Chapter – 606 The Only Hokage Candidate

"Did you all hear what I heard? Yesterday, Danzo-sama personally lead some shinobi, and managed to rescue the daughter of the Patriarch of the Hyuga Clan, as well as the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi…"

"Yes, I heard about it too, it happened last night…"

"Mm-hmm, it is said that the two of them were rescued from Orochimaru's secret base… If that cunning snake hadn't escaped at the last moment using that kid as the hostage, he would have been killed by Danzo-sama…"

"Sigh, it's a pity… if only…"

"Shhh…!"

On the streets, at the tea shops, in the alleys, and at many other places, people were gathered in groups of two or three and discussing the recent events.

The topic of discussion was obviously what happened just yesterday night… Where Shimura Danzo, personally led a team of Konoha Shinobi and he not only rescued the eldest daughter of the patriarch of the Hyuga Clan as well as that kid, but he also killed countless rogue Shinobi under Orochimaru then captured his base, and thus returned after gaining a major victory over Orochimaru.

What's coincidental is that the two children that were kidnapped by Orochimaru were rescued by Danzo on the night before the day on which the Vote of Confidence is supposed to be held. So some witty people can obviously understand the implication of this rescue operation… Especially since the news of the rescue operation was immediately made public through various means.

Considering that the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki was rescued and brought back to the village, such an important piece of information should have been kept secret from everyone in order to avoid attracting the attention of the Akatsuki Organization, but such an obvious thing, that should have happened, did not happen… Not only the information was not kept a secret, but it was in fact made public in just one night and was spread all over the Konoha Village.

As a result, in just one night Shimura Danzo's popularity soared all over the village, and in the hearts of Konoha Villagers, the admiration for Danzo suddenly skyrocketed, and he became the main subject of the talk of the town.

Up until a few days ago, the Konoha villagers had only heard that there existed someone by the name of Shimura Danzo on the advisory board of Sandaime-sama… As for what kind of person he was, what all things did he do for the village, what he sacrificed for the village, and so on, such details were a complete mystery for everyone.

In fact, not just the ordinary Konoha Villagers, but even most of the Konoha Genins and Chunin, as well as some Jonin were also unfamiliar and unaware of the kind of existence Shimura Danzo was…

And among the people who were aware of the kind of existence Elder Danzo was, they only knew that he was the leader of some secret Anbu unit that used to go by the name of 'Root'… other than this information, they knew nothing else about Shimura Danzo.

So, basically, Shimura Danzo was a big mystery for everyone as no one knew anything about him.

Obviously, this was because Shimura Danzo had always lived in the shadows of Konoha Village, so his prestige in the hearts of Konoha Villagers was not that high, as such, even if Sandaime Hokage is forced to step down by the means of a Vote of Confidence, taking over the position of Hokage won't be so easy for Danzo… After all, two of the three Legendary Sannin, Tsunade-hime, and Jiraiya are present in the village.

The prestige of Tsunade-hime and Jiraiya far surpasses Danzo, and this is the reason why Danzo enacted the rescue operation of the two children.

Undoubtedly, under vigorous propaganda, this self-directed and self-enacted last-minute rescue operation has had a very good impact on Danzo's reputation.

People of Konoha are currently emotionally frustrated due to repeated defeats and the loss of loved ones, so they desperately need some good news about Konoha's victory in order to vent out their suppressed emotions… Shimura Danzo 'coincidently' brought such a victory to the village, and as a result, he immediately won the hearts of many Konoha Villagers…

…

Hokage Office.

Sandaime Hokage clasped his hands behind his back and stood in front of the glass window looking at the reconstructed village with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Because of the good planning, the layout of the reconstructed village is more reasonable than before, and various areas have been spread out… Although this increased the total cost of reconstruction, it is still worth it, after all, in a little over a month, the entire village was reconstructed back to a prosperous and bustling state.

At this time, Jiraiya and Tsunade-hime arrived at the Hokage office, but unlike Sandaime's thoughtful expression, both Jiraiya and Tsunade-hime had gloomy expressions on their faces.

Whoosh…

Before either of the three could speak anything, suddenly, an Anbu arrived in the office, and reported, "Hokage-sama, the voting has begun…"

Sandaime nodded lightly, and waved his hands, "I heard it… you may leave…"

The Anbu quickly bowed to Sandaime, and disappeared from the Hokage office…

After the Anbu Shinobi was gone, Tsunade-hime questioned with a frowned expression, "Sarutobi-sensei… are you just going to leave him as is?"

The 'him' in Tsunade-hime's words is obviously Danzo who is the root cause of the Vote of confidence farce that is currently being held in the village.

Sandaime sighed lightly, and said with an exhausted tone, "The position of Hokage not only carries power, but it also carries the responsibility of safeguarding the village, as well as expectations of too many people… Since Danzo is so hell-bent on becoming the Hokage, let him try…"

Jiraiya asked, "But Sensei… would it really be appropriate to hand over such power in the hands of someone like Danzo?"

Sandaime turned his attention to Jiraiya and said with an unhappy tone, "Isn't all this happening because either of you is unwilling to carry on this responsibility?"

As soon as Sandaime pointed out this fact, Jiraiya turned his head and started to whistle nervously…

Even before Danzo started to manipulate public opinion against him, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already decided to carry on the blame for the destruction of the village on his shoulders and wanted to step down from the position of Konoha's Hokage… He wanted to let Tsunade-hime succeed him as the Godaime Hokage.

