Chapter 222: Only Those Recognized by the Clans Are Qualified to Be Hokage?
Though everyone knew this matter was fake, you still had to give the daimyo face!
Unspoken rules were still rules—things that couldn't be discussed openly!
Most likely everyone would make a show of pledging loyalty to the daimyo, then cooperate with each other to sideline this daimyo messenger.
But if that happened, Jiraiya would need everyone's cooperation—which meant he'd have to make concessions in other areas!
Even if you truly refused to concede, they could cooperate with the daimyo's messenger to sideline this Hokage. That wasn't impossible either!
Who knew Jiraiya truly lived up to his heroic reputation—he wouldn't bend at all, simply laying out everything that was supposed to remain beneath the table, putting it all in the open for discussion.
This made it very difficult for many clan members to accept.
One clan jonin finally couldn't hold back, shouting loudly from the side:
"Only those recognized by the shinobi clans are qualified to become Hokage!"
"You haven't been inaugurated as Hokage yet!"
Because the village currently needed manpower and resources for various matters, and because the Hokage's inauguration required the daimyo's approval, Jiraiya indeed hadn't held a Hokage inauguration ceremony until now. But everyone knew he was Konoha Village's Fifth Hokage.
He had indeed been handling village administration as the Fifth Hokage, and everyone had no objections to this.
Until the conflict escalated.
If the clans insisted on nitpicking and bringing up this issue, saying Jiraiya wasn't the Fifth Hokage, technically they weren't wrong.
"That's right, Jiraiya. Hokage succession requires the daimyo's approval. Now that the daimyo's messenger is here, you need to obtain his approval first."
"The Third Hokage's promises should be honored. We clans should pledge loyalty to the daimyo."
With someone taking the lead, this group of clan members grew bolder, joining in the clamor, looking at Jiraiya with challenging eyes.
The meaning was clear: since you've laid everything bare, let's play our cards openly and see what you can do!
Jiraiya's gaze swept across those people's faces. In those pairs of eyes, he saw greed and selfishness, and also saw fearlessness.
"You..." The rage in his heart swelled violently.
"Haha... This is Konoha Village right now!"
Jiraiya was practically laughing from anger. At this moment, he truly wanted to just quit on the spot, dust off his hands, and leave.
But his teacher's face at death appeared before his eyes again, forcing him to calm down once more.
He took a deep breath and began using his brain, pondering how to break this deadlock.
But he'd never been a political talent—he simply didn't know political tactics. He thought until his head was about to explode, but still found no solution.
Those clan jonin weren't anxious either. They just sat there calmly, silently watching him pace back and forth like an ant on a hot pan.
The more anxious Jiraiya became, the more relieved the clans felt.
They were absolutely certain that no matter what tactics Jiraiya employed, they had ways to counter them.
As long as it was political maneuvering, this rookie Jiraiya definitely couldn't match them.
Since Jiraiya couldn't think of a solution himself, he began considering what his teacher would do if he were still here.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, arms wrapped around his head, putting himself in Hiruzen Sarutobi's perspective, beginning to mentally simulate.
"If teacher wasn't recognized by the clans, how would he become Hokage?"
"No, that's wrong. Teacher couldn't possibly not be recognized by the clans. He was already Hokage—everyone in the village recognized him."
"Speaking of which, teacher also succeeded suddenly back then. How did he secure that position?"
Jiraiya scratched his chin, thinking hard for quite a while before suddenly slapping his thigh.
"Shimura Danzo and Uchiha Kagami!"
"But I don't have any teammates! Orochimaru ran away, Tsunade died..."
"Damn!" Jiraiya sighed and continued holding his head, pondering.
"Do I also need to create a Root organization?"
"Speaking of which, the old Root members probably aren't all dead yet... No, no—what am I thinking!"
"That's just nonsense that bastard Uchiha Yasushi spouted before!"
"Damn it, that bastard Uchiha Yasushi must have disrupted my thoughts!"
Jiraiya shook his head again and tried a different approach.
"If teacher encountered someone causing trouble, trying to shake his Hokage position, what would he do?"
"Well, teacher would probably first show weakness, use kind words to placate them and buy time, then have Danzo secretly... Ah! No, that's wrong again. How did it circle back to Shimura Danzo?"
"Damn!"
"Why is it that whenever I think about teacher's solutions, I can't get away from that old bastard Danzo?"
"Aaahhhh... So annoying!"
"No, I'm not teacher. I can't use teacher's methods to solve problems at all!"
"If teacher's way doesn't work, what about other people's approaches?"
Jiraiya tried switching to other people's perspectives to attempt solving the problem.
"Fourth Hokage: I'll die to show you... No, that won't work!"
"Tsunade: Let's settle this with a gamble... Well, that won't work either!"
"Orochimaru: I'm short on experimental subjects... Damn, that's even worse!"
"Uchiha Yasushi: I'll kill kill kill... Bastard, why am I thinking of this guy!"
Jiraiya's thoughts became more and more chaotic. In the end, he found no methods he could reference.
"Ah... So annoying, annoying to death!"
Jiraiya suddenly clutched his head and shouted as if having a breakdown.
Seeing this, the numerous clan members all showed smiles on their faces, knowing the matter should be settled.
But before they could celebrate, they saw Jiraiya suddenly rise resolutely, his face full of serious expression.
" Shima was right—I'm just not the type who's good at thinking!"
"Rather than thinking this way and that without finding a solution, I should just use my best approach."
"Where's all this nonsense? Just do it and be done with it!"
After saying this, Jiraiya leaped out of the great hall, stood in the plaza, rapidly formed hand seals, and slammed his hands on the ground.
The summoning jutsu formula spread out instantly. After a puff of white smoke, Gamahiro was summoned.
Standing atop Gamahiro, Jiraiya's white hair whipped about without wind. He looked down at those profit-seeking clan jonin in the meeting hall, shouting with exhilaration:
"You say only those recognized by the clans are qualified to become Hokage?"
"But I heard a different version of the story from the Toad Sage!"
"I heard that the First Hokage became Hokage by beating everyone into submission with his fists!"
"Now, I shall emulate the First Hokage's example and use these fists to claim the Fifth Hokage position!"
"Right now, I declare—I am the Hokage! Who among you disagrees?"
"If you've got the guts, step forward and let me see!"
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