Chapter 577: All-in is a form of wisdom, it's a pity you don't have it

The cheers of his clansmen echoed in Uchiha Izuna's ears, yet he felt nothing out of the ordinary; instead, he felt a sense of emptiness in his heart.

Me, Hokage?

Pulling at his stiff lips in a self-deprecating manner, a flash of desolation crossed Uchiha Izuna's face.

Father is not here.

Big brother is not here.

Even that detestable white-haired man is not here.

The people he chased are no longer here; what meaning is there in sitting in this Hokage seat?

"Congratulations, Lord Shadow Assistant."

Just as Uchiha Izuna was lost in his thoughts and feeling dejected, Sarutobi Sasuke led the representatives of the Ninja Clan Alliance to offer their congratulations, their aged faces bearing undisguised reluctance.

"There is nothing to congratulate."

Uchiha Izuna shook his head lightly, his expression neither sad nor happy, but this behavior appeared full of arrogance in the eyes of the Ninja Clan Alliance members.

The Hokage position that you all crave but cannot obtain, I, Uchiha Izuna, can get with a flick of my hand.

"Lord Shadow Assistant is truly too humble. Hiruzen, did you see that? There is still much you need to learn."

Sarutobi Sasuke cupped his hands, turned his head to nudge the crestfallen Sarutobi Hiruzen, and signaled for him to quickly say something pleasant.

"Learning from Lord Shadow Assistant is a lifelong endeavor."

With no other choice, Sarutobi Hiruzen had to utter words that went against his heart. Uchiha Izuna nodded slightly upon hearing this, his gaze landing steadily on the young man before him.

"That white-haired man thinks highly of you?"

"Uh..."

The sudden question left Sarutobi Hiruzen bewildered, and for a moment, he did not know how to respond.

Fortunately, Kagami, who had just broken free from the cheering clansmen, rushed over. Hearing this question, he immediately helped his good friend smooth things over.

"Yes, Lord Izuna. Before he passed, Teacher often praised Hiruzen for having the makings of a Hokage."

"The makings of a Hokage, huh..."

Uchiha Izuna glanced at the gentle-smiling Kagami and did not continue to press Sarutobi Hiruzen, though a hint of an unreadable gleam appeared in his eyes.

Not far away, Senju Hizhen watched Uchiha Izuna, who was surrounded like the moon among stars, and felt a surge of anger. Letting that bastard become Hokage made her want to defect from the village.

"Damn it!"

Growing angrier the more she thought about it, Senju Hizhen left her seat in a huff. Seeing this, the Senju clansmen following her immediately gave chase.

"Lady Hizhen! There is still the election for Branch Secretary later!"

"What else is there to watch? Is there any suspense?"

Senju Hizhen said irritably.

According to the rules, candidates who had participated in the Hokage election could not continue to participate in the Branch Secretary election. The highly popular Uchiha Kagami had no opponents at all; the position of Branch Secretary was essentially his for the taking.

"But if we leave now, won't it make us look petty?"

The Senju clansman hesitated, lowering his voice.

"Hmph!"

She represented the face of the Senju clan at this moment; if she just left like this, it would indeed be undignified.

With no other choice, Senju Hizhen had to sit back down, cursing the traitors of the Ninja Clan Alliance to her heart's content.

"Don't let me find out who it was!"

Creak—

"Tap, tap, tap."

Just as Senju Hizhen was mentally sticking pins into a voodoo doll, the tightly closed door of the conference room was pushed open a crack, and a short figure squeezed in, hunched over.

Thump!

"Little Tsunade, where did you just go?"

Turning her head to look at Tsunade, who had plopped down beside her, Senju Hizhen's tense expression finally softened a little.

"Don't ask. I just lost all of this year's New Year's money."

The listless Tsunade raised her head, looking as if she had lost her parents. Facing her cheap aunt's question, she pouted and replied truthfully.

"You didn't go and bet on the election too, did you?"

"Huh? Little Aunt, how did you know?"

Tsunade blinked, tilting her head in confusion, failing to notice the word "too" in Senju Hizhen's sentence.

"I saw that curly-haired guy opening a betting pool by the window just now."

Senju Hizhen, who had also suffered heavy losses, couldn't help but feel a sense of mutual sympathy.

As expected, I am not the only one who lost like a total fool.

"Sigh~ I should have listened to Grandma."

"You must listen to your aunt's words; otherwise, don't gamble at all."

Senju Hizhen nodded in deep agreement. She guessed that Senju Toka must have stopped Tsunade from throwing her money away, but her little niece was no ordinary person; she must have bet behind her eldest aunt's back.

"No, Grandma told me to bet on Uchiha Izuna, but I thought too much and went all-in on Sarutobi Hiruzen, whom Grandma was bad-mouthing."

