The next morning at nine o'clock, the Jonin confidence vote meeting began in the main conference room of the Hokage Tower...
After these years of recuperation, Konoha's strength had recovered a lot. The veteran Jonin, along with the newly promoted Jonin, almost filled the large conference room.
The Hokage candidates had been announced. The Jonin only needed to cast an anonymous ballot of approval or disapproval into a box.
There were no options for abstention or neutrality; a choice had to be made.
After the voting ended, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu counted the votes.
Looking at the close number of approval and disapproval votes, Danzō was very nervous, inwardly cursing the Jonin who had voted against him.
When the last vote was counted, Danzō secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he was not elected with a high number of votes, which was a bit embarrassing, he had at least passed the halfway mark. He was now the Hokage!
The voting was over. Danzō was already the Hokage.
As for the subsequent inauguration ceremony, it was relatively less important. If the conditions were not right, it could be skipped.
With the Fifth Hokage freshly chosen, Kageyama Kogetsu was next appointed as the Hokage's Advisor.
This appointment was very interesting. It was not an appointment by the Fifth Hokage, but a collective decision by those qualified to participate in the Land of Fire conference, including the Third and Fifth Hokage.
Since it was a collective decision, even Danzō could not dismiss him with a single word. According to the rules, the consent of the majority was required.
After the appointment, everyone began to pay their respects to the Hokage.
The minister-level high-ranking officials of Konoha needed to bow, while the elder-level only needed to give a slight nod.
The previous Hokage didn't even need to bow, just say a few words, and they didn't have to address him as "Lord," just "Hokage."
Other Jonin, regardless of their position or their thoughts, needed to kneel on one knee and address him as "Lord Hokage" as a sign of respect.
That afternoon, the Hokage succession ceremony officially began on the rooftop of the Hokage Tower.
Sarutobi Hiruzen did not trust Danzō, so when he handed over the Hokage hat, he said a lot, so much that the veins on Danzō's forehead were visible, and his patience was gradually running out.
Fortunately, Hiruzen knew Danzō relatively well and stopped just on the verge of his outburst, handing over the Hokage hat.
Danzō impatiently took the Hokage hat and put it on his head. Wearing a Hokage ceremonial robe identical to Hiruzen's, he walked to the edge of the rooftop...
It was unclear if it was to disgust Hiruzen, but although Danzō had ample time to design his own Hokage ceremonial robe, he chose not to and wore one identical to Hiruzen's.
After giving a grand speech, Danzō held up the Hokage hat and waved, and a cheer erupted from the square below...
Don't misunderstand. Many of the cheers were from paid supporters, some were Root ninja, and some were hired by Danzō with money.
Danzō had always been in the shadows, his reputation not prominent. Even after a period of surprise propaganda, there were not many ninja who genuinely respected him.
Among those who cheered spontaneously, besides the civilians who were just joining in the fun, the ninja were basically all radical hardliners.
The good times were too short. Danzō left the rooftop with a feeling of unfulfillment, but he was happy again when he arrived at the Hokage's office.
Danzō did not change the layout of the Hokage's office at all, except for Hiruzen's personal belongings.
Nominally, it was to save money, as there was no need to spend that extra money. In reality, it was due to a subtle psychology of showing off, being proud, and a desire to disgust others.
Danzō sat in the chair that used to belong to Hiruzen, his head leaning back, feeling an unprecedented sense of satisfaction!
However, Danzō's satisfaction did not last long. Soon, several civilian ninja from the administration department brought in stacks of tall files and placed them on the Hokage's desk.
The several stacks of files took up more than half of the Hokage's desk, so high that only the top of Danzō's head could be seen!
"Wait, this many?" Danzō stood up, his surprised face a little bitter.
"Lord Hokage, you know the Third Hokage's physical condition better than we do. The files have been piling up for so long, so of course there are many."
"These all need your urgent attention. The slightly less urgent ones have already been shared by the two elders," the leading male civilian ninja said respectfully.
Danzō admitted that what the other party said made sense, but how long would it take him to deal with so many?
No, he had to find someone to share the burden, to pass on some of the less important files.
"What about the Hokage's Advisor?" Danzō asked with anticipation in his eyes.
"Lord Kogetsu said that he has to deal with the files of the Police Force and the Medical Department, and that he has never dealt with files concerning the entire village, the entire country, and the entire ninja world."
