Naruto: Multiverse Character Templates

"Natsuki."

Tsunade suddenly thought of something and said, "When the Anbu notify the jonin, remember to add one line. Do not nominate me."

"Tsunade-sensei, you really are carefree. You can even give up the position of Hokage when it is within reach."

Natsuki paused, then reacted.

Although the next Hokage was already destined to be Orochimaru, if Tsunade entered the competition, her chances of becoming Hokage would be the highest.

In terms of achievements, they were about the same.

In terms of strength, although Orochimaru's combat ability was stronger, Tsunade's strength was not weak either.

Especially under Natsuki's influence, she had learned the Konoha Six Powers and Armament Haki.

Most importantly, no shinobi was willing to offend the strongest medical ninja in the shinobi world.

As for popularity and status, Tsunade completely overwhelmed the others.

There was no helping it. Who told her to have such a close connection to the Third Hokage?

"To me, that is not power above countless people. It is a mountain of trouble."

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Tsunade's mouth as she said, "After Orochimaru becomes Hokage, he will have even less control over me."

Natsuki was immediately speechless.

Hiruzen was Tsunade's teacher.

Most of the time, his words still carried weight.

But Orochimaru had no restraining power over Tsunade at all unless it involved a major matter related to Konoha's survival.

"All right, go take care of your work. As for me, since I am in a good mood, I will go play a few rounds at the casino."

Tsunade waved her hand and started walking away.

"Tsunade-sensei."

Natsuki stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. "Do you have money? I can give you some."

"Why are you so generous today?"

Tsunade stopped and turned to look at him.

"I have always been generous."

Natsuki smiled and said, "If you do not want it, then I..."

Tsunade immediately interrupted him. "How could I refuse money that is handed to me?"

Natsuki casually handed her a deposit slip worth one million ryō.

"Thanks."

Tsunade smiled brightly and said, "I will pay you back after I win."

Natsuki wanted to say something, but stopped.

Can you really win?

"What is with that look?"

Tsunade glared at him and asked.

"Nothing."

Natsuki coughed lightly and said, "Tsunade-sensei, I wish you more and more wins."

"I will let you off today, for the sake of the money."

Tsunade raised her hand, intending to pat his shoulder. But because of their height difference, she could only pat his back instead.

She could not help thinking that he truly had grown up. He was no longer the child he had been before.

Tsunade turned and left.

Natsuki walked toward the Anbu base.

In less than half a day, all jonin received the Anbu's notice, asking them to submit nominations for the Fourth Hokage.

For a time, the peaceful Konoha began to stir beneath the surface.

Because everyone knew Konoha was about to undergo a major change.

At the Senju clan compound.

The other jonin were notified by the Anbu, but Nawaki and the others naturally had to be informed by Natsuki personally.

"Fourth Hokage nomination?"

Nawaki froze for a moment, then said excitedly, "This day has finally come!"

"You are a jonin, so you have the right to nominate someone."

Kushina asked curiously, "Who do you plan to nominate?"

"Does that even need to be said? Sensei, of course."

Nawaki answered without hesitation.

"You are not nominating your sister?"

Kushina paused slightly and asked.

"If I nominated my sister, she would beat me up when I got back."

Nawaki complained, "She has absolutely no interest in the position of Hokage."

"You really are her younger brother."

Natsuki laughed and said, "Tsunade-sensei already told me she is directly giving up the competition for Fourth Hokage."

"It seems the Fourth Hokage will be Orochimaru-sama."

Minato spoke.

He had not gone to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Mode today. Instead, he had come here to teach Kakashi the Konoha Six Powers.

Originally, Nawaki had been arranged to teach Kakashi the Konoha Six Powers and swordsmanship, but Minato felt bad about it and took the initiative to share the burden.

Nawaki had also agreed.

After all, he still had to teach Kakashi Water Breathing, which meant teaching both Water Release and swordsmanship.

He truly could not handle everything by himself.

"You are not supporting your teacher?"

Kushina asked again.

