The morning after the Susano'o Catastrophe.
Konoha ninja arrived in waves at the base of the Memorial Stone to attend the funeral for the victims.
Many flowers and photographs had been placed at the base of the Memorial Stone.
The three frames in the very center, from left to right, were Akimichi Torifu, Utatane Koharu, and Hatake Sakumo.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood at the very front, his eyes vacant as he looked at the photographs.
That lazy fatso, Torifu... Hiruzen had known for a while that Torifu had recovered much of his strength, but he was just too lazy, always hiding deep within his clan compound.
Hiruzen had wanted to mock the fatso to his face: 'Even though you're lazy, you couldn't escape in the end, could you? You still died fighting for Konoha.'
If Mitokado Homura were here, he and Homura could have mocked the lazy fatso together.
But there was no one left. Only Danzo remained by his side.
Of the Second Hokage's guards, only he and Danzo were left.
Danzo always had that deathly look on his face. Hiruzen didn't even have anyone he could talk to.
Koharu was gone too.
Koharu, the medic-nin among the six guards, had died for him.
As for Hatake Sakumo... all the thousands of precautions he had taken against him had now become a joke.
At the most dangerous and critical moment, it was Hatake Sakumo who, without hesitation, used his own life to take one of Uchiha Madara's eyes and force his retreat.
Besides those three, Konoha had lost many other ninja.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt nothing but powerlessness.
Why had it come to this? What had he done wrong?
Yōkō hid in the distance, looking towards Kakashi.
Unlike in the original timeline, Konoha's White Fang had not died in disgrace by suicide, but had died in battle as a hero of Konoha.
Kakashi didn't carry that immense moral burden. Though grieving, he wouldn't fall into extremes and go astray like in the original timeline.
Both Minato and Kakashi carried Chakra Short Swords on their backs.
At that moment, amidst the silent and solemn mourning, a commotion suddenly arose.
The Uchiha clan ninja had arrived.
The rogue ninja Uchiha Madara came from the Uchiha clan. During the Susano'o Catastrophe, the Uchiha clan had Remained invisible throughout, not participating in any of the fighting.
The village had ordered them to stay away from Uchiha Madara, which many in the Uchiha clan resented. Their rough behavior while evacuating villagers had been magnified in the eyes of those villagers.
Someone shouted out loud: "What are you doing here! Get lost!"
The person who shouted had just lost family members.
Uchiha Kane's footsteps faltered for a moment upon hearing the shout, then he continued towards the Memorial Stone.
After leading the Uchiha clan to line up and place their bouquets before the Memorial Stone, the Uchiha clan stood at the side and rear of the crowd.
However, their docility earned them no acceptance.
People near the Uchiha clan continuously moved away, creating a ring-shaped empty space around them.
Uchiha Kane sighed.
Troublesome.
After the funeral, a Jonin Corps meeting was convened inside the Hokage Building.
This time, there were only four people on the podium.
Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, Advisor Danzo, ANBU Chief Yellow Dog, and Jonin Commander Nara Rokaku.
The meeting proceeded under Nara Rokaku's direction.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Nara Rokaku briefed the jonin on some village reconstruction matters, such as the rebuilding of the Konoha walls, the repair of the barriers, the clearing of rubble from collapsed buildings, and so on.
After Nara Rokaku announced the routine matters, the meeting moved to its main agenda.
Tsunade was the first to stand up, saying:
"The village has suffered heavy losses. All of us are feeling terrible.
We must look forward and consider Konoha's future.
I have already submitted a jonin recommendation list, nominating several individuals, including Namikaze Minato and Hayama, for promotion to jonin.
They performed excellently during the Susano'o Catastrophe, especially Namikaze Minato, who inherited Advisor Sakumo's sword techniques and Body Flicker Technique, and killed many of Uchiha Madara's White Zetsu subordinates.
I hope the village will complete the jonin recommendation review as soon as possible."
Everyone else looked at Tsunade.
Namikaze Minato was Hatake Sakumo's student. For Tsunade to step forward now and recommend Minato... didn't that mean Tsunade had successfully taken over the faction left behind by Hatake Sakumo?
Only then did others notice that the two jonin, Yamashiro-dera and Gekkō Sō, were sitting not far behind Tsunade.
The two had formally become Tsunade's subordinates.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression showed some displeasure.
Hatake Sakumo's faction was quite good – jonin like Yamashiro-dera, special jonin like Hayama, and geniuses like Namikaze Minato.
Now, this entire faction had directly fallen under Tsunade.
Nara Rokaku glanced at the Third Hokage, and seeing that he didn't say anything, stated, "The Jonin Corps will promptly conduct the next round of jonin examinations."
During the Susano'o Catastrophe, Tsunade had already proven her strength.
She was strong enough to participate in direct combat against Uchiha Madara, make contributions, and survive.
After Tsunade sat down, Sarutobi Hiruzen said:
"Foreign Affairs Advisor Hatake Sakumo sacrificed himself for the village. As Tsunade said, we must consider the village's future.
This time, Konoha has suffered heavy losses. The Daimyō of the various nations will certainly send official inquiries.
To prove that Konoha is still strong, we need a new Foreign Affairs Advisor.
I have decided to appoint the ANBU Chief, codename Yellow Dog, originally named Sarutobi Shinnosuke, as the Hokage's Foreign Affairs Advisor."
After waiting over ten seconds, no one jumped up to raise an objection.
Sarutobi Hiruzen continued, "Sarutobi Shinnosuke will represent Konoha and promptly embark on diplomatic missions to various countries.
