Chapter 677: Overwhelming Votes
Inside the Hokage Building's conference room.
Numerous Konoha jonin in uniform were seated around the large conference table.
"Is there something big to announce? Why is everyone here today?" A jonin noticed that the number of people in the conference room today was unusually large.
In fact, it was not necessary to call every jonin to every meeting. Most of the time, only the notified jonin would attend.
Jonin with special assignments, such as Anbu jonin, attended even fewer meetings.
"Cough, cough."
Once everyone had arrived, Hiruzen, seated at the head of the table, cleared his throat twice, drawing the attention of all the ninja present.
"Following the will of the Second Hokage and protecting the Village, I have served for decades. Time flies. Before I knew it, my hair had turned gray, and my bones had weakened.
"The courage of the past is no longer what it once was, and the wisdom of the past also requires new thoughts to continue forward. The position of Hokage is not one person's glory, but Konoha's heavy burden. It requires a capable person to bear it. Only then can Konoha's peace be preserved, the Will of Fire be passed on, and Konoha's new sprouts be protected.
"Therefore, my mind is made up. I intend to step down from the heavy responsibility of Hokage in the near future and pass the position to a rising talent."
After speaking, Hiruzen let out a soft breath, opened his cup, and drank some water to moisten his throat.
Normally, Hiruzen would not use such formal language during meetings, but this time was about his abdication, so he needed some sense of ceremony.
"?!"
The ninja in the conference room all showed expressions of shock and confusion.
Aside from Mugetsu, Homura, Koharu, and others who had known in advance, the remaining jonin were all stunned by Hiruzen's words.
Even Orochimaru, who knew about Hiruzen's defeat, was somewhat surprised.
Losing to a junior might be humiliating for a Hokage like Hiruzen, but it was not so serious that he needed to resign and abdicate.
Due to Sōsuke's restraint, Konoha had suffered no actual losses. Hiruzen only needed to pretend nothing had happened, and there would not be much impact, provided Sōsuke did not widely publicize it.
"Did something happen?" Shikaku's eyes flickered.
He did not believe Hiruzen's reason of old age and declining strength. Hiruzen was indeed not young, but he was not so old that he was incapable of continuing.
Ōnoki was six years older than Hiruzen, and he was still serving well as the Third Tsuchikage.
"Hokage?" Tsunade subconsciously looked at Mugetsu, then frowned.
Recently, Mugetsu's popularity within Konoha was indeed significant, and coupled with his great achievements in the Third Shinobi World War, it was not impossible for him to be nominated.
However, Tsunade did not particularly want Mugetsu to become Hokage.
If Mugetsu became Hokage, would he not have to waste a lot of time on official duties?
Would he still have the energy to cook well then?
"Who will be nominated?" The Konoha jonin curiously looked over the powerful ninja in the conference room.
Mugetsu and the Sannin received the most attention, as they were considered the four most likely candidates.
As for Minato, although he was excellent in every aspect, with Mugetsu present, most people believed Minato had no chance.
Furthermore, with veteran powerhouses like the Sannin present, if both Mugetsu and Minato were nominated, then all three Sannin would also have to be nominated. That would make the number of candidates too large.
Obito kept his mouth tightly shut, but his eyebrows could not help dancing with excitement.
He was already eager to vote for Teacher Mugetsu.
"Orochimaru is one of the renowned Konoha Sannin in the Ninja World, and a signature ninja of Konoha. He has diligently carried out missions, resolved one high difficulty commission after another, secured great benefits for Konoha, and established a good reputation for the Village."
After a brief pause, Hiruzen formally began introducing the nominated ninja.
Hearing Orochimaru's name, the jonin showed expressions of "as expected."
At the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War, the Sannin had already been considered very likely to inherit the Hokage position, so no one was surprised or found any issue with Orochimaru's nomination.
"He has achieved great military feats since the Second Shinobi World War, and his contributions to Konoha are profound and significant.
"Based on Orochimaru's outstanding contributions to Konoha, and the positive changes he may bring in the future, after careful consideration and extensive discussion, the high level meeting has decided to nominate Orochimaru as a candidate for Fourth Hokage."
Clap! Clap!
After Hiruzen finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted.
Orochimaru's performance in both Shinobi World Wars had been excellent, and this nomination was well deserved.
"During the Third Shinobi World War, a large number of outstanding ninja emerged from Konoha, and Hayate Mugetsu was the most outstanding among them. Even if we expand the scope to the entire Ninja World, Hayate Mugetsu was the most remarkable ninja in the Third Shinobi World War.
