Chapter 178 Consultants' Debate
Hidden Leaf Village.
Hokage's office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who received the intelligence from the front line, finally showed a sense of relief on his face after reading it.
"Well done!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone was filled with undisguised joy. Judging from the intelligence, the Iwagakure, which had been aggressive and had the upper hand, had suffered a great defeat in this operation.
A front-line assault team of more than fifty people, most of whom were special jonin and jonin, was wiped out by Minato Namikaze.
Although the front line also paid a tragic price with the First Defense Force being almost wiped out and only four ninjas surviving.
Ōnoki was defeated head-on by Orochimaru.
Tsunade's hemophobia is suspected to have been cured and her fighting ability has been restored.
The Five-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure raided the station of the wounded, and was then defeated and captured by Shikagawa independently.
The successive good news made the Third Hokage's tense heart relax a little. The various news coming from the Iwagakure battlefield some time ago even made him a little restless and wanted to rush to the Iwagakure battlefield to take charge.
If Jiraiya hadn't found Tsunade and the advisors hadn't unanimously overturned his decision, he wouldn't be on this office floor right now, but on the front lines confronting Ōnoki.
In any case, judging from the intelligence, Iwagakure suffered a great defeat this time and was badly hurt. At the very least, it could greatly ease the uneasy and anxious atmosphere in the village.
"What does the intelligence say?"
Seeing the unconcealable joy on the Third Hokage's face, the two advisors looked at each other and Mito Kado En stepped forward and asked.
When they were young, their strength was far superior to that of the average jonin, but having been away from war for many years and focusing on handling village affairs, their strength has obviously declined.
Among the high-level people who followed the Second Generation, the strongest one was undoubtedly the Third Generation Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen. Even though he had been away from the front-line battles for a long time, his strength was still unparalleled.
The second line is Danzo Shimura, the leader of the Root. Danzo, who controls the assassination organization Root, is the one who has the most front-line combat among the few people. From time to time, he also needs to leave the village to complete tasks and fight the enemy.
Although both of them still have strength, their mentality and body have inevitably deteriorated a lot.
"You guys take a look too. I plan to spread this information later." Sarutobi Hiruzen handed the intelligence scroll in his hand to the two and decided.
The two advisors took the intelligence and quickly scanned it, and immediately understood why Sarutobi Hiruzen was so happy. They were also very surprised by the information reported on the scroll.
"Orochimaru has lived up to your expectations." Mito Kado En said in approval. Although Orochimaru would occasionally choke them in recent years, making them feel a little embarrassed, but this time, no matter who it was, they had to admit that Orochimaru did a good job.
"Minato and Kagawa did a great job! They are worthy of being disciples of the Three Ninjas." Utane Koharu also nodded rarely and praised Kagawa.
If nothing unexpected happens, the ninjas who have made contributions in this intelligence are all candidates for the next generation of Hokage, and the next generation of Hokage. The direct descendants of the Hokage line!
As long as it wasn't Danzo Shimura, the two advisors had no objection whether it was Orochimaru, Jiraiya, or anyone else.
Although they often speak up for Danzo, it does not mean they support him, a man with a strong desire for control, who has been immersed in darkness for a long time and who is tough and unscrupulous, to become Hokage.
"Yeah, Minato is okay. His strength emerged after experiencing many wars. On the contrary, Kakune was able to deal with the Five-Tails Jinchuriki independently." The Third Hokage said with some sigh.
He knew that Lu Nie was extremely talented, and like his disciple Orochimaru, he had extraordinary talents and interests in ninjutsu and other research, but the physical limitations of the Nara clan and the family background were there, and the upper limit was obvious at a glance. Although Lu Nie often went out of the village for missions, judging from the mission reports, he fulfilled his responsibilities as a Nara ninja in the team very well.
Brain, assist.
According to intelligence, the truly powerful person in the team is undoubtedly Uchiha Shisui.
"Kakashi did a good job. While the Five-Tails is being escorted back to the village, let's promote both Kakashi and Kane to jonin together." Mito Kado En suggested.
It was originally agreed that Lu Nie would be promoted to Jonin, but it was delayed for a while due to the war on the front line.
"Orochimaru and Lunai have done a great job. The only hidden danger is that they are too close to the Uchiha. I heard that Fugaku and the Uchiha elders are waiting for Lunai to be promoted to jonin, and then arrange for Fugaku's child, Itachi, to be Lunai's disciple."
Utane Koharu looked a little worried.
Influenced by Uchiha Madara's betrayal of the village and the second generation, they all have prejudices and are wary of Uchiha.
"Itachi? I heard that he has great talent and was called an Uchiha who is better than him by Shisui." The Third Hokage seemed not to hear the worry in Utatane Koharu's words and commented with interest.
“I know what you’re worried about, but no matter who becomes Hokage, Orochimaru will have to face the issue of how to deal with the rift between the Uchiha and the village.
If Orochimaru becomes the fourth Hokage, then at least the two generations of Hokage won't have to worry about the Uchiha problem. After that, I'm afraid our souls will have returned to the Pure Land to meet the first and second generations."
Looking at the two silent people, the Third Hokage spoke softly.
He actually did not advocate the use of violence to suppress and deal with the Uchiha's dissatisfaction, but it was undeniable that he also had due vigilance against the Uchiha.
But he is also open-minded and knows that problems he cannot solve can be handed over to his successor.
"Are you sure it's Orochimaru?"
The two advisors listened to Sarutobi Hiruzen's words and subconsciously thought that Sarutobi Hiruzen had already made the final decision on the candidate for the Fourth Hokage.
The two were not surprised by this decision. After all, there seemed to be many candidates now, such as the Three Ninjas, Danzo, and Minato Namikaze, but in fact Danzo was the least likely. Tsunade and Jiraiya both clearly expressed their lack of interest in the position of Hokage.
So there were only two candidates left, Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru.
If Orochimaru had not established the Technology Development Department in the first place, but had still been mixed with Root Danzo without being separated, the consultants might still have some concerns about Orochimaru's coming to power.
After all, in their hearts and the hearts of the villagers, the Hokage should try his best to avoid darkness, give people light and trust, and the less negative information about him, the better.
Minato Namikaze did this very well. He was powerful, gentle, popular in the village, and the husband of a Jinchūriki. He also had a very harmonious relationship with the various ninja clans and civilian ninjas.
If you want connections, you have connections; if you want achievements, you have achievements; if you want strength, you have strength.
A nearly perfect ninja!
Unfortunately, his competitor is Orochimaru.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen decides on the final candidate, then Namikaze Minato can only become an advisor at most.
"Let's wait and see, the war is not over yet." Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered for a moment and shook his head.
(End of this chapter)