Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

Uchiha Gin patted the shoulder of the young man beside him with a smile, his eyes subtly sweeping over the clan crest on the man's back.

"Young man, if I'm not mistaken, you must be one of the spirited young men of the Shimura clan, right?"

"What do you want to do?"

Unaware that he had been chosen as a lucky audience member, Shimura took a few steps back warily, sizing up Uchiha Gin who had suddenly become friendly with him.

He felt that the curly-haired man in front of him was the kind of weird uncle that his elders had repeatedly warned him to stay away from during clan gatherings.

"I see the expectation in your eyes; you must be very confident in your candidate for leader."

Uchiha Gin nodded solemnly, a smile of satisfaction typical of an elder on his face. This infectious smile instantly put Shimura's reservations at ease.

"Of course! Our young clan leader will surely win the crown and lead Konoha to prosperity and strength!"

At the suggestion of the Senju clan, the election has been changed to require every Jonin to participate in the voting, in order to ensure fairness and impartiality.

The ninja alliance, which had long been secretly colluding with the Senju, naturally offered its strong support. Although the Uchiha had some reservations, they chose to remain silent at the behest of Uchiha Izuna.

"I also have high hopes for Danzo Shimura. You'll see."

After echoing the young man's words, Uchiha Gin pointed to the display board behind him, which prominently displayed a list of names and photos.

"Shimura Danzo is definitely a frontrunner in this election!"

It turns out that the person on this display board is a frontrunner in this election.

Upon hearing this, the surrounding crowd began to examine the scene seriously, and a murmur of discussion arose.

"Ranked number one is Uchiha Izuna!"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi? The young patriarch of the Sarutobi clan is ranked second."

"Strange, why isn't my name mentioned?"

"Get out of my way! What right does a lowly ninja like you have to run for office?"

As Uchiha Gin pointed, the young man indeed spotted his young clan leader's handsome photo near the front, and a satisfied smile immediately spread across his face. But the next second, his brows furrowed tightly.

"He is indeed the young clan leader, but what does the 1 to 4 odds mean?"

"These are the odds."

Uchiha Gin-Hair noticed that everyone's attention was drawn to him, and immediately announced loudly,

"Odds?"

"That's right. Anyway, the election inside won't have any results for a while. Instead of waiting anxiously, why not gamble a little and cheer for your idol?"

"Are you opening a betting market?"

The surrounding crowd then realized Uchiha Gin's true purpose.

"Nonsense, this is charity betting. Twenty percent of the profits will be donated to the Konoha Orphanage on the spot."

Faced with the crowd's doubts, Uchiha Gin calmly shook his head, pointed to the words "charity" in the corner of the display board, and explained in a serious tone,

"Let me see, Uchiha Izuna is 0.8 to 1, he is indeed the undisputed favorite."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi even has odds of 2.5, he's really young and promising."

"The Hyuga clan's head has odds of 3. As expected of a great clan, even if they don't emerge into the world, they can still be considered a top candidate for the leader."

The onlookers browsed through the list on the display board and unanimously agreed that the list was full of solid information and no fluff.

"Huh? Why isn't Uchiha Kagami here?"

Soon, some people discovered the flaw in this list: the Uchiha clan had more than just Izuna Uchiha as a top candidate; the young Kagami Uchiha was also qualified to contend for the throne of Konoha.

"Everyone, please don't worry. Since Konoha has a dual leadership system, this is just a list of candidates for Hokage. Uchiha Kagami has no intention of vying for the Hokage position, so his name is not on it."

"Ah! What a pity~"

Because Uchiha Kagami had spent many years working at the grassroots level, he had gained considerable prestige among the people and had a large following of supporters. When they learned that their idol hadn't competed for the Hokage position, they all showed expressions of disappointment.

Seeing that he had stirred up the emotions of the crowd around him, Uchiha Gin immediately began promoting his sports betting services.

"The Hokage election is about to begin. Why not take action? Support your idol, earn some pocket money, and contribute to Konoha's charity work—what's not to like?"

"."

The young man from Shimura, who started the discussion, stared at the large face of Shimura Danzo on the display board for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and taking out his purse.

"I bet 100,000 taels on the young clan leader to win!"

"I never imagined that in your heart, the wise and mighty young clan leader is only worth 100,000 taels of silver. Sigh~"

Although Uchiha Gin spoke sarcastically, his hands moved quickly; the moment Shimura pulled out a wad of bills, they were in his pocket.

"I'll raise the bet, okay?"

The young man is indeed too inexperienced; a simple provocation is enough to make him blush.

