Chapter 618: Bundle Up for the Cold

After the meeting ended, Muyue intended to return to his own office, but was called back by Sarutobi Hiruzen and taken to the Hokage's office.

"In my battle with Yusuke, I lost." Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and said.

"Yusuke's strength far exceeded my imagination—it's not an exaggeration to call him the current strongest ninja in the ninja world."

Although Muyue had the achievement of crushing the Kazekage with one punch and could perform a Wood Golem technique over sixty meters tall, he still had a considerable gap from Senju Hashirama.

And Yusuke, in Sarutobi Hiruzen's feeling, was extremely close to a legendary ninja like Senju Hashirama.

Therefore, Sarutobi Hiruzen believed that the strongest ninja in the current ninja world was Yusuke, not Muyue.

"Sorry, I was impulsive this time; I should have listened to your advice."

As he spoke, Sarutobi Hiruzen showed a look of guilt.

For Sarutobi Hiruzen, this was not just a battle defeat, but also a major strategic mistake in development.

If they hadn't provoked Yusuke, Konoha could have smoothly digested the gains from winning the Third Great Ninja War while also letting Muyue develop safely.

"Since it's already a fact, let's keep looking forward. And if we must assign blame, we higher-ups can't escape it either. If we had insisted a bit more and been a bit firmer, maybe the outcome would have been different." Muyue comforted him.

This time, he had indeed struck quite hard; though he hadn't left any incurable physical injuries on Sarutobi Hiruzen, he had most likely left him with some psychological scars.

After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen was still a top-tier powerhouse in the current ninja world; going all out without even touching his clothes before being defeated—the sense of frustration was understandable.

Seeing Muyue's emotion-laden words and expression devoid of performance, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help feeling a bit moved inside.

Even with Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, his old comrades who had grown up with him, Sarutobi Hiruzen could sense some resentment in their hearts.

Of course, this matter was indeed his fault, so Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't think Mitokado Homura was wrong.

But everything suffers from comparison; as a fellow high-ranking official and one of the advisors, Muyue could actively help share the blame and offer comfort.

"Even though his strength is no longer inferior to mine, he still remembers the teachings I gave him in the past." Sarutobi Hiruzen lamented inwardly.

Muyue was too reliable—he truly remembered favors.

"I lost, but I also scouted out some intelligence about Yusuke." Then Sarutobi Hiruzen told Muyue some details of the battle.

"He has a technique that can create a shield protecting his entire body, capable of blocking both taijutsu and ninjutsu attacks; however, it should have a limit. When I used the Five Element Great Combo, he used other means to nullify my ninjutsu."

Muyue put on a listening expression, nodding from time to time.

Using only the Limitless Cursed Technique to create an insurmountable "infinity" around himself—understanding it as a shield was acceptable, and it indeed wasn't unbreakable.

But he hadn't been unable to block the Five Element Great Combo; he had simply wanted to use Shōnagon to further enhance the sense of pressure.

To break the Limitless, the Five Element Great Combo was far from enough; Truth-Seeking Balls or Six Paths Sage Techniques would be more appropriate.

"Until the election is over, Muyue, don't leave the village." Sarutobi Hiruzen instructed.

Although Yusuke was powerful, Konoha also had many strong individuals; united, they might not be unable to contend with Yusuke, after all, one person's chakra was limited.

If Muyue left the village, the risk would be too great.

Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't dare to gamble on whether Yusuke would strike; Yusuke letting him return didn't mean Yusuke would spare Muyue.

Because Sarutobi Hiruzen posed no threat to Yusuke, while Muyue continued to grow—who would be stronger was uncertain.

This guess made Sarutobi Hiruzen think that Yusuke letting them return might be to lull Konoha into letting down their guard.

Muyue nodded; after all, even if he left, Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't know.

The Limitless Cursed Technique was quite handy for long-distance travel—the consumption wasn't too extreme, and the range could be very far.

In the matter of long-distance travel, Muyue would call the Limitless Technique the best, far surpassing the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"By the way, there will be a feature interview about you in the Konoha News recently; you can prepare in advance." Sarutobi Hiruzen said.

Actually, it didn't exist yet; it would only exist after Sarutobi Hiruzen gave an order shortly.

But that wasn't important. Muyue, as Konoha's hero of the Third Great Ninja War, being interviewed by Konoha News was perfectly reasonable, and it had nothing to do with Muyue being nominated as the Fourth Hokage.

