"F-father! War! We must go to war and destroy Konoha, make Kushina suffer something worse than death!"
A roared in fury while slamming the desk with such force that it split in two.
"A, please calm down. The Third Raikage sacrificed himself so there would be no casualties during the retreat. If we declare another war now, we would be ruining his sacrifice."
"Then what? Do you expect me to live in the same world as my father's killers?"
"No, A, calm down. Your father was strong, but he was also intelligent. Right now the best thing is to wait. We are not the only ones who consider Konoha a threat, the best option is to unite forces with the other ninja villages."
"F-fine... we will wait for now" A said, slowly calming down.
"Right now what we need to do is calm the people. For that, we need a new Raikage."
A understood what he meant and nodded. Then he sat in the seat, although there was no longer a desk in front of him since he had just broken it.
"Then I will be counting on you, Dodai" said the Fourth Raikage A.
"Hmm. For now we must negotiate the conditions of the truce with Konoha. Knowing Hiruzen, we can ask for more than we deserve and he will still accept it.
Even if they reduce what they want to give us, they will end up giving us what is fair.
We also have to deal with possible complaints from the Daimyo.
Finally, we must prepare resource demands for the other four villages depending on who proposes an alliance. We cannot propose it ourselves, since in that case we would be in the weak position.
Also..."
---
Konoha.
"Kushina, you have done an incredible job during this war. It is not an exaggeration to say that the credit for ending the war in only six months is almost entirely yours."
"Thank you very much, Lord Hokage."
"Ha ha, there is no need to speak so formally. With our relationship, you can call me Hiruzen" Hiruzen laughed kindly.
The rest of the people in the room looked at Hiruzen with obvious exasperation at his intentions.
"By the way, regarding the Third Raikage, what was the result of the fight?" the Hokage asked with curiosity.
"Here it is" Kushina said casually while handing over the scroll with his sealed corpse.
Hiruzen saw the scroll and could not help but be surprised once again. Even though he already knew the result, seeing the body made the reality impossible to ignore.
At the same time he could not help but feel a bit of fear in his heart.
Although he is called the most powerful Hokage, only he knows that in reality he is the weakest of the three who have existed, and he is even weaker than some ninjas of this era like Minato and Jiraiya. The title of 'The Most Powerful Hokage' was self imposed.
If he had had to fight the Third Raikage, the best result would have been escaping. As for the worst result, it was better not to think about it.
"Incredible. Your merits alone are already enough to obtain almost anything from the village. As for that thing I know you want, although merit alone is not enough, I will do my best to convince everyone" Hiruzen said with a kind smile as if he would make a great effort for her to become Hokage, although in reality that decision had already been practically made.
"For now go rest, you deserve it. As for the problems the Daimyo might cause due to the deaths of the Raikage and the Tsuchikage, leave that to me."
"Thank you very much, Hiruzen" Kushina said gratefully before leaving.
Kushina used the next two days to rest in her house, doing absolutely nothing.
During that time the village also calmed down quite a bit. Although whenever people saw her they still praised her and thanked her as if she had saved their child's life, which she probably had, at least crowds were no longer gathering to follow her everywhere, even to her house.
...
"They finally left, they must have been annoying" Tsunade sighed.
Kushina simply smiled in response.
"Do not smile. Do you know how annoying they were while you were not here? They came every day asking about you" Tsunade complained.
"Who told me to be so popular?" Kushina shrugged arrogantly.
"Tsk, you and your need for attention" Tsunade complained. "Anyway, make sure your fans do not bother me."
"Of course" Kushina nodded.
"I feel like you are not listening to me at all."
"Of course I am listening!" Kushina said. "By the way, big sister Tsunade, you know the old man better than I do, right? How long do you think it will take for him to give me the Hokage position?"
Tsunade thought for a moment before answering.
"There is a jonin meeting tomorrow, right? Probably there."
"So soon?" Kushina exclaimed in surprise.
"The old man is not stupid. Being Hokage usually brings benefits, but right now it only brings disadvantages.
At this moment continuing as Hokage only accumulates resentment from the village for not giving you the position, since with his age he should have retired long ago. If before he used the excuse that there was no worthy successor, now he cannot do that anymore.
Not only would he accumulate resentment from the village, but also yours, the future Hokage.
The only way out he has left is to retire while you still like him and enjoy the honor of having been the previous Hokage. If he becomes your enemy he would not even have that.
Lastly, you are strong. Your reputation not only in Konoha but throughout the entire ninja world is far greater than you have realized. The simple fact that you want the position, combined with the almost nonexistent possibility that you would take it by force, is enough for him to want to give it to you himself rather than risk it."
"I see. The Third Hokage really thinks things through" Kushina said.
"By the way... what are you going to do about Danzo?" Tsunade asked curiously.
In the territory near the port where the fight against the Raikage occurred there were traces of Konoha ninjas wearing Root uniforms and masks. Kushina had not even bothered to hide it, so everyone at the higher levels of the village knew that the conflict between Kushina and Danzo had already begun.
