"It's good that you're done with work. You're not that young anymore, you need to pay attention to resting and not overworking yourself."
"Can't be helped. I'm the Hokage after all. For something this big I have to personally keep an eye on it. I'll still be busy after a while; I also have to get in touch with the Daimyo's side."
Hearing the word "Daimyo," Asuma, who had been silently shoveling food, couldn't help showing a puzzled expression.
The Daimyo doesn't interfere with Ninja Village affairs, so even Asuma rarely heard anything about the Daimyo from Sarutobi Hiruzen's mouth.
"Just what kind of important matter is this, that it needs one high-level meeting after another and even contacting the Daimyo?" Asuma was curious.
Asuma was someone with decent initiative, so he directly asked out loud:
"What big event is so troublesome?"
"Eat quietly. Your rank isn't high enough to know about this." Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't answer Asuma's question.
And right after Asuma finished asking, Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped talking altogether and focused on eating.
Asuma felt a bit bewildered. Even though he knew Sarutobi Hiruzen was telling the truth, it still stung a little.
If you don't want to say it, then just don't say it—did you have to say his rank wasn't enough.
Even if his rank isn't enough, he's still Sarutobi Hiruzen's kid, isn't he? Doesn't that make him trustworthy?
"Not young anymore… evaluating Ninja… contacting the Daimyo…"
After finishing the meal, Asuma kept replaying Sarutobi Hiruzen's words at the table over and over in his mind.
"Could it really be that the election for the Fourth Hokage is about to start!" A flash of insight streaked through Asuma's mind, linking everything together.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had denied passing down the position yesterday, but Asuma felt Sarutobi Hiruzen might not have been entirely honest in his response.
On the contrary, that grumbling and complaining at the dinner table just now sounded much more credible.
Besides, yesterday Sarutobi Hiruzen had also let something slip, saying Mokgetsu might not have that much time to see him in the future.
The more Asuma thought about it, the more possible it seemed, and the more he thought, the more excited he became.
He glanced left and right, then took the Hokage Kasa that Sarutobi Hiruzen had placed on the shelf and stored it in a Scroll, then left the house.
The old man had talked to him so harshly; borrowing the hat for a bit wasn't going overboard, right?
"Why'd he even take my Hokage hat with him…" Sarutobi Hiruzen walked out with a helpless face.
He'd wanted to give Asuma a little hint, let Asuma know about this matter and then bring it over to Mokgetsu.
Mokgetsu already knew he was going to be nominated, but Asuma didn't know that Mokgetsu knew.
In the public impression, the nomination for the Hokage election was news that the Hokage would only announce at a Jonin meeting.
Since this concerns the Hokage position, even if this was information Mokgetsu already had, even if Mokgetsu could guess this was something Sarutobi Hiruzen deliberately engineered, Mokgetsu would still have a better impression of Asuma.
Because no matter how you look at it, Asuma was in the dark. From Asuma's point of view, he was taking a risk to tip off his teacher in advance.
For a student who's wholeheartedly devoted to his teacher like this, how could the teacher not feel more fondness?
Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't expecting Mokgetsu to train Asuma into someone unimaginably strong. Having him reach the level of the Fourth Kazekage would be enough for him to lead the Sorutobi Clan to continued prosperity.
...
After leaving home, Asuma went straight to Mokgetsu's home in the main district.
After knocking and walking in, Asuma noticed that Obito and Shisui were also there at Mokgetsu's place.
Shisui seemed to be consulting Mokgetsu about something, while Obito was off to the side chatting with a winged, onion-headed unknown creature.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, good evening." Asuma greeted them one by one.
"Mm, come over and sit." Mokgetsu said with a smile, beckoning him over.
"Sorry to intrude."
"It's no intrusion. Shisui and the others just finished asking their questions."
Shisui had come to see Mokgetsu to ask about some matters concerning the Uchiha Clan.
Obito had run into Shisui in the Uchiha Clan Land, and since he also had some theoretical questions for Mokgetsu, he tagged along.
