I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 334 Elder, have you ever heard of [Wood Release]?

Electing Nara Rangsuke as Hokage is in line with the fundamental interests of the Nara clan and is a plan that Nara Shikano had long ago.

Long after the Battle of Kikyo Castle, Nara Kano had his clan's ninjas spread the fame of Nara Rangsuke throughout Kikyo Castle. Even the children at the Kikyo Orphanage had heard the rumors about "Nara Rangsuke protecting the town."

All of this was done to enhance Nara Ranke's personal prestige and pave the way for him to become Hokage.

However, although Nara Shikano had long wanted Nara Ranke to become Hokage.

However, considering Nara Rinka's age, the old clan chief had not previously set his sights on the "Fourth Hokage," but instead focused his efforts on the distant position of the Fifth Hokage.

Logically speaking, the time interval between power transitions between Hokage is approximately "twenty years".

More than twenty years later, Nara Ranke was in his mid-thirties, and his body, experience, qualities, abilities, chakra... in almost every aspect, he had reached the peak of being a ninja.

Competing for the position of Fifth Hokage during this golden period is undoubtedly the safest choice.

What Nara Shikano never expected was that Nara Ranke would become famous in the Third Shinobi World War, almost single-handedly turning the tide of Konoha's external situation.

Villages such as Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure have all suffered greatly at the hands of the Dark Shadow. Some villages even had their strategic forces, such as the "Tailed Beasts," directly taken away by Nara Rangsuke.

After a war, Nara Rangsuke rose to become one of Konoha's top pillar forces!

In that case, it wouldn't be unreasonable to bring forward the "Hokage selection" plan.

If Nara Rankei really becomes the Fourth Hokage, then his current age disadvantage will become a huge age advantage after he becomes Hokage!

The position of Hokage is not based on any "democracy" or "term limit," but is an absolute "lifetime position."

Generally speaking, unless there is an accidental death, the Hokage can serve as Hokage from the moment they take office until they die!

Nara Rinka is indeed quite young.

This means that once he becomes Hokage, he will rule Konoha for an unprecedentedly long time!

Under the leadership of such a Hokage, setting aside the overall development of Konoha, the Nara clan's overall level will make significant progress under the protection of the Hokage's name.

Just like Hiruzen Sarutobi was to the Sarutobi clan.

Nara Kano did not want Nara to use his position for personal gain.

The title "Hokage" itself symbolizes absolute power.

Even if the Nara clan doesn't actively cause trouble, other forces will try to minimize conflicts with them.

Given the nature of the Nara clan, would Nara ninjas really go looking for trouble?

all in all.

If Nara Rankei were to actually become Hokage, the significance and impact would be unimaginable...

Nara Kano poured himself a cup of hot tea and fell into deep thought, with one idea after another flashing through his mind.

"At Lan Gui's age, becoming the Fourth Hokage is indeed a bit young, but his rival, Minato Namikaze, is also very young."

Aside from age, there's virtually no difference in ability requirements between Lan Gui and Minato Namikaze; in fact, Lan Gui surpasses Minato in both skill level and war achievements!

"There aren't many ninjas in the village qualified to run for the Fourth Hokage. Besides Minato Namikaze, perhaps the most formidable opponent is Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin!"

Orochimaru...

Nara Rinka had no idea that the old clan chief had been thinking about a great deal of things in a short period of time, and had even considered how to "get rid of" some of his competitors.

Watching the old clan chief pour tea, Nara Rinkei silently raised his teacup, offering a toast to the old clan chief in place of wine, to express his gratitude.

While the support from her family may seem like a given, Nara Rinkei will not accept their kindness without feeling guilty.

Just as he repeatedly shared his self-developed techniques with his family, he repeatedly gained benefits from them in return.

Reciprocity and cooperative development are the only way to achieve long-term success.

Coming to his senses, Nara Kano also raised his teacup and drank it down with the new clan leader.

"Lan Gui, now that we've determined our goals and plans, it's time to take action."

Nara Kano reveals the details of his plan to the new clan chief.

"You are still in the Land of Hot Water and it will be a while before you can return to the village. Please leave the village to us for now."

