On the last day before the vote, a report from Jiraiya arrived urgently at the Village.
Everyone around the council meeting, temporarily created, had mixed feelings, and it was no surprise when the atmosphere turned grim upon hearing the news about Jiraiya's report.
The villages had finally launched the attack against the Land of Whirlpools, and all enemy forces were heading east of the Land of Fire to exterminate the Uzumaki.
By this point, the ninja world already knew that Minato Namikaze had killed the leader of the Sand Village, shocking the entire world. His name was spoken from the mouths of the most powerful ninjas across the world, and his bounty in the Bingo Book had increased greatly, even though he had already demonstrated enough power to fight head-on against the leader of the Stone Village, the Tsuchikage, and the leader of the Cloud Village, the Raikage.
He had not killed either of them, obviously. Even so, many already expected it could happen, and this was quite surprising even for those two Kages.
Peace seemed rather fragile at this moment.
The news of a Kage's death further weakened the relations between Konoha and foreign countries, leaving them very fragmented. No one spoke directly, but some looked at Minato with a certain anger in the village because of it.
Although it was a small number, it was perfectly normal. After all, he couldn't please everyone. There would always be those who thought differently — that was the world, especially the ninja world.
But that was not the main concern now. Perhaps in a few days the Land of Whirlpools would be attacked, and the vote to decide what Konoha's stance would be regarding this would take place tomorrow.
Hiruzen stared at Minato in a peculiar way from the other side of the table along with the other temporary counselors, while the blond read the report from Jiraiya, his sensei, with a calm demeanor.
The village was more inclined to preserve itself than to fight alongside the Uzumaki, even though nearly half of the village still preferred to go and defend their allies. After all, refusing to do so was considered cowardly when they could bring the Uzumaki into the country.
The Hokage still remembered very well the conversation he had with Orochimaru the day before, when they finally stopped to talk alone about the events.
It was quite disturbing for the Hokage.
Beginning of the Flashback –
"What happened in Suna, Orochimaru?" Hiruzen asked his student, who seemed to frown when questioned about it.
"You have no idea what that boy is capable of." An ironic smile appeared on Orochimaru's lips, but it did not seem like joy. It was more aimed at trying to hide his frustration.
"Be clearer, Orochimaru." The Hokage said with some frustration as he continued. "Ten entire squads of Konoha and Suna were wiped out as if they were nothing, even with you and Rasa, the golden sand, among them. In the end, it made no difference and only you survived along with a small group of ninjas under my command..."
How they had lost with such strength was a frustrating mystery for Hiruzen. He had the reports from the surviving Anbu ninjas, but he needed to hear it from his student.
"From what I heard later, the Sand Village sent reinforcements. Even... the Kazekage was there as well. How did Minato survive the entire attack and still kill the Kazekage in front of all his ninjas? That doesn't make sense."
Not knowing the full extent of Minato's power was still a mystery, and Hiruzen questioned it. Not even he could imagine half of what Minato had done. How was it possible for someone to hide such a powerful strength, when everyone believed him to be below what he had truly shown all these years?
"You have no idea what we saw, sensei." Orochimaru said in an ironic tone. "Minato's body is unlike anything I've ever faced. He was hit multiple times, but his body always regenerates. No... he didn't even seem to get hurt." He spoke, raising one of Hiruzen's eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" The Hokage had heard the reports of times when Minato was struck, while his body glowed and healed itself. He never exactly understood what that was and, no matter how hard he tried to uncover it, he never found any useful information.
Minato had many ways of finishing off his enemies and missions, but since he was almost never hit, Hiruzen believed that this ability was somewhat limited. Because of that, he trusted they could deal with him. As long as they sealed him so he couldn't use the teleportation jutsu, he would be cornered.
"He was crushed by the rocks, sensei. There was no way he could have escaped. But here's the problem: his body isn't damaged by physical attacks. He recovers in a strange way. It's like the Hozuki from the Land of Water, where physical attacks don't work on them either, with their bodies turned into water."
"Minato seems to have the same type of ability, but we still haven't discovered his weakness. While the Hozuki clan has a weakness against lightning, Minato's body of light was unlike anything I've ever seen." Orochimaru spoke in a dark tone, recalling all the attacks. Nothing they tried against him worked.
"He simply toyed with all of us." Orochimaru concluded in a heavy voice.
"And how did you survive?" Hiruzen had asked.
"I only survived because I managed to replace my body in every fatal attack he launched against me. But that also drained a lot of my chakra. If he had continued, I might be dead today." Orochimaru said, not at all pleased with it.
And Orochimaru continued before Hiruzen could make any comment.
"He doesn't just have a body made of light, but also his speed is so fast that no one can keep up with him. He was already terrifying with the title of the fastest ninja in the world, but I'm inclined to say that we still underestimated him somehow... He can even fire highly destructive light beams, comparable to other S-rank jutsus."
"I believe that, from the beginning, he knew everything, the entire trap being created for him... but he simply accepted the trap being formed and allowed himself to be caught just to fight all of us. He didn't kill Rasa because he chose not to, somehow."
"When thousands of Suna ninjas appeared with the Kazekage, he didn't hesitate to fight them at the same time he was facing another enemy. He went on killing ninjas like no one else. I've never seen anything like it."