"Without experience, he doesn't want to add to the chaos and avoid doing repetitive work," the leading civilian ninja continued respectfully.
As ninja who had long worked in the administration department, these civilian ninja knew from Danzō's visits to the Hokage's office and some of his past deeds that the new Hokage was far from being as easy to serve as the Third Hokage. Therefore, their minds were tense, and they were extremely cautious, for fear that the new Hokage's first fire would burn them.
Danzō opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he said, "I know. You may leave."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
After the few of them had left, Danzō slumped into his chair and sighed...
Forget it. The fact that so many files need my attention is a testament to the importance and power of the Hokage.
Let's get to work. Hiruzen was diligent. I absolutely cannot be worse than him!
After steeling himself, Danzō threw himself into the mountain of documents. That day, the light in the Hokage's office stayed on until three in the morning.
Seeing that he really couldn't finish today, Danzō dragged his tired body home to rest, preparing to continue the battle the next day!
In the past, Danzō was in charge of the dark side of Konoha, usually engaging in conspiracies and killing. This mindset was naturally not suitable for handling official duties.
In addition, Danzō's style was radical, aggressive, and extreme, very different from Hiruzen's style.
Finally, with the added factor of no experience, although the files were processed, many problems arose after execution.
Fortunately, with Homura, Koharu, Shikaku, and Kogetsu to correct his mistakes in time, no major disasters occurred.
The Hokage Tower, the Police Force, and the Medical Department all had offices exclusively for Kageyama Kogetsu, but he still spent the most time in the Police Force office.
Danzō, combining his own personality and principles, gradually changed his governing approach through trial and error...
As time passed, although he had not reached the point of being proficient, he had gradually gained some experience.
At this time, Konoha found Tsunade, and it didn't take long for her to cure Hiruzen's strange illness.
After curing the illness, Tsunade left, as if she didn't want to stay a moment longer.
Danzō wanted to use Tsunade, but he really didn't dare to stop her.
Jiraiya was even more extreme. After returning to Konoha and hearing that Danzō had become the Fifth Hokage and that Hiruzen's illness had been cured by Tsunade, he left quietly without even showing his face.
After Hiruzen recovered from his illness, he enjoyed the pleasure of doting on his grandchildren and living out his golden years, but before long, he felt uneasy all over.
Thus, at Konoha's regular monthly meeting, Homura and Koharu suddenly proposed to make Hiruzen a consultant elder.
Danzō, of course, did not want a retired emperor standing over him, but he could not directly oppose it.
He could only tactfully state that it would be better for Hiruzen to continue to recuperate and enjoy his later years.
However, the opinions of others were different.
Nara Shikaku, in order to repair his relationship with Hiruzen and the relationship between the three clans of Ino-Shika-Cho and the Sarutobi clan, gave a well-reasoned speech in support.
He even risked offending Danzō by subtly pointing out Danzō's mistakes in handling official duties and the need for the previous Hokage's moderate guidance.
Kageyama Kogetsu supported it, Sarutobi Shinnosuke supported it, and all the other department heads also supported it.
Besides unconditionally supporting his father, Shinnosuke also supported it because his own backer would be stronger after Hiruzen came out.
Kageyama Kogetsu supported it out of a sense of returning a favor and to balance Danzō.
If no one could balance Danzō, wouldn't he be flying to the sky?
He could balance him, but it would undoubtedly be less trouble to let his old rival do it.
The other department heads basically supported it out of a desire for balance. After all, a new ruler brings new officials. They had to find a way to protect their positions.
Under the general trend, Danzō did not have the prestige to forcefully use his authority as Hokage and could only agree through gritted teeth.
Returning to the Hokage's office, Danzō was very depressed. He found that being Hokage didn't seem so great after all.
After this battle, Danzō suddenly realized that he had no confidants in the Konoha high-ranking officials, no, not even in the mid-level officials!
If the Konoha high-ranking officials worked together, they could even sideline him!
How could he allow that?
Thus, Danzō began to think about how to cultivate confidants in the Konoha high-ranking and mid-level officials...
After weighing the pros and cons, Danzō believed that starting with the Konoha high-ranking officials was too difficult. It would be best to start with the mid-level officials, where the opposition would be smaller and the success rate higher.
At the same time, the news of Konoha's change of Hokage had also spread throughout the ninja world...
Upon learning that the Fifth Hokage was Danzō, the Kage and leaders of many ninja villages felt a toothache...
Konoha would not be easy to bully anymore
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