XX-level Hokage

Kushina didn't speak again. Over the past few days, she had gradually become familiar with her current life and had figured out her situation, so her personality had become more lively, but she still wouldn't think about anything else.

“I will announce Naruto’s identity to the people of Konoha in a few days,” Mashiro suddenly said. Kushina was stunned and turned to look at Mashiro.

"The son of a hero should be treated accordingly. The Third Hokage may have his concerns, but I don't. Your life and Minato's life should be rewarded sufficiently," Mashiro said leisurely.

[Kushina Uzumaki's Affection +10]

"Well, thank you very much." Kushina looked at Mashiro with gratitude in her eyes.

Through their time together these past few days, she had come to realize that Naruto's situation in Konoha was worse than she had imagined.

She had no choice but to suppress her anger and try to be nicer to Naruto. [Name: Uzumaki Kushina]

Gender: Female Age: 24 Favorability Rating: 40

Relationship: Friends

Favorability Reward (50): Nine-Tails Chakra Favorability Reward (90): One Step Away from the Sealing Chain.

"Then I'll be leaving now. You go find Naruto." Mashiro said, then got up and left. These past few days, Mashiro had some free time.

Various stories about Mashiro began to circulate in Konoha.

Whether it was becoming a Jonin in his teens, or being the head of the Hyuga clan, a disciple of the Third Hokage, or the leader of "Root".

Mashiro carried out various missions, defeated Orochimaru, and led "Root" to make various contributions to Konoha, including this major contribution to Kumogakure.

Various accolades and achievements began to focus on Mashiro. The hype began.

Chapter 144: Naruto

As the word spread, Mashiro's status in Konoha rose higher and higher, and civilians and most ordinary ninjas regarded Mashiro as the hope of Konoha.

And that is precisely Mashiro's goal. Prestige can also be artificially created.

Several years ago, when Jin became the new leader of "Root", he began to transform "Root" and greatly enhanced its influence.

At the same time, Mashiro also placed the Hyuga clan in a suitable position, accumulating a great deal of prestige by developing commerce and solving the problems of ordinary people.

Now, all the prestige of both "Root" and the Hyuga clan is concentrated on Mashiro, coupled with Mashiro's own abilities. Thus, her prestige is established.

Soon after, Tsunade initiated a high-level meeting to discuss how to assist the Hidden Cloud Village.

The senior executives arrived at the conference room one after another and began exchanging pleasantries. After everyone was seated, Mashiro pushed open the door and walked in.

Faced with this rising star, all the high-ranking officials smiled amicably. After a while, Tsunade arrived, and the meeting officially began.

"I think you have all heard about what happened in Kumogakure. The mastermind behind it is the Akatsuki organization. This organization has been collecting Jinchuriki from various ninja villages for years, with the aim of unifying the ninja world with the power of the Tailed Beasts. Our Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was attacked by members of this organization not long ago."

What was initially thought to be a small, rogue ninja organization has now come to light as possessing the power to destroy the five great ninja villages. As a result, the Fourth Raikage has initiated a Five Kage Summit.

This concerns the very survival of the entire entertainment industry.

"And the topic of our meeting is related to this—how to aid the Hidden Cloud Village," Tsunade said slowly. Everyone in the meeting room listened silently; no one spoke.

"Shikaku, please read out the draft plan first." After scanning the room, Tsunade looked at Shikaku and said. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Shikaku respectfully rose and said, "Based on preliminary discussions, Konoha is prepared to provide assistance... If anyone has any objections, we will make revisions after discussion."

After speaking, Shikaku bowed to Tsunade and then sat down.

After Shikaku sat down, Koharu Utatane spoke up, "I think we've given too much aid, both military rations and medicine. Facing such a formidable organization, Konoha should prepare for the future. Our aid to Kumo-nin should be just token, like food and clothing. As for essential supplies like military rations and medicine, we should avoid giving them away if possible."

After Xiaochun finished speaking, no one objected. For most people in the meeting room, Xiaochun's words reflected their true thoughts, but they were unable to speak out for certain reasons.

“My opinion is the same as Koharu’s. The situation in Kumogakure won’t improve in a short time, and our relationship with Kumogakure isn’t that good. Aid should be given in a token way,” Mitokado Homura added.

"So, does anyone else have an opinion?" Tsunade asked.

