https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-676-The-Cold-Winter-s-Extra-Layer/12937971/
Chapter 677: Overwhelming Votes
Chapter 677: Overwhelming Votes
In the meeting room of the Shadow Lord Building, a large number of uniformed Konoha Jonin were seated around a massive conference table.
"Is there some important announcement that everyone is here today?" One of the Jonin noticed the unusually high attendance for the meeting.
In fact, it wasn't necessary to call all the Jonin for every meeting. Most of the time, only those notified would attend.
Specially assigned Jonin, like the Anbu Jonin, would attend fewer meetings.
"Ahem."
Once everyone had arrived, Monkey Fly Hashirama, seated in the main position, cleared his throat twice, capturing the attention of all the ninjas present.
"Continuing the legacy of the Second Hokage, protecting the village, we have experienced several decades of spring and autumn. Time passes by, and before we know it, gray hair has sprouted, and our bodies have weakened.
The valor of the past is no longer; the wisdom of the past also requires new thoughts to continue. The position of Hokage is not the glory of one person, but the heavy responsibility of Konoha. Only with capable individuals in charge can we ensure the peace of Konoha and pass on the will of Konoha's flame, protecting the new shoots of Konoha.
Therefore, my decision is made. In the near future, I will step down from the burden of the Hokage and pass on the position to a rising star."
After speaking, Monkey Fly Hashirama exhaled lightly, opened his cup, and drank some water to moisten his throat.
Usually, during meetings, Monkey Fly Hashirama wouldn't deliberately speak in such an ornate manner, but this time, as he was stepping down, there needed to be a sense of ceremony.
"Huh?!"
The ninjas in the meeting room showed expressions of shock and confusion.
Aside from Yuya Mumon, Mizuhoto Monen, and the others who already knew in advance, the rest of the Jonin were surprised by Monkey Fly Hashirama's words.
Even Orochimaru, who knew of Monkey Fly Hashirama's defeat, was somewhat taken aback.
Losing to a junior was indeed somewhat embarrassing for a Hokage like Monkey Fly Hashirama, but it wasn't severe enough to warrant resignation.
Thanks to Son Ryouka's restraint, Konoha hadn't suffered any actual losses. As long as Monkey Fly Hashirama pretended nothing had happened, there wouldn't be much impact, provided Son Ryouka didn't make a big deal out of it.
"Has something happened?" Nara Shikaku's eyes flickered.
He didn't believe Monkey Fly Hashirama's reason of aging and declining strength. While Monkey Fly Hashirama was indeed not young, he wasn't that old either.
Orochimaru was six years older than Monkey Fly Hashirama and was still serving as the Third Tsuchikage without any issues.
"Hokage?" Tsunade glanced at Yuya Mumon subconsciously, then frowned.
Recently, Yuya Mumon's reputation within Konoha had been growing, and with his outstanding performance in the Third Great Shinobi War, it wasn't impossible for him to be nominated.
However, Tsunade didn't want Yuya Mumon to become the Hokage. If Yuya Mumon took on the position, wouldn't he have to waste a lot of time on official duties, and would he still have the energy to cook well?
"Who are the nominated candidates?" The Konoha Jonin curiously surveyed the powerful ninjas in the meeting room.
Yuya Mumon and the Three Sages were the most watched candidates, considered the most likely ninjas.
As for Water Gate, although he was excellent in various aspects, with Yuya Mumon present, most people believed that Water Gate had no chance.
Moreover, with the Three Sages, such experienced and powerful ninjas, if both Yuya Mumon and Water Gate were nominated, then all the Three Sages would have to be nominated as well, making the number of candidates too large.
Teuchi tightly closed his mouth, but his eyebrows couldn't help but dance with excitement. He was eager to cast his vote for Teacher Yuya Mumon.
"Orochimaru is one of Konoha's Three Sages, a renowned ninja in the Shinobi World. He diligently carries out missions, successfully completing one challenging task after another, bringing significant benefits to Konoha and establishing a good reputation."
After a brief pause, Monkey Fly Hashirama formally began introducing the nominated ninjas.
Upon hearing Orochimaru's name, the Jonin showed expressions of understanding.
At the beginning of the Third Great Shinobi War, the Three Sages were already considered likely candidates for the Hokage position. Therefore, everyone found Orochimaru's nomination unsurprising and saw no issues with it.
"Since the Second Great Shinobi War, he has made remarkable contributions to Konoha.
Based on Orochimaru's outstanding contributions to Konoha and the potential positive changes he may bring in the future, the high-level meeting, after careful consideration and extensive discussion, has decided to nominate Orochimaru as the Fourth Hokage nominee."
Clap! Clap!!
After Monkey Fly Hashirama finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted.
Orochimaru's performance in both the Second and Third Great Shinobi Wars was commendable, and this nomination was well-deserved.
