"Heehee!", Karin laughed proudly.
"If you don't believe me, ask Shishou."
Sasuke looked toward Rengoku, who smiled with narrowed eyes, "In the first exam, Karin only scored two points."
"Hahaha! Karin, you only got two points," Sasuke finally felt he'd gotten one back and looked triumphant.
Karin froze for a moment, then looked at Rengoku doubtfully.
Rengoku wouldn't lie to her, so did that mean Sasuke got even less than two points?
Sure enough, Rengoku smacked the back of Sasuke's head.
"What are you laughing at? You got zero!"
Sasuke was completely dumbfounded, "Wh-what?"
"Shishou, how could I get zero?"
"I remember copying it all down."
Rengoku rolled his eyes, "You've got some nerve saying that, you copied it wrong."
"With your kind of intel-gathering, if someone gave you fake intel, you'd be the one walking straight into the trap."
"There were two questions out of ten you could've solved yourself. You didn't even bother to check?"
"Pffthahahaha! Sasuke, you actually got zero," Karin put her hands on her hips and laughed wildly.
She was basically sprinkling salt on Sasuke's wounds.
Sasuke looked utterly embarrassed. He had been too confident in his Sharingan, he'd forgotten to double-check.
"I'm sorry, Shishou. I was wrong," Sasuke had no choice but to admit his mistake obediently.
Even though it was just carelessness, the Uchiha pride in him still made Sasuke feel deeply ashamed.
"What about me? You still lost!", Karin's eyes sparkled as she looked at Sasuke.
Sasuke's face turned blue, but clearly there was no escaping this time. He squeezed two words out through gritted teeth:
"Sen...pai!"
"Wahahahaha! Junior, you're so obedient!", Karin was so delighted she could almost fly.
After saying the words, Sasuke's shame eased quite a bit.
"Karin, don't get cocky. I'll surpass you someday, I'll be taller and stronger than you."
Seeing Sasuke's refusal to admit defeat, Karin smiled sweetly, "Then I'll be waiting, little junior."
Rengoku couldn't help but smile warmly at the two bickering kids.
"Alright, I've got an announcement to make."
Both Sasuke and Karin turned their attention to him.
"Tomorrow, I'll officially succeed as the Fifth Hokage."
The two of them, who clearly hadn't heard anything about it yet, were completely stunned.
"Shishou, really?"
Sasuke's eyes shone, 'Finally, the Uchiha clan is going to produce a Hokage!'
Rengoku nodded, "Of course. I wouldn't joke about something like that."
"Yay! That means I'll be the Hokage's disciple from now on!", Karin jumped up in excitement.
Sasuke was grinning ear to ear as well.
"I'll be taking office tomorrow. The news will spread through all of Konoha. I'm telling you first so you can be mentally prepared."
"As my students, you'll need to work even harder from now on."
Rengoku said it as a joke.
But Sasuke and Karin took it seriously.
In their eyes, the position of a village Kage was an extraordinary honor.
So both responded solemnly, ""Yes, Shishou!""
———
[The Next Day]
After a string of disasters, Konoha finally welcomed some good news.
Elder Uchiha Rengoku, under the recommendation of the other elders, had been selected as the Fifth Hokage.
Normally, the process still required a confidence vote from the village's jonin.
But now that everyone affiliated with Hiruzen had left Konoha, there was no one left to cast an opposing vote.
Given the emergency, the step was skipped.
The succession ceremony would be held directly.
In the plaza before the old Hokage building, a high platform had been built.
Although it was all a bit rushed, everything that was needed was there.
The coming storm in the ninja world had nothing to do with ordinary villagers.
As long as war hadn't yet reached them, they wouldn't feel any difference in their daily lives.
But for many, it was still hard to accept that the Third Hokage had been driven out of Konoha.
Hiruzen had always maintained a good image, wherever he went, he looked like a kind old man.
Even in the academy, most of the cultural education had been filled with his praises.
For the common folk, accepting that Hiruzen was actually a bad person would take time.
But Konoha couldn't go leaderless, and the appointment of the Fifth Hokage was absolutely necessary.
Below the platform, the plaza was packed with villagers and Uchiha clanspeople.
Though most of the Uchiha didn't have shinobi talent, they were immensely proud that their clan leader had become Hokage.
All of them wore their clan attire with the fan emblem, occupying a large section of the crowd.
In another area stood members of the Ino–Shika–Cho clans and the medical ninjas from Konoha Hospital.
Onstage stood Tsunade and Akimichi Choza. Tsunade was reading from a script.
The content was basically an introduction (and praise) for Rengoku.
["During the Cloud invasion, he captured the Two-Tails' jinchuriki and later defeated the A–B duo alone, keeping Cloud Village from attacking for three years."]
["He exposed the pest Sarutobi Hiruzen, preventing him from further harming Konoha."]
["Now Konoha faces new challenges, but to ensure our village continues to thrive—"]
["After discussion and unanimous agreement among the elders, we hereby appoint Uchiha Rengoku as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha Village!"]
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The ceremonial fireworks burst into the sky, scattering ribbons and confetti everywhere.
"GO! CLAN LEADER!"
"CLAN LEADER!"
The Uchiha crowd erupted into a thunderous cheer like waves crashing.
At that moment, Rengoku, dressed in formal robes, stepped onto the platform.
The entire venue reached its climax.
Led by Uchiha Fugaku, the older generation of the clan was visibly moved.
Grand Elder Kairen's eyes were even red.
"Good, good! Our Uchiha finally has a Hokage."
He had waited too long, so long he thought he'd never live to see the day.
Fortunately, Rengoku had appeared out of nowhere like a miracle.
Most of the younger generation were not in Konoha, but Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, and Karin were all there.
Standing together, their faces shone with pride.
It was worth noting that ever since Naruto had taken Hinata out for a walk yesterday, holding her hand, her mood had improved a lot.
Today, when they came to watch Rengoku's succession ceremony, Naruto naturally took her hand again.
And this time, Hinata didn't pull away, her cheeks only turned slightly red.
Rengoku now stood at the microphone to speak.
"After removing the parasites led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha will only grow better from here on."
"Though challenges await us, I have full confidence that I will lead Konoha to become the strongest!"
At that moment, Rengoku took from Akimichi Choza's hands the Hokage hat symbolizing his position and placed it upon his own head.
Below, the cheers exploded even louder.
"Fifth Hokage!"
"Fifth Hokage!"
"Fifth Hokage!"
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