Hokage's office!
The news of Danzo's death made the atmosphere in the office depressing and dull.

The Anbu chief knelt on one knee with his head lowered, trying to reduce his presence in the room to the minimum.

The Third Hokage staggered and sat down, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing his agitated emotions. His thoughts were in a mess and he needed to sort them out.

The relationship between Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi is very close. Even the death of his wife Biwako Sarutobi is not as big a blow to him as the death of Danzo Shimura. Their political relationship is closer than that of husband and wife, and they are completely two sides of the same coin.

Without Danzo Shimura, the impact on Sarutobi Hiruzen was huge.

and,

With the death of Danzo, the plan previously made by Sarutobi Hiruzen was completely disrupted.

Utane Koharu and Mitokado En were also extremely shocked and seemed to be at a loss as to what to do.

"Huruzen! Danzo is dead, and that barbarian Raikage is also attacking us. You'd better come up with a plan quickly!" Mito Kado En said anxiously.

"Yes! We must..." Having said this, Utane Koharu looked at the ANBU Minister Xiang and the Root Deputy Minister Aburame Ryoma who were still in the office, and immediately stopped talking, suppressing the panic on her face.

"Xiang! Go and gather the patriarchs of all the major families in the village to come for a meeting immediately." Utane Koharu said in a deep voice.

The head of the Anbu looked up at the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, and seeing that he did not express anything, he immediately understood that the Third Hokage had acquiesced to Utane Koharu's order, and obediently stepped back.

Utatane Koharu looked at Aburame Ryoma and said, "Danzo is dead. You should go and stabilize the Root personnel now. Don't let them get in chaos. The Hokage will take care of the rest."

After hearing what Utatane Koharu said, Aburame Ryoma did not withdraw immediately, but looked at the third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Aburame Ryoma, then sighed, "The Root has always been managed independently by Danzo. Now that something has happened to him, it is up to you, the deputy director, to shoulder this responsibility."

"Now I will officially appoint you as the new Minister of the Root."

Aburame Ryoma was appointed and left excitedly. The Root brainwashing is brainwashing, but human desires still exist. Aburame Ryoma was loyal to Danzo, and now that Danzo is dead, he naturally wants to become the new Root leader.

With the departure of Aburame Ryoma, there were no outsiders in the Hokage's office, and the three of them no longer needed to conceal their words.

"Huruzen! What exactly are you thinking?" asked Utane Koharu.

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not answer, but opened the drawer, took out a new pipe, slowly filled it with tobacco, and when he was about to light it, Utane Koharu said directly: "It's urgent, and you still have the mind to smoke."

"So what do you think?" Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at his two old friends.

Mito Kado En frowned and said, "Now that Danzo is dead, the Fifth Hokage needs to be re-elected. Should we continue to push for Jiraiya or Kakashi?"

Utane Koharu said without hesitation: "Of course it's Kakashi. Jiraiya is too unreliable, wandering around all day long."

Mitomon En continued: "It's not that simple."

"In the beginning, we stood on Minato's side and suppressed Orochimaru because Minato himself was quite powerful."

"Kakashi is not Minato. He doesn't have Minato's strength."

Utatane Koharu snorted coldly: "We forcefully promote Kakashi, so what can they do even if they have objections?"

Danzo died.

From the perspective of the village, it is hard to tell what is good and what is bad, but from the perspective of power, Sarutobi Hiruzen has even greater power.

The last time, Hyuga Hiashi's vote became the key vote, entirely because Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen were not on the same page.

After Danzo's death, Tenne, Mitomon, Root, Anbu, Sarutobi, Shimura, a small number of family-based ninjas, and a large number of civilian ninjas were all controlled by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Wanting to select a new Hokage through election is completely different from Sarutobi Hiruzen accepting his fate.

Mitomon En shook his head and said, "It's not that simple. Konoha is no longer the Konoha it once was."

Utane Koharu looked at Mito Kado En in confusion.

Mitomon Yan sighed and said, "After the death of Fugaku, the easy-to-control Uchiha clan leader, the Uchiha clan has now completely fallen into the hands of the sinister and cunning Setsuna. If we do something too obvious, it will definitely cause his opposition."

Utatane Koharu said indifferently, "The old ghost Setsuna is indeed strong, but from the fact that he did not fight to the death that day, it can be seen that he still has concerns."

"I suspect that if he attacks with all his strength, it might affect his lifespan, or his pupil power might be exhausted."

