Chapter 677 Overwhelming Votes

Inside the Hokage Building’s conference room.

Numerous Konoha Jonin in uniform were seated around the large conference table.

“Is there something big to announce? Why is everyone here today?” A Jonin noticed the unusually large number of people in the conference room today.

In fact, it wasn’t necessary to call all Jonin to every meeting; most of the time, only the notified Jonin would attend.

Jonin with special designations, like Anbu Jonin, would attend fewer meetings.

“Cough, cough.”

Once everyone had arrived, Hiruzen Sarutobi, seated at the head of the table, cleared his throat twice, drawing the attention of all the Ninja present.

“Following the will of the Second Hokage, and protecting the Village, I have served for decades. Time flies, and before I knew it, my hair has greyed, and my bones have weakened.

The courage of yesteryear is no more; the wisdom of the past also requires new thoughts to continue. The position of Hokage is not one person’s glory, but Konoha’s heavy burden, and it requires a capable person to hold it, only then can Konoha’s peace be preserved, The Will of Fire of Konoha be passed on, and Konoha’s new sprouts be protected.

Therefore, my mind is made up. I intend to step down from the heavy responsibility of Hokage in the near future and pass the position to a rising talent.”

After speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a soft breath, opened his cup, and drank some water to moisten his throat.

Normally, Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn’t use such formal language during meetings, but this time it was for his abdication, so he needed some sense of ceremony.

“?!”

The Ninja in the conference room all showed expressions of shock and confusion.

Aside from Muzuki, Homura Mitokado, and others who had known in advance, the remaining Jonin were all stunned by Hiruzen Sarutobi’s words.

Even Orochimaru, who knew about Hiruzen Sarutobi’s defeat, was somewhat surprised.

Losing to a junior might be humiliating for a Hokage like Hiruzen Sarutobi, but it wasn’t so severe as to warrant resignation and abdication.

Due to Sōsuke’s restraint, Konoha suffered no actual losses. Hiruzen Sarutobi only needed to pretend nothing had happened, and there wouldn’t be much impact, provided Sōsuke didn’t widely publicize it.

“Did something happen?” Nara Shikaku’s eyes flickered.

He didn’t believe Hiruzen Sarutobi’s reason of old age and declining strength. Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed not young, but he wasn’t so old as to be incapacitated.

Ōnoki was six years older than Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he was still serving well as the Third Tsuchikage.

“Hokage?” Tsunade subconsciously looked at Muzuki, then frowned.

Recently, Muzuki’s popularity within Konoha was indeed significant, and coupled with his great achievements in the Third Shinobi World War, it wasn’t impossible for him to be nominated.

However, Tsunade didn’t particularly want Muzuki to become Hokage. If Muzuki became Hokage, wouldn’t he have to waste a lot of time on official duties? Would he still have the energy to cook well then?

“Who will be nominated?” The Konoha Jonin curiously surveyed the strong Ninja in the conference room.

Muzuki and the Sannin received the most attention, considered the four most likely Ninja.

As for Minato, although he was excellent in all aspects, with Muzuki present, most people believed Minato Namikaze had no chance.

Furthermore, with veteran powerhouses like the Sannin, if both Muzuki and Minato Namikaze were nominated, then all three Sannin would have to be nominated, which would make the number of candidates too large.

Obito kept his mouth tightly shut, but his eyebrows couldn’t help but dance with excitement. He was already eager to vote for Muzuki-sensei.

“Orochimaru is one of the renowned Konoha Sannin in the Ninja World, and a signature Ninja of Konoha. He diligently carried out missions, resolved one high-difficulty commission after another, secured great benefits for Konoha, and established a good reputation for Konoha.”

After a brief pause, Hiruzen Sarutobi formally began introducing the nominated Ninja.

Hearing Orochimaru’s name, the Jonin showed expressions of “as expected.”

At the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War, the Sannin were already considered very likely to inherit the Hokage position, so no one was surprised or found any issue with Orochimaru’s nomination.

“He has achieved great military feats since the Second Shinobi World War, and his contributions to Konoha are profound and significant.

Based on Orochimaru’s outstanding contributions to Konoha, and the positive changes he may bring in the future, the high-level meeting, after careful consideration and extensive discussion, has decided to nominate Orochimaru as a candidate for Fourth Hokage.”

Clap! Clap!!

After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted.

Orochimaru’s performance in both Shinobi World Wars was excellent, and this nomination was well-deserved.

“During the Third Shinobi World War, a large number of outstanding Ninja emerged from Konoha, and Hayate Mugetsu was the most outstanding among them. Even if we expand the scope to the entire Ninja World, Hayate Mugetsu was the most remarkable Ninja in the Third Shinobi World War.

