https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-1051-Sowing-Discord-and-Setting-the-Pace-/13459529/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-1053-Asuma-Tsunade-I-Am-the-Hokage-/13463567/
Chapter 1052: Those Are All My Words!
Chapter 1052: Those Are All My Words!
In the center of the square.
Huge targets were arranged in a circle.
Clearly, the voting method was the same as the Jounin Trust Vote.
All one had to do was throw a kunai at the target.
If someone couldn't hit it?
It would be truly embarrassing, and they should step down.
In the center of the circle of targets stood a two-story wooden platform. The people on it were vaguely divided into two groups facing each other.
On the left was Tsunade, with Ino, Shizune, Kozuki Heita, and Nobita standing behind her.
Both Kozuki Heita and Nobita had a common identity.
Civilian Jounin!
They could represent the ordinary civilian ninjas and small ninja clans.
On the right was Asuma, along with Naruto, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and Tsunade's advisors, Koharu and Homura.
The two sides represented the Dove Faction and the Hawk Faction, respectively, and they also symbolized Konohagakure's future direction.
As for Sakura, the protagonist of the original story?
With Tang Ping's presence, her role was extremely limited, and she had no chance to take the stage. She was merely standing below.
"Asuma, do you know that you are leading Konohagakure to destruction!"
Tsunade's voice was calm, but her eyes were filled with killing intent. If possible, she would have killed him herself.
It was because of his obstruction that she had yet to ascend to the position of Hokage.
Tang Ping had given her only one month, and now half of that time had already passed. Every second was precious.
Once the time was up, the Blazing Sun Kingdom would not be lenient, and Konohagakure would be finished.
"Tsunade-sama, only the Will of Fire can save Konohagakure!"
Asuma responded calmly and respectfully.
Even though he had become corrupt, it didn't mean he was willing to see Konohagakure decline or the Sarutobi Clan fall.
If it had to be destroyed, it would be by his own hands, and he would not allow the Blazing Sun Kingdom to destroy it.
If there had been a Hokage, they would have stepped forward to mediate and speak a few words.
However, Jiraiya was already dead, so it was left to the two Hokage candidates to handle it themselves.
Tsunade stepped forward, facing the countless eyes below.
She knew that her next words might offend many and tarnish the Senju Clan's reputation.
But she did not regret it, because compared to the lives of the people, reputation was insignificant.
She understood this principle all too well.
"I know everyone will fight to protect Konohagakure, but we cannot make futile sacrifices..."
She spoke about her vision.
That was to have the village join the Blazing Sun Kingdom, free from the ravages of war, and to provide better benefits for everyone.
In the Ninja World, despite the ninja profession involving poison, assassination, and other dark deeds, this was only during missions and battles.
In everyday life, they were as simple as warriors.
Especially the strong!
Except for some special cases, all the strong valued their reputation highly, and many had even sacrificed their lives for it.
Therefore, it was impossible for them to lie during the election.
Lying would affect their ninjutsu path, and they would be ruined.
This might be why the strong despised lying.
Of course, this did not apply during battles and missions, as espionage was a common practice among ninjas.
Thus, no one would doubt Tsunade's words at this moment.
In other words, if she were to take office, the village would be spared from war, and the benefits would be even better.
No one doubted the benefits.
Compared to the Blazing Sun Kingdom's benefits, the major ninja villages were like 'exploiters.'
Apart from having more rules and less power, the Blazing Sun Kingdom was like a 'beacon' and a 'ninja paradise' for civilians and small ninja clans.
Of course, this was from the perspective of civilians or small ninja clans.
For the large ninja clans, the advantages of the Blazing Sun Kingdom were not as significant.
They could enjoy the same resources in their own villages and had much more power.
This might be why, despite countless individuals defecting to the Blazing Sun Kingdom, no large ninja clan had ever done so voluntarily.
Tang Ping was indifferent to this.