"Alright, here's your ticket, come and claim your prize!"

With a smile, Gin Uchiha stuffed Shimura's purse into his pocket and handed him a torn-up ticket.

Once the first one appears, another will follow. The surrounding crowd was already itching to join in. After all, a little gambling is harmless fun, and spending a small amount of money is a way of indirectly participating in the Hokage election.

"Thirty thousand taels, Uchiha Izuna~"

"Fifty thousand taels, enough to suppress Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

"Eighty thousand taels, by Hyuga Tenyo."

"."

"Take it one step at a time, everyone gets a share~"

Looking at the ever-increasing amount of banknotes in his hand, Gin Uchiha's smile grew even brighter.

Contrary to his fears, the betting odds did not result in a one-sided outcome; not everyone placed their bets on the most popular Uchiha Izuna.

On the contrary, the number of people who bet on Uchiha Izuna was not large; they were mostly ordinary people.

Even though members of the ninja clan knew their representatives had little chance of winning the election, they would still offer their tokens as a gesture of goodwill.

Rather than aiming to make money, their act of giving away money is more like an act of charity.

"Tsk, quite a few people are betting on the little monkey. It seems the rumors about the three thousand ape army are not unfounded."

Uchiha Gin took some time to do some statistics and was surprised to find that quite a few people had bet on Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the amount was quite considerable, almost lowering the odds by several percentage points.

"Even in Tianyao Prison, an old horse still eager to run, he's quite old but still competitive with the young."

Although there weren't many people betting on Hyuga Tenyo, each bet involved a substantial amount, demonstrating the wealth and power of these aristocratic families.

Uchiha Gin's actions quickly attracted the attention of the Jonin inside the Hokage Building.

"What's that curly-haired guy doing?"

Senju Hisana, who was granted special permission to observe the election, frowned slightly as she watched Uchiha Gin jumping around outside the window.

"The guards said he seems to have set up a betting pool outside, where people are guessing who will become the Third Hokage."

The Senju clan members who followed her learned of what was happening outside through the guards.

"Hmph! How boring."

Senju Hisama snorted coldly, but a strange glint flashed in her eyes. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was watching, she quietly formed a hand seal.

"Bang!"

Inside Tobirama Senju's residence, several streets away, one of his shadow clones, who were meditating, suddenly vanished in a puff of white smoke. The remaining shadow clones instantly gained new memories.

A moment later, the shadow clone found the rotten scroll that Senju Hisa had hidden under the bed, and a smug smile appeared on its face.

"This time I'll make sure you lose everything!"

"The election is about to begin! Place your bets now!"

As the bell rang signaling the start of the election, the betting odds on Uchiha Gin were about to close.

"Boss, I bet on Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Just as he was about to close his betting pool, a figure draped in a black cloak appeared in front of his betting table and handed him a heavy reel.

"Oh?"

Uchiha Gin looked at the unfamiliar face beneath the cloak, raising an eyebrow meaningfully. Even though the person before him had used a transformation jutsu, he could still see through their identity at a glance.

Are you sure?

"Sure."

The shadow clone, having used a transformation technique to alter its form and appearance, nodded with a tense expression.

"What is the exact amount?"

After weighing the rather heavy storage scroll in his hand, Uchiha Gin didn't examine it without permission. Instead, he asked a question.

"I haven't counted it in detail, but it should be around 60 billion."

Senju Hisa's shadow clone looked around and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"hiss"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Gin immediately gasped, a look of shock appearing in his eyes.

Where did this white-haired guy get so much money?

"What, you're afraid to accept it? Afraid you can't afford to pay the compensation?"

Seeing that Uchiha Gin was still not killing the hostage, the shadow clone curled its lip and said sarcastically,

"Once you've placed your order, we're not responsible for anything else. Please keep your ticket safe."

For such a big customer who was giving away money, Uchiha Gin naturally welcomed it wholeheartedly.

"You're not going to run away, are you?"

Seeing Uchiha Gin's seemingly straightforward attitude, Senju Hisami's shadow clone suddenly felt uneasy. She was certain of victory this time, but what if this curly-haired guy ran away to avoid claiming the prize? Then she would have gained nothing.

"A century-old shop, honest and trustworthy to all!"

As Uchiha Gin counted the banknotes in the scroll, he made a solemn promise.

"This is a small amount of money that our store can afford to lose."

"That's fine then."

With Uchiha Gin's words, Senju Hisashi's shadow clone finally breathed a sigh of relief, turning his gaze to the towering Hokage Building, his heart filled with beautiful longing for a golden future.

