Chapter 197 Delivery
"Get ready."
At this time, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had handed over a lot of Hokage power to Orochimaru and knew the secrets of the village, looked at the still young face of Orochimaru in front of him and reminded him with some reluctance but also some relief.
"If nothing unexpected happens, you will be the Fourth Hokage after I return from the Fire Country Daimyo."
"Where's Minato?" Orochimaru, who once aspired to be the Hokage, did not look very excited upon hearing the news. Looking at his teacher who had aged a bit, he felt a little complicated for a moment.
"Minato," Sarutobi Hiruzen was silent for a moment, closing his eyes in the smoke rising from his pipe: "If it weren't for you, he would be a very good candidate for Hokage.
In fact, I did struggle between you and him. Minato is more sunny, more likely to be favored and trusted by people, and his love for the village is unparalleled.
Not only ordinary ninjas and villagers in the village, but also those ninja clans, big and small, all highly recognized his character and strength.
If he became Hokage, the village would surely have a stable and peaceful recuperation period.
As for you? If the things you and Danzo did in private were to be exposed, it would be a huge blow to your reputation.
But you handled it well. All the black spots were concentrated on Danzo, who founded the Technology Development Department and formed a deep interest relationship with the various bloodline and mystic ninja clans in the village.
If you can become Hokage, your position will be more stable than Minato's. And you will have the hope of solving the big problem of the Root."
"Teacher, do you also think that the Root is a big problem?" Orochimaru raised his eyebrows, and was a little sarcastic about the Root that his teacher mentioned at the end.
After all, the Root was able to grow to its current size entirely because of the shaping and control of the Hokage in front of him.
"I know what you're thinking!" Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't open his eyes, his face seemed to be recalling something, "The emergence of the Root was a product of the situation when there was no other way out.
Sensei Tobirama died too suddenly. Although I have been granted the position of Hokage, I need help if I want to quickly control the power of the entire village and balance the interests of the various ninja clans in the village!
First and foremost, I need to master the Anbu, a force that is directly under the Hokage! But Orochimaru, you should have a deep understanding and experience of the complexity and darkness of the Anbu.
In the absence of a handover, if you want to completely control such a large organization, you must use some means. "
"So Danzo and I discussed the establishment of the Root, and gave the Root the authority to train Anbu! During that time, with the cooperation between Danzo and me, we successfully mastered all the power of the Anbu.
At that time, Danzo had not yet shown much ambition. Under his management, the Root, at the beginning of its establishment, carried out many extremely dangerous tasks on behalf of the Anbu, collected a lot of important intelligence, and eliminated a large number of enemies for the village.
While on duty, he was seriously injured and nearly died several times."
"So, you want me to allow the existence of the Root and Danzo?" Orochimaru listened to his teacher's words without any fluctuation on his face.
Although he was nicknamed "Cold Lord" and his style and personality were relatively cold, it didn't mean he had no emotions. It was just that among the people he cared about and had poured his emotions into, Danzo was not one of them.
What's more, if necessary, he can decisively sacrifice the emotions he maintains.
"I was just recalling the past." Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. "The creation of the Root was good in the early days, but Danzo's stubborn paranoia later on twisted his soul. By the time I realized the change, the Root had become too big to be eliminated. It had merged with the power of the Anbu.
There was a time when I wasn't even sure whether the Anbu was the direct power under me, the Hokage, or the power of the Root Danzo!
I did my best to limit the power of the Root and divided the responsibilities between it and the Anbu. But the growth of the Root was inevitable.
Its tentacles are so deep that they have spread to many corners of the village. It is not easy to eliminate the root, even if you are the Hokage.
Moreover, most of the tasks performed by the roots outside the village are high-risk tasks, which have indeed solved a lot of troubles for the village.
Finally, in the Land of Fire, Danzo also has the support of the nobles and the tacit consent of the daimyo. "
"I don't have the intention to completely wipe out the Root and Danzo. I've been there before, so I know their style better." Orochimaru said frankly: "As long as Danzo doesn't reach out and touch my bottom line, I can allow his existence."
"It's up to you. That's something you should consider. But I suggest that if you want to solve the root problem or want to do something drastic, then the end of the war is the best opportunity.
I will try to get Danzo and the others to retire with me, to make room for Minato and Tsunade, but…” Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his eyes, and at the end, he waved his hand somewhat weakly. Apparently, he realized that those old guys might not be willing to abdicate with him.
Although he had thought about abdicating for quite some time, he would not have abdicated so quickly and in such a miserable way if it were not for the opposition voices in the village and the pressure from the daimyo and nobles of the Fire Nation.
Rather than having an undignified exit at that time, it is better to be sensible and nominate someone you like while you still have some say.
Both of them tacitly avoided mentioning Jiraiya.
The two of them knew very well that what Jiraiya was pursuing in his heart was the child of prophecy predicted by Myoboku Mountain, who could bring peace to the ninja world.
If the village hadn't needed him, Jiraiya might still be wandering around the ninja world, looking for the so-called true child of destiny.
If nothing unexpected happens, when the war is over, Jiraiya will leave the village again and travel and search the ninja world. It is almost impossible to tie him to the village with his position!
The reason why I say almost is that Tsunade is trying to keep him by playing the emotional card. But Tsunade is now thinking about resurrecting her lover and brother, and she probably doesn't care where Jiraiya is.
After seeing Orochimaru off, Sarutobi Hiruzen, standing in front of the window, knew that Orochimaru would never allow Mito Kado En and the others to boss him around for too long.
If it was Minato Namikaze, it would be fine.
But if you choose Namikaze Minato, the power on Orochimaru's side is enough to shake the foundation of the village.
With the Kumogakure ready to make a move, the Kirigakure still waging war, and the ninja power being unprecedentedly scarce after the Konoha War, there really cannot be any major problems internally.
(End of this chapter)