Konoha.
With the return of the shinobi stationed on the northern front, news of the ceasefire with the Hidden Cloud spread throughout the entire village.
For Konoha, the Third Great Ninja War had essentially come to an end.
The remaining minor skirmishes no longer mattered to the village as it stood now.
This was naturally good news for Konoha's ordinary civilians.
The shinobi were coming home. Families could reunite. Whether they were civilians or clan members, the mood was joyful and festive.
The return of the shinobi, these high-spending earners, had boosted Konoha's commerce by more than one level in recent days.
But beneath this surface prosperity, turbulent undercurrents continued to churn.
The Third War had not been started by Konoha, yet the village had undeniably emerged as one of its final victors.
What had this victor actually gained in the end?
The Hidden Sand had thrown the full strength of their village into the fight with the resolve of a desperate gamble, forcing a peace treaty upon them.
No money. No supplies. Not even an apology.
One could argue that when the treaty with Sand was signed, Konoha had been surrounded on all sides and desperately needed to ease the pressure of war, so they had no choice but to accept such terms.
That might still be understandable. But what about the later treaties signed with the Hidden Rock and the Hidden Cloud? What the hell were those?
Konoha had poured so much manpower, resources, and the lives of over a thousand elite shinobi into the Third War, only to receive three worthless pieces of paper in return.
Children had lost parents. Wives had lost husbands. Mothers had lost sons.
Faced with houses that had once held people and now stood empty, how were those who had paid such a heavy price supposed to view this outcome?
During the war, dissatisfaction and dissent could still be suppressed. But now that the war was basically over and external pressure had vanished, these internal contradictions were like a volcano gathering strength, ready to erupt and consume the entire village at any moment.
Hokage's office. Balcony.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gazed down at the bustling village of Konoha, a satisfied smile on his lips. The pipe in his hand had long since gone out, yet he paid it no attention.
From behind, Homura Mitokado stepped out from inside. Seeing the Hokage on the balcony, he walked over in a few quick strides and sat down beside him.
Looking at the smile on Hiruzen's face, Homura felt his temper flare.
"You still have the mood to smile here? Have you not noticed the rumors spreading through the village?"
Hiruzen remained unmoved. He simply continued staring at the scenery before him, as if he could never get enough of it.
This only made Homura more anxious. He pulled out a scroll and held it up in front of Hiruzen.
"Root has investigated. The village has been extremely unstable lately. Everyone is complaining that the Third War brought the village nothing but losses in money and manpower. They all think you're an incompetent Hokage—"
Homura rattled on, laying out the current situation in the village.
Hiruzen still did not react. He simply enjoyed the view.
" Hiruzen, are you even listening to me? Things have gotten this bad out there and you're acting like it has nothing to do with you."
Hiruzen finally pulled his gaze back from the distance. He brought the pipe to his lips for a drag, only to realize it had already gone out.
He casually produced a small flame with his fingers and lit the tobacco, taking a long, deep inhale.
Smoke curled through his lungs before drifting slowly out through his nostrils.
Hiruzen savored the aroma before finally turning his eyes to Homura.
"Homura," he said with a smile, "they're not wrong. I really haven't been a good Hokage."
Homura was taken aback. He stared hard into Hiruzen's eyes, afraid the man had been placed under some genjutsu.
"Hiruzen, pull yourself together. You can't just give up. Those treaties were only signed to conserve our strength against Uchiha Madara. The public doesn't understand the situation, so they're spreading rumors. You can't lose heart."
Hiruzen patted the back of Homura's hand. The gesture made the other man pause again.
How many years had it been since Hiruzen had shown this kind of closeness?
Only now did Homura realize that today's Hiruzen truly seemed different. It was as if he had set down a heavy burden. His entire demeanor felt lighter.
"In the Third War, the village gained no real benefits while losing so much money and the lives of so many shinobi. No matter how reasonable the excuses, someone has to take responsibility for that."
"And as Hokage, I am the one most responsible. I've already thought this through clearly."
Homura still wanted to speak, but Hiruzen raised a hand to stop him.
"I've decided. Once the war is completely over, I will step down as Third Hokage. You should also put out the word and have them begin preparing for the selection of the Fourth Hokage."
"This can also serve as my explanation to everyone. I, the incompetent Hokage, will bear full responsibility for the Third War."
With that, Hiruzen turned back around. His gaze once again fell upon the thriving village below, and that faint, almost imperceptible smile reappeared on his aged face.
Homura looked at Hiruzen's slightly stooped back for a long time without speaking. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly.
"I understand."
He left the Hokage's office.
