Chapter 680: The News of Defeat is Exposed

Because Kakashi was reading the newspaper while eating breakfast, he arrived later than usual.

By the time he reached the South Border Forest, Rin Nohara and Obito had already begun training under Muzuki’s guidance.

Obito usually ate at home or at a breakfast shop in the Uchiha Clan Compound, and his route didn’t necessarily pass through the Shopping Street. Kakashi guessed that Obito probably didn’t know the Leaf Newspaper had released new content today.

Otherwise, given Obito’s personality, he would have been yelling and shouting here.

Kakashi then walked toward Muzuki, who was teaching Obito the Flying Thunder God Technique, and said:

“Teacher Muzuki, I just heard a bad rumor on the Shopping Street.”

Kakashi quickly told Muzuki the news he had heard on the street.

Normally, Kakashi would not interrupt when Muzuki was teaching.

However, Kakashi felt this news involved serious implications, and Muzuki needed to know as soon as possible so that Konoha wouldn’t be caught off guard.

If the news was false, they should quickly clarify it, hold those spreading the rumors accountable, and trace the source of the gossip.

If the news was true, they could also devise ways to mitigate the impact faster.

Although the rumor sounded outrageous, Kakashi felt it must be true.

This was because it perfectly explained something Kakashi had been very confused about—why the Fourth Hokage was suddenly being chosen.

The reason Hiruzen Sarutobi gave at the meeting was that he was old and wanted a younger person to take over.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn’t particularly old, nor was this a good time to step down. Leaders don’t suddenly retire right after winning a major victory.

If there was the matter of having been defeated by Sōsuke, then everything made sense.

“The Hokage Uncle lost to Sōsuke? Seriously? How did those two end up fighting?” Obito scratched his head, looking confused.

He knew Konoha and the Shinobi Sect had conflicts, but Obito only knew that Konoha wanted to force Sōsuke to commit suicide, and then negotiations broke down.

He didn’t expect things to have fast-forwarded to the Hokage fighting the Ninja Master.

“It’s true.” Muzuki directly revealed the truth. Since the news had already spread to Konoha and reached Kakashi’s ears, there was no need for deliberate concealment.

“However, don’t discuss this matter too much; just act as you normally would.”

This matter had actually been discussed by the higher-ups. After all, they could ensure Konoha’s secrecy, but they couldn’t make the Shinobi Sect help them keep it a secret; exposure was only a matter of time.

Kakashi showed a “just as I thought” expression. He knew Hiruzen Sarutobi’s sudden succession announcement wasn’t that simple.

“In that case, Sōsuke’s strength is quite extraordinary.” Kakashi couldn’t help but fall into thought.

Previously, Konoha had been very tough on the Shinobi Sect, wanting to force Sōsuke to commit suicide, but then inexplicably, there was no follow-up.

Connecting everything, the answer was obvious: Sōsuke’s strength exceeded Konoha’s expectations, forcing Konoha to change its attitude.

Kakashi subconsciously glanced at Muzuki.

When it came to strength capable of making the Five Great Ninja Villages change their stance, the first person he thought of was Muzuki.

Muzuki hadn’t reached the level of Hashirama Senju, but in the current Ninja World, besides Sōsuke, whose depth was unknown, Muzuki was number one in the Ninja World, possessing the strength to wipe out a Ninja unit single-handedly.

“Sensing space is the first step of the Flying Thunder God, and a crucial step for successfully executing it…” After reminding them, Muzuki continued teaching Obito the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Kakashi quickly put away his thoughts and began honing his Kenjutsu and Lightning Release Chakra Nature Transformation.

At this moment, on the other side, Muzuki’s Shadow Clone in the Hokage Building was also approached by the Anbu.

“Please proceed to the High-Level Conference Room immediately.” The Anbu quickly stated their purpose.

Muzuki’s Shadow Clone nodded and quickly headed to the High-Level Conference Room with the Anbu.

“As we expected, the Shinobi Sect did not keep the news confidential. Various reports about my defeat against Sōsuke have already reached the Land of Fire and even Konoha.”

Once everyone was present, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasted no time and immediately explained the problem.

“It’s faster than expected. Did the Shinobi Sect actively promote it?” Homura Mitokado asked in a deep voice.

Information propagation takes time, and in the Ninja World, where communication is underdeveloped, it is not easy for a piece of information to spread rapidly in a short period.

However, compared to the news itself, Homura Mitokado was more concerned about Sōsuke’s actual attitude.

Even if the news was exposed, it would only cause Hiruzen Sarutobi to lose some face; Konoha wouldn’t suffer any actual losses.

“It could also be other major Ninja Villages, unwilling to be left behind, fanning the flames,” Muzuki shook his head and said.