"In the Third Great Shinobi War, Konoha produced numerous outstanding ninjas, among whom Yuyu Mumu stood out as the most exceptional. Even if we expand the scope to the entire Shinobi World, Yuyu Mumu was the most impressive ninja in the Third Great Shinobi War.
Yuyu Mumon had repeatedly turned the tide in battles where the Konoha forces were at a disadvantage, and in the final battle of the war, he single-handedly faced a joint attack by multiple Kage, remaining calm and composed. This laid the foundation for Konoha's ultimate victory."
The applause subsided, and Monkey Fly Hashirama immediately began introducing the second nominee, Yuya Mumon.
"That's so true." Tsunade couldn't help but roll her eyes at Monkey Fly Hashirama.
At only fifty-four, why would he think about retirement? It would be better to continue serving for a few more years.
Tsunade guessed that the nominees would be Yuya Mumon and Orochimaru. Jiraiya, like her, had refused to become the Hokage, so he wouldn't be nominated.
In this situation, Tsunade felt that Yuya Mumon, with his better interpersonal skills and Wood Style, had a higher chance of being elected.
"Therefore, after a unanimous decision by the high-level meeting, we have officially nominated Yuyu Mumon as the Fourth Hokage nominee."
Clap, clap, clap! As Monkey Fly Hashirama finished speaking, the meeting room erupted into even louder applause than before.
Teuchi and Asama, as his students, gave him a lot of face, almost using Chakra Amplification.
Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Hachiro exchanged glances, and their applause was filled with excitement.
For the Uchiha clan, Yuya Mumon becoming the Hokage was a great and wonderful thing.
Not to mention, just the fact that Teuchi and Zhi Shui would become legitimate Hokage successors was exciting enough.
With a Hokage as their teacher, and with their own abilities, even if they didn't become Hokage, becoming high-ranking officials should be no problem.
"I choose Teacher Yuya Mumon! He can lead us to become stronger." Teuchi said excitedly.
Undoubtedly, he firmly supported Yuya Mumon becoming the Hokage.
"Teuchi, please be quiet. There's no need to openly express your thoughts like this." Mizuhoto Monen reminded him.
The Jonin meeting to elect the Hokage was not a simple show of hands but a secret ballot.
Otherwise, it would be embarrassing during the voting process, seeing one's subordinates and friends not voting for oneself but for the opponent.
Kakashi covered his face in exasperation and discreetly moved his chair slightly to the side.
"These are all the Fourth Hokage nominees for this election. We will begin voting in five minutes." Monkey Fly Hashirama continued.
The atmosphere in the meeting became somewhat silent, and no one spoke about who to vote for.
There was no particular reason; it was simply easier to offend people this way.
After all, the attendees were elite ninjas, and at this distance, unless they whispered directly into someone's ear, they could still overhear what was being said.
When Zhi Shui and the others heard that Orochimaru was the only opponent, their faces lit up with joy.
Their greatest concern was Tsunade being nominated, and they had devised various strategies to win votes.
If the only opponent was Orochimaru, it wouldn't be so troublesome. With Yuya Mumon's current reputation in Konoha, even without doing anything, he would likely win over Orochimaru and become the Hokage.
"Tsunade, who do you plan to vote for?" Jiraiya asked directly.
He had already left the Land of Fire a week ago, but Monkey Fly Hashirama contacted him, saying there was an important matter, so he returned.
For Jiraiya, there was no need to be too reserved about who to vote for. If he had a preference, getting a nomination wouldn't be difficult.
If Jiraiya was like this, the nominated ninjas should be grateful for his resistance to becoming the Hokage, directly reducing a strong competitor.
"Yuya Mumon." Tsunade replied briefly.
She didn't want to see Yuya Mumon become the Hokage, but she wouldn't deliberately vote for Orochimaru because of this. What if Yuya Mumon missed the opportunity to become the Hokage because of this? How could she then have the face to eat so much food?
Tsunade also thought that Orochimaru was not suitable to become the Hokage. In her opinion, Orochimaru had become somewhat crazy, wanting to learn all ninjutsu and seeking immortality.
Letting such a ninja become the Hokage could lead to unpredictable consequences.
"What about you?"
"I plan to abstain." Jiraiya replied.
He also believed that Orochimaru was not suitable to become the Hokage, but he felt that voting for Yuya Mumon would be too hurtful to Orochimaru.
So he decided to abstain, which was allowed within the rules.
Five minutes passed quickly.
A ballot was distributed to each Jonin.
It was a piece of paper with the names of the two candidates written on it.
To vote for someone, draw a circle under their name. If you didn't want to vote for either, you could abstain by drawing a circle between the two names.
Teuchi, Kakashi, and the others immediately drew circles under Yuya Mumon's name as soon as they received the ballots.