"My teacher is the same as Tsunade-sama. He has no interest in the position of Hokage."

Minato joked, "If I nominated him, I might get beaten up too."

"Why are Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama both unwilling to become Hokage?"

Kakashi could not help asking.

From what he knew, most shinobi dreamed of becoming Hokage.

Especially his classmates from the same year, such as Obito Uchiha, who always talked about becoming Hokage.

"Everyone has their own ambitions."

Minato answered, "And not everyone is suited to become Hokage."

"Kakashi, do you want to become Hokage?"

Nawaki smiled and asked.

"I do not know."

Kakashi paused, then said, "I want to become a shinobi like my father."

"That is a good dream too."

Nawaki patted his shoulder and said.

At that moment, Natsuki noticed an Anbu shinobi appear not far away. It was Zō.

He greeted Nawaki and the others, then walked forward.

"Sakumo-sama said he is giving up the competition for Fourth Hokage."

When Zō saw him approach, he took the initiative to speak.

Natsuki nodded.

He was not surprised.

Sakumo had never been interested in the position of Hokage to begin with. On top of that, he had just failed a mission. Even if he were interested, he would not join the competition.

Natsuki's heart moved, and he thought of a possibility.

Could Hiruzen have chosen this moment to begin the Hokage transition because he had considered that?

But regardless of what Hiruzen was thinking, his willingness to step down was undoubtedly a good thing for Natsuki.

After all, his status would be upgraded to the student of the Hokage.

That was what truly counted as part of Konoha's upper ranks.

In his view, the Anbu commander could only be considered half a high-ranking position, or perhaps a mid-level one.

Its status was similar to the heads of Konoha's other departments, such as the Konoha Police Force or Konoha Hospital.

After Zō left, Natsuki thought for a moment, then opened a spatial door and arrived at the Land of Rain metropolis.

"Natsuki-sensei."

When Konan saw him, her eyes lit up, and she quickly walked forward.

"Where are Yahiko and Nagato?"

Natsuki patted her head and asked.

"They went to help CP9."

Konan answered.

"When the time comes, tell them that next year, we will officially move against Amegakure."

Natsuki smiled and said.

Konan nodded.

Her expression was calm, completely unlike Yahiko. If it were him, he would definitely be flushed with excitement.

But this was for the best.

Akatsuki needed a calm person in charge.

"Come with me."

Natsuki turned and walked outside.

The two of them soon arrived at Dawn Company.

"Kakuzu, how has the rainwater business been recently?"

Natsuki asked.

"Very smooth."

Kakuzu answered.

"In that case, find some time to handle something for me. Dawn Company will temporarily be managed by Konan."

Natsuki said directly.

Konan paused slightly, not expecting this.

But what followed was fighting spirit.

She could not disappoint Natsuki.

"What is it?"

Kakuzu thought for a moment and asked.

The rainwater business truly no longer required his concern.

"Take thirty elite shinobi to the Land of Water and find a suitable base to settle in."

Natsuki paused, then added, "Try to stay as far from Kirigakure as possible."

"Are you planning to develop some new business?"

Kakuzu could not help asking.

"It is indeed a new business."

Natsuki chuckled and said, "But more than that, it is training troops."

His goal was naturally to establish the Kuja Pirates and unlock the Love-Love Fruit.

As for how to make their name known, he had already thought of a method. Robbing the rich and helping the poor.

"After the new base is built, you can return."

Natsuki added.

As for the Kuja Pirates, he planned to have the three great snake priestesses manage them.

After all, the name included the word snake, and the original Kuja Pirates were also led by Hancock and her sisters.

"I will handle it now."

Kakuzu nodded and said, "At most, I can finish this within a month."

"There is no rush."

Natsuki looked at Konan and said, "First, hand your work over to Konan."

Hearing this, Kakuzu explained the current state of the rainwater business to Konan, along with what she needed to do.

After speaking for half an hour, he turned and left.

"How is it? Do you have confidence?"

Natsuki pinched Konan's cheek and asked.

