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 and Obito had already begun training under Mugetsu's guidance.
Obito usually ate either at home or at a breakfast shop inside the Uchiha Clan Compound, and his route did not necessarily pass through the shopping street. Kakashi guessed that Obito probably did not know the Leaf Newspaper had released new content today.
Otherwise, given Obito's personality, he would already be yelling here.
Kakashi walked toward Mugetsu, who was teaching Obito the Flying Thunder God Technique, and said, "Teacher Mugetsu, I just heard a bad rumor on the shopping street."
Kakashi quickly told Mugetsu the news he had heard on the street.
Normally, Kakashi would not interrupt when Mugetsu was teaching.
However, Kakashi felt that this news involved serious implications, and Mugetsu needed to know as soon as possible so Konoha would not 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 come up with ways to reduce the impact faster.
Although the rumor sounded outrageous, Kakashi felt it was most likely true.
This was because it perfectly explained something Kakashi had been very confused about.
Why was the Fourth Hokage suddenly being chosen?
The reason Hiruzen gave at the meeting was that he was old and wanted a younger person to take over.
But Hiruzen was not particularly old, nor was this a good time to step down. Leaders did not suddenly retire right after winning a major victory.
If there was the matter of him having been defeated by Sōsuke, then everything made sense.
"Hokage Uncle lost to Sōsuke? Seriously? How did those two end up fighting?" Obito scratched his head, looking confused.
He knew Konoha and Ninshū had conflicts, but Obito only knew that Konoha wanted to force Sōsuke to commit suicide, and then negotiations broke down.
He had not expected things to suddenly jump to the Hokage fighting the Ninja Master.
"It's true." Mugetsu 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 could not make Ninshū help them keep it secret. Exposure was only a matter of time.
Kakashi showed an expression that said, "Just as I thought."
He knew Hiruzen's sudden succession announcement was not that simple.
"In that case, Sōsuke's strength is quite extraordinary." Kakashi could not help falling into thought.
Previously, Konoha had been very tough on Ninshū, wanting to force Sōsuke to commit suicide, but afterward, there had inexplicably been no follow up.
Connecting everything together, the answer was obvious.
Sōsuke's strength had exceeded Konoha's expectations, forcing Konoha to change its attitude.
Kakashi subconsciously glanced at Mugetsu.
When it came to strength capable of making the Five Great Ninja Villages change their stance, the first person he thought of was Mugetsu.
Mugetsu had not reached the level of Senju Hashirama, but in the current Ninja World, besides Sōsuke, whose depth was unknown, Mugetsu 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 also a crucial step for successfully executing it…" After reminding them, Mugetsu 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 that same moment, on the other side, Mugetsu'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.
Mugetsu's Shadow Clone nodded and quickly headed to the high level conference room with the Anbu.
"As we expected, Ninshū 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 wasted no time and immediately explained the problem.
"It's faster than expected. Did Ninshū actively promote it?" Homura asked in a deep voice.
Information propagation took time, and in the Ninja World, where communication was underdeveloped, it was not easy for a piece of information to spread rapidly in such a short period.
However, compared to the news itself, Homura was more concerned about Sōsuke's actual attitude.
Even if the news was exposed, it would only cause Hiruzen to lose some face. Konoha would not suffer any actual losses.
"It could also be the other major Ninja Villages fanning the flames, unwilling to let this opportunity pass," Mugetsu said, shaking his head.
Did he not know whether he had done it himself?
Mugetsu had not specifically asked the Ninshū ninja to conceal the battle result, but he had not told them to widely publicize it either.
"Mugetsu is right. Compared to Ninshū, the other major Ninja Villages are more suspicious," Hiruzen nodded and said.
Because Sōsuke had held back during the fight, Hiruzen still could not determine whether Sōsuke held any malice toward Konoha.
But the other Ninja Villages were simple.
They had just been defeated in war, so after 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?" Koharu asked.
"Yes. We will handle it by ignoring it," Hiruzen confirmed.
They could not argue against it.
If the news reached Ninshū and Sōsuke demanded a public rematch, Hiruzen would suffer immense humiliation, gaining nothing whether he went or not.
But admitting it directly was not good either.
Damaging 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's supporters could tell themselves that Hiruzen disdained responding to such rumors, or that the busy Hiruzen had not even heard of this trivial matter, using that 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 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 and allowing Mugetsu, 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" was hotly discussed within Konoha, Konoha took no action.
They neither explained nor suppressed the discussion environment, merely working 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 the result multiple times before daring to believe they had not miscounted.
The number of votes Mugetsu 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 Mugetsu becoming the Fourth Hokage.
When the voting results were announced, Mugetsu's astonishing number of votes shocked Konoha.
People temporarily stopped discussing the various secrets concerning Hiruzen and Sōsuke, and a new wave of enthusiasm for the Hokage election swept through Konoha.