Tsunade pursed her lips high, her face full of indignation.

"Eldest Aunt said Uchiha Izuna would win?"

Initially thinking her little niece was just complaining, Senju Hizhen had dismissed it with a laugh, but the more she heard, the more wrong it felt. A thought flashed through her mind, and her scarlet pupils suddenly contracted.

Could it be...

With an unbelievable guess forming in her heart, Senju Hizhen immediately looked for Senju Toka, whom she had just been talking to. As it happened, she saw her eldest aunt leading her subordinates, walking gracefully toward Uchiha Izuna, who was surrounded by the crowd.

"Congratulations, Shadow Assistant."

"You are too kind, First Lady."

Uchiha Izuna looked with surprise at Senju Toka, who was offering her congratulations. He was not particularly close to her, having only met her a few times at gatherings organized by his eldest cousin.

Ever since Senju Hashirama went missing and Senju Tobirama sacrificed himself, Senju Toka's influence within the clan had grown heavier; matters both large and small required her nod to proceed.

"Don't misunderstand, Shadow Assistant. The relationship between our two families is actually not as bad as you might think, is it?"

As if sensing Uchiha Izuna's confusion, Senju Toka smiled slightly, said something profound, and then led her subordinates away, leaving behind a crowd of onlookers who were completely bewildered.

Returning to the area where the Senju clansmen were gathered, Senju Toka had just sat down when Senju Hizhen, who had come to demand an explanation, arrived on the battlefield.

"Aunt, was it you?"

Looking at the eldest aunt who now felt somewhat like a stranger, Senju Hizhen asked in a deep voice.

"Do what? Hizhen, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Facing the interrogation, Senju Toka covered her slightly parted lips in surprise; her performance could be called impeccable.

"Little Tsunade told me everything. How did you know Uchiha Izuna would win?"

How could the naturally suspicious Senju Hizhen believe the other party's one-sided story?

"Goodness, Little Tsunade really can't keep her mouth shut, can she?"

Hearing that she had been betrayed by her own granddaughter, Senju Toka stopped pretending. She gracefully lowered her small hand, her expression becoming a bit more solemn.

"That's right, it was me."

It was indeed her who, at the critical moment, secretly instructed the Senju jonin following her to cast their votes for Uchiha Izuna, who was supposed to be their mortal enemy.

"That is the naturally evil Uchiha! Handing Konoha over to him is equivalent to destroying the Great Uncle's life's work!"

Seeing Senju Toka admit it so readily, Senju Hizhen nearly fainted. She had worked so hard to calculate the outcome of the Hokage position.

And you, on the other hand, just moved your lips and handed the Hokage position to that idiot Uchiha Izuna.

"Hizhen, you are still too young."

Senju Toka shook her head.

"The waters in Konoha are too deep; you cannot grasp them."

"But at least I know that Konoha must never fall into the hands of the Uchiha."

Konoha's internal affairs were indeed tangled and complex; Senju Hizhen knew that better than anyone. But all of this was still under her control, except for the Uchiha, the variable that was an unstable factor she could not control.

"But right now, there is no one more suitable to be Hokage than Uchiha Izuna."

Senju Toka knew the stakes involved, but compared to handing Konoha over to other random people, she trusted the Uchiha more.

At least this way, Konoha could still possess a certain level of deterrence, making ambitious people from other countries think twice.

If it were a Hokage pushed by the Ninja Clan Alliance, the troops of the other major nations would likely be at Konoha's gates by the next day.

"I think that Sarutobi Hiruzen would do; he is young and steady, much better than that Uchiha Izuna!"

Senju Hizhen pointed at the tall, upright Sarutobi Hiruzen in the distance and spouted nonsense with a straight face. Taking money to do a job—there was no shame in that.

"If not for Uchiha Izuna, the little monkey would indeed be an excellent candidate."

The F6 was also a child Senju Toka had watched grow up. She was quite confident in Sarutobi Hiruzen's abilities, but his opponent was too strong; he would just have to be wronged and wait a few more years.

"Phew... it's too late."

As the truth came to light, Senju Hizhen took a deep breath. She never expected the mole to be the eldest aunt she trusted most. Given the other party's status, she certainly could not impose any punishment.

"Who else knows about this?"

After the sigh, Senju Hizhen immediately became alert.

If the people from the Ninja Clan Alliance found out that the mole who caused their election failure was the Senju clan, it probably wouldn't be something that could be resolved with a few words. After all, they had spent real money to grease the wheels, and she had no money to pay them back now.

"Besides my loyal subordinates, only Gin-san knows."

"Huh?"

That curly-haired guy knows too?

Senju Toka stood frozen in place, an unnamed rage instantly igniting in her chest.

