Minato Namikaze slowly took his seat, his mind already racing to formulate a countermeasure.
Once he returned from the chat group, he would immediately begin arranging a response, especially regarding the Third Hokage and Danzo, those two old foxes. He knew clearly that he himself must establish a swift, precise, and ruthless method of dealing with them.
Aoki watched Minato Namikaze lost in thought and understood. Everyone knew that this young man, having suddenly learned of the earth-shattering changes in his future, would inevitably be in emotional turmoil. Everyone was also secretly pondering solutions for him, but just then, Tsunade suddenly looked urgently at Aoki.
"Group Leader, the group already has five people," Tsunade's tone was full of urgency, unable to hide what mattered most to her. "Have the other functions been unlocked?"
This was Tsunade's most pressing concern at the moment, and beside her, the First and Second Hokage also showed expressions of anticipation.
"They're unlocked, Tsunade. First is the World Ranking List," Aoki's voice carried unconcealable excitement. "I've been waiting a long time for this!"
Even the usually steady Second Hokage couldn't hide his emotion now. He too was eager to know where his world would rank among these several Hokage worlds.
"World Ranking List?"
Minato, still contemplating his strategy, snapped back to attention upon hearing this. He immediately realized that this list was far from simple on the surface; otherwise, the First and Second Hokage wouldn't be so expectant. The key was to understand the significance of this ranking.
Seeing everyone's expectant expressions, Aoki didn't delay and declared clearly, "In that case, everyone, let's open it now!"
Everyone immediately sat up straight, their eyes fixed intently on Aoki.
Under the focus of numerous eager gazes, a transparent light screen instantly appeared before everyone's eyes.
Words appeared on the light screen: "Open this World Ranking List?"
"Open!"
As Aoki's words fell, the light screen before them instantly began to transform.
The World Ranking List officially began its ranking.
The worlds participating in the ranking were: First Hokage Hashirama's world, Second Hokage Tobirama's world, Fourth Hokage Aoki's world, Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze's world, and Fifth Hokage Tsunade's world.
The light screen then displayed another line of prompt text: "The richness of the ranking rewards is related to the strength of the participating worlds! To obtain better rewards, please strive your utmost to enhance the strength of your respective worlds!"
Seeing the words on the light screen, everyone's eyes lit up.
"There really are rewards!"
The fact that the rewards were tied to the strength of all participating worlds heightened everyone's anticipation even further.
"It seems this chat group gathered us not just for mutual exchange," Second Hokage Tobirama spoke gravely, hitting the key point. "But also to forge a grand Hokage alliance!"
Aoki nodded in agreement, then smiled and said, "I just wonder which world will take the top spot this time."
As the words fell, the atmosphere instantly grew tense. Everyone's expressions turned serious, their eyes fixed intently on the light screen before them.
Senju Hashirama thought to himself: Konoha was founded by me. This time, first place should be mine, right?
Indeed, if not for his insistence on distributing the Tailed Beasts back then and the bond with Madara Uchiha, even if Naruto came, defeating him would have been no easy feat.
The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, was also brimming with confidence. Under his leadership, Konoha had developed rapidly, its strength growing by leaps and bounds: Hmph, first place should rightfully be mine.
Minato Namikaze shifted his gaze to the First and Second Hokages, thinking to himself: First place will likely be between the First and Second Hokages. Aoki and I are both Fourth Hokages, our circumstances quite similar. But the eras of the First and Second Hokages clearly had greater developmental potential.
The text on the light screen continued to shift. The moment to reveal first place had finally arrived.
The next second, a line of large characters appeared on the light screen: First Place: Fourth Hokage Aoki's World.
This line instantly captured everyone's attention.
"Huh? It's not me?"
First Hokage Hashirama was slightly surprised, but then laughed heartily and began to praise Aoki, full of recognition for this outstanding future Hokage.
"I didn't expect you to take first place," Second Hokage Tobirama also showed astonishment. He had clearly prepared in advance, yet still failed to achieve his wish.
Aoki chuckled lightly, cupping his hands in a modest gesture. "Just a stroke of luck. Thanks to my constant dedication to improving Konoha's strength, it has finally paid off."
As soon as he finished speaking, the light screen unlocked a new function—National Power Display. Even Aoki hadn't anticipated this function. It could synchronously display the real-time development status of Konoha in all aspects.
Naturally, Aoki readily agreed to the display. After all, the future reward pool was closely related to the national power of all Hokage worlds participating in the ranking. The stronger each world's power, the greater the benefits they could obtain.
"Display!"
At Aoki's command, the text on the light screen changed once more.
The First Hokage and the others immediately sat up straight, full of eager anticipation. The National Power Display was about to begin.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
The moment the countdown ended, Aoki's figure appeared on the light screen.
"Incredible!"
Someone couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
"Good, good. Let's see just how this kid Aoki managed to take first place," Hashirama said with keen interest, eager to investigate thoroughly.
Tobirama, however, watched with sharp eyes, scrutinizing every frame on the light screen, determined to uncover the secret of how Aoki surpassed him and understand exactly how he developed Konoha.
Tsunade watched the spectacle, but her attention was drawn to another newly unlocked function.
Only Minato wore an extremely grave expression.
He understood that since he and Aoki existed in similar eras, there must be something he could learn from the other's methods that secured the top spot. By mastering these, he would be more confident in dealing with the Th
ird Hokage and Danzo upon his return.
The images on the light screen slowly unfolded, gradually revealing the story of Konoha under Aoki's leadership.