In the following days, the news first circulated among Konoha's upper ranks, then quickly spread through the entire shinobi community, and finally reached every villager in Konoha.
The rumor spread with such detail that people were saying the Third Hokage would officially step down once the war ended, and that the village was already considering who would succeed him as Fourth Hokage.
Everyone's attention was immediately captured by this news about the Hokage position.
No one talked about the already-signed treaties and reparations anymore.
As for the issue of the Hokage taking responsibility, hadn't the Third already decided to step down for that very reason? How could anyone keep attacking an old man who had dedicated his entire life to Konoha?
That was how most of Konoha's ordinary people saw it.
But the higher-ups and jonin were more concerned with who would actually become the Fourth Hokage.
Would it be Jiraiya, Orochimaru, or the other veteran heavyweights? Or would it be Namikaze Minato, who had risen rapidly during the Third War?
Very few people considered Matsushita Taiichi. He was simply too young. With so many other qualified candidates in the village, no one was going to put forward a twelve-year-old child for the position.
After all, in peacetime, that was the age when most shinobi had only just graduated from the Academy.
News that the Third Hokage would soon step down and that candidates for the Fourth were being considered spread like summer cicadas—quickly and loudly.
Today it was circulating inside the village. Within a few days, the news had already reached every battlefield.
This naturally included the eastern front, which currently held the most popular candidate.
Both Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato were currently stationed here. Together with Tsunade, the medical saint, the relatively small eastern front had gathered Konoha's highest-level fighting power.
That day, after all official business had been handled, the three of them gathered inside a temporary tent.
Jiraiya pulled out two jars of clear sake right in front of Tsunade—seemingly from nowhere—and sat facing her, drinking slowly.
On the small table between them sat a few simple side dishes. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought this was a friendly gathering.
Meanwhile, their future Fourth Hokage stood awkwardly to the side, refilling their cups whenever they emptied.
How could he not feel awkward? Minato was a very rule-abiding person. He would never have drunk inside the camp on his own.
But standing before him were his teacher and the commander of this front. What else could he do? He could only obediently play the role of server.
"Minato really is reliable," Tsunade said with a sigh, cheeks slightly flushed from the alcohol. "If that little bastard Taiichi were here, he'd probably flip the whole table."
Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched. The same memory surfaced in his mind. He still remembered how Taiichi had disguised himself as Tsunade to scare him during one of his "research" sessions.
Hearing Tsunade say this now, it seemed Taiichi really was capable of something like that.
The two drank and chatted, gradually becoming tipsy.
Tsunade's cheeks were flushed as she sipped from her bowl, looking across at Jiraiya.
"You've heard the news from the village too, right? The old man is stepping down. Don't you have any thoughts about taking his seat?"
Jiraiya let out a burp. He swirled the small cup in front of his eyes, then turned with a smile to look at his student.
"Before the war started, I still had some thoughts about it. With Orochimaru and me stationed south and north against Sand and Cloud, I even thought about earning enough merits on the battlefield to compete for the Hokage position."
"Oh?" Tsunade's interest was piqued. She took another big gulp, her face growing redder. "And now? Changed your mind?"
"Yeah. New generation replaces the old. Watching Minato's performance made me realize… I really am getting old—"
The speaker meant one thing. The listener heard another.
Jiraiya was saying he wanted to make way for the younger generation, but Tsunade only heard the latter half.
"Bullshit!"
A sharp rebuke cut Jiraiya off.
"I'm still in my prime. Who the hell is old? You bastard, explain yourself clearly."
Tsunade slammed her bowl onto the table, planted one foot on the stool, and stood up, radiating an intimidating aura as she questioned Jiraiya.
Jiraiya was startled by her sudden intensity. The old fear of being dominated by her fists surged up. His body reacted on instinct and he jerked backward.
With a series of cracking sounds, the stool beneath him flipped over. He landed hard on his rear.
Only then did Jiraiya realize what he had actually said. He slapped himself across the mouth.
He hadn't even gotten up before he started begging for mercy.
"Tsunade, listen to me! That's not what I meant! I was talking about myself getting old, not you!"
Seeing Tsunade's expression darken again, Jiraiya quickly corrected himself.
"Ah, damn it—I'm not old either! What I meant was that Minato and Taiichi have grown up. As their teachers, we should make way for them."
This guy had finally said something smart for once, remembering to drag Taiichi into it as well.
Minato, standing to the side, finally reacted. He realized where the misunderstanding between his teacher and Tsunade had come from. Why had things gone from a normal conversation to the verge of a fight in an instant?
