Chapter 217: Immature Hokage
Yasushi completely ignored Jiraiya's inner shock at this moment, merely laughing to himself:
"Jiraiya, how does it feel to lose a great general through your own actions?"
"Actually, if you'd just lowered your moral standards slightly and casually told him two lies to humor him, you could have immediately brought him back to full health."
"Let me tell you, Jiraiya—being Hokage, you can't be too upright."
"You must know: when water is too clear, there are no fish. You need to go with the flow alongside the shinobi clans."
"If you're afraid of dirtying your hands, just wear two white gloves."
"Just like Sarutobi Hiruzen—he had a good friend Danzo Shimura who could handle those inconvenient matters unsuitable for him, the great and righteous Hokage, to personally do."
"You could completely find two people like that too!"
"I think Itachi was quite good. Oh, he's already useless. Then find another—just pick from the former Root members. You'd even save on job training."
Yasushi spoke at length in the sky, acting like he was wholeheartedly strategizing for Jiraiya's benefit. But listening made Jiraiya's expression darken completely.
Back when his teacher was young, he'd also seemed to be a brave and upright person, but in the end...
Could becoming Hokage truly cause gradual corruption?
Would he himself truly become like his teacher in the future?
Seeing Jiraiya fall into confusion, Shima Sage hurriedly waved her palms, slapping Jiraiya's head repeatedly to remind him:
"Young Jiraiya, don't listen to this guy's nonsense. He just wants to mess up your mental state."
"You're not Sarutobi Hiruzen. You'll forever only be Jiraiya. You won't transform into that guy's appearance over such things!"
"Also, you were never particularly smart to begin with. Don't get trapped in his verbal debates. Bring out your Pervy Sage bearing—don't say any nonsense, just fight!"
"No one ever decreed being Hokage must be this way or that. You can completely become a different kind of Hokage from Sarutobi Hiruzen!"
"Look at Hashirama back in the day—that idiot could be Hokage. You're far smarter than him. Why can't you?"
Shima Sage, fearing insufficient force would lack effect, struck extremely hard. Jiraiya was beaten until his mouth and eyes went crooked, but his thoughts truly escaped from chaos.
"Ah, um..." He touched his head, speaking awkwardly: "Saying that about Lord First—isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"What's inappropriate?" Shima Sage spoke dismissively, puffing her cheeks: "His age doesn't even equal one decimal point of this old woman's. Even if he stood before me, I'd still dare say this."
Seeing his words had no effect, Yasushi didn't care. Instead, he burst into loud laughter.
"Haha... Jiraiya, I'm now urgently wanting to know—after you, this naive and childish guy, become Hokage, what kind of changes will you bring to Konoha Village?"
"Ah, I'm truly growing more and more expectant—expectant of watching your idealism gradually ground down by reality bit by bit, finally completely transforming into goods like Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"When that day comes..." Yasushi's expression suddenly darkened, revealing a vicious face. "I'll come take your life!"
"Come, Jiraiya! Let me see how long your idealism can persist before reality!"
"Haha..."
Amid loud laughter, Yasushi's figure cut across the sky, vanishing at vision's edge.
Jiraiya couldn't fly and had no way to deal with Yasushi. He could only cease hostilities and begin cleaning up the aftermath.
Seeing Itachi already trapped in endless mental turmoil, Jiraiya sighed and commanded:
"Itachi is the village's comrade, utterly loyal to the village. Take him back to the village for proper care. See if time can help him escape his pain and recover."
Originally he'd wanted to arrange special caretakers, but seeing the village crowd's cold attitude toward Itachi and recalling Yasushi's earlier words, he immediately dismissed this notion.
Right now the village's most important matters were handling the Hyuga clan's internal strife and the resulting Third Hokage's death. Itachi's matter could be addressed slowly later.
This internal chaos absolutely devastated the Hyuga clan, causing over half their losses.
At this moment, corpses littered the Hyuga family cemetery. Most were bodies from both branch family sides, plus a small portion of unlucky main family members and village shinobi drawn in while suppressing the rebellion.
Though everyone knew these matters were caused by the rebellious branch family, unrelated to currently surviving branch family members, the village's dead shinobi would find it hard not to harbor resentment toward the Hyuga clan.
Especially toward those few remaining main family members—everyone wore stern faces, extremely cold.
Everyone had scales in their hearts.
They understood clearly—even with Uchiha Yasushi secretly instigating, flies don't land on seamless eggs. If the main family hadn't excessively oppressed the branch family, today's evil fruit wouldn't have formed.
Even Lord Third's death could be counted on their heads.
That fake main family member from attacking to fleeing had consistently worn a Hyuga main family appearance.
This person frequently operated in the village. Many recognized them. No way to deny it.
During Konoha Village's destruction battle previously, village shinobi had also seen White Zetsu, but didn't know White Zetsu possessed powerful disguise capabilities.
Especially that pair of Byakugan—they'd been used during the previous slaughter. How could this be fake?
Most people believed that person was originally main family, merely seduced by Uchiha Yasushi into becoming a rogue ninja.
No one decreed Hyuga main family couldn't rebel, right?
Though due to the Hyuga internal affairs' nature being settled, overtly expressing anything was inconvenient, who couldn't manage cold violence?
The crowd's attitude was naturally felt by those remaining main family members, immediately scaring them out of their wits.
No one understood better than them what the final result would be once ostracized by numerous clans in Konoha Village.
The Uchiha were a cautionary precedent!
After briefly conferring, they hurriedly rushed before Jiraiya, weeping bitterly and beginning to pledge loyalty.
"Lord Jiraiya, we're wronged!"
"That main family member was definitely a fake!"
"We've always been utterly loyal to successive Hokage. Lord Third Hokage truly wasn't killed by our main family!"
"Henceforth we'll definitely firmly unite around Lord Jiraiya, serving Lord Jiraiya wholeheartedly."
"Whatever Lord Jiraiya commands, we'll do exactly that, not daring to cut corners even slightly."
"Alright, alright."
Jiraiya felt particularly uncomfortable with the Hyuga main family's behavior. He also knew that main family member was fake, so he didn't make things difficult for them. Instead, he comforted them warmly:
"That main family member used Wood Release—extremely likely Uchiha Yasushi's subordinate. It has nothing to do with your Hyuga clan. I'm clear on this."
"Don't worry. Regarding this matter, I won't have any misunderstandings."