Chapter – 601 Vote of Confidence

Kuroto deeply observed Kakashi's physical state and noticed that although Kakashi is looking lazy and tired at first glance, in actuality his entire temperament has changed and compared with before the current Kakashi is surrounded by a sharp aura, as a result giving a dangerous feeling.

'It shouldn't entirely be the result of his realization of Obito's identity… is it because of practising the Flying Thunder God Technique?' thought Kuroto with a curious expression.

Kuroto is not completely ignorant when it comes to the Flying Thunder God Technique, in fact, he too has done some research on this Jutsu, and after all his research he has found out that training this teleportation type Jutsu poses a lot of burden on the body of the user. Although the exact burden it poses is somewhat difficult to determine, we can still assume that bearing such a burden under normal circumstances is almost impossible for almost anyone…

As far as Kuroto can guess, perhaps only the burden posed on the body while training in the Eight Inner Gates can measure up to the burden posed on the body while training Flying Thunder God Technique. This can be proven by the fact that only Raikage and Tsunade-hime were able to bear the burden of the 'Heavenly Transfer Technique' another spatial transfer technique.

Precisely why even if someone has a high talent for spatial Jutsu, he may not be able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique that well because the burden that the body of the practitioner needs to bear is very heavy and very few are able to sustain it.

Of course, this does have a lot of benefits for the practitioners of the Flying Thunder God Technique, because the body has to bear the huge burden during spatial travel, so, those who are able to bear this burden, their physique gets strengthened over time, and their Chakra Control also improves more and more.

Therefore, it can be said that training Flying Thunder God Technique is overall training for body strengthening and Chakra control, and it is still counted among the relatively high-end training methods.

Because during spatial travel, every joint, muscle, and cell in the body is squeezed and has to undergo continuous wear and tear, as such, the physique is continuously strengthened.

'Perhaps this is the main reason why although it has been only a few months since he started training Flying Thunder God Technique, it seems that he has been reborn completely…' thought Kuroto.

Although it is hard to say whether the loss of Mangekyou Sharingan is a good thing or a bad thing for him, it can at least be said that without having to bear the burden of Mangekyou Sharingan, Kakashi definitely has more Chakra reserves at his disposal, and if he also manages to master the Flying Thunder God Technique at the same level as the Yondaime Hokage, then his strength will definitely be several times stronger compared to what it was in the Cannon…

As Kuroto was busy in his thoughts, suddenly Guy, who was silent up until now asked, "Kakashi… Kuroto… Hokage-sama will not be in trouble, right?"

Listening to Guy's question, Kakashi sighed silently and shook his head…

Because he has spent quite a lot of time with Asuma in the past few weeks, he has a clear understanding of the political situation of Konoha… and that is why he is also aware of the fact that the trouble this time is quite big and it is slightly difficult for Sandaime-sama to be able to solve it that easily.

The most troublesome problem that Sandaime-sama is facing is not the dissatisfaction of Konoha villagers, rather, it is the pressure from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

For the reconstruction of Konoha as quickly as possible, Daimyo of the Land of Fire had to take out a lot of funds from his treasury, the burden of this is also bored by the populace of the Land of Fire in the form of increased taxes, as such, Daimyo is greatly dissatisfied with Sandaime Hokage for his inability to protect Konoha and the Land of Fire… And as if this wasn't already more than enough, the old coot Shimura Danzo has used some method and persuaded the Daimyo that Sarutobi Hiruzen is incapable of protecting Konoha, because of which, Daimyo who used to work tacitly with Sandaime-sama has suddenly retracted back his political support and is asking for an explanation…

Then there were also more than two thousand casualties as well as a large number of injured people, and this has made the populace of Konoha very dissatisfied. Even if Sandaime Hokage did his best to protect the village from the Akatsuki Organization, he still can't shirk the responsibility of his failure as a Hokage, because it was his plan that made Akatsuki attack Konoha village which led to the destruction of Konoha and resulted in over two thousand casualties. The people who have lost their family members obviously need some way to vent out their emotions, and expressing dissatisfaction towards Sandaime Hokage is the result under the careful guidance of some black hands behind the scene.

And finally, the fact that Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuga Hinata, Hyuga Neji, and also the Jinchuriki of Kyuubi were kidnapped by Orochimaru and Kakuzu on that night further caused Sandaime to lose some points from the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga clan. Although these two major Shinobi Clans are not explicitly supporting Danzo, they are not siding with Sandaime, which has clearly explained their position and stand in this internal political conflict between the Hokage Faction.

With all these factors combined, the situation that the Sandaime Hokage is facing is quite unfavorable. It is hard to say whether he will be able to stay in Konoha's Hokage.

Shisui sighed and said with a worried expression, "I hope that Hokage-sama can tide over this difficulty…"

Danzo once attacked him with the plan of stealing his Mangekyou Sharingan, so Shisui has a very poor evaluation of Danzo and doesn't trust that old guy at all, as such, he doesn't want Danzo to become Konoha's Hokage. On the issue of which side is supporting, Shisui has also clearly expressed his attitude to the Uchiha Patriarch.