Tsunade-hime, or better yet, Senju Tsunade is the best candidate to take over the position of Konoha's Hokage whether in terms of prestige, strength, or background… As the granddaughter of Shodaime Hokage, she can succeed as the Konoha's Hokage without any problem… but it's a pity that Tsunade-hime refused to become Hokage.

Because Tsunade-hime's younger brother Nawaki and her lover Dan died because they wanted to become Hokage, as such, Tsunade-hime has a deep aversion towards becoming Hokage…

Sandaime was sort of helpless because of Tsunade's choice, and he could only turn to Jiraiya, but Jiraiya also refused without any hesitation.

He, who prefers to be free and unbound by any chains obviously wouldn't want to be tied down by the chains of responsibility that the Hokage has to carry… moreover, Jiraiya also carries the guilt of not properly guiding Nagato, and as such blames himself for all the act of terrorism caused by the Akatsuki Organization… And because of this, he also refused to succeed as Konoha's Hokage.

Since both his disciples refused, Sandaime was left completely helpless… he looked at both his disciples standing in front of him with a headache and felt more tired.

Even he knows that he is getting old, and as such, whenever he would face any problem that he is unable to solve, Hiruzen would subconsciously think of Konoha's Yellow Flash, that man who could have become the greatest Hokage Konoha could have had, unfortunately, died too young.

Helpless, tired, and exhausted, Sandaime could only sigh, "Sigh…" at the situation and think of the past days…

Time passed minute by minute and the three people present in the Hokage Office fell into silence. No one spoke anymore and they were quietly waiting for the final result of the voting…

After a few hours, several people, including Shimura Danzo, Utatane Koharu, Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku as well as other Patriarch of the major Shinobi Clans came to the Hokage Office.

Struck…

Danzo strokes his crutch on the ground to attract the attention of the three present in the Hokage office, and then declared, "Hiruzen, the result of the Vote of Confidence has come out… And unfortunately, the number of votes in your favour is far less compared to the votes against you… As such, you must step down from the position of Konoha's Hokage…"

Utatane Koharu didn't want the matter to escalate too much, and as such, she took over the conversation from Danzo, then said, "Hiruzen, from here on… you are no longer Konoha's Hokage, and a new Hokage will be selected for the Village in your place. Of course, considering your experience and qualifications, and everything you have done for the village, you will be given a position as an Elder in the advisory board…"

Sandaime nodded lightly, "I see… if that's the decision of the majority, then it can't be helped."

He wasn't much surprised by the results of the Vote of Confidence. After all Konoha Village was destroyed overnight, no matter how high his reputation may have been in the hearts of everyone, the responsibility of failure cannot be shirked… and he has to bear this responsibility on his shoulder.

As such, Sandaime calmly accepted the result of the Vote of Confidence…

Elder Koharu continued, "As one of the Elders of the advisory board, you naturally have the qualification to nominate a candidate for the position of the next Hokage… Do you wish to nominate someone?"

At the proposition of nominating a candidate, Sandaime glanced in the direction of Tsunade and Jiraiya, however, both of them avoided his gaze clearly indicating to not nominate them…

If Sandaime had died, then driven by a sense of responsibility, one of them may be willing to stand up and take the mantle of Hokage along with all the responsibilities that come with the position, but because he is still alive, so neither of the two is willing to tie himself or herself to the position of Hokage.

Obviously, this was also within Hiruzen's expectations, and he could only remain silent at this time… And seeing Sandaime standing silent, even Elder Koharu sighed and said nothing.

In fact, not just Sandaime, even she is also authorized to nominate a candidate for the position of Hokage, but similar to Hiruzen, she has also encountered the same problem. There are no suitable candidates who are willing to take the position of Konoha's Hokage.

Jiraiya and Tsunade-hime who are both suitable are unwilling to take that position, meanwhile, the Shinobi of the younger generation such as Kakashi, Asuma, and others lack the required strength and prestige required to become the Hokage in the current tangled situation of Konoha and the Shinobi World.

Seeing that both Hiruzen and Koharu fell silent, Danzo took a step forward and after noting everyone's expression, he stated, "I nominate myself as the candidate for the position of the Godaime Hokage!"

As soon as Danzo made his declaration, Uchiha Patriarch narrowed his eyes for a moment, but after a little deliberation, he chose to remain silent said expressed his neutrality.

Although Shimura Danzo has always been hostile to the Uchiha Clan, he is a weak old man after all. This time he has declared complete enmity with the major Hokage faction in order to take over the position of Hokage… As such, Fugaku believes that even if he becomes Hokage, he wouldn't dare to express open hostility to the current Uchiha Clan… especially not with the presence of Uchiha Shisui in the Uchiha Clan.

Similar to the Uchiha Patriarch, even the Hyuga Patriarch narrowed his eyes for a moment, however, similar to Uchiha Patriarch, he too remained silent… the reason being that Shimura Danzo rescued his elder daughter not long ago… as such, Hyuga Hiashi owes him a favour and can't question him, not openly at least…

And similarly, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Utatane Koharu, Senju Tsunade, as well as Jiraiya also remained silent… seeing everyone's silence, the Patriarchs of the other Shinobi Clans under the lead of the Nara Patriarch also remained silent and did not oppose Shimura Danzo's nomination of himself…

The result of this meeting turned out that in the silence of everyone, Shimura Danzo became the only Hokage candidate fighting for the position of Godaime Hokage.

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