Chapter 622: Defeat Leaks Out

Because Kakashi was reading the newspaper while eating breakfast, he arrived a bit later than usual.

By the time he reached the South Forest, Rin and Obito had already begun training under Muyue's guidance.

Obito usually ate at home or at a breakfast shop in the Uchiha clan compound, so his route to the training ground might not pass by the commercial street. Kakashi guessed Obito probably didn't know about today's new Konoha newspaper content yet.

Otherwise, with Obito's personality, he would have been making a big fuss about it here.

Kakashi then walked over to Muyue, who was teaching Obito the Flying Thunder God Technique, and said:

"Teacher Muyue, I just heard an unsettling rumor over on the commercial street."

Kakashi quickly told Muyue what he had picked up on the street.

Normally, Kakashi wouldn't interrupt Muyue while he was teaching.

However, Kakashi felt this information was too important to delay; Muyue needed to know as soon as possible so that Konoha wouldn't be caught off guard.

If the rumor was false, they should clarify it quickly and also track down and hold the spreader of the rumor responsible, tracing it back to the source.

If the rumor was true, they could think of ways to mitigate the impact sooner.

Although the rumor sounded absurd, Kakashi had a feeling it was true.

Because it would perfectly explain something that had been puzzling him — why the Fourth Hokage was suddenly chosen.

The reason Hiruzen Sarutobi gave at the meeting was that he was old and wanted to let a younger person take over.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't that old, and this wasn't a good time to step down — why would a leader suddenly retire right after a major victory?

If there had been something like him losing to Yusuke, then everything would make sense.

"The Third Hokage lost to Yusuke? Seriously? How did they even start fighting?" Obito scratched his head with a confused look.

He knew there was conflict between Konoha and the Ninja Sect, but as far as Obito knew, Konoha had tried to force Yusuke to commit suicide, and then the negotiations broke down.

He never imagined it had already escalated to the Hokage and the Ninja Master fighting.

"It's true." Muyue directly told them the truth. Since the rumor had already reached Konoha and Kakashi's ears, there was no need to deliberately hide it.

"But don't discuss this too much. Just act as usual."

In fact, the high-level council had already discussed this matter. They could keep things confidential on Konoha's side, but they couldn't force the Ninja Sect to keep it secret for them; exposure was only a matter of time.

Kakashi wore an expression that said "I knew it." He had thought Hiruzen Sarutobi's sudden abdication couldn't be that simple.

"Judging by this, Yusuke's strength is really something special." Kakashi couldn't help falling into thought.

Previously, Konoha had been very tough toward the Ninja Sect, trying to force Yusuke to kill himself, but then the matter inexplicably went quiet.

Connecting everything, the answer was obvious: Yusuke's power exceeded Konoha's expectations, forcing Konoha to change its stance.

Kakashi subconsciously glanced at Muyue.

When it came to strength that could make the five great shinobi villages change their attitude, Muyue was the first person he thought of.

Muyue wasn't yet at the level of Hashirama Senju, but in the current ninja world, aside from the still-unknown depths of Yusuke, Muyue was number one, with the power to single-handedly wipe out an entire shinobi force.

"Perceiving the space is the first step to the Flying Thunder God, and also an important step for a successful activation…" After reminding them, Muyue continued teaching Obito the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Kakashi quickly refocused and began training in sword arts and lightning nature transformation.

At the same time, on the other side in the Hokage Tower, Muyue's Shadow Clone was approached by an ANBU.

"Please come to the high-level meeting room immediately." The ANBU quickly stated the purpose.

Muyue's Shadow Clone nodded and hurried with the ANBU to the high-level meeting room.

"As we expected, the Ninja Sect didn't keep the information quiet. All sorts of news about me losing to Yusuke have already spread into the Land of Fire and even Konoha."

Once everyone was present, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasted no time and explained the problem directly.

"A bit faster than anticipated. Is the Ninja Sect actively spreading it?" Homura Mitokado said in a deep voice.

Information takes time to spread; in the ninja world where communication is not advanced, quickly disseminating a piece of news is not an easy task.

However, compared to the news itself, Homura Mitokado cared more about what stance Yusuke was taking.

Even if the news got out, the worst that would happen was Hiruzen Sarutobi losing some face; Konoha wouldn't suffer any real loss.

"It could also be other major ninja villages unwilling to fade into obscurity that are stirring up trouble," Muyue shook his head and said.

He himself knew whether he had done it or not. Muyue did not specifically instruct the Shinobi Sect ninja to conceal the battle results, but he also did not have them widely publicize it.