However, Kushina had not even mentioned it since returning.
"What about Danzo?"
"Tsk. Do not say anything if you do not want to, but do not become as conspiratorial as the elders who control Konoha now," Tsunade said irritably when she saw Kushina's innocent expression.
"Of course I will not."
"Speaking of that... you know everyone who has access to high level information suspects you, right? More than suspecting, they are almost sure that you are the red haired woman of Tasogare."
"Red haired woman of Tasogare?" Kushina said, pretending ignorance again.
"Fine, just shut up and leave before I hit you" Tsunade said irritably while kicking her out.
Kushina laughed before saying goodbye and leaving.
Of course Kushina knew they suspected her. More than suspected, they were practically certain. Root had even seen her summon the Nine Tails, the Four Tails, and the Five Tails.
But what does it matter?
Even if they knew, the most they could do would be to turn the ninja world against her. That sounds quite bad, yes, but the truth is that it is most likely already happening. The other four villages will not allow a variable like Kushina to exist in this world.
As for Konoha, the strong and intelligent know that it is better to be on her side than against her, while the masses simply follow the strongest without thinking too much.
...
Smiling while humming a melody, Kushina arrived at Konoha's command center, where several jonin and high ranking members of the village were gathered.
The difference compared to the last meeting was obvious.
As soon as Kushina entered, everyone fell silent, stopping their conversations and greeting her respectfully.
Even after doing so, they began speaking more quietly to make sure they did not bother her.
Those who did not continue their conversations approached Kushina and spoke with her about the latest news in Konoha.
Everyone wanted to be on her side, since everyone knew that her position as Hokage was already secured.
Many of them had been among those who criticized Kushina when she was young. Although she had not received hatred at Naruto's level, she had still been rejected by some as a foreigner. Some others were geniuses who had studied with her in the academy and had already become jonin, being among the children who used to bother her or those who ignored it when it happened. Others had previously doubted that someone so young, or a woman, could become Hokage.
But regardless of their previous opinions or relationships, they all looked at her with respect and without any doubt. The Hokage position belonged to her, and no one doubted that she deserved it.
As Tsunade had told her before, Kushina had no idea of the level of fame she had gained in the ninja world.
Those who had once been in her class and had teased her now boasted to their relatives about the honor of having known her as a child, enthusiastically telling stories about how her personality had not changed or how she had always been stubborn.
Those who had fought alongside her were admired, and people approached them asking for stories about Kushina on the battlefield.
Any person from another village or any merchant entering the village that month would find it incredibly tedious to try to have a conversation with anyone, since most people would eventually end up bragging about Konoha's Kushina.
While Kushina talked with acquaintances without truly realizing how famous she had become, fifteen minutes passed and Hiruzen finally entered the room, bringing silence.
"Thank you all for coming" Hiruzen began without hesitation. "First of all I would like to thank Kushina. If it were not for her, this war would probably have lasted years. Her contribution to ending it is unimaginable, and it is not an exaggeration to say the war ended thanks to her..."
Although everyone knew this was true, hearing the Hokage say it out loud and openly give all the credit to Kushina still surprised many.
But as experienced ninjas they immediately understood what was happening and continued listening.
What followed were forty minutes discussing the consequences of the war, repairs and compensation, and the rest of the time Hiruzen praising Kushina so much that he even managed to embarrass her, despite the fact that she knew the old man was simply trying to ingratiate himself with her and show the others their relationship.
After that finally came the part where everyone participated, although not in a good way.
Shikaku stepped onto the podium and began listing the corresponding payments.
Money is very important to everyone, and ninjas are no exception, so everyone paid special attention, and most were satisfied. With the war won and Konoha's reputation, and therefore the Land of Fire's reputation, rising more and more, the Daimyo had been quite generous with the rewards.
But the happiness lasted only until the part where they did not gain money but lost it.
"One hundred million ryo, seventy percent of the Land of Hot Water, and exclusivity over twenty percent of Konoha's external missions" Shikaku said, leaving everyone in silence.
"Are they insane? One hundred million ryo! That is comparable to one hundred simple S rank missions!"
"There is no way we are giving them that!"
"Seventy percent? Wars are fought for territory. They want us to keep only thirty percent after winning?!"
"Twenty percent of missions means we will keep giving them money for years!"
Amid the widespread complaints, Shikaku spoke again, calming the situation.
"You do not have to worry, in fact these numbers are inflated.
Fifty million, forty percent of the territory since they were the losers, and there is no need for mission exclusivity," Shikaku explained calmly. "Most likely they used exaggerated numbers so that even after reducing them they would still gain something. However, since we won, we can use the official numbers and reduce them a bit.
I think we can negotiate without losing too much this time."
Compared to the losses of the previous two wars, it was nothing, so Shikaku smiled in satisfaction while saying it.
______________________________________
Hey, I just published the first chapters of a new fic: To Love Ru: Chaos.
If you're interested or want to support me, go read it and leave some Power Stones.
But it's literally the complete opposite of this series, so I recommend reading the 'Before You Read' section to see if you'll like it.
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)