Chapter 243: Naruto's Placement
The meeting concluded amid unanimous approval. Every attendee expressed strong support for the proposal that Jiraiya inherit the Fifth Hokage position. As for the nominee himself, since he wasn't present, he couldn't voice any objections. Or rather, everyone assumed Jiraiya wouldn't refuse to inherit the Fifth Hokage position.
In the eyes of those present, including Hiruko, Jiraiya hadn't competed for Fourth Hokage to make way for his student.
But given the current circumstances, surely Jiraiya wouldn't refuse to assume the Fifth Hokage position.
After the general meeting to consolidate opinions concluded, a smaller working meeting followed. Since they still didn't know when Jiraiya would be found, and according to Minato's final orders Hiruko temporarily held Hokage authority, he summoned the two advisor elders, Ritsu, Uchiha Fugaku, and the jonin commander Nara Shikaku to the small conference room.
With Minato's passing, the Hokage's office had been temporarily sealed.
Hiruko's own office was rather small—acceptable for two or three people, but four or five would make it exceptionally cramped. So he'd simply activated the small conference room.
"Three matters are most urgent right now. Let's start with the easiest to handle."
Hiruko frowned, speaking with deep concern. "The first matter is Minato and Kushina's funeral arrangements. Elder Torikaze, will you oversee this? Any problems with that?"
"Leave it to me."
Akimichi Torikaze answered gravely.
Though he tended to avoid trouble, he had the necessary sense of responsibility. Besides, having an elder handle such a solemn matter was most appropriate, and his experience was sufficiently extensive—he'd participated in both the First and Second Hokage's funerals.
"Thank you, Elder Torikaze."
Hiruko nodded toward Torikaze, then continued. "The second matter: Minato and Kushina have passed, and before dying, Kushina sealed the Nine-Tails inside their child Namikaze Naruto. In other words, our Nine-Tails jinchuriki is now an infant born less than a day ago."
"How do you think we should arrange for this child?"
His gaze swept across everyone present.
"Naruto. That's the child's name."
Neither Minato nor Kushina had specified what surname the child should take. Hiruko didn't overthink it and simply gave him Minato's surname out of habit. After all, Minato wasn't some son-in-law who'd married into the Uzumaki clan.
Ritsu's thoughts wandered, considering what purpose the Third Hokage had for making Naruto take his mother's surname rather than inherit his father's in the original timeline. But this question would never have an answer. Even asking Sarutobi Hiruzen directly probably wouldn't yield any results, since the future had already changed.
Even though fate's corrective force had prevented the Fourth Hokage couple from escaping their early deaths, the ninja world had still changed far too much—
"Clan Head Hyuga!"
The sudden call interrupted Ritsu's daydreaming.
He looked at Hiruko, who was glaring at him with annoyance, and asked without changing expression, "What is it?"
Hiruko looked utterly helpless, but this was his precious student. He could only repeat the question. "Clan Head Hyuga, how do you think we should arrange for Minato and Kushina's child?"
"Need you even ask?"
Ritsu answered without thinking. "Didn't Lord Hokage ask you on his deathbed to look after the child? Just take care of him yourself."
Hiruko's eyes widened. This answer was completely beyond his expectations.
Earlier, Uchiha Fugaku had suggested waiting for Jiraiya's return before deciding how to arrange for the child, temporarily keeping him at Konoha Hospital in the meantime. This suggestion had won most people's approval.
If this were just Minato and Kushina's child, there would be many arrangement options.
But the problem was that this child was also the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. That made things very difficult. Jinchuriki instability was well known, which instantly reduced those many options to virtually none. Fugaku's suggestion essentially just pushed the problem onto Jiraiya, who hadn't returned yet.
He'd assumed Ritsu would probably follow the crowd. Never expected his precious student to think he had it too easy and intended to dump this huge headache on him.
"Ritsu, this... I don't know how to care for a child!"
Hiruko stared.
"No one's saying you have to personally care for him. I imagine Lord Hokage meant for you to be the child's guardian. As for actually caring for the child... just hire some nannies. You just need to supervise them to make sure they're taking good care of him."
