"Over these years, I believe I have managed the village quite well, and I have lived up to your expectations from back then."
Torifu then laughed heartily. "But, as you all know, I'm someone who likes to slack off, and this habit has become even more pronounced as I've gotten older."
Hearing Torifu's words, the somewhat sentimental atmosphere among the villagers immediately became cheerful.
Many couldn't stop themselves from laughing.
"Konoha's development is quite good now, and with many talents emerging, I think it's time for me to let go."
"The successor I trained is also ready to take charge, bearing the responsibility of protecting the entire Land of Fire, Konoha, and even the Shinobi world."
Torifu took off the Hokage hat he was wearing, turned around, and solemnly handed it to Minato.
"From today forward, Namikaze Minato is the Fourth Hokage of Konoha!"
The words fell! A thunderous cheer instantly erupted! Nearly a hundred thousand villagers across all the streets of Konoha cheered and shouted!
Looking at the dashing Fourth Hokage on the crystal screens, some people couldn't help but shed tears.
Minato took the hat, held it stylishly in his hand, and raised it high.
"From today onward, Konoha will be governed by me!"
His declaration was not particularly grand, nor did he make any extravagant promises, but this made the villagers feel it was more genuine.
The cheers grew even louder, showing no sign of stopping.
Countless flowers, ribbons, and celebratory cannons flew through the air. Snowflake also seemed very happy, flying out from the Kumotsuru Clan territory and circling above Konoha!
This undoubtedly made the atmosphere even more enthusiastic.
And so, the succession ceremony was now complete. Torifu was no longer the Hokage of Konoha; he had successfully retired.
Minato turned around and looked at his family members and disciples, and excitement was evident in everyone's eyes.
There was admiration, congratulation, and joy—everyone truly wished for Minato to become the Hokage.
Especially Kushina, who was sitting in a wheelchair due to her immobility just to watch the Hokage succession ceremony.
Tears were now welling up in her eyes; how could she not be excited that her man had become the Hokage?
Minato walked over to everyone and gathered them all in a hug.
Both his disciples and his family had given him a lot of encouragement.
Otherwise, while Minato was certainly ambitious about the Hokage position, he wouldn't have had enough courage to take on such a prosperous village.
And now that he had truly become the Hokage, no matter what difficult challenges lay ahead, he would do his absolute best to complete them!
The moment he received the hat, Minato secretly swore that he would absolutely protect the village and ensure its continued development!
Torifu patted Minato's shoulder. "Alright, the succession ceremony is over. Hokage-sama can now start scheduling work."
Minato was not yet used to the title. Being suddenly called Hokage-sama instantly made his face flush.
Torifu burst into laughter at the sight but was elbowed by Naori and immediately stopped smiling.
"Minato, just take your time getting used to it. I and the Third Hokage-sama's puppet can help you with a lot of the paperwork."
Anka spoke up, and among those present, her words were undoubtedly the most reassuring.
Although Minato was eager to immediately begin handling the political affairs himself, he currently lacked experience.
The village now was different from when Torifu first took office; it was so massive, and the daily paperwork was immense.
Even with Anka and the puppet sharing the load, Minato would still need to handle a portion of it.
If mistakes were made in the administration, the monetary loss would be minor, but the trouble it caused would be cascading.
Konoha was like a high-speed, precision-engineered machine. The slightest malfunction would immediately lead to a string of problems.
That was why Minato needed to study carefully.
"Minato, don't overwork yourself. Remember the Slacking-Off Method I taught you. It'll guarantee you an easy Hokage career."
Minato smiled and nodded. Perhaps he would use it when he couldn't cope, but having just taken office, he was full of youthful vigor. How could Minato start slacking off right away?
And how embarrassing would it be if the villagers saw him!
Being caught slacking off on the first day of his tenure by the villagers—he would probably be impeached immediately.
When the villagers saw that the rooftop was empty and the Hokage had been gone for some time, and the crystal screens in the air had also disappeared, they knew the ceremony was over.
The cheers gradually subsided, and the villagers began to return to their normal lives.
Konoha had a new Hokage. Although they didn't know exactly how things would turn out, the villagers were all very happy.
They all discussed various things about Minato, and conversations about him filled every corner of the streets.
When Minato and the others returned to the office, they found the intelligent puppet still swiftly processing documents, but the workload remained just as large.
Minato finally understood why his Big Brother was so eager to retire.
Even with his high motivation and youthful vigor, facing the mountain of piled-up files instantly extinguished half of his enthusiasm.
"Alright, we won't bother you here. You should take some time to familiarize yourself with everything."
Torifu still had to meet with the Kage from the other villages. Although he was no longer a Kage, he could still help Minato handle this kind of meeting.
Torifu arrived at the conference room, where Ōnoki, Mifune, Getsuji, and Ryūsa had been waiting for a while.
They only smiled when Torifu arrived.
"Torifu, is it alright if we call you that?"
Torifu smiled and nodded. "Of course, you can."
Everyone present was older than him, so it was naturally fine for them to address him that way.
"Ah, succession ceremonies always make one's blood boil. The new Kage are all full of passion. I was the same way back then."
Ryūsa said with a sigh. Every Kage had this phase, but with the endless rush of village affairs and the mountain of official documents, that enthusiasm quickly waned.
At that point, they would very much want to retire, and their initial passion would have nearly cooled down completely.
Ōnoki stroked his small mustache. "Who isn't? We all had our younger days. Young people just have that vigor, which we can't compare to."
Everyone nodded. That much was true. Minato was barely twenty years old.
Torifu was over fifty. Thinking back, when Torifu was twenty, he also enjoyed slacking off just as much...
Actually, ever since Torifu became Hokage, he only kept up the act for a few days for Tobirama's sake, so the latter wouldn't nag him.
Then he just let loose, using all his Puppets and Clones.
Yet, this slacking-off and seemingly unprofessional Hokage became the one with the most distinguished achievements in Konoha, even surpassing Hashirama.
In the future, it was unlikely that any Hokage would be able to reach Torifu's height.