"Muyue is right—compared to the Shinobi Sect, the other major ninja villages are more suspicious," Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded and said.

Because Yusuke had held back in the battle, Sarutobi Hiruzen still could not determine whether Yusuke held any hostility toward Konoha.

As for the other ninja villages, it was simple—they had just been defeated in war, and upon hearing such news, they would certainly be very pleased to see Konoha embarrassed.

"Then what should we do? Use the previously discussed method?" Utatane Koharu asked.

"Yes, we'll handle it with cold treatment (ignore it)," Sarutobi Hiruzen confirmed.

Arguing was not an option; otherwise, if word reached the Shinobi Sect and Yusuke demanded a second public battle, he would be utterly humiliated. Whether he went or not, he would gain nothing.

But directly admitting it was not good either. A blow to his personal reputation was a minor matter—if it affected Konoha's development momentum, the sin would be grave.

So their negotiated outcome was to play dead and pretend not to see it.

This way, Sarutobi Hiruzen's supporters could tell themselves that Sarutobi Hiruzen disdained to respond to such rumors, or that the overworked Sarutobi Hiruzen had never even heard of this trivial matter, using that to refute and oppose.

"Speed up the election, compress the process, and let the Fourth Hokage election yield a result as soon as possible," Sarutobi Hiruzen said seriously.

That was the real reason he had gathered the higher-ups—playing dead was just a temporary expedient, not a good strategy.

Only by electing a new Fourth Hokage and letting Muyue, the universally recognized second Wood Style user, take office, could the problem be better solved.

After confirming the specific decision, even though the news "Yusuke defeated Sarutobi Hiruzen" was being heatedly discussed within Konoha Village, Konoha took no action—neither explaining nor suppressing the discussion environment, only striving to push forward the election process.

Under these circumstances, the voting results of the chunin and genin came out quickly.

The vote gap could be described as overwhelming. The ninja counting the ballots checked repeatedly before daring to confirm they had not miscounted.

The number of votes Muyue obtained accounted for a full ninety percent of the total votes of the chunin and genin!

That is to say, for every ten Konoha ninja, nine supported Muyue to become the Fourth Hokage.

When the voting results were announced, Muyue's astonishing vote count shocked Konoha.

People temporarily stopped discussing all kinds of secrets about Sarutobi Hiruzen and Yusuke, and a new wave of heated discussion about the Hokage election arose within Konoha.

"That's not right—according to the voting rules, Advisor Muyue has already won."

Someone combined the results of the two rounds of voting and discovered an outrageous fact.

Even if Orochimaru received one hundred percent of the popular vote in the civilian vote, he would still lose to Muyue.

The weights of the votes of the jonin, the chunin/genin, and the civilians were all different.

There were only a little over a hundred jonin voting, but they accounted for forty percent of the total voting weight.

Although the chunin/genin and the civilians were numerous, they each only accounted for thirty percent.

Combining Muyue's votes from the jonin and the chunin/genin, the total weight was already infinitely close to sixty percent.

Even if Orochimaru got full weight from the remaining votes, his total weight would be at most forty percent.

Clearly, this election had effectively ended early—no matter what, Muyue would become the Fourth Hokage.

Therefore, after soliciting Orochimaru's own opinion, the high-level meeting changed the election procedure.

The civilian vote continued, but it would only be used to calculate the final vote count. The election result was settled immediately, and the Daimyo and high officials of the Land of Fire were invited to confirm the final choice of Hokage.

Uchiha Fugaku and Shisui did not waste such an excellent opportunity. Seeing that everyone in the village recognized Muyue as the next Hokage, they called together the clan elders for a discussion.

Since the number of participants was not large, they did not hold the meeting at the Naka Shrine but chose Uchiha Fugaku's study as the venue.

"Because of the war victory, Konoha has obtained a large number of high-quality missions..." Uchiha Fugaku did not beat around the bush; as soon as he spoke, he laid out everything they needed to do next.

"Temporarily leave the Police Department to take high-level missions?"

Uchiha Shengqing habitually wanted to refuse, but thinking of the rewards high-level missions could bring, he did not speak immediately.

"Isn't that somewhat inappropriate? If we Uchiha elites leave the Police Department, what about Konoha's public order? What if we can't return to the Police Department?" Uchiha Keijiu raised a question.

"There's no need to worry about public order. Under normal circumstances, the Police Department doesn't require too much strength. Temporarily finding some chunin and genin can handle the responsibility," Uchiha Fugaku replied.

