Chapter 288: The Third Hokage Facing His Final Curtain Call?
According to standard logic, Kabuto should have been highly suited for the Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode. However, under Uchiha Ikeizumi's influence, Kabuto had never received sufficient training and tempering under Orochimaru, and even his journey to Ryuchi Cave had not been voluntary.
Coupled with the fact that Kabuto was single-mindedly focused on securing Orochimaru's legacy, it was naturally very difficult for him to sense natural energy and successfully enter Sage Mode.
"No, you are precisely the most suitable successor for Ryuchi Cave—to a certain extent, even more suitable than that fellow Orochimaru!"
Yet, what made Kabuto somewhat helpless was that the White Snake Sage directly rejected his request.
As a Sage of one of the Three Great Sage Regions, the White Snake Sage also possessed a limited ability to foresee the future. In the future he had glimpsed, he saw Kabuto successfully mastering the Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode, which was the exact reason he had brought Kabuto back.
"I am more suitable to be the successor of Ryuchi Cave than Lord Orochimaru?"
Kabuto did not quite believe the nonsensical words of this giant white snake. But he had little choice; when one's head is right next to a snake's fangs, one has to bow. Even though his heart was constantly longing for Orochimaru's legacy, he could only continue to remain in Ryuchi Cave for now.
What Kabuto did not know was that staying in Ryuchi Cave might not necessarily be a bad thing.
Meanwhile, having seen no support arriving from Konoha for a long time, Uchiha Ikeizumi had already begun selecting ninjas within the Hidden Mist Village to form the blueprint for the Land of Water's Police Force.
"Is it really fine to let me be the Captain of the Land of Water's Police Force?"
"I was once one of the Hidden Mist's Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and I even became a rogue ninja, joined Akatsuki, and then defected from Akatsuki—"
Biwako Jūzō never imagined that Uchiha Ikeizumi actually intended for him to manage the Land of Water's Police Force for the time being. This gift was a bit too grand—so grand that Jūzō felt he didn't dare accept it.
"Compared to the other ninjas in the Land of Water, you are already the most suitable choice!"
"Izumi still has a lot of things to learn, and his strength isn't enough to suppress the local ninjas and nobles. But you can. Your former status as one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen is barely enough to assume the position of Police Force Captain."
Uchiha Ikeizumi looked at Biwako Jūzō. If there were other options, he would naturally prefer someone better, but the reality was that he lacked choices right now. Furthermore, letting Biwako Jūzō serve as the Police Force Captain of the Land of Water could be considered letting the local elements handle local matters.
"Are you... about to leave?"
Biwako Jūzō furrowed his brows. He sensed that Uchiha Ikeizumi seemed to have the intention of leaving the Land of Water.
"The ninja world has many more places that require me!"
"Besides, Konoha's Hokage election is about to begin. If the Fifth Hokage is Tsunade, implementing Absolute Justice in the Land of Fire might save me a lot of trouble."
Ikeizumi spoke calmly. Sweeping through the Land of Water single-handedly certainly looked majestic, but executing justice continuously for such a long time had also begun to affect his own mental state. Compared to staying in the Land of Water, Uchiha Ikeizumi rarely felt the desire to return to Konoha to recuperate for a period of time.
"Konoha's Fifth Hokage election—"
Biwako Jūzō subconsciously wanted to analyze the intelligence, but the moment the thought surfaced, he dispelled it. The affairs of Konoha were too far away from the Land of Water. Compared to worrying about Konoha's Fifth Hokage, what he needed to consider right now was how to establish the Police Force in the Land of Water and get it running.
During the time Uchiha Ikeizumi was preparing to return, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally crumbled under the pressure and lifted the restriction, allowing the ninjas who adhered to Absolute Justice to leave Konoha.
This resulted in an extremely bizarre spectacle within Konoha: hundreds of ninjas left the village almost simultaneously, and looking at the direction of their advance, they were heading straight for the Land of Water!
It was fortunate that the Land of Water had already been thoroughly subdued by Uchiha Ikeizumi; otherwise, with a movement of this scale from Konoha, it could almost be interpreted as the Land of Fire declaring war on the Land of Water.
"Look on the bright side, many of the ninjas leaving Konoha this time are Jōnin who hold Jōnin votes."
"With them rushing toward the Land of Water all at once, doesn't that give you a much higher certainty to continue reigning as Hokage, Hiruzen?"
Looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen's deeply melancholic expression, Utatane Koharu could not help but offer words of comfort.
"You still do not understand Ikeizumi."
However, what Utatane Koharu did not expect was that upon hearing her words, Sarutobi Hiruzen simply shook his head.
"Ikeizumi is a man who will never compromise, and the ninjas who believe in Absolute Justice manifest this trait to varying degrees."
"I realized something not long ago: if I continue to serve as Hokage this time, Tsunade might truly take a portion of Konoha's ninjas away and establish a new Hidden Leaf Village within the Land of Fire!"
"Compared to that kind of ending, I am more inclined to yield the Hokage position to Tsunade!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. Absolute Justice—Absolute Justice does not know the meaning of compromise!
As time passed, Tsunade had likely realized this as well, which was why she gradually stopped frequently visiting Konoha's ninja clans. Instead, she began focusing her mind entirely on how to implement, and even integrate, Absolute Justice into Konoha.
"Is there truly... not a single shred of hope?"
Utatane Koharu fell into a long silence. She had not expected Sarutobi Hiruzen to claim that a second Hidden Leaf Village would appear in the Land of Fire if he continued his reign.
She was truly reluctant to let go of the power in her hands. Especially as her control over the Root division grew deeper and deeper, she gradually began to understand why Shimura Danzō used to dare slam tables and glare at Sarutobi Hiruzen in the past.
To put it bluntly, the Hokage's control over the Anbu might not even be as high as the Root Leader's control over Root! As long as the Leader of Root possessed the backing of the Hokage, the things they could achieve in the village were not much lesser than what the Hokage could do!
Under such circumstances, Utatane Koharu was genuinely loath to abandon the power in her grasp.
"There is no hope, but I will likely assist Tsunade as an advisor."
"Originally, I thought that if the Fourth Shinobi World War broke out, these old bones of mine could still fight. I could go to the battlefield to see if I, the Third Hokage, could replicate the legend of the Third Raikage."
"But the Three Great Nations are all being very restrained; the Fourth Shinobi World War won't break out anytime soon. Therefore, the best thing I can do is become a Hokage Advisor, stepping on the brakes whenever Konoha or Tsunade tries to enact some extreme policies."
Sarutobi Hiruzen could somewhat guess Utatane Koharu's thoughts, but he felt no pity. If he himself was no longer occupying the Hokage seat, the Root division would naturally not be allowed to remain under Koharu's management.
"Our era is drawing to a close. In fact, it should have ended long ago!"
"Tsunade succeeding as the Fifth Hokage is already the best possible ending!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a long sigh. Under the philosophy of Absolute Justice, the new era no longer had a place for old-school remnants like him. What he could do now was preserve Konoha's strength as much as humanly possible!