Didn’t he know whether he had done it himself? Muzuki hadn’t specifically asked the Ninja Sect Ninja to conceal the battle result, but he hadn’t told them to widely publicize it either.

“Muzuki is right. Compared to the Shinobi Sect, other major Ninja Villages are more suspicious,” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said.

Because Sōsuke held back during the fight, Hiruzen Sarutobi still couldn’t determine whether Sōsuke held any malice toward Konoha.

But it was simple for the other Ninja Villages; they had just been defeated in war, so hearing this kind of news, they would certainly be delighted to see Konoha embarrassed.

“What should we do then? Should we use the method we discussed before?” Utatane Koharu asked.

“Yes, we will handle it by ignoring it.” Hiruzen Sarutobi confirmed.

They couldn’t argue against it. If the news reached the Shinobi Sect and Sōsuke demanded a public rematch, Hiruzen would suffer immense humiliation, gaining nothing whether he went or not.

But admitting it directly wasn’t good either. Hitting his personal prestige was a minor issue, but if it affected Konoha’s development momentum, the consequences would be severe.

Therefore, the result of their discussion was to play dead and pretend not to notice.

This way, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s supporters could tell themselves that Hiruzen disdained responding to such rumors, or that the busy Hiruzen hadn’t even heard of this trivial matter, using this to refute the claims.

“We must speed up the election, compress the process, and get a result for the Fourth Hokage election as soon as possible,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said seriously.

This was the real reason he convened the higher-ups. Playing dead was merely a stopgap measure, not a lasting solution.

Only by electing a new Fourth Hokage, allowing Muzuki, the universally desired second Wood Release Ninja, to take office, could the problem be better resolved.

After confirming the specific decision, even though the news of “Sōsuke defeated Hiruzen Sarutobi” was hotly debated within Konoha Village, Konoha took no action—neither explaining nor suppressing the discussion environment—but merely worked hard to push the election process forward.

Under these circumstances, the voting results for the Chunin and Genin quickly came out.

The difference in votes was enormous; the Ninja counting the ballots had to confirm multiple times before daring to be sure they hadn’t miscounted.

The number of votes Muzuki received accounted for a full ninety percent of the total votes from the Chunin and Genin!

In other words, nine out of every ten Konoha Ninja supported Muzuki becoming the Fourth Hokage.

When the voting results were announced, Muzuki’s astonishing number of votes shocked Konoha.

People temporarily stopped discussing the various secrets concerning Hiruzen Sarutobi and Sōsuke, and a new wave of enthusiasm for the Hokage election swept through Konoha.

“Wait a minute, according to the voting rules, Advisor Muzuki has already won.”

Someone combined the results of the two votes and discovered something outrageous.

Even if Orochimaru received one hundred percent of the civilian votes, he would still lose to Muzuki.

The three types of votes—Jonin, Chunin and Genin, and civilian—all had different weights.

There were only a little over a hundred voting Jonin, but they accounted for forty percent of the total voting weight.

Although the Chunin and Genin, and the civilians, were numerous, they each only accounted for thirty percent.

The Jonin votes and the Chunin and Genin votes for Muzuki combined meant that his total weight was already infinitely close to sixty percent.

Even if Orochimaru secured the remaining voting weight, his final total weight would still only be forty percent at most.

Clearly, this election had ended prematurely; regardless of the outcome, Muzuki would become the Fourth Hokage.

Therefore, after consulting Orochimaru himself, the high-level meeting changed the election procedure.

The civilian vote continued, but was only used to calculate the final tally, while the election result was settled immediately, inviting the Daimyo and high officials of the Land of Fire to confirm the final Hokage candidate.

Uchiha Fugaku and Shisui did not waste this excellent opportunity. Seeing that everyone in the Village recognized Muzuki as the next Hokage, they convened the clan elders for a meeting.

Since the number of attendees was small, they did not go to the Nanga Shrine for the meeting, choosing Uchiha Fugaku’s study instead.

“Due to the victory in the war, Konoha has acquired many high-quality missions…” Uchiha Fugaku didn’t mince words, stating everything they intended to do immediately.

“Temporarily leaving the Police Force to take on high-level commissioned missions?”

Uchiha Sheng Qing habitually wanted to refuse, but thinking of the rewards that high-level missions could bring, he didn’t speak immediately.

“Isn’t that inappropriate? If we Uchiha elites leave the Police Force, what about Konoha’s public safety? What if we can’t return to the Police Force?” Uchiha Keqiu raised his concerns.

“You don’t need to worry about public safety. Normally, the Police Force doesn’t require excessive strength; temporarily finding some Chunin and Genin can also handle the responsibilities.” Uchiha Fugaku replied.

