatory to change the lower attire to ultra-short skirts that can't go past the upper thigh! And no safety shorts allowed!"
As he spoke, Gintoki smugly stroked his chin.
"This will definitely boost the men's work morale, and the village's mission success rate will skyrocket to number one in the Shinobi World!"
'At this rate, the village is doomed.'
Kakashi silently complained in his heart, but then he heard a man's voice of approval from behind.
"Mhm! Not bad! Old man, my vote goes to this white-haired brat! I think this kid was born to be Hokage!"
Jiraiya, who had arrived unnoticed, wholeheartedly agreed with Gintoki's reform proposal and genuinely believed Gintoki was perfect for the role of Hokage!
With vision like this, it'd be a shame if he didn't become Hokage!
"Ahem!"
The Third Hokage cleared his throat, folding his arms.
'This Sakumo kid was still small but full of big ideas, even proposing such outrageous reforms'
Would it work? Of course it would!
If all the female ninjas in the village wore those outfits, forget the regular ninjas—even his own motivation might get a boost!
Men are all the same, after all.
There really aren't many men in this world who can remain completely unfazed at the sight of a beautiful woman on the street or elsewhere.
Everyone appreciates beauty.
In Konoha, the only ones who could resist looking were probably Minato, who was a simp and the wild beast Might Guy.
Almost forgot—Danzo and Orochimaru too!
For some unknown reason, those two… genuinely had no interest in women!
Two men with no interest in women, spending all their time together in the research lab…
Wait a minute!
The Third suddenly realized something.
Two men with no interest in women, always hanging out together?
Hold on…
Yikes—!
The more he thought about it, the more disturbing it became!
From that moment on, the Third decided he needed to find time to have a serious talk with his dear disciple Orochimaru.
If possible, as his teacher, he might even have to push him toward settling down.
After all, as the saying goes, 'A teacher for a day is a father for life!'.
Besides, his parents died young, so as his mentor, he had to take responsibility.
What was a young man doing hanging around that old geezer Danzo all the time?
What if he developed some… unspeakable new hobbies?
No, no, absolutely not!
...
After exchanging a few more meaningless words, the Third Hokage left early—perhaps to attend to his disciple's future or for some other reason.
Itachi was the second to leave.
After politely bidding farewell to Jiraiya, Gintoki, and Kakashi, he headed off to continue his philosophical quest—the meaning of life.
After enthusiastically assuring Gintoki that he would definitely vote for him at the Jonin meeting, Jiraiya left with an excited expression.
In the end, the only ones left were Gintoki and Kakashi, the cross-series brothers.
Gintoki, who had originally planned to try out the new machines at the casino, was about to leave when he noticed Kakashi standing there hesitantly, looking like he wanted to say something but was too embarrassed to speak up.
"What's up?"
"Nothing…"
In the end, Kakashi still couldn't bring himself to ask for guidance on his training.
"Well, since I've got nothing better to do today, I'll generously check out your training progress!"
"I don't need you to check it!"
"Really? Suit yourself."
Gintoki dug his pinky into his nostril, looking completely indifferent as he waved his hand and turned to leave—only to be stopped by Kakashi, who was visibly struggling with himself.
"You… wait a second…"
...
At the Hatake family's forest training ground.
Panting heavily, Kakashi cursed inwardly at the lazy, slouching silver-haired freak across from him.
They were only a year apart—why was the gap so huge?
"Meh, not bad. Keep at it."
"Wait! I've got a new move!"
...
Watching the electric light in Kakashi's hand accompanied by the sound of a thousand birds chirping, Gintoki immediately recognized it as Kakashi's signature technique from the original series—Chidori!
But without the Sharingan, he probably couldn't use it properly.
A technique that enhanced cellular activity and required extreme speed would be hard to control without the Sharingan's visual prowess.
Gintoki's assumption was correct.
At this age, without the Sharingan, Kakashi couldn't fully master this move and he could easily dodge it.
"Damn it!"
After Gintoki evaded, Kakashi muttered angrily under his breath.
Just as Minato-sensei had said before—his eyes couldn't keep up with his own speed!
"Don't you know Shadow Clones? Why not use them to compensate for that weakness in the early stages?"
Hearing Gintoki's words, Kakashi instantly understood what he meant.
The idea was to have Shadow Clones hidden around before using Chidori.
The clones would secretly observe the enemy's movements and dispel themselves just as Kakashi unleashed the technique.
That way… the information gathered by the clones would instantly transfer to him, allowing him to track all enemy movements!
There might still be gaps, but it was a decent patch for the technique at this stage.
"Your other senses matter too. If you can sharpen your perception, you won't need to rely as much on clones or eyes to control this move."
"I see…"
Kakashi nodded.
Though this guy was unreliable, his advice was surprisingly solid and practical.
"Oh, and…" Gintoki held up a book in his right hand, "You should toss this kind of thing sooner rather than later."
Seeing the book titled "How a Ninja Should Die" in Gintoki's hand, Kakashi froze for a moment before patting his chest and realize—
His book had been yoinked without him noticing it!
"Give it back!"
"Seriously, you…"
Watching Kakashi getting so worked up, Gintoki let out a helpless sigh before putting on a serious expression and said.
"Kakashi, instead of thinking about how you're going to die, you should pull yourself together and live beautifully until the very end. Remember that!"