In the Yamanaka Clan's meeting room, the patriarchs of the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans had been closely following the Hokage election.
"These past three days have mostly been minor skirmishes. Starting tomorrow, the major clans will probably get involved, right?" Inoichi Yamanaka asked, glancing at Shikaku Nara.
"Probably!" Shikaku Nara replied distractedly.
Shikaku Nara's expression was unusual, which Akimichi Choza found strange. He then asked, "Shikaku, is something wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just thinking about who we should support to become the Fourth Hokage."
"Lord Orochimaru and we have been fighting side-by-side on the Land of Bears battlefield. Both logically and emotionally, we should support him, shouldn't we?" Inoichi Yamanaka said.
"I think so too," Akimichi Choza added.
"That's true, but I always feel that Hokage-sama doesn't really want Lord Orochimaru to be the next Hokage," Shikaku Nara said.
Inoichi Yamanaka and Akimichi Choza were stunned by his words. They clearly hadn't expected Shikaku Nara to say that.
Shikaku Nara glanced at his two partners and explained, "Think about it! If Hokage-sama wanted Lord Orochimaru to be the next Hokage, he could easily use his influence to remove Minato from the list of candidates.
Don't assume that Minato will definitely run just because he rendered great service in the Third Great Ninja War. Hokage-sama could even find an excuse to transfer Minato out of the Village now.
But he hasn't done so. Whether it's to avoid suspicion or for some other reason, this shows that Hokage-sama is not fully supporting Lord Orochimaru."
After hearing Shikaku Nara's words, Inoichi Yamanaka and Akimichi Choza both fell silent.
Just as the three were deliberating, a Chunin from the Yamanaka Clan rushed in anxiously: "Patriarch, Lord Shikaku, Lord Choza, Lord Danzo is here to see you."
Upon hearing that Danzo had arrived, the three felt that things were getting complicated.
However, Danzo was one of the Village's higher-ups, serving as the Hokage's advisor, so they couldn't refuse to see him.
A few minutes later, in the front hall of the Yamanaka Clan, the patriarchs of the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans appeared simultaneously. Since they were on the Yamanaka Clan's territory, Inoichi Yamanaka feigned great enthusiasm as he greeted Danzo: "Lord Danzo, long time no see!"
"Three of you, long time no see!" Danzo responded indifferently.
After the four were seated, Danzo directly stated the purpose of his visit: "Three patriarchs, for this Hokage election, could I ask for your support for Orochimaru?"
Danzo had come prepared to pay a heavy price, and facing Shikaku Nara, the smartest person in Konoha, there was no need to hide anything.
Shikaku Nara was surprised by his words. He had thought Danzo was here to campaign for Minato Namikaze!
Minato Namikaze was a civilian Ninja, and it was actually very difficult for civilian Ninja to rise in Konoha. Without clan resources, it was incredibly hard for a civilian Ninja to become prominent.
Moreover, civilian Ninja had no deep roots, and it was easy for them to be sidelined after becoming Hokage. From Danzo's perspective, it should be more beneficial for him if Minato Namikaze became Hokage.
But now, Danzo was asking the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans to side with Orochimaru.
Shikaku Nara immediately understood why the Third Hokage wasn't fully supporting Orochimaru—because Orochimaru was now aligned with Danzo.
After realizing this, Shikaku Nara initially wanted to refuse, as the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans had always stood with the Hokage.
However, Shikaku Nara then thought that since the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans had fought alongside Orochimaru on the Land of Bears battlefield for so long, there would be no problem in choosing Orochimaru.
So, Nara decided to seize the opportunity to secure some benefits for the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans. Besides their income as Ninja, the Nara Clan also earned money from selling medicinal herbs.
But this money was not enough to support the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans. Shikaku Nara planned to use this opportunity to increase their income: "Since Lord Danzo is so frank, we won't beat around the bush. Our three clans wish to join the Konoha medical system."
What followed was a lengthy negotiation between the two, with Inoichi Yamanaka and Akimichi Choza listening, half-asleep.
Finally, after tens of minutes of negotiation, both sides reached a consensus: Danzo directly handed over the procurement rights for medicinal herbs at Konoha Hospital to the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans.
In return, the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans would support Orochimaru in the election.
Turning our attention to Orochimaru's laboratory, after Asana's
In the original work, during this election, Orochimaru and Danzo had a cooperative relationship. Orochimaru wanted to become Hokage to gain the authority to mobilize more resources for his research, while Danzo wanted to further control Konoha by manipulating Orochimaru.
Currently, on the second day of the Hokage election, Danzo still approached Orochimaru and proposed cooperation.
However, today's Orochimaru was different from the original. Through studying Asana's Byakugan and the White Zetsu corpses provided by Uchiha En, he had enough material for his research.
He no longer needed to rely on the Hokage's resources, so Orochimaru had little interest in becoming Hokage, which would only waste his time.
But Orochimaru had a handle held by Danzo, so he couldn't easily refuse Danzo's proposal and could only nod in agreement.
"Lord Orochimaru, do you want to be Hokage?" Uchiha En asked Orochimaru, who was dissecting a Kirigakure corpse.
"I was slightly interested before, but now that I have enough research materials, who becomes Hokage has no bearing on me.
If, in the end, the Hokage position falls to me because of Danzo's maneuvering, then I'll just hand the Village over to him," Orochimaru replied indifferently.
Uchiha En pouted at his words. Letting Danzo control the Village would be worse than letting the Third Hokage continue!
"It seems you don't like this outcome, En," Asana said, as she cut out the Kirigakure Ninja's heart.
"I really don't like it," Uchiha En replied.
"Then you'll have to change it yourself, En," Orochimaru said, taking the heart.
Uchiha En looked at the master and disciple engrossed in dissection, sighed, and teleported directly out of the laboratory.
Due to Danzo's maneuvering, most of Konoha's small and medium-sized clans chose to support Orochimaru.
The Aburame Clan, due to the relationship between Aburame Shibi and Minato Namikaze, chose to side with Minato Namikaze. A few other small clans also chose Minato Namikaze because they had received favors from him.
Orochimaru's votes surpassed Minato Namikaze's in one day, putting him far ahead.
Seeing this, Konoha's civilian Ninja immediately began voting for Minato Namikaze. Since a genius had finally emerged among the civilian Ninja, the civilians and ordinary Ninja of Konoha would definitely support Minato Namikaze.
Ordinary Ninja were much more numerous than clan Ninja, but many ordinary Ninja initially voted for Jiraiya because Jiraiya was also a civilian Ninja. This early split vote meant that Minato Namikaze's votes could only barely match Orochimaru's.
Now, who would become the Fourth Hokage depended on the choices of these major clans.
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