"The Kazekage's black sand was easily surpassed by the powers the boy demonstrated. The leader of Suna was killed by Minato, and the boy didn't even seem to be trying. No wonder that, when I arrived at the Village, Lord Danzō was already dead and Minato was leading several clans on the same night, pressuring you and the other elders..." Orochimaru paused, then added.
"But I don't think he really needed to fight much, right, sensei? When you fell defeated by the Nine-Tails' Jinchuuriki. That's why I was even more intrigued when I heard about what happened last night..."
Hiruzen only stared at him in silence, his face darkening with the memory.
"Did you have any idea that Minato was accumulating so much power?" Hiruzen asked.
They were no longer referring only to the powers Minato had demonstrated — although they were terrifying. There were also things just as concerning, which had formed right under his nose without anyone noticing, given the powers Kushina and Tsuna had shown. Hiruzen would have been even more shocked if he knew what Mikoto was about to become as well.
"Do you think I had any idea about the power accumulating in the village, hidden from everyone? The answer is no, and I can understand your concern, sensei. But I don't think we can deal with this all of a sudden. The boy proves to be overwhelmingly powerful, hiding his abilities all these years. Then one day, he appears and... stops hiding."
"At the same time, when no one had even seen Kushina leave her house since the kidnapping incident, she suddenly appeared mastering the fox's chakra, and no one imagined that a second user of the Sage Mode of the Village would appear. Or should I say, the third, since Minato also demonstrated having Sage Mode from Mount Myoboku. He cast three S-rank jutsus in the middle of the crowd of Suna ninjas. That was terrifying, and hundreds of them were wiped out in an instant."
"I wonder, sensei... since when had we lost control of the Village? Since when were we surpassed? Perhaps we should just accept that we've lost..." Orochimaru sneered, clearly not liking being outmatched.
He knew his sensei didn't either. Hiruzen had lost control of the Village because of this, and things would be very different now. But that didn't stop Orochimaru from flashing an ironic smile at Hiruzen's scowl.
"You know, you always boasted about wanting the Village to be strong, to have powerful ninjas. Look at it now… perhaps its current build of ninjas has never been at its peak since the Senju brothers were alive, working side by side. Perhaps not even when Uchiha Madara was part of the Village. The boy made that quite clear last night."
"But you don't seem to like that at all, do you, sensei? You used to boast, or at least spread throughout the Village, through Danzō, that you were the most powerful Hokage who ever lived. The Ninja God, as many called you. Now all those titles don't seem so important, do they?"
Hiruzen's scowl darkened even more at Orochimaru's mockery. "I don't want to hear your provocations, Orochimaru!" He snapped back.
The student found that amusing, but Hiruzen continued. "Remember that, just as things are bad for me, they're also bad for you. You've become an enemy of Minato."
Orochimaru seemed to think about that for a moment, dropping the ironic smile. "And what's the plan now, sensei?" was all he asked.
"There is no plan, Orochimaru. At least I'm certain the Village will choose not to fight. No one wants war again, no one wants to see their loved ones die, even if it's for an allied clan." Hiruzen said.
"I know, yes. You're certainly right. But we'll surely be in a bad position in the Village. After this, the boy will forever leave his mark and there will be a new selection for a new Hokage, and there's no doubt he'll be chosen. Even if he doesn't execute you, you won't have an easy life. You'll lose all your privileges and power over the village." Orochimaru said.
"We're in the same boat, Orochimaru." That was all Hiruzen debated, unwilling to argue further.
Orochimaru just opened another ironic smile and began to rise, leaving the Sarutobi clan without saying anything else.
End of Flashback –
Returning to the present day, there was nothing more they could do. But Minato's silence was very strange in the Hokage's opinion. The boy wasn't doing anything to prevent the Village from refusing to help the Uzumaki. Hiruzen expected Minato, somehow, to try to undermine the vote, but that wasn't what was happening. Minato seemed to accept the Village's decision while remaining very calm.
'He is planning something.' Hiruzen still had a voice constantly telling him this.
It was as if Minato had already accepted the Village's outcome and, at the same time, had everything under control.
It was strange.
"Anyway, it's good for us to start sending ninjas to all the borders, especially to the east side, reinforcing to protect the country from a possible combined attack from the nations, and protecting the border on Suna's side to prevent another possible retaliation." Minato's voice sounded as everyone agreed.
Hiruzen looked at Minato, forcing himself to nod, having to agree with what the boy was saying. But it was bothersome, making him wonder since when had he become someone in that meeting who only agreed or disagreed, while the boy had a more active voice than his own? He saw himself losing his voice over the Village's suggestions and discussions about its problems to a much younger child, and it was a little frustrating.
The meeting continued as they discussed the imminent attack.
"Send Jiraiya back to the Village. There's nothing more for him to gather information about there, and it's been years since he last returned to Konoha." Minato suggested once again, and no one disagreed.
In the end, the meeting ended, and everyone returned to their clans and homes.
And a day passed. Finally, the voting began.
Author's Note:
I think this was a meeting that should have happened between Orochimaru and his sensei, talking about what happened in Suna.