Hey guys, here is the new chapter hope you will liked and read thru everything.
With this news and the change in the shinobi world, how things will shift and the new threats that will emerge
If we hit 100 PW I post a extra chapter
Don't forget to leave your power stones along with your comment if you have any ideas or opinions that could help me, as well as a review to continue showing your support.
Enjoy the chapter!
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The rain in Konoha always seemed to hold a different hue when it was time to say goodbye to a Hokage.
It was not a violent storm or a furious monsoon, but a constant, fine, gray drizzle that soaked the black cloaks of the hundreds of ninjas and civilians gathered before the grave of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The atmosphere was not only one of profound sadness but of a deafening void that bit deeper than the cold.
The Third Hokage, the "Professor," the man who had been the village's Hokage for decades, was gone. And the worst part was not his physical absence, but the shadow of defeat he had left behind: the image of a Konoha vulnerable before the rise of new and unknown powers in the desert.
In the front row, Minato Namikaze stood motionless as a stone statue. Water slid down his face, hiding any trace of tears, if there were any. In his mind, like a broken record, the images of the Battle of Kanzaki repeated.
The rose glow of Daigo's crystal, how he had been neutralized, and above all, that instant of terrifying lucidity in which he realized his speed was not enough.
The feeling of having failed his village, his team, and the thousands of people who relied on the "Yellow Flash" weighed heavier than his soaked clothes.
While the people wept under the leaden sky, the true fate of the Land of Fire was being decided in a circular room within the Hokage Tower.
The air there was thick, tainted by candle smoke and the tension of twelve men and women who represented the last vestige of authority in the village.
Danzō Shimura stood by the window, watching the funeral from afar. Beside him, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, Hiruzen's lifelong advisors, seemed to have aged ten years in a single night.
"Hiruzen left us a village wounded by his own benevolence," Danzō began, his voice resonating with an authority that allowed no rebuttal.
"His unwavering faith in the 'Will of Fire' has made us soft. Suna has evolved while we stagnated in past glory. Iwa is mobilizing again at the borders, and Kumo waits for the exact moment to leap upon our weakness. If we do not choose a leader capable of making difficult decisions this very day, Konoha will cease to exist before the rain stops."
Shakaku Nara, the leader of the Nara clan and the village's chief strategist, let out a weary sigh as he rubbed his temples. Beside him, Chouza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Hiashi Hyuga listened with deadly seriousness.
"We understand your point, Danzō," Shakaku said, looking at the maps on the table. "But a rushed appointment could fracture the village from within. The people and the middle ranks expect Minato Namikaze. He is the symbol that keeps morale high, and many consider him the next Hokage of Konoha."
"Morale?" Fugaku Uchiha intervened, stepping forward. His face was in better condition now, though a pristine white bandage covered his left eye the one he had lost sight during the first encounter against Suna.
"Minato is a talent, no one doubts that. But he is emotionally unstable. He lost a student, he lost Hiruzen who was close to him, and he has surely lost his confidence.
Konoha does not need hope right now; it needs an unbreakable military structure. The Uchiha clan is ready to take the vanguard and bring order to this chaos."
Danzō turned his head slowly, looking at Fugaku with a technical coldness that was more hurtful than any insult.
"Fugaku-dono," Danzō said with poisonous calm.
"We respect the sacrifice of your clan, but let's be realistic. At this precise moment, you only have one functional eye. The Sharingan is your lineage's most valuable asset, and now your perception and your use of Susanoo are compromised.
How can you defend the idea of leading a village against Kage-level threats when you yourself are not at one hundred percent of your physical capabilities?
A Hokage cannot afford blind spots, neither in their vision nor in their strategy. We cannot risk the village leader being bested because their perception failed at the critical moment."
Fugaku clenched his fists under his long sleeves, his knuckles white from the force, but he did not reply. He knew that as much as he hated Danzō, he was right this time. Perhaps if he hadn't used that genjutsu, he could have been Hokage.
At that moment, the heavy wooden door slid sideways with a dry thud.
Orochimaru entered the room. He did not wear his combat armor, but a formal jōnin robe that accentuated his paleness. His mere presence seemed to absorb the candlelight, bringing an aura of absolute control. There was no trace of his usual serpentine mockery; his face was a mask of pragmatic seriousness.
"I have heard enough," Orochimaru said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Danzō is right about one thing: Konoha is bleeding out from an open wound. But this isn't about who has more eyes or who is more popular in the streets.
It's about who understands the true nature of the threat we face in the desert and at the borders."
Orochimaru walked with slow, rhythmic steps toward the center of the round table, forcing the clan leaders to follow him with their eyes.
"Minato is an exceptional talent, a jewel of the village, but he is young, and his heart is still guided by the ideals Hiruzen-sensei instilled in him. Ideals that, as we have seen, do not stop war.
Fugaku-dono is injured. If you choose me, I will do it strictly for the good of Konoha. I do not seek personal glory or recognition in the history books.
