Danzo had not mentioned even a word of this before.
Wasn't this meeting supposed to be held in order to stabilize the village's situation?
And now Danzo suddenly threw this out?
Appointing himself as the Fourth Hokage?
"Danzo, what do you mean? Hiruzen is still alive!"
Homura Mitokado was furious.
Danzo succeeding to the Hokage position was something Homura absolutely did not want to see.
First, the conflict between the two of them was enormous.
Once Danzo became Hokage, Homura could already imagine what kind of suppression he would face.
Second, if Danzo could inherit the Hokage position, then why couldn't he?
Koharu Utatane was also dissatisfied with Danzo's actions.
"That's right. Hiruzen is only unconscious. He isn't dead. He will still wake up. Since when has a new Hokage directly taken office before the previous Hokage has even died?"
Homura Mitokado added, "And even if we must determine the next Hokage, it is not up to you, Danzo, to decide. Everyone should vote."
Danzo had naturally expected that someone would obstruct him.
Therefore, Danzo had prepared his arguments long ago.
"Who knows when Hiruzen will wake up? If he never wakes up, will the Hokage position remain empty forever?"
"The Hokage serves the village, not the village serving the Hokage."
"Without a Hokage, how should the village respond to the present situation? How should affairs be handled? Who can make decisions?"
"Could it be that your loyalty is not to the village, but to Hiruzen?"
Then Danzo continued, "As for the candidate for Hokage, other than me, who is suitable?"
"In the entire village, other than me, who can shoulder this responsibility? Who dares to shoulder this responsibility?"
Homura Mitokado snorted coldly.
"If even you can do it, Danzo, why can't I?"
Danzo looked at Homura with disdain.
"Homura, it is not that I want to belittle you. Let everyone here judge for themselves. Are you capable? How many things have you done for the village? How many things have you actually accomplished?"
"You were responsible for Konoha Weekly, yet you turned it into that state. It cannot even compare to one-tenth of Sunagakure's Ninja World Weekly."
"When you took over my Root, you couldn't even figure out how many people it had."
"As for me, when Root had nearly collapsed, I rebuilt it very quickly."
"Since you want to compete, then I will give you that chance."
"Everyone, vote. Raise your hands if you choose Homura Mitokado as Fourth Hokage. Do not raise your hands if you choose me as Fourth Hokage."
It was a contest without suspense.
Not to mention that Danzo's previous management and preparation were not something Homura could compare to. Before coming here, Danzo had already contacted people in advance. Homura had made no preparations whatsoever.
Danzo won with an overwhelming advantage.
Only at this moment did Homura Mitokado realize that he had been tricked.
He had been used by Danzo.
Danzo had used him to quietly shift the topic that should have been discussed—whether Konoha should appoint a Fourth Hokage—into who between himself and Danzo was more suitable to become the Fourth Hokage.
The two sides erupted into fierce argument once again.
The others in the meeting room also split into two factions.
In the end, Danzo did not obtain the best result he had wanted. He could only take one step back.
News quickly spread throughout Konoha.
"Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was attacked by an unknown shinobi and has fallen into a coma from heavy injuries. Konoha will be managed by Danzo Shimura as Acting Hokage, temporarily handling village affairs!"
Everyone dispersed.
Danzo came to the Hokage's office and sat down on the chair he had dreamed of countless times.
When his back leaned against the chair, Danzo could not help narrowing his eyes comfortably.
Naturally, it was not that the chair itself was comfortable.
It was merely that Danzo had received a deep psychological satisfaction.
"Finally!"
"I have finally sat in this position!"
"This position that should have belonged to me!"
"If I had not been one step slower back then, Hiruzen would never have had a chance. I was the more correct choice for Hokage. Hiruzen is nothing but trash. He only knows how to lead Konoha downhill."
Immediately afterward, Danzo opened his eyes. A trace of gloom flashed through them.
"That dog Homura Mitokado. If not for his firm opposition, I would not merely be Acting Hokage right now. I would be the true Fourth Hokage."
"Koharu also stood on Hiruzen's side."
"And the Sarutobi clan."
"But can you stop me this time and still stop me next time?"
"As long as Hiruzen does not wake up, I am the true Hokage!"
A ruthless look appeared in Danzo's eyes.
The sudden news shook all of Konoha. Countless people discussed it one after another.
"Hokage-sama is heavily injured and unconscious?"
"Danzo Shimura is Acting Hokage?"
"Who did it?"
"I heard it was someone from the Senju clan."
Some people felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi deserved it.
"I heard that Hokage-sama previously planned to follow the old Senju clan genealogy, find those people who had Senju blood flowing through them, and kill them one by one to exterminate them."
"He had already sent ANBU shinobi to act. This was the Senju clan's resistance."
The person beside him revealed a shocked expression.
"So that's what happened? Hokage-sama was actually that brutal? Then it really isn't strange that others would resist."
But some people also explained on Hiruzen Sarutobi's behalf.
"There was no other way. After all, Tsunade-sama issued a call in the Land of Fire to rebuild the Senju clan. Those people in the village with Senju blood all wanted to leave."
"The village's situation is already bad. If they leave, it will only make the village even worse."
"Hokage-sama was doing it for the village!"
The moment someone heard this kind of argument, they immediately cursed.
"Bullshit! Complete bullshit!"
"For the village? If it was for the village, he should have negotiated with Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama!"
"Why did Tsunade-sama take such action in the first place? Isn't it because Nawaki was suspected to have been plotted against and killed by Hokage-sama? Hokage-sama only had to let them come back and investigate clearly."
"Unless they really did it and had a guilty conscience."
"In that case, Hokage-sama should have apologized with his death and stepped down from the Hokage position."
"That would be doing it for the village."
"The actions he took were only for himself."
One person looked toward the Hokage Building and sighed.
"I wonder what kind of person the Acting Hokage is. Will he be better than Hokage-sama?"
"If the Acting Hokage does better, then we might as well let him continue as Hokage permanently."
"That's right. Hokage-sama truly hasn't done well enough."
"No matter whether Hokage-sama actually did the things from those rumors or not, at the very least, when facing those rumors, the clarifications Hokage-sama gave were completely insufficient."
The news that Hiruzen Sarutobi had fallen into a coma and Danzo Shimura had become Acting Hokage quickly spread out of Konoha.
Like a nuclear bomb, it instantly detonated discussion across the entire shinobi world.
Sunagakure.
When he heard the first half of the news, Rasa's heart sank.