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

Chapter 347 "Something in human skin"!

"Don't think that just because you say that, we'll let you go right away, Lan Gui."

Nara Kano glanced sideways at Nara Ranka, showing no appreciation for the latter's "praise".

We're all Nara ninjas, who doesn't know everyone else's background and character?

Do you think you can just casually drop a sentence and then slip away to rest?

If it were a routine matter, Nara Kano could turn a blind eye.

But this is a Hokage election!

Can't we show some enthusiasm?

"……All right."

Nara Rinkazu's expression froze, and his previously serious demeanor immediately crumbled. He rested his chin on one hand and analyzed the situation listlessly.

"It's perfectly normal for Minato to be chosen by the Third Hokage."

"Putting aside the merits and prestige that Minato gained in the Third Shinobi World War, he also had the support of Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, and Mount Myōboku, a sacred place, to promote his title as the 'Child of Prophecy'."

"If I were the Third Hokage and wanted to find a follower from the village to accompany me to the Five Kage Summit, I would also choose Minato-sama. He's young, handsome, powerful, and has a very high reputation..."

"However, accompanying the Third Hokage to the Five Kage Summit does not necessarily mean that Minato will become the next Hokage."

"Aren't the three generations of Mizukage in the neighboring village the most obvious example?"

Recently, the Nara clan has collected and organized a lot of information about the first Five Kage Summit.

The three people present all knew that the Third Mizukage had accompanied the First Mizukage to the Five Kage Summit, but the position of the Second Mizukage was taken by Hozuki Gengetsu of the Hozuki clan.

If we had to analyze the reasons, we could only speculate that during the election for the Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu's overall strength was superior to that of the current Third Mizukage.

Isn't this very similar to the current situation in Konoha?

Hiruzen Sarutobi prefers Minato Namikaze and plans to take him to the Second Five Kage Summit.

However, in terms of overall strength...

Nara Rinkazu is definitely not inferior to Namikaze Minato!

If the position of Fourth Hokage were obtained through "duel," Nara Rankei was confident that he would not lose to any opponent.

He's still stronger now.

After listening to Nara Rinka's analysis, the old clan chief and his son both nodded in agreement.

It's just a qualification for participating in the Five Shadows Summit.

This little thing won't affect the overall situation.

"Besides Minato, what other people have been up to lately?"

Nara Rinka thought about it and decided to simplify the target scope.

"Leaving aside those who are clearly just there to make up the numbers, has Orochimaru made any moves lately?"

In fact, in Nara Rinka's mind, Orochimaru was also someone destined to be a runner-up.

Not to mention that Nara Rinka possessed a great deal of negative information about Orochimaru.

I'll just say one thing.

Orochimaru's backer is Danzo Shimura.

Minato Namikaze's backer was Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Purely natural pressing.

Even without Nara Rinkazu, Orochimaru was destined to lose to Minato Namikaze.

But...

Despise the enemy strategically and value the enemy tactically.

Nara Rangsei certainly didn't want to falter at such a crucial moment.

"No……"

Nara Shikaku shook his head, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Lan Gui, you may not have noticed this information before, but in fact, Lord Orochimaru has not made a public appearance for a long time."

Even when he was stationed on the battlefield in the Land of Grass, Lord Orochimaru always kept to himself and rarely came out. Apart from a very few close confidants, very few people were able to see him.

"After returning to the village, Lord Orochimaru basically did not go out."

"In the past week, Lord Orochimaru has only made one public appearance. About four days ago, he went to the village's torture chamber."

"I asked the ninja who was in charge of the torture department at the time, and his opinion of Lord Orochimaru was... very bad."

"What's wrong?"

Nara Rinka raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Could it be that Orochimaru attacked the torture squad's ninjas?"

"That's not the case. After all, we're all fellow villagers."

Nara Shikaku quickly shook his head. He didn't have a good impression of Orochimaru either, but after all, Orochimaru was one of the three powerful Sannin.

"It's just according to the torture department ninja—Ibiki Morino—"

"The Orochimaru-sama he saw did not seem to be human, but rather... something wearing human skin."

"Lu Jiu, are you sure you didn't mistake the person you asked for?"

Nara Kano was slightly taken aback, looking at his own child in surprise.

"I've dealt with Orochimaru many times. He is a bit aloof and not easy to get along with, but he's not as bad as you described."

"Still wearing human skin... Isn't Orochimaru human?"

"I was just repeating what that torture ninja said."

Nara Shikaku shrugged, looking helpless.

"After all, it's been a long time since I've personally met Lord Orochimaru..."

"However, Ibiki Morino doesn't seem like the type to exaggerate."

Nara Rinka listened to the conversation between the old clan chief and his son, and fell into deep thought.

He had a fairly good understanding of Orochimaru's life experiences.

After failing to become the Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru defected from Konoha after his human experiments were discovered. He then wandered the ninja world, embarking on a path of complete inhumanity.

Especially after all sorts of "cursed seals" were developed, Orochimaru's personal life status became really difficult to define.

However, Nara Rangsuke does know a bit more.

Orochimaru's "physical condition" is indeed complex.

However, his "soul state" is another matter.

No matter how Orochimaru says "I spit out snakes" or "snakes spit out me," he only has one soul.

This can be seen from the fact that Itachi Uchiha's Totsuka Blade later allowed Orochimaru to be completely "sealed off".

If Nara Shikaku had just said that, there would be no problem.

That can only mean one thing—Orochimaru's soul has gone awry!

"Could it be that Orochimaru has embarked on the path of soul research? Perhaps even begun research into the Reanimation Jutsu? The timing doesn't seem quite right..."

"If it weren't for the Reanimation Jutsu, what other reason could there be for Orochimaru's soul to have problems?"

"Impure World Reincarnation? Orochi Technique? Or perhaps... a cursed seal?"

Nara Rinkazu's mind raced with ideas, but due to a lack of information, he was unable to reach an accurate conclusion.

"In any case, if what Shikaku just said is true, then this is good news."

Nara Kano stroked his beard, temporarily setting aside those difficult questions and focusing directly on the key issue.

"It doesn't matter why Orochimaru became like this."

"The important thing is that Orochimaru, as a strong contender for the Fourth Hokage, is in a very bad state right now. Even ordinary ninjas would be afraid of him."

"In that case, Orochimaru is destined to lose the Jonin team voting!"

According to Nara Shikaku, the ninja named Morino Ibiki was just an ordinary Chunin with a certain talent for torture.

If even a Chunin could spot Orochimaru's problem, how could a Jonin with even stronger overall abilities not be able to?

Even if Orochimaru's personal condition wasn't as bad as Nara Shikaku claimed.

But the claim of a "monster in human skin" is only 50% credible.

Orochimaru has virtually no chance of successfully becoming the Fourth Hokage...

Nara, Rin, and the other two continued their discussion about the election for the fourth generation leader, finalizing the general campaign plan before moving on to another important matter.

"Lan Gui, what are your plans for dealing with that 'vacant area'?"

There must have been a reason for Orochimaru to begin his research into the Reanimation Jutsu.

But the original manga didn't cover it... which is really frustrating.

Or rather, this is a bug.

I personally believe that Orochimaru began researching the Reanimation Jutsu because he had a health problem.

It doesn't refer to issues like "aging" or "mutation".

[Personal speculation] It was because Itachi Uchiha severed one of Orochimaru's arms that Orochimaru began to use the Reanimation Jutsu.

If I have the opportunity in the future, I might write an analysis post on this issue; for now... I can only remain at the level of speculative conclusions.

(End of this chapter)