I seek to ensure this village stops being easy prey. I will implement a research system where our skills do not depend solely on genetic luck or natural talent, but on refined scientific and tactical improvements under strict control.
My goal is absolute stability. I will use every resource, every medical advancement, and every secret I have gathered to ensure that no other shinobi of the Leaf has to die for lack of preparation or inferior technology. I will do it because it is necessary, for the sake of our survival."
The speech was not what anyone expected from Orochimaru, but that of a statesman offering a cold, technical solution to a problem that threatened to exterminate them all.
The clan leaders looked at one another. In times of peace, they would have feared Orochimaru's intellect.
In times of war and humiliation, his pragmatism was the closest thing to a guarantee of safety they had.
After two hours of intense debate where Hiashi Hyuga expressed concerns about the ethics of certain methods and Danzō defended the necessity of "controlled sacrifices"
the Council reached its decision. Orochimaru would be named the Fourth Hokage.
Outside, under the relentless rain, Minato remained absorbed in his own personal confusion until he felt a heavy, warm, rough hand on his shoulder.
The smell of cheap sake and the immense but disordered chakra told him immediately who it was.
"You look like you're carrying the weight of all the Elemental Nations by yourself, kid," Jiraiya said, standing beside his student. The Sannin of the Toads wore no umbrella; water ran down his white hair like rivers.
"I let everyone down, Jiraiya-sensei," Minato whispered, his voice barely audible over the patter of water against the gravestones.
"Hiruzen-sama trusted me... my team trusted me... I wasn't strong enough to stop Suna, let alone Daigo. If I had been a little faster, if I had anticipated that attack, the Third Hokage would still be here and the village wouldn't be in this chaos."
Jiraiya sighed deeply, looking toward the Hokage Monument, where the stone face of his master seemed to observe the ceremony with eternal sadness.
"Listen to me well, Minato, and burn this into your head. You're punishing yourself for not being a god, and that's your first mistake.
That kid from Suna, Daigo... he's no ordinary ninja. Even I, when I had to face him in our brief exchange, had to take him totally seriously. He isn't just a user of a rare element; he has a mind that processes the battlefield in a way I've only seen a few times in my life he reminds me of Hanzō of the Salamander.
You didn't lose to just some jōnin; you lost to someone who is rewriting the rules of war as we know them. Losing to someone like that isn't a shame; it's a lesson most don't live to tell.
Besides, from what I read in the reports, he had a plan against your Hiraishin, so he had you in checkmate before the game even started."
Minato looked at his master with a spark of surprise. Jiraiya, the man who rarely admitted anyone was a true challenge for a Sannin, was giving Daigo a respect that bordered on legendary.
"Is he really that strong?" Minato asked, seeking an answer that wasn't just comfort.
"He's smart, Minato. And that is the most dangerous strength. He doesn't just rely on jutsu; his taijutsu level is quite high and his intelligence puts him at that height. But you have something he hasn't fully experienced yet: the ability to evolve from a total defeat.
Orochimaru has been named Hokage. He is going to change this village; he's going to make it efficient, hard, and in many ways, unrecognizable. You can't stay here mourning the past while the future passes you by.
If you want to protect what's left of the 'Will of Fire,' you have to be faster than everyone else and, if necessary, faster than time itself. Daigo won this round, but the next one... the next one, Konoha will need you to be the 'Yellow Flash' that no one, not even the Rose Demon Crystal, can see coming."
Jiraiya's words didn't erase Minato's pain, but they transformed it into something useful: a cold, concentrated determination. If the world was changing toward an era of elemental geniuses and science, he would have to take the Hiraishin to a level no space-time user had ever dreamed of.
Meanwhile, on the road to Sunagakure, the news of Orochimaru's official appointment arrived via a Suna hawk. Daigo was sitting on a rock resting, watching the desert, when Pakura appeared at his side with the scroll.
"Konoha has chosen a new Hokage," Pakura said, handing over an intelligence scroll. "The Council has made a decision. Orochimaru has accepted the Hokage's hat."
Daigo read the name and closed his eyes for a moment, processing the information. He knew Orochimaru's reputation. He wasn't an idealist like Hiruzen, and he had expected based on the anime that it would be Minato who was chosen.
"That means Konoha will become a much more unpredictable power," Pakura commented, adjusting the bandages on her arms.
"I know," Daigo replied, standing up with renewed firmness. "Well, I expected Minato to get the seat, but Orochimaru didn't take long to show up. Though this doesn't change things I just have to defeat Rasa and be named the 4th Kazekage."
Daigo looked toward the direction of Sunagakure, imagining the walls that defended it. In two days, he would have to fight Rasa, his training partner, for the future of his home.
The ninja world had just become much more interesting with the ascension of Orochimaru, and Daigo knew that only by leading his people with the same intelligence and determination could he ensure his friends survived the coming storm.
"Let's go," Daigo ordered. "We have one day to get there. I want to rest and visit Mom and Dad."
The three elite ninjas set off, leaving behind the dust of the resting area, while in the shadows of the other villages, the gears of war began to turn.
End of Chapter 78