Hayate Mugetsu has on several occasions turned the tide of battle when Konoha forces were at a disadvantage, and in the final battle at the end of the war, he single-handedly faced the combined surprise attack of multiple Kage, remaining calm in the face of danger, and laying the foundation for Konoha’s ultimate victory.”

After the applause subsided, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately began introducing the second nominee, who was Muzuki.

“It really is him.” Tsunade couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He’s only fifty-four, why is he already thinking of retiring? Wouldn’t it be better to work a few more years?

Tsunade guessed it would likely be Muzuki and Orochimaru. Jiraiya and she shared the same stance of refusing to become Hokage, so they probably wouldn’t be nominated.

In this situation, Tsunade felt that Muzuki, with better popularity and the Wood Release, would have a greater chance of being elected.

“Therefore, after unanimous discussion at the high-level meeting, we have decided to formally nominate Hayate Mugetsu as a candidate for Fourth Hokage.”

Clap, clap, clap!

As Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, the conference room immediately erupted in even louder applause than before.

Obito, Asuma, and other students and disciples gave him plenty of face, almost using Chakra to enhance their applause.

Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Yashiro, and other Uchiha exchanged glances and applauded quite excitedly.

For their Uchiha Clan, Muzuki becoming Hokage was truly the best possible outcome.

Putting aside everything else, just the fact that it made Obito and Shisui the legitimate successors to the Hokage was incredibly exciting.

With a Hokage sensei, and both of them being self-motivated, even if they didn’t produce a Hokage, producing a high-ranking official should be no problem.

“I choose Muzuki-sensei! He can make us stronger.” Obito said excitedly.

Without a doubt, he firmly supported Muzuki-sensei becoming Hokage.

“Obito Jonin, please be quiet. There’s no need to voice your thoughts like that.” Homura Mitokado reminded him.

The Jonin meeting for electing the Hokage wasn’t a show of hands, but a secret ballot.

Otherwise, it would be too awkward during the voting, seeing one’s subordinates and friends not casting their votes for oneself, but for an opponent.

Kakashi covered his face in exasperation, subtly shifting his chair slightly to the side.

“These are all the candidates for the Fourth Hokage election. Voting will begin in five minutes.” Hiruzen Sarutobi continued.

The atmosphere in the meeting became somewhat silent, with few people discussing whom to choose.

There was no special reason; it was simply easy to offend people this way.

After all, everyone present was an elite Ninja. At such a distance, unless they truly whispered into each other’s ears, one could generally hear what was being said if they listened carefully.

Shisui and the others immediately brightened when they heard that Orochimaru was the only opponent.

Their biggest concern was Tsunade being nominated, and they had devised many methods to win votes for that scenario.

If the opponent was only Orochimaru, it wouldn’t be so troublesome. With Muzuki’s current popularity in Konoha, even doing nothing, he had a very high chance of surpassing Orochimaru and being elected Hokage.

“Tsunade, who are you going to vote for?” Jiraiya asked directly.

He had already left the Land of Fire, and it was only a week ago that Hiruzen Sarutobi contacted him about an important matter, which was why he returned.

For Jiraiya, the topic of who to vote for didn’t need to be too avoided, as it wouldn’t be difficult for him to get a nomination if he wanted to.

Since he was like this, those nominated Ninja should be grateful for his resistance to the Hokage position, as they directly lost a strong opponent.

“Muzuki.” Tsunade replied concisely.

Muzuki becoming Hokage was something she didn’t want to see, but Tsunade wouldn’t specifically vote for Orochimaru for that reason. If Muzuki happened to miss the Hokage position because of her, how could she then shamelessly eat so much food?

Also, Tsunade felt that Orochimaru wasn’t suitable to be Hokage. In her opinion, the current Orochimaru was somewhat insane, wanting to learn all Ninjutsu and achieve immortality.

Letting such a Ninja become Hokage would likely lead to all sorts of trouble.

“What about you?”

“I plan to abstain.” Jiraiya replied.

He actually also believed that Orochimaru wasn’t suitable to be Hokage, but Jiraiya felt that if he voted for Muzuki, it would hurt Orochimaru too much.

So he simply abstained from voting, which was allowed within the rules anyway.

Five minutes passed quickly.

Ballots were distributed to each Jonin.

It was a piece of paper with the names of two candidates written on it.

To vote for someone, one would draw a circle below their name. If one didn’t want to vote for anyone and wished to abstain, they would draw a circle in the space between the two names, representing abstention.