Muyue thanked him and left the Hokage's office, heading to his own office to do work.

Watching Muyue leave, Sarutobi Hiruzen silently took out his pipe, lit it, took a deep puff, then exhaled a faint white smoke, showing an expression of relief.

After a few minutes, Sarutobi Hiruzen composed himself and continued handling official duties; before the formal handover, he was still the Hokage.

After work hours, Sarutobi Hiruzen left work on time and returned home.

At that time, Asuma had also just come back from training at the training ground and was lying back on a chair in the living room.

"You're back." Asuma glanced over and said.

"Mm." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded in response, took off his Hokage hat and put it away.

Then the two didn't have much further communication.

Asuma had nothing in particular he wanted to say to Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Sarutobi Hiruzen had things to say but couldn't say them directly right now.

During dinner, Sarutobi Hiruzen took the initiative to chat with Sarutobi Biwako about recent work matters.

"I've finally managed to get a bit of free time recently. For the past few days I've been busy evaluating and discussing ninjas who have made major war contributions and significant contributions to Konoha. The meetings never stopped."

"Good that you're done. You're not young anymore; you need to focus on rest and not overwork yourself."

"It can't be helped. I am the Hokage after all. For something this important, I have to personally oversee it. I'll be busy again in a while; I still need to contact the Daimyo."

Hearing the word "Daimyo," Asuma, who had been silently devouring his food, couldn't help but show a puzzled expression.

The Daimyo does not interfere in ninja village affairs, so even Asuma rarely heard about matters concerning the Daimyo from Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"What important matter requires constantly holding high-level meetings and even contacting the Daimyo?" Asuma wondered in his heart.

Asuma is a person with considerable initiative, so he directly asked:

"What big matter is so troublesome?"

"Eat quietly. Your rank isn't high enough to know this yet." Sarutobi Hiruzen did not answer Asuma's question.

Moreover, after Asuma asked, Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped talking altogether and focused on eating.

Asuma felt a bit confused. Even though he knew Sarutobi Hiruzen was telling the truth, it still stung a little.

If he didn't want to say it, just don't say it—why did he have to mention his rank wasn't good enough?

Even if his rank wasn't enough, he was still Sarutobi Hiruzen's child. Wasn't he worthy of trust?

"Not young, evaluating ninjas, contacting the Daimyo…"

After dinner, Asuma's mind kept replaying Sarutobi Hiruzen's words from the table.

"Could it really be that the election for the Fourth Hokage is starting!" A flash of insight crossed Asuma's mind, connecting everything together.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had denied the succession matter yesterday, but Asuma felt that Sarutobi Hiruzen might not have told the truth when asked.

Rather, the complaints and grumbles at the dinner table just now were more believable.

Also, yesterday Sarutobi Hiruzen had let something slip, saying that in the future Muyue might not have as much time to see him.

The more Asuma thought about it, the more possible it seemed, and the more excited he became.

He looked left and right, put the Hokage hat that Sarutobi Hiruzen had placed on the shelf into a scroll, and left home.

The old man had spoken so harshly to him; borrowing his hat for a while wasn't too much, right?

"Why did he take my Hokage hat?" Sarutobi Hiruzen walked out with a helpless expression.

He just wanted to give Asuma a hint, let Asuma know about this matter, and then have him bring it to Muyue.

Muyue already knew that he was going to be nominated, but Asuma didn't know that Muyue knew.

In the public's impression, the nomination for the Hokage election is information that the Hokage announces at the Jonin meeting.

Concerning the position of Hokage, even though this was information Muyue already knew, and even if Muyue could guess that Sarutobi Hiruzen had done this intentionally, Muyue would still have a better impression of Asuma.

Because no matter what, Asuma was not aware; from Asuma's perspective, he was taking a risk to tip off Muyue in advance.

For a student who is so devoted to his teacher, how could the teacher not increase his goodwill?

Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't expect Asuma to be trained by Muyue to become extremely strong; being at the level of the Fourth Kazekage would be enough to lead the Sarutobi clan to continue to thrive.

…

After leaving home, Asuma went directly to Muyue's home in the main city area.

After knocking and entering, Asuma realized that Obito and Shisui were also at Muyue's home.