"He doesn't dare to fight to the death, and he doesn't dare to fall down. He is the last pillar of the Uchiha clan."

"As long as he doesn't dare to fight to the death and overturn the table, he will not be our opponent within the rules."

Mitomon En said worriedly: "If the Land of Lightning hadn't sent troops again, I would have thought the same as you."

Utane Koharu and Sarutobi Hiruzen understood what Mito Kado En meant by this.

If they force Kakashi to take the position, they will have to face the pressure from the Fourth Raikage Ai.

But if Jiraiya comes to power, their interests will inevitably be shattered.

People are greedy, and asking them to spit out the benefits they have already gained is no different from killing them.

Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his head and asked, "Are you sure you can deal with Raikage Ai?"

"Just a thunder... huh! Hiruzen, what do you mean? Do you want me and Hondori to deal with the Fourth Raikage?" Utane Koharu was originally belittling the Raikage Ai nonchalantly, but as she was speaking, she suddenly understood the meaning of Sarutobi Hiruzen's words and instantly got furious.

Mitomon Enya said nervously: "Huruzen, you must be joking!"

Against the Raikage Ai?
Utane Koharu and Mito Kado En are not Danzo. They both just want to lie on top of Konoha and suck blood. They have no intention of becoming Konoha itself. What's the difference between letting them go to the battlefield and asking for their lives?
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff of cigarette calmly and said, "In that case, you stay in the village and I will deal with the Raikage."

Hearing this, the two of them instantly showed joy on their faces. You know, they haven't been to the front line since the First Ninja World War. The courage they once had is long gone. Now they have completely become cowards who are afraid of death.

At the same time, they also understood Sarutobi Hiruzen's intention. He wanted to suppress the election of the Fifth Hokage and continue to hold power in Konoha in the name of acting Hokage in order to buy time for Asuma to take the throne.

"That's the best. With your strength, it won't be a problem for you to deal with a Raikage."

"Wait...you're going to the front line, what about Setsuna in the village?" Mizuto Menen suddenly reacted, looking panicked.

Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned back on his chair and said calmly, "Then I'll naturally leave it to you."

Upon hearing this, Utane Koharu and Mitokado En immediately broke out in cold sweats on their foreheads.

Going to the frontline was life-threatening, but staying in the village was even more dangerous. If they went to the frontline, as long as they were not killed by the Raikage, they would still have a chance to be captured. If they stayed in the village, they would probably be buried alive.

Sarutobi Hiruzen said calmly: "If you don't want to, you can go to the front line."

"Or call Jiraiya back to succeed him as the Fifth Hokage."

There is no doubt that neither of the two choices is what they want, even Sarutobi Hiruzen himself does not want to choose. Utatane Koharu suddenly said: "Hiruzen! Can't we let the Uchiha deal with the Raikage?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen said helplessly: "If Fugaku is the clan leader, there will be no problem. Now the head is Setsuna, and he will not let the Uchiha go to the front line to consume the resources."

Utatane Komura said dissatisfiedly: "Humph! Is Konoha just our Konoha? It has nothing to do with him, Uchiha, right!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed lightly and said, "Although I don't know what Uchiha Setsuna is thinking, he should not have any intention of an armed coup. As long as you don't take the initiative to provoke Setsuna, there shouldn't be any problems in the village."

"If you want to go to the front line, that's fine. According to the mission report that Ryoma just handed in, the Fourth Raikage Ai's strength is not real."

"Danzo almost killed the Fourth Raikage several times. If it weren't for the Raikage Ai cutting off his arm, he would have died."

"With one arm missing, the strength of the Raikage Ai has declined a lot. Danzo can achieve such an effect. If you are more careful, the difference will not be too big."

After hearing these words, Mizuto Menyan was still uneasy and didn't want to make a choice.

"Can't we just do it like during the Third Shinobi World War?"

"We will stay in the village, while Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Namikaze Minato, and the Uchiha will be at the front line."

Then Mizuto Kado En felt the looks from Sarutobi Hiruzen and Utane Koharu that looked at him like a fool, and he immediately realized that he had said something stupid.

The last time, Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru performed great contributions and brought about a huge momentum that forced Sarutobi Hiruzen to start the election for the Fourth Hokage. If the same thing happens again.

Jiraiya or Uchiha should be able to repel the Raikage Ai, but this would also give them a legitimate excuse to push the Fifth Hokage to power.

Mitomon Yan thought of this, sighed and said: "Let Jiraiya come back!"