Obito, Kakashi, and the others immediately drew a circle under Muzuki’s name as soon as they received their ballots.

Uchiha Jonin, led by Uchiha Fugaku, also quickly drew circles under Muzuki’s name.

They were voting for Muzuki, and also for their Uchiha Clan’s opportunity to enter the core of power.

“Orochimaru-sama, I’m sorry. It’s not that you’re not good, it’s that Muzuki-sensei is too good.”

Some Jonin who had served under Orochimaru in the Third Shinobi World War but had also participated in Muzuki’s special training silently drew a circle for Muzuki.

“Muzuki as advisor? My son seems to really admire him, so maybe I’ll vote for him.”

Some Jonin, when undecided, thought of how their children would enthusiastically praise Muzuki to them, and finally drew a circle under Muzuki’s name.

Many of them hadn’t interacted much with Muzuki, but they had heard some of Muzuki’s deeds more or less.

After the votes were counted, Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu presented the data to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

A hint of surprise flashed across Hiruzen Sarutobi’s face, and he quietly asked, “Have you double-checked that there are no issues?”

“We’ve checked it five times in total, there will absolutely be no problems.” Homura Mitokado replied.

Counting votes was a very important task, not only requiring multiple Ninja to confirm repeatedly, but also needing Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu, two high-ranking officials, to supervise together to prevent any issues.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Orochimaru with some reluctance, but still turned to face the Jonin and said:

“Orochimaru received a total of twenty-eight votes.”

All the Jonin present showed incredulous expressions.

Twenty-eight votes represented twenty-eight Jonin, which sounded like a lot, but the number of Jonin at this meeting exceeded one hundred and sixty.

In other words, the number of people supporting Orochimaru was less than twenty percent of the total.

This was Orochimaru, one of the Sannin who had been famous in the Ninja World since the Second Shinobi World War! This dismal vote count surprised the vast majority of Jonin.

Many people thought Muzuki had an advantage, but not a significant one, because this was a Jonin meeting.

Compared to the newly risen Muzuki, the vast majority of Jonin were still more familiar with Orochimaru.

“Could it be that too many people abstained?” Someone thought of a possibility.

If too many people abstained, leading to a reduced total vote count, then the dismal data would be reasonable.

“Hayate Mugetsu received a total of one hundred and thirty-nine votes.” Hiruzen Sarutobi paused slightly before saying.

The conference room instantly fell into an eerie silence.

The Jonin who voted for Orochimaru looked around with surprised expressions, as if asking, “Why did all of you vote for Muzuki?”

And the Jonin who voted for Muzuki couldn’t help but look around, realizing there were so many allies, an overwhelming victory.

This vote difference was already enough for Muzuki to secure the Hokage position in advance.

Although there were still Chunin, Genin, and citizens who hadn’t voted, those two segments combined only accounted for sixty percent of the weight.

Unless Orochimaru had extremely high popularity among the citizens and ordinary Ninja, it would be difficult to turn the tide.

Everyone present was a Konoha Ninja. How could they not know Orochimaru’s situation in Konoha? He had quite a few supporters, but definitely not as many as Muzuki.

Muzuki’s role in the Third Shinobi World War was too significant, and the period right after the war was Muzuki’s absolute strong period.

Uchiha Fugaku’s lips curved upwards, and a rare excited smile appeared on his face.

Hokage! Finally, a Hokage who might favor their Uchiha Clan was about to emerge!

With Shisui and Obito, the Uchiha twin stars, and Muzuki, a capable Hokage who wouldn’t target the Uchiha, how could the Uchiha not restore their glory?

“Muzuki-sensei is Hokage!” Obito shouted in his heart, a wide smile on his face.

He had studied the Hokage election rules. Although it was still early for the final result, Muzuki’s vote count was incredibly stable, with almost no possibility of an upset.

“History has been further changed.” Obito silently apologized to Minato Namikaze in his heart.

The impact of their actions was growing. Minato Namikaze, who was supposed to become the Fourth Hokage in the original history, wasn’t even nominated.

Obito thought this was probably because Muzuki survived, leading to many battles that Minato Namikaze resolved in the original history being resolved by Muzuki instead.

After all, Muzuki was stronger than Minato Namikaze.

However, if Obito had to choose a hundred more times, he would still find a way to change history.

Anyone could be Hokage; he just wanted everyone to live well.

This time, Naruto shouldn’t become an orphan, right?

PS: I’ve been busy and tired recently, and accidentally fell asleep again.

Fortunately, I’m finally done with the busy period. Tonight, I should be able to update normally before 1 or 2 AM, right?