Shisui seemed to be consulting Muyue on some questions, while Obito was off to the side talking to an unknown winged onion-headed creature.

"Good evening, Teacher Muyue." Asuma greeted them one by one.

"Mm, come over and sit." Muyue smiled and gestured.

"Sorry for intruding."

"It's no intrusion at all; Shisui just finished his questions."

Shisui had come to see Muyue about some matters concerning the Uchiha clan.

Obito had run into Shisui in the Uchiha compound, and since he also had some theoretical questions for Muyue, they came together.

Asuma didn't walk over to the chair and sit down. Instead, he went behind Muyue, took the Hokage hat out of a scroll, and placed it on Muyue's head.

"Teacher Muyue, it's getting cold—time to wear a hat." Asuma said with mock seriousness.

Muyue's expression was subtle. What was this about? Trying to get him to ask the Third Hokage to step down?

"A Hokage hat!"

Obito's eyes widened excitedly as he looked at Muyue, instinctively whipping out his camera to take a picture.

*Whap! Whap! *

The next moment, two invisible bursts of wind struck Asuma and Obito on the head.

Then Muyue took off the Hokage hat; he had no particular obsession with becoming Hokage.

"Asuma, where did you have that custom-made? It looks exactly like the hat the old Hokage wears." Obito rubbed his head skillfully and asked curiously.

Back when he took his graduation photo, he'd really wanted a picture in that kind of hat, but he couldn't find an exact replica—not even a high-quality knockoff.

"Haha, who knows? I found it." Asuma chuckled evasively.

Of course it was identical—because it was the very hat Sarutobi Hiruzen wore every day.

Shisui wore a thoughtful expression.

Custom-made? What clothing store would dare to custom-make this thing? It looked exactly like a real Hokage hat.

Putting that together with Asuma's identity, Shisui figured it was probably the genuine Hokage hat.

Asuma picked up the hat and put it back in his scroll. He was annoyed, but he didn't actually mean to give the hat to Muyue right now—he'd put it back when he got home.

Seeing Asuma hesitate as if he wanted to speak, Muyue said to Obito and Shisui:

"There are some materials I've compiled upstairs. You two can take a look if you like."

Asuma clearly had something to say to him but was holding back because Shisui and Obito were still there.

Muyue understood that. Asuma and Obito were just good friends, not the kind who had been through life-and-death situations together for a long time like Kakashi and Obito.

"Teacher Muyue, it's fine." Asuma thought for a moment and then decided to just say what Hiruzen had told him and his own speculations.

Because the matter was so important, Asuma had initially thought the fewer people who knew, the better.

But after careful consideration, Obito and Shisui were not nobodies in the village—they could help Muyue in the election.

Moreover, given their personalities, they would never betray Muyue or leak information.

"Fourth Hokage!" Obito's eyes lit up.

If the invincible Sage Muyue became Hokage, Konoha would surely soar.

"Asuma only said you might be nominated, but you're talking as if I've already taken office." Muyue rapped Obito on the head again.

"I just believe in you." Obito grinned.

Shisui nodded inwardly. Given Muyue's current influence in Konoha, the odds of him becoming Hokage were very high.

As for the Fourth Hokage of the original timeline, Minato Namikaze, his current reputation could not compare to Muyue's at all.

"If Aunt Tsunade is also nominated, the final result is hard to say. But we can start preparing now and seize the initiative." Asuma said.

That was his real reason for coming. If he knew the information early and began preparations, he could prepare in advance and maximize vote gathering.

Among all the possible nominees, Asuma feared Tsunade the most.

Because Tsunade has too many buffs: she is the First Hokage's biological granddaughter, the most orthodox existence in Konoha, and also the disciple of his old man.

Additionally, as the strongest medical ninja in the ninja world, Tsunade has treated a large number of ninjas and various officials and nobles, so her connections are also terrifying.

Tsunade didn't participate much in the Third Great Ninja War, but she performed outstanding feats in the Second Great Ninja War.

A series of factors combined cause Tsunade to not be inferior to Muyue in terms of the election.

"What about hiding a stone engraved with 'Konoha flourishes, Muyue as Hokage' inside a fish's corpse?" Obito said enthusiastically.

"We can hold a class reunion, contact all the students who were taught by Teacher Muyue, and pool everyone's strength to support Teacher Muyue." This was Shisui's idea.