The heads of the various families remained silent, the heads of the various departments bowed their heads in silence, the members of the Anbu awaited Tsunade's instructions, the members of Root looked at Mashiro, and the Third Hokage closed his eyes to rest. Since retiring, he had never interfered in the affairs of the village, which made Mitokado Homura and Tsukushi Koharu feel very strange. It took them several years to get used to it.

Just then, Mashiro spoke with a light laugh.

I think both advisors are right. Whether from the perspective of planning ahead or from the perspective of the relationship between Konoha and Kumogakure, they have their own considerations. However, in my opinion, the assistance in terms of food and clothing is definitely not lacking. As for military rations, I also think they are unnecessary, as are medicines, which are also in short supply for Konoha.

However, we can take another approach. Since we can't send material resources, we can send manpower. There are many trainee medical ninjas in Konoha, and in my opinion, we can send them to help Kumogakure. There are many injured people in Kumogakure, but most of them are not serious. Sending trainee medical ninjas there can show our sincerity and also provide these trainee medical ninjas with experience.

Furthermore, isn't there a ninja in the Anbu who can use Wood Release? They could send him along too; this would not only help with the reconstruction of Kumogakure (Cloud Village)...

It provides important assistance, and we can also obtain a detailed map of the Hidden Cloud Village through it.

As Mashiro spoke eloquently, everyone in the conference room showed expressions of appreciation. Mashiro not only stabilized Miyo's interest rate but also satisfactorily met the demands of Kumoku Village.

"These are my thoughts. What do you all think?" Mashiro said softly, then sat down. Mitokado Homura and Tsubaki Koharu were stunned for a moment, then silently sat down as well. This was indeed an almost perfect approach.

"Wood Release ninja? You mean Tenzo? I can send him. Since no one objects, Shikaku, make a note of it. We'll provide assistance according to Mashiro's suggestion," Tsunade said softly.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Shikaku said respectfully.

The discussion reached a conclusion, and the senior executives in the conference room couldn't help but relax, thinking that the meeting was about to end.

Just then, Tsunade spoke again, saying, "The first matter of this meeting has been concluded. Now it's time to talk about the second matter." Hearing this, the high-ranking officials in the conference room became serious again, waiting for Tsunade to continue.

"I wish to resign from the position of Hokage," Tsunade said calmly. Just one sentence.

This caused an immediate commotion in the conference room. "This, this..."

"Lady Tsunade, you mustn't!"

Why would Lady Tsunade suddenly have such a thought?

It was too sudden; they were completely unprepared. In the past, there were always candidates for Hokage, and only after the higher-ups had confirmed them without any objections would they be sent to the Daimyo for confirmation.

But intelligent people like Shikaku, considering the recent events, had some vague guesses in their minds.

"I'm serious. I only became Hokage because there wasn't a suitable candidate, so I filled in temporarily. Now that the right person has left, it's time for me to step down," Tsunade said earnestly.

Upon hearing this, not only Shikaku, but most of the high-ranking officials in the meeting room vaguely guessed what was going on. "Lady Tsunade, who is the candidate you mentioned?" Shikaku asked knowingly.

Tsunade stood up, came behind Mashiro, placed her hands on Mashiro's shoulders, and said, "After the consensus reached by me and the Third Hokage, Hyuga Mashiro will be the next Hokage."

Mashiro chuckled lightly, making no attempt to refuse.

An uproar erupted, then instantly silence fell. "We disagree."

Mito Menyan and Koharu, who had contracted the disease, were the first to state their positions.

“Mashiro is indeed an excellent child, but she is far too young. You know, Minato was 25 when he succeeded him, and Mashiro is only 18 now. Her experience is too shallow,” said Mitokado Homura.

Although he liked Mashiro, his junior, rules are rules.

"Furthermore, there has never been a Hyuga clan member who has served as Hokage in Konoha. As a large clan, and one that relies on its inherited Byakugan, becoming Hokage would inevitably lead to the clan becoming excessively powerful," said Koharu Utatane.

Neither the Uchiha nor the Hyuga clan believed that becoming Hokage was possible.

"Then, let's vote," Mashiro said softly. "Raise your hand if you oppose the proposal," Tsunade said.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu raised their hands. They had assumed that most of the senior executives in the meeting room would raise their hands as well, but they were wrong. Apart from the two of them, no one else raised their hands.