"Hayate Mugetsu turned the tide of battle several times when Konoha forces were at a disadvantage. In the final battle at the end of the war, he single handedly faced the combined surprise attack of multiple Kage, remained calm in the face of danger, and laid the foundation for Konoha's ultimate victory."
After the applause subsided, Hiruzen immediately began introducing the second nominee, Mugetsu.
"It really is him." Tsunade could not help rolling her eyes at Hiruzen.
He was only fifty four. Why was he already thinking of retiring?
Would it not be better for him to work a few more years?
Tsunade had guessed it would likely be Mugetsu and Orochimaru. Jiraiya and she shared the same stance of refusing to become Hokage, so they probably would not be nominated.
In this situation, Tsunade felt that Mugetsu, who had better popularity and Wood Release, had a greater chance of being elected.
"Therefore, after unanimous discussion at the high level meeting, we have decided to formally nominate Hayate Mugetsu as a candidate for Fourth Hokage."
Clap, clap, clap!
As Hiruzen finished speaking, the conference room immediately erupted in applause even louder than before.
Obito, Asuma, and other students and disciples gave him plenty of face, almost using chakra to enhance their applause.
Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Yashiro, and the other Uchiha exchanged glances and applauded with visible excitement.
For their Uchiha Clan, Mugetsu becoming Hokage was truly the best possible outcome.
Putting aside everything else, just the fact that it made Obito and Shisui legitimate successors to the Hokage lineage was incredibly exciting.
With a Hokage sensei, and with both of them being self motivated, even if the Uchiha did not produce a Hokage, producing a high ranking official should be no problem.
"I choose Teacher Mugetsu! He can make us stronger," Obito said excitedly.
Without a doubt, he firmly supported Teacher Mugetsu becoming Hokage.
"Jonin Obito, please be quiet. There is no need to voice your thoughts like that," Homura reminded him.
The jonin meeting for electing the Hokage was not a show of hands, but a secret ballot.
Otherwise, it would be too awkward during voting, watching one's subordinates and friends not cast their votes for oneself, but for an opponent.
Kakashi covered his face in exasperation and subtly shifted his chair slightly to the side.
"These are all the candidates for the Fourth Hokage election. Voting will begin in five minutes," Hiruzen continued.
The atmosphere in the meeting became somewhat silent, with few people discussing whom they would choose.
There was no special reason. It was simply easy to offend people that way.
After all, everyone present was an elite ninja. At such a distance, unless they truly whispered into each other's ears, one could generally hear what was being said if they listened carefully.
Shisui and the others immediately brightened when they heard that Orochimaru was the only opponent.
Their biggest concern had been Tsunade being nominated, and they had devised many methods to win votes for that scenario.
If the opponent was only Orochimaru, it would not be so troublesome. With Mugetsu's current popularity in Konoha, even if they did nothing, he had a very high chance of surpassing Orochimaru and being elected Hokage.
"Tsunade, who are you going to vote for?" Jiraiya asked directly.
He had already left the Land of Fire, and it was only one week ago that Hiruzen had contacted him about an important matter, which was why he had returned.
For Jiraiya, the topic of who to vote for did not need to be avoided.
If he wanted a nomination, it would not be difficult for him to get one.
Since he was like this, the nominated ninja should be grateful for his resistance to the Hokage position, because they had directly lost a strong opponent.
"Mugetsu," Tsunade replied concisely.
Mugetsu becoming Hokage was not something she wanted to see, but Tsunade would not specifically vote for Orochimaru for that reason.
If Mugetsu happened to miss the Hokage position because of her, how could she shamelessly eat so much of his food afterward?
Also, Tsunade felt that Orochimaru was not suitable to become Hokage.
In her opinion, the current Orochimaru was somewhat insane, wanting to learn all Ninjutsu and achieve immortality.
Letting such a ninja become Hokage would likely lead to all sorts of trouble.
"What about you?"
"I plan to abstain," Jiraiya replied.
He actually also believed that Orochimaru was not suitable to become Hokage, but Jiraiya felt that if he voted for Mugetsu, it would hurt Orochimaru too much.
So he simply abstained from voting, which was allowed within the rules anyway.
Five minutes passed quickly.
Ballots were distributed to each jonin.
It was a piece of paper with the names of the two candidates written on it.
