Chapter 254 No One Understands Konoha Better Than Me
"Lord Raikage, perhaps you should go back and receive treatment first," Mabui said to A after a moment's hesitation. "After all, your current physical condition probably isn't enough to suppress them."
A looked deeply at the group gathered in front of the Raikage Building, then turned and left without a word. Mabui was right. He had lost an arm, and his strength had already declined. Moreover, his injuries hadn't fully healed. If he rashly appeared and truly showed his weakness, then his position as Raikage would be difficult to maintain. After all,
he was the one primarily responsible for their Cloud Village's crushing defeat this time.
Cloud Village was, after all, a ninja village founded on the martial arts faction. For Cloud Village, the Raikage could be tyrannical, dictatorial, even incompetent, but he absolutely could not fail!
Sunagakure suffered a setback in the war. While the Kazekage could continue as Kazekage after his secret horse race back in the village, the Raikage's defeat would immediately erode the village's trust in him. If he appeared before the villagers in such a weakened state, he would likely be ousted. Therefore,
he needed to find a way to hold on until his injuries healed and his sworn brother Killer Bee regained consciousness.
However, when A returned to his recuperation area in the Cloud and Lightning Valley, another piece of bad news arrived: the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, under pressure from his ministers, had passed a motion to re-elect the Fifth Raikage.
Under pressure from Konoha's war order, the Land of Lightning's court was forced to sign the reparations treaty. This not only resulted in heavy losses for Kumogakure, but also severely damaged the entire Land of Lightning's economy. Therefore, the Land of Lightning desperately needed a scapegoat, and A, still oblivious to the external situation, was chosen by the officials. After all, this whole affair stemmed from A's misjudgment of the power gap between himself and Uchiha Touko.
Upon learning this news, A slammed his one arm heavily on the table and sighed. He knew that within the village, his power was gone. If he could still control the court in the Land of Lightning as before, none of this would be a major problem. However, during his unconsciousness, the civil officials of the Land of Lightning had seized the initiative.
After a moment of contemplation, Ai looked up at his secretary and asked, "Mabui, I plan to nominate you for the Fifth Raikage election."
"Me?" Mabui froze, stunned. "I can't do it, can I?" "
Why not?" Ai said. "Your strength is among the top of the village's elite Jonin, and you've been by my side for years, so you're familiar with village affairs. If you're willing, I can send a message to the village's ANBU and Jonin supporters to stand behind you."
"But..." Mabui hesitated, but Ai waved his hand dismissively. "You saw it yourself. Donald and his group have already gained a lot of support. If no one steps forward, he has a high chance of becoming the Fifth Raikage. But don't you know what Donald and his group were like before? They're just a bunch of idiots who only talk big and make countless mistakes! If he becomes the Fifth Raikage, he'll destroy the village sooner or later! So, for the sake of our village, you must step forward now."
Upon hearing this, Mabui fell silent. As the Raikage's secretary, who needed to handle numerous documents, she was quite familiar with the backgrounds of Donald and the others.
First, there was Donald. This guy had always tried to squeeze into the inner circle of power in Kumogakure. His strength barely reached the level of an elite Jonin, but his success rate as a team leader in missions was near the bottom among all Kumogakure Jonin, while his team's casualty rate was consistently high.
Furthermore, his flamboyant style was a constant source of criticism, something A had warned him about many times before.
However, after the black-and-white divide in the Land of Lightning reached Kumogakure, he seized the opportunity, transforming himself into the leader of the white ninja in Kumogakure. After Kumogakure suffered a major setback in Konoha, he was the first to call for the impeachment of the Fourth Hokage and the appointment of a white ninja as Raikage, and a large following quickly emerged.
His supporter, Airon, is a prominent ninja tool merchant in the Land of Lightning who has risen to prominence in the past two years. After the largest ninja tool factory in the Land of Lightning was attacked, his family's ninja tool business seized the opportunity to acquire a large share, becoming a rising star among merchants in the Land of Lightning. As a ninja, while his success rate in leading missions is decent, his team's casualty rate is extremely high.
The reason he supports Donald is probably because he realizes that if his ninja tool business wants to advance further, he must obtain official support. Airon has always been uncompromising towards him, so after Donald stepped forward, Airon was the first in the village to openly support him.
The last of the three, Freyg, was the strongest of the three. He had once competed with Killer Bee for the title of Raikage, but ultimately lost to him. This had become his obsession. During this time, he had publicly declared more than once that after Donald became the Fifth Raikage and inherited A's title, he would become the new generation's Bee, and the two of them would lead the Land of Lightning out of its current predicament and usher in a new era for the Land of Lightning.
Under the manipulation of the three, taking advantage of A's nearly week-long coma, they used the slogan of "Making Kumogakure Great Again" to win over a large number of white ninjas who were already dissatisfied with A. They gathered together, using the replacement of their headbands with red ones as their identifier, to promote Donald.
Thinking of this, Mabui realized that the other side had become powerful. If she didn't want the power of Raikage to fall into the hands of this group, then she had no choice but to stand up and compete with them for the position of Fifth Raikage.
"I understand, Raikage-sama," Mabui nodded to A.
"The future of the village is in your hands. At least, hold on until Killer Bee wakes up," Ai said, her
eyes filled with longing. "Understood!" Mabui nodded heavily.
...
The news that the Daimyo had approved the re-election of the Raikage quickly reached Kumogakure. Upon hearing this news, Donald felt victory was within reach. After donning his red headband, he and his supporters took to the streets of Kumogakure to spread his ideals.