"And what about the positions in the Police Department? If it's not a suspension, but everything continues as usual, just replacing patrol duties with high-level missions, I think that would be fine," Uchiha Keijiu expressed his own idea.

Shisui understood: they wanted to earn the commission, but they also didn't want to give up their positions in the Police Force.

"Let me clarify first—this isn't an idea from me or Uncle Fugaku, but a suggestion from Teacher Muyue regarding the Police Force." Shisui began.

"Teacher Muyue believes that the current strength of the Police Force is overqualified for merely maintaining public order, so he had the idea of unleashing its powerful capabilities."

As soon as Shisui said this, the study fell silent instantly.

Uchiha Katsuhisa smiled. "Advisor Muyue has a point. Our Uchiha jōnin are powerful, and it really is somewhat of a waste to just patrol the village."

"I support Advisor Muyue's idea."

Why didn't he say so earlier? If he had known it was Muyue's will, he would have been the first to support it.

Everyone in Konoha knew that Muyue becoming the Fourth Hokage was a foregone conclusion.

With the potential to be the second coming of the God of Shinobi, and also as Hokage, along with having two Uchiha disciples—if the Uchiha clan didn't follow Muyue, who else would they follow?

"I support it too. I know Advisor Muyue's skills well. Under his leadership, the Police Force and the Uchiha clan will certainly develop even better." Uchiha Yashiro quickly took a stand.

He was originally an elder who stood on the same side as Uchiha Fugaku, but he hadn't expected Katsuhisa to be so flexible in his stance.

"I support it." Uchiha Morikiyo finally nodded.

At this point, whether he agreed or not, honestly, no longer affected the overall situation.

The moment Shisui brought up Muyue, the outcome was already decided.

The Uchiha were too desperate for a Hokage who would be somewhat closer to them, and Muyue perfectly matched their needs.

Unless Uchiha Morikiyo could prove that Muyue becoming Hokage would be harmful to the Uchiha, opposing Muyue would only damage his own reputation within the clan.

At the jōnin meeting, over twenty Uchiha jōnin all cast their votes for Muyue; no one abstained or voted for Orochimaru.

"Alright, since everyone agrees, let's start discussing the specifics." Uchiha Fugaku continued.

Shisui nodded in satisfaction at this.

Once this step was completed, the Uchiha clan and the Police Force would no longer be bound together, and the Police Force issue would be resolved.

Next, as long as they built a good image for the Uchiha clan and improved their ideological education, the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha would naturally ease and then disappear.

"Thank goodness for you, Teacher Muyue." Shisui silently thanked him in his heart.

Muyue had helped him so much—without Muyue, he wouldn't have his current strength; without Muyue, he wouldn't have his current knowledge.

If he had been the person he was before being taught by Muyue, he would probably have had to find ways to solve the problem all by himself.

Because he couldn't think of anyone to ask for help, nor could he find anyone to help him.

After receiving Hiruzen Sarutobi's letter, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire quickly gathered his high officials and guards, and under the escort of many elite shinobi, traveled to Konoha for a meeting.

The Hokage election was a major event for Konoha, and also a major event for the Daimyo.

As the primary sponsor, the Daimyo naturally wanted their ace fighter to be stronger.

"Third Hokage, I heard you were defeated by that Yusuke fellow—is that information true?" The Daimyo sat in the main seat, covering his face with a fan and only showing his eyes as he asked curiously.

He had attended the Youth Martial Arts Tournament and had seen Yusuke; he seemed like a decent person, but he didn't expect him to be so strong.

Hiruzen Sarutobi:...

"Daimyo, this is a Hokage election meeting. Please save unrelated topics until after the meeting." Homura Mitokado said sternly.

Setting aside his relationship with Hiruzen Sarutobi, just based on Hiruzen's position as Hokage, Homura Mitokado could not allow the Daimyo to be so rude.

The Daimyo was merely their nominal leader.

Seeing that the Konoha shinobi were displeased, the Daimyo gave an awkward smile and changed the subject:

"So, who do you recommend?"

"I recommend Hanyu Muyue!" Hiruzen Sarutobi answered immediately.

"Hanyu Muyue." Minato Namikaze spoke second.

The captain of the Jōnin Corps normally cannot participate in high-level meetings, but he may attend the Hokage election meeting.

"Hanyū Mutsuki." Mitomon En followed.

"Hanyū Mutsuki." Koharu Utatane followed suit.