Konan nodded heavily.

"If there is any problem, you can ask Chino and the others for help."

Natsuki withdrew his hand and said, "I will leave first and come back after some time."

After Konan watched him leave, she immediately threw herself into work.

A new week began. Monday, July 6th.

"Natsuki-sama."

Zō, who had been waiting for a long time, handed him a scroll and said, "These are all the jonin nominations for the next Hokage."

Natsuki immediately opened the scroll.

The Anbu had already compiled the results.

The shinobi with the most nominations was listed first, and it was none other than Orochimaru.

The second was Jiraiya.

Tsunade and Sakumo had both clearly given up, so their names were not listed.

Because Jiraiya was outside the village and had not explicitly withdrawn, many jonin still nominated him.

What surprised Natsuki was that he ranked third.

Although his number of votes was far behind Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

Aside from that, he also saw Hiashi, Fugaku, Danzō, and others.

But their votes were even fewer and could almost be ignored.

Natsuki closed the scroll and went to the Hokage's office.

"Then Orochimaru and Jiraiya will be chosen as the Hokage candidates."

After Hiruzen finished reading the scroll, he spoke.

Natsuki was not surprised.

Aside from Orochimaru and Jiraiya, the others' votes were far too low and did not meet the standard.

But having only one Hokage candidate would not be good either. The intention would be too obvious.

Two Hokage candidates were more suitable.

"This week, we will begin the villagers' vote."

Hiruzen put down the scroll and said, "The Anbu will organize it."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Natsuki immediately answered.

"There are many villagers. If we want to complete the vote in a short time, the Anbu may not have enough manpower."

Hiruzen picked up a pen and wrote an order, then said, "Go to the Konoha Police Force and have them assist."

The Konoha Police Force's duty was to maintain public order in Konoha. Having them assist the Anbu with the villagers' vote was the most appropriate choice.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Natsuki bowed slightly, took the order, and turned to leave.

He returned to the Anbu base and had Zō handle the matter.

After that, he went to the Konoha Police Force.

"Fugaku-senpai."

Natsuki handed the Hokage's order to him.

"I understand. I will specially assign people to form a temporary team responsible for this matter, and they will follow the Anbu's command."

After reading the Hokage's order, Fugaku spoke very readily.

Although the Uchiha clan currently had some conflict with the Hokage's faction, it was not serious.

The main conflict was with Danzō and Root.

Their true conflict with the Hokage's faction would begin after the Nine-Tails' attack.

During the Nine-Tails' attack, the Uchiha clan had been blocked by Danzō and did not go out to assist.

On top of that, the Nine-Tails' eyes had shown the Sharingan, making the Uchiha clan the biggest suspects.

In the end, under pressure from Danzō and the others, the Uchiha clan compound was moved to the edge of Konoha and placed under surveillance.

"Natsuki, which Uchiha jonin do you want to be in charge of this team?"

Fugaku thought for a moment and asked.

As the clan head, he was naturally not foolish. He knew that the shinobi most likely to become Hokage was Orochimaru.

Since that was the case, he should avoid offending Orochimaru's student as much as possible.

"Mikoto-senpai."

Natsuki answered.

Fugaku remembered something from a long time ago.

It was the battle between Natsuki and Mikoto at the Ninja Academy.

Back then, the two of them had still been evenly matched.

After Mikoto lost at first, the Uchiha clan had been quite dissatisfied with her.

Thinking about it now, they truly should not have been.

After all, Natsuki's performance after graduation had been unimaginable.

By now, his status had already caught up to Fugaku's.

Once Orochimaru became Hokage, his status would rise even higher.

"Natsuki, are you and Mikoto on good terms?"

Thinking of this, Fugaku asked.

"We have indeed interacted before. We worked together on missions in the Land of Rain battlefield, so we are fairly familiar."

Natsuki answered truthfully.

"So that is how it is."

Fugaku nodded, then said, "Mikoto is close to you in age. The two of you can interact more."

Natsuki immediately felt that this was subtle.