Considering that both Sandaime Hokage and Danzo are part of the Hokage faction and because both Jiraiya and Tsunade-hime are part of the Sandaime Hokage's power line. So, out of consideration of political balance, the Uchiha Patriarch chose to remain neutral on behalf of the Uchiha Clan and expressed his intention of not participating in the internal conflict of the Hokage Faction.

Of course, the neutral attitude of the Uchiha Patriarch also had a lot of impact on the overall situation, because the current Uchiha Clan is completely different from the Uchiha Clan in the cannon.

Because Uchiha Shisui, the awakener of Mangekyou Sharingan is not only alive kicking, he is also regarded as the strongest combat power on the side of the five great shinobi villages as such Uchiha Clan has a strong backing behind them… Coupled with the occasional activity of the Uchihas of Konoha, Akatsuki, and Amatsukami, the name of the Uchiha Clan is currently the loudest in the Shinobi World aside from Amatsukami and Akatsuki, so the reputation of the Uchiha Clan is very high in Konoha.

Additionally, because of the external pressure brought by powerful enemies, the Hokage Faction has also done a lot of things to solicit the Uchiha Clan, and they no longer try to suppress the Uchiha Clan, as a result, the influence and reputation of the Uchiha Clan have once again skyrocketed within Konoha.

Because of strong backing and high reputation, nobody wants to offend this Clan filled with powerful monsters…

And because Uchiha Clan has expressed their attitude to remain neutral, this has also allowed many other Clans to use Uchiha Clan as their shield and remain neutral in the internal political conflict of the Hokage Faction.

As such, there is no possibility for Sandaime to gain any political support from the major Shinobi Clans, which has further allowed Danzo to pressurize him.

While everyone at the Anbu base was discussing a lot of things, the Anbu Commander came to the base and conveyed the result of the meeting that took place not long ago.

In the meeting, a resolution was passed according to which, six days from now, a vote of confidence will be held in Konoha to decide whether Sandaime-sama would remain as Konoha's Hokage, or he will resign from his position and elect a new Hokage to lead the village.

One more thing to note is that in the vote of confidence that is to be held six days from now, only Shinobi at the rank of Special Jonin and above are allowed to participate which is not surprising for many reasons.

Hearing the result of the meeting, Kakashi muttered with s sigh, "… Haah… I didn't expect the situation to get to this point…"

Although Kakashi was worried before, he still had trust in Sandaime Hokage and believed that Hokage-sama will be able to somehow tide over this difficult situation, but unexpectedly, the situation has already gotten to this point… It seems that another storm is coming…

After all, once the vote of confidence is held, then regardless of its result, it will have another serious impact on Sandaime-sama's prestige and trust.

Similar to Kakashi, Guy, Shisui, as well as other Anbu also had worried expressions on their faces, and each of them was uneasy about what sort of impact it will have on the overall situation of Konoha and the Shinobi World.

Of course, Kuroto was different from everyone and he had a completely neutral expression… Regardless of the result of the vote of confidence, he has no intention of interfering in this matter, even if Shimura Danzo becomes Konoha's Hokage.

In fact, Kuroto is even willing to temporarily support Danzo if necessary because this is important for his plans.

In order to continue the Kekkei Genkai Absorption ritual on Danzo, one of the necessary conditions is that Danzo becomes Konoha's Hokage… this is not only Danzo's intention and desire but also a necessary requirement for the plan to continue. The reason is that the manpower and material resources required to carry out the ritual are no longer something his Root that has been abolished can acquire. Kuroto realizes this, and as such, he understands that if Danzo does not sit in the position of Konoha's Hokage as soon as possible, then it's possible that the plan will be delayed by several months or possibly even a few years.

Delay of the plan is not something Kuroto wants to see as the threat of Nagato is always looming over his head, so he has no choice but to let Danzo become Konoha's Hokage.

With this intention, Kuroto left the Anbu base after everyone was asked to disperse and made his way towards his home.

While on his way, Kuroto had a thoughtful expression, 'Danzo insisted on postponing the vote of confidence and asked it to be held six days later… it is very likely that he wanted to enact the rescue operation of Hinata and Naruto…'

This is very easy to understand because, given the current situation, the probability of Danzo becoming Konoha's Hokage is not very high… Even if he managed to garner Daimyo's support, the major Shinobi Clans will not support him as he has repeatedly offended them.

Moreover, even if Konoha's populace is dissatisfied with Sandaime, everyone still understands the threat of the Akatsuki Organization which is the enemy of Konoha and the other four great Shinobi Villages. Therefore, everyone would want a powerful Hokage who can protect Konoha. So, before the emergence of a powerful candidate who can lead the village after Sandaime-sama steps down, the position of Sandaime-sama can be said to be barely stable.

But that would no longer be the case if Danzo enacted the scene of the rescue of Hinata and Naruto from the hands of Orochimaru.

In the villager's eyes, if Danzo can rescue hostages from the hands of someone like Orochimaru, then he can barely act as a replacement for Sandaime Hokage.

Danzo should also understand this, as such, he will definitely enact the rescue of Hinata and Naruto before the Vote of Confidence.

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