Since you knew the inside story, you still opened the betting pool—you're treating us like leeks to be harvested, aren't you?

Riba, give me back my money!

At the mere thought of the tens of billions she had painstakingly embezzled falling so easily into the pockets of Uchiha Gin, Senju Toka nearly fainted from anger.

"How could he have known?"

Could it be that my sister-in-law was bewitched by that curly-haired one, leading her to commit such an unorthodox act?

"I was the one who took the initiative to find him, wanting to ask his opinion on this matter."

"Of all people, why did you have to go find him?"

Senju Toka frowned slightly; it wasn't that she didn't think highly of Uchiha Gin, but that he himself was simply not very ambitious. After so many years, his true combat strength remained that of a mediocre jonin, spending his days idling away in the dungeon.

"It was Hashirama's instruction."

"Great-uncle?"

How did this get back to Big Brother again?

"Hashirama once said that if the Senju were about to come into conflict with the Uchiha, I should go find Gin-san."

There was a strange undertone in Senju Toka's voice; she herself didn't know why Senju Hashirama would tell her to seek help from Uchiha Gin at a critical moment.

Could it be because of his "money power"?

"What exactly did you and he talk about?"

Since things had reached this point, Senju Toka could only continue to get to the bottom of it and resolve the doubts in her heart.

"I told him about you uniting with the Ninja Clan Alliance."

"And then?"

"Then he told me to defect and cast my vote for Uchiha Izuna."

Senju Toka spread her hands, revealing a helpless expression.

Before going to find Uchiha Gin, she hadn't had any plan; she had simply wanted to consult him on whether Senju Toka's alliance with the Ninja Clan Alliance would affect the future of the Senju clan.

She hadn't expected that as soon as Uchiha Gin heard, his half-closed dead fish eyes would instantly erupt with a sharp glint. After rubbing his chin and pondering for a long time, he explained the pros and cons to her.

The main purpose of the Senju clan's alliance with the Ninja Clan Alliance was to prevent Uchiha Izuna from taking office as Hokage and to prevent a situation where the Uchiha dominated.

However, the Ninja Clan Alliance was not a benevolent group; if they were truly allowed to obtain the position of Hokage, the entire Hidden Leaf Village would face a major reshuffling.

Because the composition of the Ninja Clan Alliance was not as monolithic as the Senju or Uchiha, but rather a combination of one small or medium-sized family after another, the entanglement of interests among the various parties would take three days and three nights to list.

In short, if the candidate pushed by the Ninja Clan Alliance succeeded as Hokage, the other families in the alliance who had contributed labor and effort would step forward to demand their rewards.

And these rewards could never be satisfied by simple money; what they wanted was to carve up the big cake that was the Hidden Leaf, privatizing what was originally public property, and striving to consolidate the long-term development of their own families.

By then, everything in the Hidden Leaf would become a foul mess.

"Put that way, it does seem to make some sense."

After listening to Senju Toka's account, a look of contemplation appeared on Senju Toka's face.

She admitted that she had been a bit emotional about this matter. Now, calming down to think about it, what she had done really could have pushed the Hidden Leaf into an abyss of no return.

Uchiha Izuna was certainly detestable, but the Uchiha clan was not greedy; on the contrary, they were very conscientious, almost working for free to build the Hidden Leaf.

Letting an Uchiha succeed as Hokage would at least not lead to the carving up of the village's interests—after all, that bastard Uchiha Izuna had a house made of gold.

At the thought of the small building made of gold bricks that Uchiha Izuna had once shown off to her, Senju Toka felt sour inside.

Isn't it just that he landed a good cousin?

And that's my future brother-in-law!

"Aunt, heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know—you must never let the people of the Ninja Clan Alliance find out."

Coming back to her senses, Senju Toka carefully glanced at the representatives of the Ninja Clan Alliance who were cozying up to Uchiha Izuna in the distance, and urged Senju Toka to keep this matter buried in her stomach.

"I know. You took benefits from them, so remember to split half with me when we get back~"

Senju Toka nodded with a smile, and explicitly asked for a share of the money.

"Uh, that..."

"Just kidding. Aunt will keep it for you for now, and use it as a dowry when you get married in the future."

Seeing Senju Toka's hesitant expression, Senju Toka immediately added that it was easy to go down the wrong path when one possessed a huge fortune at such a young age.

"It's gone."

"Huh?"

"I just participated in the betting outside..."

"You didn't..."

Hearing the word "betting," Senju Toka's face twitched, and her tone became strange as she spoke.

Senju Toka gritted her teeth, her heart full of resentment toward someone.

"That's right, just as you thought, I went all-in. But don't worry, Aunt, at worst I'll just go work in the red-light district."