As time passed, all of Konoha's jōnin began gathering beneath the Hokage Monument, except for those who had already gone to the Land of Water.
Everyone wore faint smiles on their faces for this Hokage election.
It wasn't that the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was truly that unpopular. It was just that, compared to an old man, everyone would much rather see Lady Tsunade become their Hokage. At the very least, it gave them something to brag about when they went out.
As for what exactly they'd be bragging about—that's none of your business.
"After the Fourth Hokage fell in battle, Konoha should have chosen a Fifth."
"But at the time, Orochimaru had defected, Tsunade had left the village, and Jiraiya was pursuing the rogue ninja Orochimaru. Konoha simply had no suitable candidate for Hokage, so this old man had no choice but to shamelessly continue carrying the burden."
"Now, Tsunade has grown into the role, and it is finally time for me to lay down this burden!"
On the platform built beneath the Hokage Monument, Hiruzen looked at the jōnin below him, and even at the smiles on the faces of the villagers farther out. For some reason, a trace of sadness rose in his heart.
Had he really done such a poor job as Hokage?
"Present the daimyo's appointment decree!"
The jōnin vote passed without the slightest twist.
Anyone could see that even Hiruzen himself had already given up on competing for the Hokage's seat any longer, and that made this round of voting go so smoothly that it almost felt unreal.
When Homura Mitokado brought up the Fire Daimyo's official decree appointing the Hokage, the ninja below—and even the civilians—began cheering.
And when Tsunade accepted the decree in her hands, the expression on her face was surprisingly calm.
"Hokage…"
Looking at the people below celebrating, Tsunade only let out a soft sigh in her heart.
And while Konoha was carrying out its Hokage election, the Akatsuki had begun making moves on their side as well.
"The money from the Land of Earth never arrived."
Kakuzu's expression was ugly. If he remembered right, the last attempt to assassinate Uchiha Chizumi had also involved a bounty of three hundred million from the Land of Earth. What he had never expected was that the Land of Earth could be shameless enough to go back on it!
The Akatsuki had lost one of its major members, and yet the Land of Earth still hadn't paid them?
They had even said that what they paid for was Uchiha Chizumi's death, and that all the Akatsuki had done was harass him!
"It's not just the Land of Earth that hasn't paid. There's a problem on the Fire side too. Koharu Utatane, the one who contacted us, has been confirmed dead."
Sasori added that from the side. And as he spoke, he glanced toward the Deva Path of Pain.
If he remembered correctly, the leader of the Akatsuki also possessed a pair of Sage Eyes.
"A Sage Eye appeared in the Hyūga clan?"
"And they had to sacrifice the entire Hyūga clan to create it?"
Konan's eyes suddenly lit up the moment she heard Sasori's report.
Back when she and Yahiko were still children, Nagato had once told them that his Sage Eyes had appeared suddenly one day—they were not something he had been born with. At the time, Yahiko and Konan had thought Nagato had simply awakened them somehow.
But now, hearing that another Sage Eye had appeared in the shinobi world, and that the Hyūga clan had created it, a thought she couldn't suppress rose in her mind.
Were Nagato's Rinnegan really his own?
"Tell me everything about the Hyūga clan's Sage Eye."
After forcing herself to calm down, Konan immediately pressed Sasori for more details.
As Sasori recounted all the information White Zetsu had passed on, even Nagato's expression began to change.
"Another Sage Eye…"
"And one that could only be created through the sacrifice of the entire Hyūga clan?"
"And with that eye, Hyūga Hiashi was actually able to fight Uchiha Chizumi on even terms…"
Nagato's emotions churned. He genuinely couldn't understand it. Did the Sage of Six Paths have two completely different sets of eyes or something?
"Set Konoha aside for now. I need to develop the power of the Rinnegan further."
"Kakuzu, Sasori—you two are going to the Land of Earth with Konan."
"Since the Land of Earth refuses to pay, take the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki's student instead. According to the intelligence from the Land of Earth, that student has a high chance of learning Dust Release."
After a long silence, Nagato finally had the Deva Path speak.
The last clash with Uchiha Chizumi had left him with severe losses. Rebuilding the Six Paths would not be something he could accomplish in a short time, especially with the Naraka Path destroyed too.
Under those circumstances, Nagato had no wish to clash with Chizumi again right away. Instead, he planned to squeeze a softer target first.
And unfortunately for them, in Nagato's eyes, the Land of Earth was exactly that soft target.
"By the way, are that Uchiha Madara guy, Black Zetsu, and White Zetsu really not a problem?"
"Every time the Akatsuki moves, they never even show up. Who knows what they're doing?"
Kakuzu clearly had strong opinions about Obito, Black Zetsu, and White Zetsu. People always called him a rogue ninja, but the truth was that Kakuzu actually did feel some attachment to the Akatsuki. Or more accurately, he felt like the Akatsuki was the only place where he belonged.
"Don't worry about them. Our plans and theirs aren't that closely tied. At best, we're just using each other."
The Deva Path slowly shook his head.
If not for the fact that White Zetsu and Obito still had some value, Nagato would actually have wanted to remove them from the Akatsuki already.
While the Akatsuki were planning to make a major move against the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning wasn't sitting idle either.
"Konoha just sent back word that Tsunade has officially inherited the position of Fifth Hokage."
"But that isn't the important part. The important part is that man, Uchiha Chizumi!"
"According to our spies in the Land of Fire, this morning they saw a second sun rise in the direction of Konoha. That second sun was very likely created by Uchiha Chizumi."
"That kind of power should not be an ordinary kekkei genkai. It's very likely a kekkei tōta."
"The Uchiha clan's Susanoo. Hashirama Senju's Wood Release. And now a kekkei tōta no one has ever seen before. Uchiha Chizumi's strength has already reached a level beyond common sense."
The Fourth Raikage, A, looked at the elite Cloud jōnin before him and couldn't help letting out a long sigh.
He truly couldn't understand it. Why was it that Konoha kept producing one monstrous shinobi after another, all of them absurdly beyond common sense? Was there really something special about that land?
"The daimyo's residence has started pressuring us again."
"This morning's disturbance in the Land of Fire was simply too great. It terrified the daimyo."
"He's now afraid that one day he'll be sitting peacefully in his own residence, only for a fireball to suddenly fall from the sky and flatten the whole place."
"The daimyo's court sent an ultimatum. If Kumogakure does not go to war with Konoha and kill Uchiha Chizumi, then the daimyo will cut off all funding to Kumogakure."
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