To vote for someone, one would draw a circle below that person's name. If one did not want to vote for anyone and wished to abstain, one would draw a circle in the space between the two names, representing abstention.
Obito, Kakashi, and the others immediately drew a circle under Mugetsu's name as soon as they received their ballots.
The Uchiha jonin, led by Fugaku, also quickly drew circles under Mugetsu's name.
They were voting for Mugetsu, and also for their Uchiha Clan's opportunity to enter the core of power.
"Orochimaru sama, I'm sorry. It's not that you're not good. It's that Teacher Mugetsu is too good."
Some jonin who had served under Orochimaru in the Third Shinobi World War, but had also participated in Mugetsu's special training, silently drew a circle for Mugetsu.
"Mugetsu as Hokage? My son seems to really admire him, so maybe I'll vote for him."
Some jonin, when undecided, thought of how their children would enthusiastically praise Mugetsu to them, and finally drew a circle under Mugetsu's name.
Many of them had not interacted much with Mugetsu, but they had more or less heard of Mugetsu's deeds.
After the votes were counted, Homura and Koharu presented the data to Hiruzen.
A hint of surprise flashed across Hiruzen's face, and he quietly asked, "Have you double checked that there are no issues?"
"We checked it five times in total. There will absolutely be no problems," Homura replied.
Counting votes was a very important task. Not only did it require multiple ninja to confirm repeatedly, it also required Homura and Koharu, two high ranking officials, to supervise together to prevent any issues.
Hiruzen looked at Orochimaru with some reluctance, but still turned to face the jonin and said, "Orochimaru received a total of twenty eight votes."
All the jonin present showed incredulous expressions.
Twenty eight votes represented twenty eight jonin, which sounded like a lot, but the number of jonin at this meeting exceeded one hundred and sixty.
In other words, the number of people supporting Orochimaru was less than twenty percent of the total.
This was Orochimaru, one of the Sannin who had been famous throughout the Ninja World since the Second Shinobi World War.
This dismal vote count surprised the vast majority of jonin.
Many people had thought Mugetsu had an advantage, but not a significant one, because this was a jonin meeting.
Compared to the newly risen Mugetsu, the vast majority of jonin were still more familiar with Orochimaru.
"Could it be that too many people abstained?" Someone thought of a possibility.
If too many people abstained, leading to a reduced total vote count, then the dismal data would be reasonable.
"Hayate Mugetsu received a total of one hundred and thirty nine votes," Hiruzen said after a slight pause.
The conference room instantly fell into an eerie silence.
The jonin who had voted for Orochimaru looked around with surprised expressions, as if asking, "Why did all of you vote for Mugetsu?"
And the jonin who voted for Mugetsu could not help looking around as well, realizing there were so many allies.
It was an overwhelming victory.
This vote difference was already enough for Mugetsu to secure the Hokage position in advance.
Although the chunin, genin, and citizens had not voted yet, those two segments combined only accounted for sixty percent of the weight.
Unless Orochimaru had extremely high popularity among the citizens and ordinary ninja, it would be difficult to turn the tide.
Everyone present was a Konoha ninja.
How could they not know Orochimaru's situation in Konoha?
He had quite a few supporters, but definitely not as many as Mugetsu.
Mugetsu's role in the Third Shinobi World War had been too significant, and the period right after the war was Mugetsu's absolute peak period.
Fugaku's lips curved upward, and a rare excited smile appeared on his face.
Hokage!
Finally, a Hokage who might favor their Uchiha Clan was about to emerge!
With Shisui and Obito, the Uchiha twin stars, and Mugetsu, a capable Hokage who would not target the Uchiha, how could the Uchiha not restore their glory?
"Teacher Mugetsu is Hokage!" Obito shouted in his heart, a wide smile on his face.
He had studied the Hokage election rules.
Although it was still early for the final result, Mugetsu's vote count was incredibly stable, with almost no possibility of an upset.
"History has been further changed."
Obito silently apologized to Minato in his heart.
The impact of their actions was growing.
Minato, who was supposed to become the Fourth Hokage in the original history, had not even been nominated.
Obito thought this was probably because Mugetsu survived, leading to many battles that Minato had resolved in the original history being resolved by Mugetsu instead.
After all, Mugetsu was stronger than Minato.
However, if Obito had to choose one hundred more times, he would still find a way to change history.
Anyone could be Hokage.
He just wanted everyone to live well.
This time, Naruto should not become an orphan, right?
....
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