"Raising a child isn't as simple as you make it sound!"
Hiruko grew agitated. "Several nannies? You think this Hokage Advisor position pays well? Where would I get the money to hire several nannies?"
"What's so difficult about that? Setting aside that he's Lord Hokage's child, just his status as the Nine-Tails jinchuriki alone—is it unreasonable for the village to subsidize hiring a few nannies?"
Ritsu looked around at Akimichi Torikaze, Inuzuka Jaw, Uchiha Fugaku, and Nara Shikaku. "Do you think this counts as using village funds for personal matters?"
Akimichi Torikaze immediately shook his head. "Village subsidies are appropriate."
Inuzuka Jaw nodded repeatedly. "If village funds are tight, the Inuzuka clan is willing to provide financial assistance."
Uchiha Fugaku glanced at Jaw. "The Uchiha clan will cover the costs."
Nara Shikaku's mouth twitched. Why were they competing to spend money?
This topic had clearly gone off track, hadn't it?
Shikaku pressed his lips together and asked, "Clan Head Hyuga, what if Lord Jiraiya returns to the village and wants to personally raise the child?"
"Is that even a problem? Just let Sensei and Lord Jiraiya discuss it."
Ritsu shrugged, looking completely relaxed. "Sensei doesn't seem very willing to do this job. If Lord Jiraiya is willing to take over, I'm sure Sensei would be happy to hand over guardianship. If Lord Jiraiya doesn't plan to personally raise this child... someone still has to take responsibility, right? We can't just dump the kid in an orphanage."
"Besides, you all know what kind of person Lord Jiraiya is. He might not even accept becoming Fifth Hokage like you're hoping. Making him raise a child... do you really think that's likely?"
Nara Shikaku immediately fell silent.
He agreed with Ritsu's assessment. During the general meeting earlier, he'd felt the chances of Jiraiya inheriting the Fifth Hokage position weren't very high. But Hokage Advisor Hiruko had been enthusiastic, and many others were equally enthusiastic about Jiraiya becoming Fifth Hokage.
Unaccustomed to swimming against the current, he'd remained silent then without raising any objections.
But now, with Ritsu spelling it out so bluntly, he couldn't deceive himself about Jiraiya's likelihood of accepting the Fifth Hokage position.
"Ritsu, what nonsense are you talking? Though Jiraiya can be unreliable sometimes, with the village in such dire straits, do you really think he'd wash his hands of it?"
Hiruko glared at Ritsu, speaking carelessly enough that he'd even forgotten to use the formal title "Clan Head Hyuga."
Ritsu remained unmoved. "Sensei, I'm only saying Lord Jiraiya probably won't want to inherit the Fifth Hokage position. I didn't say he'd wash his hands of the village's current crisis."
"In any case, Sensei, I'm just offering my suggestion. The final decision isn't up to me. Besides, once we find Lord Jiraiya, the results will reveal themselves."
Hiruko's expression turned ugly.
Ritsu's confident manner made him uncomfortable. He'd been somewhat convinced. He couldn't be certain now that Jiraiya would definitely agree to inherit the Fifth Hokage position.
"...Naruto was just born. For now, let's keep him at Konoha Hospital."
After more than ten seconds of silence, Hiruko made this temporary decision.
No one else objected.
The problem was simply that troublesome. Involving a jinchuriki meant they couldn't help but be cautious.
Hiruko sighed deeply and continued. "The third matter: how do we respond to the threat posed by the missing-nin Tatsuhata? This is a sword hanging over our heads that could fall at any moment. It fell last night, but Lord Hokage blocked it with his life. But what happens the next time it falls?"
Everyone maintained a long silence.
This problem was even harder to resolve than the previous one.
Having thwarted Tatsuhata's operations multiple times before, they'd stopped taking him seriously. But the terrible price paid this time showed them just how terrifying the missing-nin Tatsuhata truly was.
This was a great enemy capable of threatening Konoha's very survival!