He took a deep breath and said, "We shouldn't be too greedy. When it's time to let go, we should let go."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Mito Kado En with a somewhat unfriendly look. The person who least wanted Jiraiya to come back was actually him, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Mito Kado En and Utane Koharu just wanted to suck blood from Konoha and had no intention of becoming Konoha themselves. This made them resist the idea of ​​Jiraiya becoming Hokage, but they did not resist too strongly.

"Jiraiya, Kakashi, Tsunade."

"No matter who comes to power, they are all from our faction."

"The different people in power will at most affect the amount of power we hold, but will not cause us any substantial harm."

Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep puff of cigarette and began to think.

Mitomon En said: "Huruzen, don't be too greedy. I know you want to push Sarutobi Asuma to the top..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face suddenly changed, and a powerful aura emanated from his body, pressing towards Mito Kado En. He could have such an idea, but he was very averse to others saying it directly. If Wang Ming said it in front of him, he would not be able to defeat him, otherwise he would even want to kill him.

Mitomon En continued, bearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's unfriendly gaze: "Now that Uchiha Setsuna is here, Asuma cannot be subdued..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Mitokado En stared at each other for a long while, and finally Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed dejectedly: "En! You are right, we should let go of things that should be let go."

"I am too persistent. Asuma is indeed not qualified to be Hokage at this moment."

Seeing that Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer insisted, Mitomon En immediately said, "Then I will go and call Jiraiya back."

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head: "It hasn't come to that yet."

Mitomon En was stunned: "Hiruzen! What do you mean?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen said: "The last time Shikaku convened a meeting of the jonin squad, it was Danzo who forced them into a corner. Now that Danzo is dead, the conflict between us no longer exists."

"The relationship between us and the ninja clan can be eased."

"At the same time, I will propose Nara Shikaku, Hyuga Hiashi, Uchiha Yashiro, and Hatake Kakashi as candidates for Hokage at the conference."

Utatane Koharu's expression changed drastically: "Huruzen, you are crazy."

"How can you nominate people from the Uchiha and Hyuga families, and Nara Shikaku, this ungrateful traitor."

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head: "You don't understand!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not strong enough to subdue all the ninja clans with his overwhelming strength, so he could only play a balancing game in Konoha.

The balance thing has become a monster over time.

A mature political country or political system will eventually maintain this kind of balance, but this balance is also corrupt and will eventually pull each other to death.

During Sarutobi Hiruzen's reign, the major ninja clans had divided up all interests within Konoha Village, and a balance was reached between the ninja clans.

Under this balance, when Uchiha wanted to become Hokage, not only was Sarutobi Hiruzen unwilling to give up the position, even people from other families would not agree.

Because Konoha already has ninja clans, if any ninja becomes Hokage, the balance of Konoha will be instantly broken.

A great ninja clan that becomes the Hokage will inevitably rely on the authority of the Hokage to expand the family's power.

Therefore, after Sarutobi Hiruzen passed away, the successors of the Hokage were basically lonely people like Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Naruto. Only those without family power can make the major families feel at ease.

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought of the faces of the ninja clans and said disdainfully: "This time it's not us who are pushing Kakashi to the top, but the major ninja clans who need Kakashi to be the top."

After all, Utane Koharu and Mitokado En had been involved in politics for many years, and they immediately understood what Sarutobi Hiruzen meant.

Utane Koharu frowned and said, "But what if the ninja clan directly nominates Jiraiya and forcefully pushes him?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed and said, "I am the Hokage. I will directly reject Jiraiya's candidacy. Then they can only choose Kakashi."

Mitomon En also smiled and said, "It seems that you are still the best, Hiruzen."

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head and said, "It's not difficult for Kakashi to take the position, but it's difficult to defeat the Raikage Ai."

Mitomon En said: "If the Ninja clan fully supports Kakashi, Raikage Ai won't be a big problem."

"The two of us can go to the front line to supervise the battle." Mizuto Menyan thought.

Sarutobi Hiruzen heard this and said, "Have you chosen to go to the front line?"

Mitomon Yan sighed and said, "Well! I decided to go to the front line. I can't handle Setsuna in the village."

Utane Koharu agreed, "Yan has made his decision, so I have no choice but to go to the front line."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded: "If that's the case, then the matter is clear. Let's go! I think the heads of the major ninja clans have already arrived."

After saying that, the three of them stood up and walked towards the large conference room. (End of this chapter)