In the conference room on the top floor of the Hokage Building, all the well-known Jonin of Konoha were gathered.

Each officially registered Jonin has a ballot with the names of several popular candidates marked on it; all they need to do is tick them.

Filled with anxiety, Sarutobi Sasuke secretly sought out Senju Hisahi.

"My lady, you've received the funds. I'm entrusting my son's future to you!"

"Don't worry, I've got your back."

Senju Hisana nodded confidently.

She knew the number of Jonin in Konoha better than anyone. Although the Uchiha clan had a high percentage of Jonin, the Senju clan was no less prominent.

Now, with the support of the Ninja Clan Alliance, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the position of Hokage is within his grasp.

"The Jonin election is about to begin. Please be prepared."

Soon, a huge referendum box was brought out, and the whispering Jonin immediately fell silent.

Senju Hisa wasn't among them. After giving instructions to her Senju clan members, she sat down in a corner of the meeting room, quietly awaiting the results.

"Hisama, are you really going to support that little monkey becoming Hokage?"

She had barely sat down when a voluptuous figure sat down beside her. Senju Hisa looked up and gave a barely perceptible nod to Senju Momoka, whose expression was complex.

"When my father was alive, he often told me to be wary of the Uchiha. If those extreme madmen were to take power, Konoha might face annihilation."

"The Uchiha clan may be stubborn, but at least they wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics. Hisana, do you really understand those people from the Shinobi Alliance?"

Senju Momoka looked at her adopted niece, sighed softly in her heart, and a strange meaning appeared in her eyes.

"Although I haven't had much contact with them, the ninja clan members participating in this election are all disciples that my father trusts very much. They would never do anything that would harm the interests of Konoha."

Unaware of what her sister-in-law was worried about, Senju Hisa didn't take Senju Momoka's concerns to heart.

"Won't this harm Konoha's interests?"

Upon hearing this, Senju Momoka's expression froze, and the inexplicable look in her eyes deepened.

"Let's not talk about that anymore, Auntie. Have your clansmen been settled? Remember to vote for Hiruzen Sarutobi when the time comes."

"Everything is settled in."

Hmph~ This is going to be a direct takeoff!

The thought of her assets about to double filled Senju Hisa with joy; money was so easy to make!

On the other side of the conference room, Uchiha Izuna, the most popular candidate, showed no anticipation whatsoever. Instead, he sat in his seat, lost in thought.

"Izuna-sama? Izuna-sama!"

"Oh?"

He didn't snap out of his daze until his subordinate's voice rose several major keys, his eyes filled with confusion.

"To restore the glory of the Uchiha clan is our inescapable duty!"

The Uchiha clan members wore expressions of excitement. In their eyes, as the strongest person in the village at the moment, the position of Hokage should rightfully belong to Uchiha Izuna.

"Whatever you want~"

Izuna smacked his lips listlessly. He didn't want to spoil everyone's fun at this crucial moment, so he decided to let things take their course.

"Voting begins!"

At the host's command, the Jonin, one by one with solemn expressions, picked up their pens and ticked the names of their supported candidates.

Voting proceeded quickly, with everyone placing their ballots into the referendum box one by one. Once the last ballot was inserted, the tense and exciting vote counting process began.

"Uchiha Izuna, one vote."

"One vote from the Shimura Danzo collection."

"One vote for Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"Hinata."

As one name after another was repeated, the tension among the crowd grew. Senju Hisa secretly tallied the votes for each candidate, her astonishment only increasing.

"One vote for Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"Uchiha Izuna, one vote."

"Uchiha Izuna, one vote."

wrong!

When Senju Hisana, who had been calmly observing, heard the vote counters begin counting Uchiha Izuna's votes, she instantly lost her composure.

"How could there be so many more?"

As someone who understood the Uchiha clan even better than the Uchiha themselves, Senju had long since memorized the information of every Uchiha Jonin, not to mention their numbers.

However, the number of votes for Uchiha Izuna has already exceeded the number of Jonin from the Uchiha clan.

If the Uchiha clan had secretly siphoned off votes from civilian ninjas, the increase wouldn't have been so significant.

There's a mole!

Senju Hisana instantly shifted her gaze to the Hyuga clan not far away. The Hyuga clan didn't have many Jonin, but if they all defected, the Hokage position would become even more unpredictable.

"Hyuga Tenyo, one vote."

No, Hyuga Tenyo's votes match up; the Hyuga clan did not side with the Uchiha.

"Who exactly is behind this?" (End of Chapter)