What do you mean by that?

He thought about it carefully and roughly understood.

At this time, Fugaku and Mikoto had no relationship and were not dating.

On top of that, Orochimaru was about to become Hokage, so Fugaku wanted to build a connection with Natsuki.

But because he was an Uchiha, he did not say it too directly.

When was Uchiha Itachi born?

Natsuki calculated it.

Itachi had been brought to the Third Shinobi World War when he was four years old.

He should have been born before Might Guy and the others participated in the Chunin Exams.

In other words, there were still three or four years.

Calculated that way, it was normal that Fugaku and Mikoto were not dating yet.

"Wait a moment."

Fugaku walked to the door and said to the shinobi outside, "Call Mikoto here."

"Yes, Clan Head."

The shinobi left at once.

A moment later, Mikoto appeared.

When she saw Natsuki, she could not help pausing, not understanding why he was here.

Fugaku explained the matter.

"Yes, Clan Head."

Mikoto immediately said, "I will cooperate with the Anbu."

"Take Natsuki to your office and settle the details of this matter."

Fugaku nodded and said.

"Natsuki, follow me."

Mikoto looked at Natsuki and said.

Natsuki followed her to her office.

"Please have some tea."

Mikoto bent down and handed the tea to Natsuki with both hands.

Because of this, her black hair fell forward, sliding past her slender waist.

Natsuki felt that she had the most gentle and nurturing presence among female shinobi.

Aside from her, there was Nonō.

"I did not expect us to have another chance to work together."

Mikoto said softly.

"I did not expect it either."

Natsuki smiled and said, "This is probably fate."

Mikoto paused slightly, then said, "But in the future, there probably will not be many opportunities like this."

"That is not certain."

Natsuki raised an eyebrow and said.

He understood Fugaku's personality very well.

In the original story, Fugaku was someone who swayed with the situation.

He placed hope in the Hokage's faction, but also failed to control the hardliners within the Uchiha clan, ultimately leading to open conflict.

If Natsuki proposed having Mikoto work at the Hokage building, Fugaku would most likely agree.

Just as Fugaku had sent Itachi to the Anbu.

His original intention had been both to use Itachi as a spy and to show goodwill to the Hokage's faction.

This could be seen from Uchiha Sasuke's name.

In the shinobi world, there was a custom. If you respected someone, you could give your child that person's name.

Sasuke's name came from Hiruzen's father, Sarutobi Sasuke.

In other words, Fugaku had used the name Sasuke to show goodwill toward the Hokage's faction.

From this point of view, he truly lacked firm resolve and tended to waver.

"What?"

Mikoto did not understand for a moment.

"I mean, you could go work at the Hokage building."

Natsuki answered truthfully.

"Eh?"

Mikoto froze, then instinctively said, "That was not what I meant."

"I know."

Natsuki smiled and said, "But if you are willing, you can go. It depends on your own thoughts."

"That depends on the Clan Head's arrangement."

Mikoto shook her head and said.

No wonder the Hokage throughout the generations did not particularly like large clans.

After all, shinobi from clans prioritized their clan rather than the village.

Thinking of it that way, Hashirama dissolving the Senju clan back then truly showed great courage and wisdom.

"Then you can ask Fugaku-senpai."

Natsuki believed Fugaku would most likely agree.

After all, he and Mikoto were not dating yet.

Having an Uchiha shinobi enter the Hokage building would definitely be a good thing for the Uchiha clan.

The previous Uchiha shinobi who had entered the Hokage building was Uchiha Kagami.

Kagami was a student of the Second Hokage, Tobirama, and his relationship with Danzō had even been quite good.

His presence had eased the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the Hokage's faction.

After the battle against Kinkaku and Ginkaku, he had no further role.

However, the official Book of Formation showed that he died at the age of twenty-five.

This meant that after the battle against Kinkaku and Ginkaku, he had died young.

"Let us discuss the villagers' vote now."

Natsuki returned to the main topic and said.

(To be continued.)

◇◇◇

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