Tsunade waved heroically to the villagers supporting her, then gratefully glanced at Kairen.
If not for Kairen, she could never have gained so much support.
Kairen smiled and pointed upward. "Tsunade, today you're the star!"
Tsunade nodded and slowly walked up the Hokage Building with Kairen.
A group of people gathered on the rooftop to decide the Hokage Assistant position.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff of his old pipe, glanced around, and then said, "Let's start voting!"
Representatives of the major ninja clans and the civilians cast their votes before two boxes.
One was for Nara Shige, the other was for Tsunade.
The voting rules openly revealed the power distribution of this village. Civilians held only 30% of the votes, even though they made up 70% of the population. Their power in the village was completely reversed.
The Uchiha Clan had 10% of the votes, and strong jōnin like Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Minato also held certain voting shares.
After voting ended, the Hyūga counted the ballots. One of them glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen and said, "Elder Nara Shige… 150 votes!"
The pale old man standing beside Sarutobi Hiruzen remained expressionless, but his mind was quickly calculating.
Based on the total village votes, 150 was roughly 50%. He had a strong chance of becoming the Hokage Assistant.
Then the Hyūga reported, "Princess Tsunade's votes are—162!"
The rooftop fell silent. Then everyone turned to Tsunade.
Hands on her hips, Tsunade's face was full of confidence.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's brows tightened deeply.
Impossible! Even if civilians held 30% of the votes, the remaining clans would never support Tsunade.
All the major clans were under his control. None of them would support Tsunade. What was going on?
His gaze shifted to the Uchiha, dressed in black and standing aloof at the side.
Was it them? But even then, Tsunade shouldn't have been able to surpass Nara Shige!
Kairen glanced toward the Aburame clan's area and smiled. Three to five "Aburame" raised thumbs at him.
Those were not Aburame people—they were Kairen's shadow clones.
When Kairen arrived, he had quietly knocked them out, put on sunglasses and their clothes, and voted for Tsunade.
With the fourth high-level position settled, Sarutobi Hiruzen wasted no more time. He stepped to the railing and announced downward, "From this day forward, Tsunade is the Hokage Assistant of the village."
Tsunade also stepped forward and waved to the crowd below.
"Long live!!"
In an instant, the crowd erupted into excited cheers.
Kairen's shadow clones below were rhythmically shouting:
"Princess Tsunade is so beloved—she should become the Fourth Hokage!"
"Yes! She must become the Fourth Hokage!"
"Me too! If the village doesn't make Tsunade Hokage, I'll… I'll… defect!!"
Soon the villagers began changing their chants, strongly supporting Tsunade.
Someone shouted, "Fourth Hokage!"
Then the whole village echoed the chant.
"Fourth Hokage!"
"Fourth Hokage!!"
"Fourth Hokage!!!"
Sunlight bathed Tsunade, and she seemed like the Fourth Hokage already.
The high-levels and all the clans stared in shock at this rising momentum, as if it would burst through the heavens and tear apart the net of control they had woven.
Sarutobi Hiruzen clenched his fist tightly. The village he had always controlled was slipping further and further from his grasp.
When did it start? Ah—when Moku Kairen arrived!
Kairen stepped forward as well, nodding toward the shadow clones hidden among the villagers. The admiral had done a good job.
Below, he also spotted many familiar faces.
Obito was apologizing endlessly to Rin. Yesterday he had led a group of delinquent shadow clones to surround Rin's house, scaring her so badly she didn't dare leave.
Beside them was a silver-haired, masked boy—Hatake Kakashi.
With a calm expression, Kakashi stared at the cheering around him. His stillness contrasted sharply with the noisy surroundings.
He glanced upward and suddenly noticed a youth who looked like an Uchiha. The youth smiled at him. Kakashi was puzzled—he didn't know this person.
Naturally so. Kakashi and Kairen had been classmates for only a few months before graduating. He wouldn't remember a bottom-ranker like Kairen.
Kairen looked away again. Two figures in green skintight suits—one big, one small—were loudly shouting about youth.
Among a group of little kids, Yakushi Nono carried Jinrei on her back. Seeing Kairen look over, Jinrei waved vigorously. "Kairen-isan! Kairen-san!"
Yakushi Nono gave Kairen a gentle smile. Uruishi and Akikawa happily waved as well.
Kairen smiled and waved back.
A pleasant fragrance drifted past, followed by a flash of red in Kairen's vision.
Turning his head, he saw Kushina leaning against the railing, waving constantly and shouting loudly with cupped hands:
"Obito! Kakashi! Rin! Hahaha…"
Her lively, cheerful voice sounded wonderful. Would it sound even better if everything went inside…? Kairen wondered.
After calling out, Kushina wrapped an arm around Kairen's neck like a close girlfriend and said,
"I didn't expect Tsunade-san to have so much support. If only I could be like that one day."
Kairen inhaled her fragrance. "I support you right now. I'd love nothing more than to lift you straight to the sky!"
Kushina laughed. "Thanks for the support!"
"You're welcome."
"Right! I'll gather a huge group of supporters and become Hokage just for fun one day."
Kairen looked at her and advised,
"No chance. You're not suited for it. I've seen it clearly—you don't have the patience to be Hokage. Better let me play with you instead."
Kushina pouted and tightened her arm around Kairen's neck.
"How dare you underestimate me! Tell me—why don't I have the patience to be Hokage?"
Kairen first glanced at Kushina's chest.
"I didn't mean to underestimate you!"
Then he explained, "Can you handle sitting in the Hokage's chair for a whole day? You get tired after an hour on me."
Kushina didn't understand what he meant. She grabbed Kairen's cheeks.
"Your main body is terrible at talking. Get that clone out here—he talks much nicer."
Kairen nodded. "Sorry, my lips are a bit rough. I might've hurt you."
Kushina huffed and pulled his mouth.
"Hmph! As long as you know. You need to train that mouth of yours—learn how to use it to make women happy!"
"Understood, Kushina-san. I'll make sure to study harder on making you smile."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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