Asuma didn't go sit on the chairs. Instead, he walked behind Mokgetsu, then took the Hokage hat out from the Scroll and placed it on Mokgetsu's head.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, it's getting cold, you should wear a hat." Asuma said with deliberate seriousness.
Mokgetsu's expression turned subtle. What was this supposed to be, backing him to go urge the Third to abdicate?
"The Hokage hat!"
Obito's eyes went wide as he stared at Mokgetsu excitedly, and he reflexively whipped out his camera to snap a shot.
Smack! Smack!
The next moment, two transparent blasts of Qi Force smacked Asuma and Obito on the head.
Then Mokgetsu took off the Hokage Kasa; he didn't have much attachment to the Hokage position anyway.
"Asuma, where did you have this made? It looks exactly like the one the Hokage old man wears on his head." Obito rubbed his head out of habit and asked curiously.
Back when he took his graduation photo he'd really wanted to wear a hat like this for a shot, but he couldn't find an identical one—not even a decent knockoff.
"Haha, who knows. I just picked it up." Asuma chuckled and deflected.
This wasn't just a look-alike—this was the very one Sarutobi Hiruzen usually wore on his head.
Shisui's expression turned thoughtful.
Custom-made? Which clothing shop had the Ninja Beast guts to make something like this? It looked exactly like the real Hokage hat.
Putting that together with Asuma's identity, Shisui felt this was most likely the genuine article.
Asuma picked up the Hokage hat and put it back into the Scroll. Annoyed was annoyed, but he hadn't actually planned to give the hat to Mokgetsu right now; he'd just put it back when he got home.
Seeing Asuma look like he wanted to say something but was holding back, Mokgetsu turned to Obito and Shisui and said:
"I've got some materials I've organized upstairs; you two can go take a look."
It was obvious Asuma had something to tell him, but he was hesitant with Shisui and Obito present.
Mokgetsu could understand that. Asuma and Obito were just fairly good friends; they didn't have the kind of long-term life-and-death bond that Kakashi and Obito did.
"Teacher Mokgetsu, no need." Asuma thought it over, then directly told them what Sarutobi Hiruzen had said, as well as his own speculation.
Because the matter involved was too important, Asuma had initially thought the fewer people who knew, the better.
But after thinking it through, Obito and Shisui weren't nobodies in the village; they could be helpful to Mokgetsu in the election.
And given Obito and Shisui's personalities, there was no way they'd betray Mokgetsu and leak the news.
"Fourth Hokage!" Obito's eyes lit up.
With the invincible Sage Mokgetsu serving as Hokage, wouldn't Konoha soar to the heavens?
"Asuma only said there's a chance I'll be nominated. How did it turn into me already taking the seat in your version?" Mokgetsu rapped Obito on the head again.
"That's me having faith in you." Obito said with a sheepish grin.
Shisui nodded inwardly. With Mokgetsu's current prestige in Konoha, his chances of becoming Hokage were very high.
As for the original history's Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, right now his influence couldn't be compared to Mokgetsu's at all.
"If Aunt Tsunade also gets nominated, the final outcome is hard to say, but we can start preparing now and seize the initiative when the time comes." Asuma said.
That was why he'd come—if they knew in advance and started preparing early, they could maximize their chances of capturing votes.
Among all possible nominated competitors, Asuma was most wary of Tsunade.
Because Tsunade's buffs were stacked: she was the First's own granddaughter, the most orthodox existence in Konoha, and on top of that, his old man's disciple.
On top of that, as the strongest Medical Ninja in the Ninja World, Tsunade had treated countless Ninja, officials, and nobles, so her connections were terrifying.
Tsunade hadn't been very involved in the Third Ninja World War, but she'd made tremendous achievements in the Second Ninja World War.
All these factors put together meant that in the election field, Tsunade was no weaker than Mokgetsu.
"How about hiding a stone engraved with 'Konoha prospers, Mokgetsu reigns' inside a fish's corpse?" Obito suggested enthusiastically.
"We could organize a class reunion, reach out to all the students Teacher Mokgetsu has taught before, and pool everyone's strength to support him." That was Shisui's idea.