When Nara Shikano says "we," he is referring to himself and Tsunade.

Although it is unknown how Nara Rinkachi "conquered" this princess of the Thousand Hands.

However, since the position of Hokage was at stake, Nara Shikano could not possibly let go of Tsunade, such a rare and outstanding opponent.

Nara Rinka's own strength and prestige were the "foundation" of the plan, the Nara clan, the Yamanaka clan, and the Akimichi clan were the "main force" of the plan, and the Senju clan, which joined later, was the "new force".

Although the Senju clan's reputation in Konoha has gradually faded over the decades, unlike the other founding clan, the Uchiha.

However, no one in Konoha can ignore the existence of the Senju clan, especially when it comes to something as important as the "competition for Hokage"!

Hashirama Senju established Konoha.

Tobirama Senju laid the foundation for development.

The current Konoha leadership, including the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, all rose to prominence with the support of the Senju clan!

It can be said that Nara's acquisition of Tsunade "dealt with" her, and in turn "dealt with" the Senju clan, reduced the difficulty of the task of "becoming Hokage" by at least one-fifth, or even more.

Nara Kano plans to first rally the ninjas of the Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Senju clans to continuously build momentum for Nara Rinka within the village.

At the very least, the names "Nara Rinka" and "Fourth Hokage" must be linked together.

If it weren't for the fact that the Third Hokage hadn't officially decided to appoint a new Hokage,

Nara Shikano even wanted to help Nara secure the title of "Fourth Hokage Nominee" in advance!

During the time of the First and Second Hokage, the rules for the succession of the "Hokage" in Konoha were relatively simple, and it was basically determined unilaterally by the previous Hokage.

However, by the time of the Third Hokage, there were many more requirements to becoming Hokage.

The three main stages are "Hokage nomination", "Daimyo approval", and "Jonin trust vote".

Getting a "Naruto nomination" isn't difficult.

Given Nara Shikano's strength and reputation, and the combined power of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the Senju clan, if he can't even get a small "Hokage nomination," then Nara Shikano might as well find a cemetery and bury himself!

The "name recognition" step is not very important.

Just as Nara Kano once explained to Nara Rinka.

When there was no conflict between Konoha and the Daimyo, everyone listened to the Daimyo.

When there is a conflict between Konoha and the Daimyo, everyone has to listen to the Hokage.

Unless the Daimyo has something wrong with his head, he would never do anything to undermine Konoha in something like the "Fourth Hokage election".

Not to mention, the Nara clan, who are experts in pharmacology, also wield considerable influence among the officials of the Land of Fire.

As for the final "Jonin Trust Vote"...

Generally speaking.

Once you receive the "Hokage nomination" and the "Daimyo's approval," becoming Hokage is a sure thing; the "Jonin trust vote" is basically just a formality.

But this time it was different.

The competition for the position of Fourth Hokage of Konoha is extremely fierce.

There's basically no need to worry about those insignificant competitors, such as the heads of major clans like Hyuga Hiashi and Uchiha Fugaku.

But the remaining two.

Orochimaru.

Minato Namikaze.

Without considering certain "external factors," both of them undoubtedly possess the qualifications and abilities to become Hokage!

The same applies to Nara's laurel garden.

According to Nara Shikano, the final choice for the Fourth Hokage should be among Nara Rankei, Namikaze Minato, and Orochimaru.

In this way...

The weight of the "Jonin Trust Vote" has been greatly increased!

Nara Kano had a premonition that the village would not be able to decide on the final fourth ninja until after the "Jonin Election" was over.

Then the problem becomes simple.

First, get nominated for Hokage, and then get as many votes as possible in the Jonin voting!

"To embrace the laurel."

Nara Kano laid out his entire thought process and then offered his suggestions.

"Although it sounds strange, if it's convenient, it would be best to defeat a competitor 'openly'."

"This will greatly reduce the pressure of the election."

Konoha has several ninjas who are qualified to become the Fourth Hokage.

Assuming the differences in conditions between them are not particularly significant.

The main factor influencing who becomes Hokage is "strength".

No matter what.