"Villagers!" In a prominent spot in the Kumogakure square, as Donald's supporters played upbeat music, he made his grand entrance, swaying his body slightly to the rhythm.
"Donald!"
"Donald!"
The white ninjas and ordinary villagers gathered there continuously shouted his name.
Donald strode to the high platform in the center of the plaza, his signature blond hair striking in the sunlight. He wore a magnificent ninja outfit emblazoned with the Kumogakure insignia, waving confidently at the crowd. His voice was loud and resonant, with a distinctive intonation:
"Fellow Kumogakure ninja! Great Kumogakure ninja! Diligent ninja tool merchants! And our best, strongest, and most loyal Kumogakure ninja! How are you? Listen, today is an important day, a very important day. The Daimyo has passed the resolution to re-elect the Fifth Raikage. We will elect a new Raikage, the Fifth Raikage!"
Donald clenched his fist and waved it a few times at the supporters gathered below, all wearing red headbands.
"We used to be strong, incredibly strong! The First, Second, and Third Raikage were all strong, and I respected them, deeply respected them. But look at us now! Our Fourth Raikage launched a war! A war launched without careful consideration! And the consequence of this war is that nearly 1,000 of our comrades are imprisoned, and our country will have to pay a heavy price to bring them back! And another 1,000 comrades lost their lives forever in the Land of Fire! Is this right? This is wrong!"
A look of deep anguish appeared on Donald's face.
"The Fourth Raikage, A! When he tried to kidnap Konoha's children, did he consider the consequences? What did his actions cause? He caused a war that led to the complete defeat of Kumogakure! He caused the decline of Kumogakure! He is a loser, a complete and utter loser! We need a winner! Someone who can make Kumogakure great again!"
After saying this, Donald pointed his finger at himself!
"That person, it's me! Donald! No one knows Kumogakure better than me! Nobody! I know our Lightning Release, our ninjutsu and taijutsu, I know our mountains, our thunderclouds! I even know the price of every single lightning plate! Do you know why? Because I'm a doer! I've built the best Lightning Release training grounds, I've negotiated the best ninja tool deals—of course, the best for Kumogakure! Very good! Very good!"
"Now, let's talk about our opponents! Let's talk about Konoha, oh, Konoha… Konoha! Konoha!" Donald shook his head with disdain, "They always say one thing and do another, they smile to your face but do dirty tricks behind your back, do they think they're so smart?"
Donald's hands were making a special hand gesture, constantly waving them.
"No! Listen, everyone from Kumogakure: No one... no one understands Konoha better than me! I'm telling you, no one! I've studied them for over a decade! I know what their Hokage is thinking, I know what their Hyuga clan is thinking, I know their Uchiha... oh, Sharingan, troublesome, but I have a way to deal with it! I understand their weaknesses, very much! Their so-called 'Will of Fire' is all a lie! Weakness! Only the 'fighting spirit' of our Kumogakure is true power!"
After saying this, Donald paused, then raised his voice:
"So, when I become the Fifth Raikage—you'll choose me, because you're smart!—the first thing we'll do is renegotiate those terrible, extremely unfavorable treaties! We'll win! We'll win big! We'll make Kumogakure stronger, richer, and safer than ever before! We'll reclaim our glory! We'll make our enemies fear us again! Remember my words: Under Donald's leadership, Kumogakure will achieve unprecedented victories! Believe me, I'm the expert! Elect Donald as the Fifth Raikage! Thank you everyone! I love you all! Long live Kumogakure!"
With that, Donald waved enthusiastically to his supporters, his golden hair, like ears of corn, shimmering in the sunlight.
"Donald!"
"Donald!"
The red-headbanded fans below shouted passionately.
Not far away, Uchiha Touko, brought to Kumogakure by White Zetsu and disguised as a local, stared dumbfounded at the scene.
"This guy… he's got talent." Uchiha Touko, disguised as a local by White Zetsu, twitched his lips slightly before finally commenting.
"Lord Touko, should we help him?" Tobi asked in Touko's ear.
"Help him? Of course we should." Touko chuckled, breaking off a piece of a nearby railing. He then used the high temperature of Lightning Release to melt and re-solidify the fragment until the metal condensed into a steel ball five millimeters in diameter. Touko
then gently tossed the ball down, simultaneously creating a weak magnetic field around it using Lightning Release.
As the magnetic field began to operate, the steel ball, suspended in the air, shot towards Donald on the platform after a few breaths.
"Crack!" With a muffled thud, the steel ball grazed Donald's right ear, and a trickle of blood seeped from his ear.
"Protect Lord Donald!" Donald's supporters quickly huddled together upon seeing this, while Freyg, who was with him, also looked sharply in the direction from which the steel balls had been fired. However, Uchiha Touko's shadow clones were no longer there, leaving only a White Zetsu disguised as a black ninja. Upon being discovered,
the White Zetsu disguised as a black ninja was immediately surrounded and attacked by the enraged red-headband warriors, dying within moments.
At this moment, Donald, his face covered in blood, forcefully raised his hand to the sky, waving his arm as if to tell the world that nothing could stop him!
"Donald!"
"Donald!"
"Donald!"
In the square, Donald's red-headband supporters were also infected by his emotions, continuously chanting his name. Then, a White Zetsu mixed in with the crowd shouted again, "Fifth Hokage! We respect you!"
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(End of Chapter)