Everyone's gazes unconsciously shifted to Ritsu. Last night, Tatsuhata's retreat owed something to Ritsu's contribution, though they judged that the larger reason for Tatsuhata's retreat was that he'd already reached his limit after fighting Lord Hokage and Uchiha Shisui.
To put it bluntly, most people thought Ritsu had simply gotten lucky.
But then again, what if Ritsu had played a bigger role than they guessed?
As village leadership, they still considered this possibility.
"Why is everyone looking at me?"
Ritsu asked.
"Ahem!"
Hiruko cleared his throat. "Clan Head Hyuga, you fought the missing-nin Tatsuhata last night. If Tatsuhata invades the village again, how should we respond?"
"When soldiers come, generals block them. When water comes, earth dams it. What's there to discuss?"
"The key is that Lord Hokage paid with his life to block the enemy's blade. How great a price will we have to pay next time to repel or even kill him?"
"Who knows?"
Ritsu shook his head. "I'm confident I can repel him, but I can't guarantee the village won't suffer losses. I can only say I'll minimize losses as much as possible. But how low that minimum is, I really can't say."
After speaking, he spread his hands, looking helpless.
Honestly, Tatsuhata's changes were beyond his expectations too. He hadn't anticipated that after colluding with Orochimaru, Tatsuhata would suddenly display such formidable capabilities. Though he still had absolute confidence in defeating him in a direct confrontation, the man now wielded the Flying Thunder God, making it difficult to find opportunities for a decisive battle.
"Ritsu, are you truly confident you can repel Tatsuhata?"
Hiruko asked with some disbelief.
"Of course."
"That's good!"
Most of the worry vanished from Hiruko's face.
What troubled him most was what to do if Tatsuhata attacked again. Minato had passed away, Jiraiya hadn't returned—he, the Hokage Advisor, would have to step up. He wasn't afraid of sacrificing himself, but he feared that even his sacrifice wouldn't temporarily hold the line like Minato had.
Hearing Ritsu's decisive answer, the others also showed surprised expressions.
After the surprise came delight.
It wasn't just Hiruko worrying about the deadly threat Tatsuhata posed. Their hearts were equally filled with unease. They and their clans had long shared life and death with Konoha.
They didn't doubt whether Ritsu was lying.
The Hyuga clan shared Konoha's prosperity and decline. Ritsu had no reason to deceive them about this. It would benefit neither him nor the Hyuga clan.
Hiruko spoke with serious earnestness. "Ritsu, I'm asking you to work hard during this period. Stay alert and be ready to respond to attacks at any moment. Once Jiraiya and Tsunade return to the village, things will get easier."
"I understand."
Ritsu nodded. This was expected.
Besides, even without Hiruko's reminder, he wouldn't allow Tatsuhata to threaten Konoha's safety.
"However, Sensei, Tatsuhata has already reclaimed the Rinnegan. According to that Moon's Eye Plan, they'll very likely continue collecting Tailed Beasts. Right now, the One-Tail, Three-Tails, and Nine-Tails are all in our Konoha. I'm concerned all three will become his targets."
"To be safe, I think we should keep them under centralized protection."
Ritsu offered a suggestion.
"Centralized protection? How would we centralize them?"
Hiruko's brow furrowed again.
"Very simple. Have the Three-Tails jinchuriki care for the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. As for the ninja tool containing the sealed One-Tail, keep it with them too."
"...Wouldn't doing that let Tatsuhata wipe them all out in one go?"
After two seconds of contemplation, Hiruko voiced everyone's concern.
Ritsu answered frankly, "That's better than letting them be defeated one by one. If they're concentrated near me, I can protect them. But if they're scattered, I can't guarantee I'll be able to watch all three simultaneously!"
"I think it's feasible."
Nara Shikaku spoke in agreement. "Right now, only Clan Head Hyuga is confident in directly repelling the missing-nin Tatsuhata. And Tatsuhata has mastered extremely sophisticated infiltration techniques, capable of appearing in any corner of the village at any moment. Until we find a way to counter his infiltration methods, theoretically Clan Head Hyuga's side is the safest location."