"Jiraiya, did you think of something happy? Your expression looks terrible. Why don't you say it out loud and let me be happy too?"
Just as Jiraiya was gripped by fear over his own speculation, Orochimaru, who was standing beside him, suddenly spoke in a meaningful tone.
"You bastard, look at how happy you are. Isn't it just that Minato is competing with you for the Fourth Hokage?
Now that Minato's run into trouble, is that really something to be this happy about?"
Jiraiya suppressed that shattering thought in his heart and replied irritably.
"Don't judge me with your filthy way of thinking.
Minato's strength is indeed formidable. Perhaps even I wouldn't necessarily be his match.
But I've never regarded him as a rival. Not before, and now… even less so."
Orochimaru smiled faintly and shook his head.
The Fourth Hokage?
He hadn't even fought for the position of Hokage candidate himself; it had been forcibly pushed onto him by Hiruzen back then.
But since he had already been given the position, with his personality, he naturally wouldn't refuse, and he also wouldn't mind conveniently taking the seat of Fourth Hokage for himself.
Still, as for treating Minato as a formidable enemy and doing everything possible to compete against him, at this stage, Orochimaru truly had no such intention.
"What do you mean by that?"
Jiraiya suddenly realized he couldn't quite understand Orochimaru anymore.
Earlier, he had even worried that Orochimaru and Minato would completely fall out over the position of Fourth Hokage.
But now, Orochimaru's attitude toward the Hokage position felt strangely ambiguous.
You couldn't say he didn't want it, but you also couldn't say he was deliberately competing for it. He didn't seem to be intentionally contending with Minato at all.
Even the status of Hokage candidate had been forced upon Orochimaru by Hiruzen.
"You really are as dull as ever. And you still haven't noticed it?
The times have changed, Jiraiya!"
Orochimaru glanced at him.
"What do you mean?"
Jiraiya was completely confused.
"In the past, neither Minato nor I would have been competing for the Fourth. Whoever Sensei approved of would become Hokage.
But now, it's turned into a contest between Sarutobi Sensei and me."
Orochimaru said this directly to Jiraiya, completely ignoring how Hiruzen's expression subtly changed.
"Speak like a normal person!"
Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru, then at Hiruzen whose expression had suddenly changed. He felt like he understood something, yet also like he didn't.
It was as if a thin sheet of paper, or perhaps a fig leaf, was covering everything, preventing him from seeing the truth he least wanted to see.
"You don't understand?
Your dead-last intellect really is impressively low, just like always."
Orochimaru said calmly.
"If you want to fight, just say it. Don't insult me in such a roundabout way!"
A vein bulged on Jiraiya's forehead.
"Then I'll explain it in a way even a dead last can understand.
Ever since the Third Shinobi World War broke out, Konoha's situation has gradually changed.
Or rather, the Hokage situation has changed, from Sarutobi Sensei deciding who becomes Hokage, to me and Sensei competing for the Hokage position."
Orochimaru shook his head and laughed softly.
"Orochimaru, have you overtrained your jutsu and fried your brain?
Sensei is already the Third Hokage. Why would he need to compete with you for the Hokage position?"
Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru with a strange expression.
"Honestly, I've explained it so clearly, and you still don't get it.
I really wonder whether you truly don't understand, don't want to understand, or are deliberately pretending not to."
As soon as Orochimaru said this, Jiraiya's expression immediately became unnatural.
"I'll assume you genuinely don't understand, Jiraiya.
Sensei is Hokage, yes, but he is the Third Hokage, not the Fourth.
So if I win, I become the Fourth Hokage.
If Sensei wins, Minato becomes the Fourth Hokage.
Now do you understand?"
He looked at Jiraiya, whose expression was growing more and more uncomfortable, with a half-smile.
"..."
Jiraiya said nothing, simply turning his face away.
Orochimaru had hit the mark.
It wasn't that he didn't know about the Hokage situation, it was that he didn't want to acknowledge it.
What should have been a fair and upright Hokage election had already changed.
From Orochimaru and Minato each striving to prove themselves and contribute to Konoha, letting merit decide who would be recognized, it had gradually devolved into a power struggle.
Without realizing it, Minato had become a chess piece pushed forward by Hiruzen to compete against Orochimaru.
If Minato won, he would indeed become the Fourth Hokage, but Hiruzen would remain the Third.
If Orochimaru won, he would become the Fourth Hokage, but Hiruzen would not necessarily remain the Third.
"What you said… I don't quite understand. Compared to that, Orochimaru, don't you think there's something even more terrifying if you think about it carefully?"
Jiraiya noticed that although Orochimaru and Hiruzen were still smiling and speaking as usual, there was an irreparable rift between master and disciple.
Not wanting to see his friend and teacher turn against each other, he hurriedly changed the subject.
"Terrifying if you think about it?
You mean Lord Garp's strength surpasses what we understood to be… his peak during the Warring States era?
Dead last, you're only realizing now that Iron Fist is even stronger than his peak?"
What Jiraiya didn't expect was for Orochimaru to once again say something that left him utterly stunned.
...
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