Konoha Village has been struck by Uchiha Madara, but Konoha still has the strength to protect the Daimyō of the various nations."
Hearing this, most jonin felt a lack of confidence.
Could they still dominate the shinobi world like the Konoha of old?
Sarutobi Hiruzen continued, "After Sarutobi Shinnosuke becomes the Foreign Affairs Advisor, the ANBU will be temporarily headed by Vice Chief Fox.
ANBU Vice Chief Fox will assist Advisor Shinnosuke in completing this round of diplomatic missions."
In principle, ANBU operations were not to be disclosed.
But to give the jonin confidence, to make them believe in Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Sarutobi Hiruzen brought out Fox.
Fox's strength was formidable; everyone had seen it last night – single-handedly quickly destroying the Wood Clone Susano'o, and finally chasing Tobi away, saving many people.
Fox's prestige was growing higher and higher.
Sarutobi Hiruzen waited for the jonin's murmuring to subside, then continued:
"Furthermore, the village cannot be without an Internal Affairs Advisor. Regarding the Internal Affairs Advisor..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen first looked at Orochimaru.
He hoped Orochimaru would step forward and join the leadership.
He also knew Orochimaru wasn't suited to be the Internal Affairs Advisor, but he had no one else, no one left to use.
Orochimaru slowly stood up.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at him with surprise and hope. Was Orochimaru interested?
Even Danzo's perpetually death-like face showed astonishment.
Everyone looked at Orochimaru. Orochimaru said, "I recommend Tsunade for Internal Affairs Advisor."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face changed briefly, then quickly adjusted, becoming unreadable.
The jonin erupted into louder murmurs.
The Internal Affairs Advisor held significant power. Ninja earned money through missions, but how they spent it depended largely on the Internal Affairs Advisor.
Village construction and road planning, Konoha Hospital, landscape planning, etc., all fell under the Internal Affairs Advisor's purview.
Tsunade already managed Konoha Hospital; promoting her to Internal Affairs Advisor was quite fitting.
Nara Rokaku looked towards the Third Hokage.
He hoped the Third Hokage would agree.
Konoha was in turbulent times; it needed to project confidence to the outside world.
Having one of the powerful Legendary Sannin become an advisor was the best possible outcome.
If Konoha's advisors kept getting killed, both the Daimyō and nobility and other hidden villages would look down on Konoha and provoke them.
Yōkō glanced out of the corner of his eye at Orochimaru as he slowly sat down.
Tsunade had a solid foundation. If Jiraiya were in the village, he would have supported Tsunade even more actively.
Under the expectant gazes of everyone, Sarutobi Hiruzen said:
"Good. Tsunade is very suitable to be the Internal Affairs Advisor.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Tsunade, the two of you should assume your posts as soon as possible, familiarize yourselves with your duties, and begin work promptly."
After leaving the Jonin Corps meeting room, Tsunade left Briskly.
She went to the Internal Affairs Advisor's office on the second floor of the Hokage Building and had people notify those she wanted to see.
Soon, several people entered the advisor's office.
Senju Hanaki, Senju Minami, Senju Sachie, Yamashiro-dera, Gekkō Sō, Hayama, Namikaze Minato, and others quickly arrived.
Tsunade said, "The village is facing such great trouble. It needs people to step up and help Konoha overcome this difficult period.
Senju Minami, Yamashiro-dera, I will appoint you two as Advisor Assistants to help me handle Konoha's internal affairs.
The rest of you, in addition to village completing missions, I will assign you internal affairs tasks."
"Yes!"
Senju Minami and the other Senju clansmen were very excited. After so many years, their Senju clan had finally returned to the village's leadership.
Yamashiro-dera and the others, meanwhile, felt greatly relieved that they hadn't been Broken up and sidelined by the village.
Yamashiro-dera understood that the reason they had been accepted by Advisor Tsunade was because Namikaze Minato was one of the people closest to Uzumaki Kushina.
Tsunade added, "The village's reconstruction is the top priority right now.
The Jonin Commander has many matters to handle. Commander Rokaku will transfer these matters to us.
Minami, Yamashiro-dera, I need you two to prepare a reconstruction plan for me as soon as possible.
The rest of you, go about your duties. Hayama, Minato, you two come with me. I'll take you to see the Hokage to expedite your jonin recommendations."
As Namikaze Minato and Hayama followed Tsunade upstairs, they exchanged a glance, both noticing the difference between Advisor Tsunade and Advisor Sakumo.
Compared to Advisor Sakumo, Advisor Tsunade was more casual and direct, not as cautious.
Their different statuses and abilities shaped their personalities.
When the three of them reached the third floor and opened the door, they saw others were already in the Hokage's Office.
The newly appointed Advisor Sarutobi Shinnosuke, and ANBU Vice Chief Fox.
When Tsunade saw the Third Hokage, her eyes flickered slightly.
Killing the Master... whether it was her father's final arrangement or Fox's own judgment, there wasn't much difference. Fox might deal with Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Tsunade quickly adjusted her mood. For the sake of Konoha, even if she deeply disliked Hiruzen now, she had to cooperate with him.
Sarutobi Hiruzen saw Tsunade enter with Namikaze Minato and Hayama and knew what she intended to do.
He said to Sarutobi Shinnosuke:
"Proceed as we discussed. First, go to the Land of Fire's capital. Reassure the Daimyō and dispel his doubts about Konoha."
"Understood. I will set off for the Land of Fire's capital immediately."
Yōkō followed Sarutobi Shinnosuke out, hoping Tsunade and Sarutobi Hiruzen could communicate effectively.
***
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