“What about the Police Force positions? If it’s not a suspension, but everything remains the same, just replacing patrol duties with high-level commissions, then I think that’s excellent,” Uchiha Keqiu stated his preference.

Shisui understood: they wanted to earn the mission rewards, but they didn’t want to give up their Police Force positions either.

“Let me first clarify that this is not my idea or Uncle Fugaku’s idea, but Teacher Muzuki’s suggestion regarding the Police Force,” Shisui said.

“Teacher Muzuki believes that the current strength of the Police Force is overkill for maintaining public order, and therefore he has the idea of freeing up the Police Force’s powerful capabilities.”

The moment Shisui said this, the study instantly fell silent.

Uchiha Keqiu smiled. “Advisor Muzuki makes sense. We Uchiha Jonin are very powerful, and merely patrolling the Village is indeed a waste.”

“I support Advisor Muzuki’s idea.”

Why didn’t they say so sooner? If he had known it was Muzuki’s will, he would have been the first to support it.

Everyone in Konoha knew that Muzuki becoming the Fourth Hokage was a foregone conclusion.

With the potential to be the second God of Shinobi, and also the Hokage, plus having two Uchiha disciples, who else would the Uchiha Clan follow besides Muzuki?

“I support it too. I know Advisor Muzuki’s capabilities. The Police Force and the Uchiha will definitely develop better under Advisor Muzuki’s leadership.” Uchiha Yashiro quickly took a stance.

He was originally an elder who stood on the same side as Uchiha Fugaku, but he hadn’t expected Uchiha Keqiu’s stance to be so flexible.

“I support it,” Uchiha Sheng Qing finally nodded.

At this point, whether he agreed or not honestly didn’t affect the overall situation.

The moment Shisui brought up Muzuki, the outcome was decided.

The Uchiha were desperate for a Hokage who would be slightly closer to them, and Muzuki perfectly met the Uchiha’s needs.

Unless Uchiha Sheng Qing could prove that Muzuki becoming Hokage would be detrimental to the Uchiha, taking an opposing stance to Muzuki would only harm his reputation within the Uchiha Clan.

At the Jonin meeting, all twenty-plus Uchiha Jonin cast their votes for Muzuki; not a single person abstained or voted for Orochimaru.

“Alright then, since everyone agrees, let’s start discussing the specifics,” Uchiha Fugaku continued.

Seeing this, Shisui nodded internally with satisfaction.

Once this step was completed, the Uchiha and the Police Force would no longer be bound together, and the Police Force issue would be resolved.

Next, all they needed to do was build a good image for the Uchiha Clan and improve ideological education within the clan, and the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha would naturally ease and disappear.

“Thank goodness for you, Teacher Muzuki,” Shisui silently thanked him in his heart.

Muzuki had truly helped him too much. Without Muzuki, he wouldn’t have his current strength, and without Muzuki, he wouldn’t have his current knowledge.

If he hadn’t been taught by Muzuki, he would probably have had to try to solve the problem alone.

Because he wouldn’t have thought to ask for help, nor would he have found anyone to help him… After receiving Hiruzen Sarutobi’s letter, the Lord Daimyo of Fire Country quickly gathered his high officials and guards, traveling to Konoha for the meeting under the escort of many elite Ninja.

The Hokage election was a major event for Konoha, and also a major event for the Daimyo.

As the chief sponsor, the Daimyo certainly hoped his own ace fighter would be formidable.

“Sandaime, I heard you were defeated by that Sōsuke. Is that true?” The Daimyo sat in the main seat, covering his face with a fan, revealing only his eyes as he asked curiously.

He had watched the Youth Martial Arts Tournament and met Sōsuke. He thought Sōsuke was a decent person, but he didn’t expect him to be such a powerful fighter.

Hiruzen Sarutobi:… “Daimyo, this is a meeting to elect the Hokage. Please save irrelevant topics until the meeting is over,” Homura Mitokado said sternly.

Regardless of his relationship with Hiruzen Sarutobi, based solely on Hiruzen Sarutobi’s status as Hokage, Homura Mitokado could not allow the Daimyo to be so rude.

The Daimyo was merely their nominal leader.

Seeing that the Konoha Ninja were slightly displeased, the Daimyo gave an awkward smile and changed the topic:

“So, who are the recommended candidates?”

“I recommend Hayate Mugetsu!” Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately replied.

“Hayate Mugetsu.” Minato Namikaze spoke second.

The leader of the Jonin Squad usually cannot attend high-level meetings, but they can attend the Hokage election meeting.

“Hayate Mugetsu,” Homura Mitokado followed.

“Hayate Mugetsu,” Utatane Koharu immediately followed suit.