"Wait a minute. According to the voting rules, Assistant Mugetsu 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 Mugetsu.
The three types of votes, jonin, chunin and genin, and civilians, all had different weights.
There were only a little over one hundred voting jonin, but they accounted for forty percent of the total voting weight.
Although the chunin, genin, and civilians were numerous, they each only accounted for thirty percent.
The jonin votes and the chunin and genin votes for Mugetsu combined meant that his total weight was already infinitely close to sixty percent.
Even if Orochimaru secured all the remaining voting weight, his final total would still only be forty percent at most.
Clearly, this election had ended prematurely.
Regardless of what happened next, Mugetsu would become the Fourth Hokage.
Therefore, after consulting Orochimaru himself, the high level meeting changed the election procedure.
The civilian vote would continue, but it would only be used to calculate the final tally. The election result itself was settled immediately, and the Daimyo and high officials of the Land of Fire were invited to confirm the final Hokage candidate.
Fugaku and Shisui did not waste this excellent opportunity.
Seeing that everyone in the Village recognized Mugetsu as the next Hokage, they convened a meeting with the clan elders.
Since the number of attendees was small, they did not go to the Naka Shrine for the meeting and instead chose Fugaku's study.
"Due to the victory in the war, Konoha has acquired many high quality missions…"
Fugaku did not mince words and immediately stated everything they intended to do.
"Temporarily leaving the Police Force to take on high level commissioned missions?"
Uchiha Morishige habitually wanted to refuse, but when he thought of the rewards that high level missions could bring, he did not 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 Katsuhisa 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," Fugaku replied.
"What about the Police Force positions? If it's not a suspension, and everything remains the same, only replacing patrol duties with high level commissions, then I think that's excellent," Katsuhisa stated his preference.
Shisui understood.
They wanted to earn the mission rewards, but they did not 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 Mugetsu's suggestion regarding the Police Force," Shisui said.
"Teacher Mugetsu 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.
Katsuhisa smiled.
"Assistant Mugetsu makes sense. We Uchiha jonin are very powerful, and merely patrolling the Village is indeed a waste."
"I support Assistant Mugetsu's idea."
Why had they not said so sooner?
If he had known it was Mugetsu's will, he would have been the first to support it.
Everyone in Konoha knew that Mugetsu becoming the Fourth Hokage was already a foregone conclusion.
With the potential to become the second God of Shinobi, and also the Hokage, plus having two Uchiha disciples, who else would the Uchiha Clan follow besides Mugetsu?
"I support it too. I know Assistant Mugetsu's capabilities. The Police Force and the Uchiha will definitely develop better under Assistant Mugetsu's leadership," Uchiha Yashiro quickly stated.
He was originally an elder who stood on the same side as Fugaku, but he had not expected Katsuhisa's stance to be so flexible.
"I support it," Morishige finally nodded.
At this point, whether he agreed or not honestly no longer affected the overall situation.
The moment Shisui brought up Mugetsu, the outcome was already decided.
The Uchiha desperately wanted a Hokage who would be slightly closer to them, and Mugetsu perfectly met the Uchiha Clan's needs.
Unless Morishige could prove that Mugetsu becoming Hokage would be detrimental to the Uchiha, taking an opposing stance against Mugetsu would only harm his reputation within the clan.
At the jonin meeting, all twenty plus Uchiha jonin had cast their votes for Mugetsu.
Not a single person had abstained or voted for Orochimaru.
"Alright then, since everyone agrees, let's start discussing the specifics," 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. Then the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha would naturally ease and eventually disappear.
"Thank goodness for you, Teacher Mugetsu," Shisui silently thanked him in his heart.
Mugetsu had truly helped him too much.
Without Mugetsu, he would not have his current strength. Without Mugetsu, he would not have his current knowledge.
If he had not been taught by Mugetsu, he would probably have had to try to solve the problem alone.
Because he would not have thought to ask for help, nor would he have found anyone to help him.
…
After receiving Hiruzen's letter, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire quickly gathered his high officials and guards, then traveled 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 asked curiously, sitting in the main seat and covering his face with a fan, revealing only his eyes.
He had watched the Youth Martial Arts Tournament and met Sōsuke.
He thought Sōsuke was a decent person, but he had not expected him to be such a powerful fighter.
Hiruzen fell silent.
"Daimyo, this is a meeting to elect the Hokage. Please save irrelevant topics until the meeting is over," Homura said sternly.
Regardless of his relationship with Hiruzen, based solely on Hiruzen's status as Hokage, Homura 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 immediately replied.
"Hayate Mugetsu," Minato spoke second.
The Jonin Commander usually could not attend high level meetings, but he could attend the Hokage election meeting.
"Hayate Mugetsu," Homura followed.
"Hayate Mugetsu," Koharu immediately followed suit.
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