He quickly stepped forward to help his teacher up, then stood in front of Jiraiya with a placating smile.
"Tsunade-sama, please don't be angry. My teacher just had a bit too much to drink."
"Hmph. A drunk man tells the truth. That was exactly what he was thinking."
She was still scolding him, but Tsunade knew she had been the one acting unreasonably. She finally took her foot off the stool and sat back down, continuing to drink with a slightly drunken expression.
Jiraiya had been startled, but he had long since gotten used to being lectured by Tsunade since they were children.
He righted the stool and sat back down, continuing from where he had left off.
"The rumors say they're selecting candidates for the Fourth Hokage, but anyone with real information knows the Fourth has already been decided."
Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade. Seeing that she had no objections, he felt a small sense of relief.
He turned to look at his student beside him, his face full of gratification.
"Minato, this final battle… you have to give it everything you've got. Everyone is paving the way for you. Don't let them down."
What he said was true. Jiraiya no longer wanted to be Hokage. Taiichi had willingly accepted being transferred away from the front lines. Tsunade was now remaining silent on the matter as well.
All the people qualified for the position were silently supporting Minato. Wasn't it because they hoped he would become a good Hokage?
Minato immediately straightened up, his face serious as he promised, "Teacher, don't worry. I will give everything I have to protect Konoha."
Konoha. Inside a secret research facility.
Orochimaru was carefully cutting into the corpse on the dissection table with a scalpel. On the shelf beside him were various tissue samples he had already removed.
Taiichi stood next to him, carefully watching Orochimaru's every move while handing him different tools. He looked every bit the assistant.
The corpse they were dissecting was the one Taiichi had brought back earlier.
Orochimaru had just returned from the northern front. He hadn't even gone home before he started pestering Taiichi for the corpse.
Now that he had finally gotten what he wanted, he was in a good mood and had even pulled Taiichi in to study it together.
Five full hours of dissection. Orochimaru worked with complete focus, head down over his task.
Taiichi stayed by his side the entire time. Aside from professional exchanges about the work, they didn't speak a single unnecessary word.
Finally, when Orochimaru placed the scalpel neatly back on the tool tray, the dissection was complete.
"Truly fascinating… biology."
Orochimaru paused slightly, thinking for a long time before finally settling on the word "biology" to define White Zetsu.
"This physiological structure, existing between animal and plant… no wonder it can use Wood Release. It's practically some kind of Wood Release construct."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed. He turned to look at Taiichi, making no attempt to hide the burning curiosity in his gaze.
"Taiichi, do you think we can stably recreate the miracle of Wood Release through this?"
"Wood Release is powerful, but at its core it's still just a nature transformation. What's impressive isn't Wood Release itself, but the person using it."
Taiichi first set the tone for his words before giving his opinion.
"This thing only seems special because people don't understand Wood Release yet. Its actual strength is nothing special."
"Still, it really should be some kind of mass-produced construct. I've seen more than one of them. They were probably created through some secret technique."
"So that's how it is. Just as I suspected."
Orochimaru stared at the various tissue samples neatly arranged on the table, his eyes filled with the desire to explore.
It was already late, however. Tomorrow's experiments would require a clear mind. It would be better to continue then.
As the two of them cleaned up the lab, Taiichi watched Orochimaru, whose excitement still hadn't faded, and asked the question on his mind.
"Lord Orochimaru, have you given up on competing for the Hokage position? Why did you bury yourself here the moment you got back?"
Orochimaru paused in his movements. He turned to look at Taiichi, his long tongue unconsciously licking across his lips.
"The position of Hokage… I've never really been that interested in it to begin with."
He gave a low chuckle.
"Besides, even if I were interested, the current situation in the village makes it clear who the next Hokage will be. There's no need for me to get involved in that mess."
Taiichi understood what he meant. With Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Minato all supporting the same person, the outcome was already decided.
Orochimaru didn't seem to mind. He was more interested in the research in front of him.
"Rather than fighting over that empty title, I'd rather use my time on more meaningful things."
He looked at the samples on the shelf, his eyes burning with passion.
"Like this. Understanding the secrets of this body… that's far more interesting than becoming Hokage."
Taiichi nodded. He could see that Orochimaru had truly made his choice.
The two of them finished cleaning up. Before leaving, Orochimaru suddenly turned to Taiichi.
"Taiichi, thank you for bringing this back. This research… might change many things."
Taiichi smiled.
"I'm looking forward to your results, Lord Orochimaru."
As they walked out of the lab together, the night sky over Konoha was clear and bright.
In the distance, the lights of the village twinkled like stars.
A new era was quietly beginning.