Chapter 516: Retire Early

In Lian Ye's eyes, Zhi Cun Tuan Zang's early retirement is a good thing!

That way he'll have time to travel on his own.

It is said that the dragon vein of the ancient Loulan kingdom possesses tremendous energy, even capable of allowing people to traverse time and space.

In the movie version, Bofeng Shuimen and Naruto Uzumaki met just like that…

Minato also thought of bringing a friend later to go see the specifics.

As long as Zhi Cun Tuan Zang decides to retire, there will be someone to go with him.

Maybe he'll really be able to travel to a future world.

Unfortunately, Lian Ye overthought it…

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang only had the notion of retiring, but he wasn't in a hurry about finding a successor.

He was just asking on a whim.

"Retiring is too early for me; I just want to ask about your thoughts first."

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang's idea is simple: have Lian Ye name a few people.

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang can first evaluate for a few years, then finally decide the Hokage candidate, just as Teacher Feijian once chose the Hokage from him and Ri Zhan.

"Is that all?"

Lian Ye felt speechless, and was only trying to find a suitable candidate early.

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang isn't retiring immediately; he just got excited for nothing earlier.

It seems the two's wish to travel together has temporarily fallen through.

"You seem quite disappointed?"

Seeing this, Zhi Cun Tuan Zang instinctively asked.

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang always felt that Lian Ye was not pleased about his lack of urgency to retire.

Could it be that his actions while in office have caused his friend to feel dissatisfied?

But that shouldn't be…

Every one of his important decisions was made only after obtaining Lian Ye's permission.

That guy couldn't possibly be dissatisfied about that.

"No, looking for a suitable candidate early is fine; it can be called being prepared in advance, very foresighted!"

Even though Lian Ye knows Zhi Cun Tuan Zang has no immediate retirement plans, he intends to respect his choice.

After all, he barely managed to become Hokage, and may not have had his fill yet.

Talking about it in a few years wouldn't be too late.

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang: "……"

He gives him a sense of being oddly sarcastic.

He doesn't understand what he did to offend Lian Ye; everything was fine, yet it feels like he's become a different person.

"So, do you have any recommended candidates?"

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang asked the question he cared about most.

He wants to know from Lian Ye whether there are any suitable Hokage candidates among the younger generation.

As for Ri Zhan?

We'll talk about that later.

The Hokage position should be passed to the younger generation; by the time he retires, Ri Zhan will be in his forties or fifties.

At that age, in his view, he's no longer suitable to be Hokage.

Even if Ri Zhan were truly made Hokage, his age would only allow him a few years.

A new Hokage would still need to be chosen then.

Rather than going through all that hassle, it's better to hand the Hokage position directly to the younger generation.

And in his view, Lian Ye's three disciples are all good choices.

"Recommended candidates?" Lian Ye fell into thought upon hearing that.

Now Konoha Village has many people qualified to become Hokage…

Ri Zhan, Qimu Shuo Mao, Uchiha Jing, Zilaoye, Orochimaru, plus other Elite Jonin with major contributions.

These are all relatively good candidates.

But having qualifications alone isn't necessarily useful; possessing the ability to manage the village well is the most important.

Moreover, it depends on the individual's willingness and the reaction of other village families, whether they can gain the people's support.

Take Uchiha Jing, for example; his qualifications and abilities are quite good, but the rest of the village wouldn't agree to let a Uchiha Clan member become Hokage.

The reason is simple: the Uchiha are already a major clan of Konoha; letting them become Hokage again…

The village would have no one to balance them.

Especially after the incident with Uchiha Ban, the Uchiha Clan has become unrelated to the Hokage.

Given Zilaoye's personality, he probably wouldn't want to be Hokage.

That guy is engrossed in writing and gathering material every day, so he's most likely uninterested in the Hokage role.

And Orochimaru spends each day researching with that old kid Qianshou Feijian, leaving no time to serve as Hokage.

Now only Ri Zhan and Qimu Shuo Mao remain.

Both their qualifications and contributions are unquestionable.

If Zhi Cun Tuan Zang truly wants to retire, he could consider choosing from the two.

"Ri Zhan and Shuo Mao, huh?"

Hearing Lian Ye's analysis, Zhi Cun Tuan Zang murmured softly, deep in thought.

He originally thought Lian Ye would consider candidates among his disciples, but now it seems he overthought it.

That guy never intended to let a disciple become Hokage…

One can only say he's truly Lian Ye's disciple; bluntly put, the upper beam is crooked, so the lower beam is warped.

Lian Ye lacks the Will of Fire, and his disciples are most likely lacking it as well.

What a pity, three promising seedlings, yet someone has wasted them.

One stays with his partner every day, another constantly lurks in the women's bathhouse, and a third is forever engrossed in research with Teacher Feijian.

Not a single one wants to become Hokage.

"I'm only offering a suggestion; who you finally choose is up to you," Lian Ye reminded.

It's just his idea; it may not actually be useful.

He doesn't want Tuan Cang to take his advice outright, picking one of the two to become Hokage.

Such matters must start from the actual situation.

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang nodded, saying nothing further about it.

Having Lian Ye's words, he felt reassured.

He always thought that when he retires, Ri Zhan is too old and really not suitable to become Hokage.

Back then he indeed considered, after his retirement, making Ri Zhan one of the Hokage Successors.

But times have changed; people always undergo change.

He couldn't possibly, just because of an unknown promise, ignore Konoha Village's future development, could he?

After all, he only thought about it in his mind.

Yuanfei Rizhan knows nothing about this at all.

As long as he doesn't speak up, who could know?

"If there's nothing else, I'll head back first."

Lian Ye stayed in the office for a while, then got up and left.

Before leaving, he glanced at his friend buried in reviewing documents and said half‑jokingly.

"Tuan Cang, retire early; I'll take you out traveling then."

While saying that, he turned and walked out of the office, unprecedentedly closing the door as he went.

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang's document‑reviewing halted, and he looked up in surprise at the closed door.

This guy wants me to retire just to take me traveling?

At that moment, he seemed to understand why Lian Ye was a bit upset earlier.

So it was simply to take him traveling?

This guy really… why didn't he say it earlier?

Zhi Cun Tuan Zang stood up, stood by the window and stared at Lian Ye, who was walking away alone on the street below, lost in thought.

After a long silence, he turned and looked at the mountain‑high stack of documents on the desk, seeming to have made up his mind, and ordered the hidden forces.

"Summon Yuanfei Rizhan."

The newly resigned Yuanfei Rizhan, who was enjoying life at home, had a bad feeling.

……

……

ps: Spoiling a bit, the next part is the Loulan Dragon Vein traversal instance. Any big‑shots got a recommended time slot for the traversal? Thanks for the gifts, Ying— Ying— Ying—…