Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 132 Bring Orochimaru to my side

Konoha Village has over 300 Jonin, excluding a few Jonin such as the Sarutobi clan, Mitokado clan, and Utatane clan who were disliked by the Fifth Hokage.

There are over a hundred Konoha Jonin who are vying for the ministerial position.

In other words, each of the current 15 ministers has seven or eight Konoha Jonin waiting to take their place.

Countless eyes were wide open, staring intently at the ministers, eager to take their place.

Given the sheer volume of work the ministers are responsible for, they make numerous mistakes every day.

The Fifth Hokage could easily find a few mistakes, pinpoint any department head's faults with a seemingly reasonable accusation, and then easily remove him from office and replace him with a new department head.

It is the ministers' duty to do their job well, and it is a sin to do it poorly.

The criteria for judging good and bad only exist in the words of the Fifth Hokage.

Under such circumstances, which dim-witted minister would have the confidence to compete with the Fifth Hokage for power?

However, despite all 15 Jonin understanding their dire situation, not one of them wanted to give up their ministerial position.

The position of minister is indeed a trap, but the minister will automatically become a member of the Jonin Council.

The members of the Jonin Council hold the highest decision-making power in Konoha, sharing the supreme power that originally belonged exclusively to the Hokage.

At the same time, they also have the highest level of right to know.

Even if they cannot become crucial decision-makers, the fact that they can access information that was originally only known to the Hokage makes the minister's value far outweigh any grievances they may experience at work.

With such a huge carrot hanging there, the ministers, without exception, silently mourned their future lives while secretly resolving to work diligently.

At the same time, one must try to please the Fifth Hokage and pray that he will forgive the mistakes one is bound to make. If one can gain the favor of the Fifth Hokage, that would be perfect.

The power structure designed by the Fifth Hokage meticulously calculated the greed and desires of people's hearts, completely controlling the Jonin of Konoha.

If Xia Zuo had lofty ambitions, he could delegate authority to the ministers, remain aloof, and leisurely cultivate, striving for greater strength.

But if Xia Zuo were to crave power, he could tighten the reins of censorship, manipulate ministers at will, and make them live a life of unbearable pleasure.

As long as Xia Zuo doesn't do anything reckless and suddenly decide to take down all nine department heads at once, putting himself at a disadvantage in the Jonin decision-making meeting, he doesn't need to worry about being retaliated against by the Konoha Jonin.

Of course, nothing in this world is perfect.

Xia Zuo's power system also had flaws, but the only weakness was the Fifth Hokage, Xia Zuo.

As the Fifth Hokage, Xia Zuo does not directly wield power within this system; he must go through 15 ministers to mobilize Konoha's resources.

Because the process must be followed at the resolution meeting, a time lag will occur.

At the same time, the Fifth Hokage only had a mere 70 Anbu ninjas under his direct control, and these Anbu ninjas were still responsible for covert assassinations and protecting the Hokage Building and the Hokage's residence.

In other words, not a single ANBU ninja was responsible for protecting the Fifth Hokage.

If we can seize the opportunity when Xia Zuo is alone, we can launch a siege against him, defeat him, and kill him.

However, this is impossible.

Although the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, was only 17 years old, he dared to lead Uchiha Shisui to confront the Cloud Village army head-on.

The Fifth Hokage defeated the Fourth Raikage and also routed a nearly 10,000-strong army of Cloud Village ninja, killing more than 700 of them and capturing nearly 8000.

Xia Zuo proved with this exaggerated record that he was a replica of the First Hokage, an invincible monster. Since the Fifth Hokage Xia Zuo was invincible, then the power system he designed was flawless.

He was also able to take full control of the appointment and dismissal of the 15 department heads by leveraging the balance of power and the competition among the Jonin, and rightfully held the reins of power in Konoha.

It's just a matter of adding a step to the process.

He has no assigned tasks, plenty of free time, and can mobilize the manpower and financial resources of Konoha Village to serve him.

Thinking of this, Xia Zuo couldn't help but smile, and he couldn't suppress it no matter what he did.

If Orochimaru knew, he'd be green with envy.

As the morning sun shone through the windows into the meeting room, Xia Zuo, who had been lost in thought, snapped out of it.

He stood up, smiled, and said to the Konoha Jonin, "All topics have been discussed, so this Konoha Jonin Conference is now concluded."

"It's already dawn. All Jonin may return to their respective posts. We'll meet again at next year's conference."

More than 300 Konoha Jonin stood up in unison and bowed in salute.

"I obey the Fifth Hokage's command!"

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the Fifth Hokage!"

At this moment, Xia Zuo's position as the Fifth Hokage is unshakeable.

After seeing off more than 300 Konoha Jonin who were heading to various places, Xia Zuo left Uchiha Shisui behind.

He asked with a smile, "Do you feel wronged that we didn't manage to get you a ministerial position this time?"

Uchiha Shisui chuckled, "How could that be?"

"I believe that although I am not the captain, I am definitely one of the ninjas most trusted by the Fifth Hokage."

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Xia Zuo laughed and said, "That's right. The system I designed for Konoha Village is based on dynamic balance. Ultimately, it's because I can't completely trust the integrity of Konoha ninjas."

Uchiha Shisui was dumbfounded: "Huh?"

The Fifth Hokage's distrust of Konoha ninjas is utterly absurd.

Xia Zuo slapped Zhi Shui on the head: "Idiot, you can't trust people's hearts. How can you be so easily trusted?"

"Has Konoha never had rogue ninjas? Hasn't there been any cowardly ninjas who cowered in crucial moments? Hasn't there been any ninjas who willfully shirked responsibility?"

Zhi Shui was speechless, unable to say anything.

There are too many rogue ninja in Konoha. Orochimaru, Danzo Shimura, and Itachi Uchiha defected for political reasons, but there were also those like Himiko who defected purely out of their own will.

Uchiha Shisui had seen many ninjas who were cowardly at crucial moments on the battlefield.

Jiraiya and Tsunade are prime examples of ninjas who willfully shirk responsibility, and if we were to strictly examine this, Sakumo Hatake could also be considered one.

Xia Zuo sighed, "Besides, people change."

"35 years ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane were definitely not the disappointing figures they are today."

"Therefore, I adopted a system of balance and competition to urge the Konoha ninjas to prevent them from falling into depravity to the greatest extent possible."

"But I trust you, Zhishui, and I believe you don't need the supervision of the ministerial position."

Uchiha Shisui clenched his fists, his breathing quickened, his face flushed, and he stared intently at Xia Zuo.

"Lord Hokage, what do you need me to do?"

Xia Zuo was very satisfied with the success of his deception and nodded, saying, "I need you to do something very important, something that I can't fully trust anyone else but you!"

"Shisui, I want you to find Orochimaru and bring him to me."