The Kage are basically the face of a ninja village, and they are also the highest fighting force of a ninja village!

If Nara Ranke can openly defeat all its competitors...

Then it's estimated that no one can compete with him for the fourth generation.

Nara Shikaku knew that his request might be a bit demanding.

Although in his opinion, his own clan leader was absolutely the best.

However, Orochimaru had been famous for a long time, and Minato Namikaze was skilled in both offense and defense; neither of them were easy targets.

But that's the difficulty of becoming Hokage, isn't it?

Somewhat to the old clan chief’s surprise, Nara Rinkei did not nod in agreement with his plan, nor did he shake his head in rejection of his suggestion. Instead, he raised another rather strange question.

"Chieftain, now that things have come to this, there's something I won't hide from you anymore."

Nara Rinka said calmly.

"Tsunade and I are planning to settle scores with Orochimaru and Danzo Shimura behind him."

"To put it simply, Tsunade and I really want to beat Orochimaru up, well, we really want to beat him up."

Do you think this will affect your campaign plans?

Nara Rinkei did not mention how Shimura Danzo was dealt with, nor did the old clan chief inquire about it.

He was indifferent to Danzo Shimura and didn't care how the other party would be treated.

He was only curious about another thing.

"Tsunade is planning to fight Orochimaru? But as far as I know, Tsunade hasn't fought anyone for quite some time, has she?"

As the leader of the Jonin class, Nara Kano knew a lot of secret information.

Although he didn't know what trouble Tsunade had encountered, he knew that she hadn't been on the front lines of battle for a long time.

Throughout the three wars, Tsunade remained "stationed in the rear."

It is quite normal for medical ninjas to be stationed in the rear.

But Tsunade was never a normal medical ninja.

Those Konoha ninjas who experienced the Second Shinobi World War know that Tsunade's reputation wasn't built up by "praying" her, but by "fighting" her!

Tsunade's Super Steel Fist is also a well-known technique in Konoha.

If Tsunade hadn't encountered some kind of problem.

Then she certainly wouldn't stay in the rear forever, responsible for the operation of Konoha's medical system.

But now Tsunade is planning to fight Orochimaru?

"Um."

Nara Lan Gui pondered for a moment.

"Tsunade-hime recently gained a new ability."

"New ability?"

Nara Kano frowned slightly.

"What is it?"

"Wood Release".

In Nara Rinkazu's view, once Tsunade and Orochimaru engage in battle, there will be no way to hide Tsunade's Wood Release ability.

In that case, it would be better to give the clan leader a heads-up beforehand to avoid him suffering too much psychological impact later.

However, as soon as Nara Ranka finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence.

After a long while.

Nara Kano then slowly spoke.

"Wood Release... Lan Gui, the Wood Release you're talking about isn't the Wood Release I'm thinking of, is it?"

Tsunade + Wood Release, what does this represent?

This means that Tsunade is closer to becoming Hokage than anyone else!

From lineage, status, strength, and prestige, Tsunade is more suitable than anyone else to become the Fourth Hokage!

"If the clan leader is thinking of the First Hokage's Wood Release, then rest assured, Tsunade's Wood Release level is far inferior to that of the First Hokage."

Nara Rinka said quite calmly.

"However, compared to ordinary bloodline limits, such as [Scorch Release] and [Molten Release], Tsunade's [Wood Release] is definitely not inferior in the slightest."

Nara Kano didn't quite understand why Nara Rinka wanted to deliberately separate the First Hokage's Wood Release from Tsunade's Wood Release.

He only understood one thing—Tsunade really knew Wood Release!

"Tsunade-hime..."

Nara Shikano lowered his head and sighed, feeling that the Nara clan's Hokage plan would have to be postponed again.

"Did she awaken the Senju clan's bloodline limit?"

"no……"

Nara Rinka looked at the old clan chief, thought for a moment, and decided not to hide anything from him.

"Tsunade-hime has learned Wood Release."

"You learned it?"

Nara Kano was so surprised that he stammered when he spoke.

"That's Wood Release! How do you learn it? From whom do you learn it?"

"……I."