He wasn't about to coddle these ninja clans. If they wanted to join the Blazing Sun Kingdom, the precondition was that they hand over their power.
So, when Tsunade spoke from the stage, it stirred the common ninja and the smaller ninja clans, but the larger ninja clans and the powerful higher-ups were completely unmoved.
After Tsunade finished speaking, the voting began.
Thud! Thud!
Shurikens were densely shot at the target.
Note that nearly half of the registered ninja in the village belonged to the Hokage Lineage ninja clans.
After all, no matter how many commoners there were, the proportion of them becoming ninja was far lower compared to those from ninja clans.
Moreover, in any battle, it was mostly the common ninja who served as cannon fodder, with a much higher sacrifice rate.
Due to these factors, it was quite normal that although the number of common ninja far exceeded that of the ninja clans, their numbers were still fewer.
A closer look would reveal that those who voted for Tsunade were mostly common ninja and small ninja clans, while not a single large ninja clan voted for her.
Clearly, they had been "persuaded."
It wasn't just persuasion; there was likely also intimidation.
The Hokage Lineage didn't care about martial virtue!
If you dared to vote for Tsunade, they couldn't guarantee whether they could deal with the Blazing Sun Kingdom, but they could certainly guarantee that they could deal with you.
So, under threats and inducements, it wasn't surprising that this situation arose.
'How is this possible!'
Crossing her arms, Tsunade, who had been brimming with confidence, stared at the number of shurikens on the target, her pupils constricting.
She was well aware that the large ninja clans and the Hokage Lineage were unlikely to vote for her, so she hadn't held much hope.
What she couldn't believe was that not a single one supported her.
Before today, she had already received the promises of many who said they would support her.
But now, not only did no one vote for her, but even many of the common ninja didn't vote for her, which was hard to fathom.
Actually, the reason was quite simple.
Late last night, Root and Anbu took action, along with some people sent by the major forces, and they "persuaded" many common ninja.
For the larger ninja clans, it was about inducement, but for these common ninja, intimidation was enough.
No martial virtue!
In the past, Hiruzen Sarutobi would still put up a facade, leaving all the dirty work to Danzo while maintaining his "immaculate" image as Hokage.
But now, the Hokage Lineage didn't even bother with pretense.
But who could blame Asuma for being corrupted?
For him, destroying Konohagakure was part of his ninjutsu path, but only on his terms, not by someone else.
Seeing the vote count, Tang Ping, who was watching from the crowd, sighed softly.
"Tsunade lost!"
The other side used these tactics, which directly reduced Tsunade's votes to less than half.
And Asuma, with his core supporters already exceeding half, could easily gather more common ninja, making his vote count disproportionately high.
It could only be said that Tsunade didn't lose in ability but in integrity.
The other side didn't care about martial virtue, but she couldn't do the same, making it hard for her to win.
The Hokage Lineage's actions would certainly have a significant impact on them.
But if they didn't do this, they would have no future, so they had no choice but to swallow this slow-acting poison.
Asuma slowly walked to the front of the platform and spoke slowly.
"When I saw the allied forces defeated by the Blazing Sun Kingdom's army in the final battle, I wept uncontrollably!"
"At that moment, I vowed in my heart that one day I would reclaim everything!"
"This might be my only chance in this life!"
"Once I become Hokage, I will restore Konohagakure's glory!"
"Let the Will of Fire burn again!"
...
Asuma's passionate speech stirred the Konohagakure villagers and ninja, their eyes bright with excitement.
The pride of being the leading village among the Five Great Shinobi Villages made them extremely excited.
However, one person felt something was off.
'He's using my lines!'
Tang Ping suddenly remembered that the things Asuma said, he had said before.
In his previous speeches and jokes, he had mentioned these many times, and many people had recorded his words, so it wasn't strange that people in the Ninja World knew them.
The question was, why was Asuma using the same lines?
Of course.
The effectiveness of this brainwashing-like speech could be seen in the next round of voting.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