Among the high-level officials present, those from various departments remained neutral and never participated in the voting.

Among the various clans, the Inu family and the Aburame family are on good terms with the Hyuga family, so these two families naturally do not object.

Mashiro once saved Ino, so the Yamanaka clan wouldn't object.

In recent years, the Hyuga clan and the Akimichi clan have maintained close relations, and the Akimichi clan will not object.

Shikaku clearly understood the situation; the Nara clan wouldn't object. The Sarutobi clan, being close confidants of the Third Hokage, naturally wouldn't object either.

As for the remaining members of the Dark Side and "Root," they naturally had no objections. Thus, the situation was settled.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu looked at Mashiro. They knew that Konoha had unknowingly fallen into the hands of this young man they couldn't understand. The next day, the matter of the Hokage election was officially announced to the village.

Chapter 145: Konan VS Obito

Thanks to the hype generated over the past few days, the news of Mashiro becoming Hokage was easily accepted by the people of Konoha and the rank-and-file ninjas.

This news has already been sent to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, and once the appointment letter arrives, Shinji will officially become the Sixth Hokage.

Following the meeting and based on the results of the discussions, Konoha's aid force to Kumogakure officially set off. It's worth mentioning that this aid...

The training program for medical interns was organized by Karin; Tsunade specifically entrusted this important opportunity to her second disciple.

After it was confirmed that Mashiro would succeed as Hokage, many people went to visit him, but without exception, no one saw Mashiro. The explanation given by Teihan was that Lord Mashiro had something to take care of and was not at home at the moment.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Rain.

Inside the Tower of God, Konan stood alone at the top, looking down at the Rain Village in the rain.

After bringing the Eight-Tails back to Akatsuki headquarters, she announced Pain's "death," and the Akatsuki organization is now completely fragmented.

Pain is dead, Hidan is dead, Kakuzu and Sasori are missing, Itachi is silent, Kisame is thoughtful, Deidara is indifferent, Zetsu has no reaction, and as for the masked man and the newly joined Kaguya Shinji, they did not attend the meeting at all.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nan was waiting for their arrival. "Have they finally come?" Xiao Nan turned around and said coldly.

Not far away, a black vortex appeared, and Obito showed himself.

"Is Nagato's physical body with you now?" Obito asked, looking at Konan. "Is this what you want?" Konan said coldly, holding out a transparent jar containing the Rinnegan.

A flicker of surprise crossed Obito's eyes, then he said, "Oh, so you already know something? That's perfect, saves me the trouble of explaining. Just hand over the Rinnegan."

Obito extended his hand.

He was met with dozens of paper shurikens.

But the paper shuriken pierced through Obito's body as if it were air.

“Don’t underestimate me, little girl,” Obito said, seemingly genuinely believing himself to be Madara Uchiha. Konan was not surprised at all.

Her body began to shatter, turning into sheets of white paper, which then transformed into paper butterflies and flew out of Amegakure. Obito understood Konan's meaning and followed her.

In the vast ocean outside Amegakure, paper butterflies gathered on a reef and transformed into Konan. Meanwhile, Obito arrived at another reef on the opposite side.

"Don't you understand? Your attacks have no effect on me." Obito said calmly. Konan ignored him.

And in the "Paper Dance" mode, Obito unleashed countless paper shuriken made of white paper, spreading paper wings and launching an attack. The countless white papers instantly surrounded Obito.

Suddenly, Obito reached out and grabbed Konan from behind the blank sheet of paper. "This is it."

Then Kamui began, and Obito's left eye unleashed a vortex that sucked all the white papers into the Kamui dimension.

This was exactly what Konan wanted. With a loud thud, Obito's mask shattered, and along with the torn Akatsuki clothes, scattered into the sea.

Konan mixed explosive tags into a piece of white paper to counter Obito's Hollowfication. After the explosion, both Konan and Obito were quite ruthless.

Konan floated breathlessly in the air, a large amount of white paper being transferred into the Kamui dimension, greatly weakening her chakra and strength. Obito, on the other hand, had lost an arm in the explosion, and a piece of his mask was shattered, revealing his crimson Sharingan. He was now sitting on a reef.

"I absorbed and redirected the entire explosion. I was faster, and I only suffered minor injuries. Thanks to me, you were saved too. Thank me."