No one dared to discuss it loudly as they left the venue.
In the past, the official inauguration of a new Hokage would take place about half a month after the election. Why it was being delayed for two months this time, no one asked, and no one said. In short, the election for the Fifth Hokage had concluded in a very strange manner.
The Uchiha, along with Tsunade and her group, quickly returned to their clan compound. Because of the Hokage election, practical combat training was also suspended for the day. The training grounds were empty.
Kawasaki sent Naruto and Sasuke away. Hadn't Sasuke been waiting for Itachi to train with him? Now Itachi finally had the time.
Kawasaki and Tsunade gathered together.
Kawasaki knew Tsunade had many questions, so he decided to speak first. "Lady Tsunade, now you understand why I asked you those questions before, don't you?"
Tsunade understood that Kawasaki was referring to when he had asked her "who was fit to be Hokage." Considering how many members of the Sarutobi clan the Third Hokage had secretly promoted, the question now felt like an exercise in irony and mockery.
The target of the mockery wasn't Tsunade, but the so-called Hokage election itself.
Tsunade frowned. "You knew all along you couldn't become Hokage, didn't you?"
Kawasaki shrugged. "I've known for a long time. It wouldn't have mattered how many clans supported me; I was never going to become Hokage. This time, I just brought the Sarutobi clan's votes to light. And if I'm not mistaken, the Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans have a considerable number of votes as well."
Tsunade's frown deepened. Although she hadn't inspected every single ballot, she had been shown the votes from those particular clans whenever others came across them. Tsunade made a rough estimate. The Shimura clan was large and had at least twenty votes. The Utatane and Mitokado were historically small clans, with only twenty to thirty members each.
For other ninja clans of that size, having even one Jonin would be considered remarkable. Yet Tsunade had seen that each of those two clans had six ballots.
Where did all these Jonin come from? It's not as if their clans possessed a Kekkei Genkai; producing Jonin shouldn't be that easy. But the fact remained: there were that many Jonin votes.
Furthermore, the names on the ballots were completely unfamiliar. As Konoha's elite fighting force, even if you didn't know a Jonin personally, you should have at least heard their name. Jonin aren't promoted out of thin air. They have to complete impressive missions, major assignments. A demonstration of such skill is a prerequisite.
But there was no record of any of that, which left only one possibility: these individuals were all on the Anbu roster. And they had been promoted to Jonin from within the Anbu. How much of that was inflated, no one could say for sure.
"So you deliberately exposed the old man's political fraud?" Tsunade realized with a start.
Kawasaki smiled and nodded. "That's right. My goal was never to fight for the Hokage position. It was to bring all of this out into the open."
Tsunade looked at Kawasaki. "So what's next? You've completely fallen out with the old man. What do you plan to do?"
Kawasaki couldn't just say he planned to let the Sarutobi clan take the fall. So, he revealed his other plan.
"We Uchiha are preparing to strike out on our own," Kawasaki said it matter-of-factly.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow but wasn't too surprised. There was no way the Uchiha could ever truly rise within Konoha. The best solution was to find a new place.
"Where do you plan to go?" Tsunade was curious about where the Uchiha would choose.
Kawasaki shook his head. "It's not certain yet. I'm still in negotiations. Once things are settled, I'll tell you first. The issue now, Tsunade, is that you'll have to come with us."
Tsunade was still working for the Uchiha, and the training of their medical-nin had only just begun. The first year wasn't even over. If the Uchiha were to become independent, Tsunade would certainly need to leave with them.
Tsunade's thoughts immediately turned to Naruto.
She had already witnessed the political darkness of Konoha. The Third Hokage, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado were clearly all in it together. Although Orochimaru had taken over as the Fifth Hokage, it was unclear if this incident would affect him. Tsunade also had no idea whether Orochimaru would make a good Hokage. Therefore, she didn't dare to imagine what would happen to Naruto if he remained in Konoha.
The only reason Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, was able to visit the Uchiha compound so often was because Tsunade was there. Moreover, the Uchiha clan grounds were not far from the village proper. If the Uchiha truly tried to take Naruto with them, the Third would go to war with them without hesitation. It would be a fight to the bitter end. All the Third Hokage needed was to keep Naruto in Konoha. With his unknown number of Anbu and the full strength of the Sarutobi clan, he could ensure the village's legacy.
Now that the Third had stepped down and Orochimaru had taken his place, Tsunade had no idea what this new Fifth Hokage's views were on the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Tsunade was caught in a dilemma.
After weighing her options, she finally said, "I won't leave Naruto's side. Not for the next few years, at least."
Tsunade wanted to wait until Naruto was older and could protect himself.
A faint smile played on Kawasaki's lips. "Don't worry. Even if we withdraw from Konoha, it won't happen all at once. Your situation won't change in the short term."
...
Sasuke was no longer a little boy. Although his master had failed in his bid for Fifth Hokage today, seeing that no one seemed surprised, Sasuke knew. This was all part of his teacher's plan.
Ever since Sasuke became his student, his master had always been this composed. Everything was under his control. And in all these years, Sasuke had almost never seen his teacher train. He had seen Itachi, Shisui, and even Fugaku on the training grounds. But never his master. It seemed his master disliked fighting. He would never use combat to solve a problem if it could be avoided. His master rarely made a move, but every time he did, the entire shinobi world knew about it.
Since becoming his student, the living conditions of the entire clan had improved dramatically. All the Uchiha were living well. After his master became the clan head, his prestige within the Uchiha reached its peak. A recent baby boom had added many children to the Uchiha clan, most of whom were now four or five years old. Through constant exposure, all the young children had come to idolize Kawasaki.
Having witnessed his father and brother go blind one after another, and now seeing them recovered but unable to use their Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasuke made a resolution to work harder than ever.
First, he would defeat his brother, who could no longer activate his Sharingan. Then, he would defeat Shisui. He would awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan and become the pillar of the Uchiha clan's next generation!
Ever since Itachi had left for his last mission, Sasuke had subjected himself to rigorous daily taijutsu training. He wanted to be ready to defeat Itachi fair and square in a taijutsu match the moment he returned.
And today, that chance had come.
On one of the Uchiha's private training grounds, Sasuke and Itachi stood facing each other.
"Brother, your eyes have only just recovered. Maybe we should wait a while before we do this." Though eager for a fight, Sasuke was still concerned for Itachi's well-being.
A faint smile touched Itachi's lips. "Don't worry about me, Sasuke. My eyes are completely healed."
Itachi did not activate his Sharingan.
Sasuke didn't know that what Itachi meant by 'healed' was something entirely different from what he understood it to be.