Led by Uchiha Fugaku, the Uchiha Jonin also quickly drew a circle under Yu Sheng Muyue's name.
By voting for Yu Sheng Muyue, they were also voting for the Uchiha clan's chance to enter the core of power.
"Orochimaru-sama, I'm sorry, it's not that you're not good, it's just that Teacher Yu Sheng Muyue is too outstanding," they said.
Some Jonin who had served under Orochimaru during the Third Great Shinobi War but had also participated in Yu Sheng Muyue's special training silently drew a circle for him.
"Yu Sheng Muyue as the Hokage Advisor? My son seems to highly regard him, let's just vote for him then," some Jonin hesitated, thinking of how their children often praised Yu Sheng Muyue, and eventually drew a circle under his name.
Many of them had little interaction with Yu Sheng Muyue, but they had heard of his accomplishments to some extent.
After the ballots were counted, Mizuhoto Monen and Chojirou Kamizuru presented the results to Monkey Fly Hashirama.
A look of surprise flashed across Monkey Fly Hashirama's face, and he asked in a low voice, "Have you double-checked and confirmed there are no issues?"
"We checked it five times in total, there will definitely be no problems," Mizuhoto Monen replied.
Counting the ballots was an extremely important task, requiring multiple ninjas to repeatedly confirm the results, and it was supervised by Mizuhoto Monen and Chojirou Kamizuru, two high-ranking officials, to prevent any issues.
Monkey Fly Hashirama looked at Orochimaru with some reluctance, but still turned to face the Jonin and said,
"Orochimaru received a total of twenty-eight votes."
The Jonin in the room all showed expressions of disbelief.
Twenty-eight votes represented twenty-eight Jonin, which seemed like a lot, but there were over one hundred and sixty Jonin present at the meeting.
In other words, the number of supporters for Orochimaru was less than twenty percent of the total.
This was Orochimaru, a legendary Sannin renowned since the Second Great Shinobi War, and the dismal number of votes was beyond the expectations of most Jonin.
Many people thought that Yu Sheng Muyue had an advantage but not a significant one, as this was a Jonin meeting.
Compared to the newly rising Yu Sheng Muyue, most Jonin were still more familiar with Orochimaru.
"Could it be that there were too many abstentions?" someone suggested a possibility.
If the total number of votes decreased due to a large number of abstentions, then the dismal data would make sense.
"Yu Sheng Muyue received a total of one hundred and thirty-nine votes," Monkey Fly Hashirama paused for a moment and said.
The meeting room fell into an eerie silence.
The Jonin who voted for Orochimaru looked around in surprise, as if asking why everyone else had voted for Yu Sheng Muyue.
The Jonin who voted for Yu Sheng Muyue couldn't help but look around, wondering if they had so many allies, resulting in such an overwhelming victory.
This vote difference was enough to secure Yu Sheng Muyue's position as the Hokage.
Although the Chunin, Genin, and civilians had not yet voted, their combined weight was only sixty percent.
Unless Orochimaru had extremely high popularity among the civilians and ordinary ninjas, it would be difficult to turn the tables.
Everyone present was a Leaf Village ninja; how could they not know Orochimaru's situation in the village? While he had many supporters, it was nowhere near the number Yu Sheng Muyue had.
Yu Sheng Muyue's role in the Third Great Shinobi War was too significant, and the war had just ended, making this Yu Sheng Muyue's absolute dominant period.
Uchiha Fugaku smiled, showing an unusual look of excitement.
The Hokage position would finally be held by someone who might be biased towards the Uchiha clan! With the two Uchiha stars, Zhi Shui and Teuchi, and a Hokage like Yu Sheng Muyue, who was strong and would not target the Uchiha, the Uchiha clan would surely regain its former glory.
"Yu Sheng Muyue is the Hokage!" Teuchi's face broke into a wide smile, and he shouted in his heart.
He had studied the rules of the Hokage election, and although it was still early to determine the final result, Yu Sheng Muyue's vote count was extremely stable, with almost no chance of a reversal.
"History has been further altered," Teuchi silently apologized to Water Gate in his heart.
The impact of their actions was growing. Water Gate, who was supposed to become the Fourth Hokage, didn't even receive a nomination.
Teuchi thought that this must be because Yu Sheng Muyue's survival had led to many battles that were resolved by Water Gate in the original history now being resolved by Yu Sheng Muyue.
After all, Yu Sheng Muyue was stronger than Water Gate.
However, even if given a hundred chances, Teuchi would still find a way to change history.
Whoever became the Hokage didn't matter; he just wanted everyone to live well.
This time, Naruto should no longer become an orphan.
PS: I've been busy and tired lately, and I accidentally fell asleep again.
Fortunately, I'm finally done with my busy schedule, and I should be able to update before one or two in the morning, right?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
