Chapter 27: The old should make place for the young.

In an inhabited area of Konoha, Jiraiya was standing in front of an elderly, short man with slightly long eyebrows.

"Old man, I'm telling you that you're mistaking me for Orochimaru!" Jiraiya spoke.

"Brat, I might be old but I'm not senile, I remember that it was you that used to jump around that little kage, he took you as a student and then you sinned gravely by turning on Hiruzen," Akai spoke, very displeased by the younger generation.

"Old man, I am the student of Hiruzen-sensei, but I'm not the one that betrayed Konoha, it was Orochimaru, my former teammate. I need to hurry to my teacher to make sure he's safe!" Jiraiya tried to reason.

"Enough, today's youth have really lost all shame, turning on their teachers, putting the blame on the innocent, and then trying to scam elderly people like myself! I need to teach you a lesson in your teacher's stead. Don't try to trick me you little fox, just one look and I could see from miles away that you're an evil pervert, even though I can barely see!" Akai said, as his fearsome aura was released.

Suddenly Jiraiya dodged as a spike of the earth almost pierced him from behind.

"Hmph, you got some good reflexes for an old pervert!" Akai said.

"You're older than me!" Jiraiya cried out, why did he have to meet this unreasonable old man here? He had to make a complaint to the Hokage about this old man.

In the Hokage tower, the third Hokage finally sat down on his familiar seat, breathing out a sigh as he felt his body exhausted.

"This aged body has truly lost its capabilities," Hiruzen spoke in self-reproach.

Humans with chakra could live longer and keep their capabilities and abilities for way longer, but Hiruzen had been sitting on a chair, not training or moving for the last 13 years, and even before that, he hadn't done much training as the fourth Hokage was in the seat.

To keep his capabilities he had to occasionally train and keep active, sadly he didn't know that Minato, the fourth Hokage would die and he would have to take up the position of Hokage again. So he retired and started enjoying life before he was thrown right back into the world of Shinobi.

Had he kept active and continued to train lightly he would have been able to still keep the a big part of his strength. Old men can't become strong, but strong men can keep their strength in old age. That's the rule of this world.

Hiruzen had realized how weak he had gotten, his muscles ached and he couldn't catch his breath.

"What did you want to speak about Oden-kun?" Hiruzen finally asked. He truly liked Oden, Not only was he a great genius, strong and smart, but he was also considerate as he chased away the Anbu and the shinobi before they could see the Hokage at his weakest. Then he hurried here so no one else could see him.

"With all due respect... I think you should retire." Oden said, trying to say it in a good way but he didn't know how to say it in a way that wouldn't hurt the old man's honor.

"Hahahah" Hiruzen just started laughing

After half a minute of laughing, he saw that Oden looked confused.

"Yes, you're right, I've been thinking that for the last two dozen years." Hiruzen said with a smile.

"So... will you take my place as Hokage?" Hiruzen finally asked, seeing that Oden didn't say anything.

"No, definitely NO." Oden denied it before any thoughts could grow inside the elderly man's head.

"I think you would do a fine job as a Hokage." Hiruzen said with a smile.

"No, I think we should bring back Tsunade, I've read about her personality and capabilities... I think she would be the best option." Oden gave his opinion.

Hiruzen started thinking for a minute.

"What about Jiraiya?" Hiruzen asked.

"No, even though he is well known and respected, and most people would vote him for the position... he's too similar to you in many aspects. And Konoha needs something... fiercer than you two, something like Tsunade." Oden explained.

Hiruzen was known for his intelligence, but he was aware more than anyone else that his intelligence only worked for fighting, combat, and war... in politics, it was severely lacking.

Many compared him to his teacher, the second Hokage, but he knew that he was more similar to the first Hokage, but he was still smart enough to understand good from bad. That is why he is confused, as he couldn't really follow Oden's thought process.

"A leader needs to know when to cut the roots of weeds before his garden gets filled with weeds and unwanted animals. He needs to act fiercely and decisively. That's what Konoha needs, not some soft-hearted fool that allows corruption to take place because of his softness." Oden explained without holding his words back

Hiruzens eyes widened in realization as he started to laugh again.

He finally understood why the second Hokage was so uncertain in choosing between himself and Danzo.

He had always wondered what had made the Hokage doubtful of choosing him as the third Hokage.

On paper, it should've been an easy choice. Hiruzen was a great genius, kage level, undefeated in war and battles, direct disciple of the second Hokage... Yet, the second Hokage gave Danzo a look, a chance to prove himself.

But in the end, the second Hokage tested them both and chose Hiruzen based on his will to protect others.

'Teacher seemed to understand that my indecisiveness would cause trouble later on... Danzo was, and still is very decisive, which a leader needs to protect the village from the inside.' Hiruzen thought as he smiled.

"Oden-Kun, you should stop talking, the more you talk, the more I want you as the fifth Hokage." Hiruzen said with a smile

"No thanks," Oden said, he had given the third Hokage honest advice, and he hoped that the old man would follow what he said.

The next day, the Hokage had called for an emergency meeting. All the clan heads and elite jonins had been called.

"We did successfully defend against Sunagakure... And Orochimaru." As the Hokage spoke of his disciple's name, everyone took a glance at Oden.

There had been many witnesses to his fight with Orochimaru, and the word had spread. Every civilian was talking about how the young Zaraki Clan Head and The third Hokage fought against three kage opponents and won.

Every clan had their report on what had happened and they knew that Oden was able to fight and overpower Orochimaru, making him a powerhouse at Kage level.

Before when he had fought against the Gold and Silver brothers, they knew what had really happened and were aware of the fact that the brothers weren't kage level on their own. Even though they were stronger than elite Jonin, they weren't at the kage level just quite.

But this was different, Orochimaru is one of the strongest shinobi that had come out of Konoha.. this is a completely Another scale compared to before.

"And that was my last act as Hokage, I am retiring as Hokage as of today." Hiruzen said making everyone's head snap towards him.

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