Konoha: I have a clone in One Piece.

Chapter 188 The Fourth Hokage's Succession Ceremony

Within the Land of Fire, on a path surrounded by lush greenery.

"Hey kid, how long are you going to walk?"

Madara Uchiha looked at Suzuki in front of him with an impatient expression.

By this time, the two had already left Kusagakure and had been walking across the ninja world for nearly two months.

Suzuki took him on a journey through the vast deserts of the Land of Wind, to the numerous islands of the Land of Water, and finally to the snow-covered Land of Snow…

In two months, the two of them had traveled through almost half of the ninja world.

Madara Uchiha remained hanging behind Suzuki, like a substitute, always by his side.

Suzuki smiled, stopped in his tracks, and looked straight ahead along the lush green trees on both sides of the road.

A kilometer ahead, there was a somewhat bustling market, with the faint sounds of vendors hawking their wares and the aroma of food wafting on the breeze.

"There's a small market up ahead. We haven't eaten for almost two months, Mr. Ban, shall we go and buy some food?"

Suzuki turned around and asked a question that seemed irrelevant to the main point.

Without waiting for Madara Uchiha's response, he headed towards the market.

……

A moment later, in the market.

A nobleman is reprimanding a ninja.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you even handle something this simple?"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, it was my oversight, I..."

The ninja bowed and scraped, then made remorseful compensation for the loss before seeing the nobleman off.

Ninja Steel turned around, but accidentally bumped into a wandering samurai's shoulder on the not-so-wide street, and he immediately flew into a rage:

"You idiot, are you blind?"

"I'm...I'm sorry!"

The wandering samurai, with a sword sheath at his waist, looked terrified and quickly bowed in apology.

"Master Ninja, I was blind!"

"I'm so sorry, please take this money and use it for drinks."

The wandering samurai pulled a money pouch from his pocket.

"Hmph, be more careful next time!"

"Yes, yes!"

After the Konoha ninja left, the wandering samurai looked at the crowd of onlookers and immediately shouted with dissatisfaction:

"What are you looking at?"

"You bunch of useless trash who'll never even exchange a few words with a ninja master in your entire lives!"

Seemingly feeling that mere cursing wasn't enough to salvage his dignity in front of everyone, the wandering samurai approached a fruit vendor, placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword, revealing a small section of the sharp blade, and said threateningly:

"You haven't paid your protection money for today, have you?"

"One hundred taels! Hurry up!"

"Huh? But isn't this once a week? I just submitted mine two days ago!"

The fruit vendor never expected that misfortune would befall him so suddenly. He looked around at the crowd with a troubled expression, trying to seek help, even if it was just to prove that he had paid.

However, upon witnessing this scene, the onlookers all turned and left quickly without looking back, as if they had seen crows.

Seeing this, the fruit vendor had no choice but to reluctantly hand over another hundred taels of protection money.

Madara Uchiha watched this scene and couldn't help but sneer:

"Ha, the ninja world is still the same old scumbag..."

Suzuki turned around and looked behind him, his eyes calm as he said:

"The weak are naturally unable to resist, yet they, who clearly possess power, are extremely respectful to these nobles."

"Mr. Madara, the mindset of you ninjas is a bit strange."

Madara Uchiha withdrew his gaze, turned his head to look at Suzuki, and then sighed, saying:

"It's not that we find it strange; it's just how the laws of this world work."

"Suzuki brat, you need to know that power is sometimes a form of strength, and it can be even more terrifying than ninjutsu!"

As Suzuki walked towards the pastry stall, he asked again:

"Of course I know."

"But can't power also be seized by ninjas?"

"With the strength of ninjas, those nobles have no way to resist. Even if they hire samurai at high prices and attract some ninjas, it would be difficult for them to escape from a ninja as powerful as you, right?"

Meanwhile, because he was a spirit, ordinary people couldn't see Madara Uchiha. Many people in the market looked at Suzuki strangely, as if he were talking to himself, and kept their distance.

But Suzuki didn't care at all and continued walking forward on his own.

Behind him, Madara Uchiha frowned slightly, seemingly lost in memories, before slowly replying in a deep voice:

"What you said, I've thought about before!"

"Back then, when Hashirama and I had just established the ninja village, I wanted to wipe out the five great nations in one fell swoop and let Konoha rule the world. Unfortunately, that idiot Hashirama rejected it."

As he spoke, Madara Uchiha's expression became extremely serious:

"Of course, in the decades that followed, I gradually realized that this method was also impossible to succeed!"

"Like we just talked about power... Now, is power only possessed by nobles? Not necessarily. In the Five Great Ninja Villages, which village doesn't have high-ranking members who have succumbed to the allure of power?"

"Oppression and bullying are common in ninja villages, aren't they? Furthermore, if ninjas were to wield power, the cruelty and tragedy they might cause, if they were to fall into darkness, would be countless times greater than that caused by the nobles today!"

"Compared to ninjas who possess chakra, nobles who are ordinary people, no matter how cruel they are, are nothing more than a minor ailment."

"The Land of Fire, relying on the strength of me and Hashirama, occupied most of the prosperous areas of the ninja world, yet so many tragic things still happened."

"Therefore, strength is not the key; ultimately, excessive greed is the greatest obstacle to peace."

"Unless they can learn to understand each other..."

At this point, Madara Uchiha suddenly stopped speaking, then changed the subject and asked:

"Kid, you've been wandering the ninja world for so long, yet you've accomplished nothing. What exactly do you want?"

The Infinite Tsukuyomi is his deepest secret and the most important thing for him to achieve peace and fulfill his ideals. He wants people to understand each other and stop being trapped in desires, and only the Infinite Tsukuyomi can make that possible.

Although the kid in front of him might know about the Eye of the Moon plan, he still didn't want to say too much.

Suzuki glanced behind him out of the corner of his eye, a thoughtful expression on his face.

So that's what Madara was thinking.

Indeed, the propagation of chakra was initially intended to facilitate mutual understanding among people. Madara Uchiha wasn't as powerful as the Sage of Six Paths, and the current environment was different from a thousand years ago. Therefore, achieving a spiritual connection through the ultimate genjutsu, "Infinite Tsukuyomi," was truly the only method he could find.

Unfortunately, it was a trap...

"Didn't do anything? No, you didn't."

"I did manage to do some things."

Suzuki smiled and responded as he continued walking forward.

At the same time, a seven-colored ball of light silently flew towards the fruit vendor beneath his feet.

Not long after, at a pastry stall in the market.

"Boss, do you have crab meat noodles?"

"Ah, sir, you mean the meat of those big crabs, right? Hahaha, yes, we have it."

"Sir, how much would you like? We have small, medium, and other sizes..."

The pastry shop owner responded warmly as soon as a customer arrived.

Suzuki glanced at Madara Uchiha behind him and smiled politely:

"Two bowls will be fine, large portions."

"Alright!"

The pastry shop owner quickly got to work.

"Hmph." Madara Uchiha snorted coldly, his face full of mockery. "Kid, if you're so strong, you're just indulging in the desire for food. In the end, you're nothing more than that."

Suzuki sat down at the noodle table and responded with a nonchalant smile:

"Mr. Ban, would you like some? I can temporarily give you a normal human body."

"Ha, I don't care."

Madara Uchiha looked disdainful.

But soon...

"Hmm...this tastes really good."

"Kid, are you controlling Bai Jue? Why haven't I seen you bring this kind of food before? It's always barbecue, I'm so tired of it."

Sitting opposite Suzuki, Madara Uchiha, who had temporarily taken over the body, was wolfing down his noodles.

"Really? I'm sorry, I was a bit busy at the time."

"...Um...right, now that you've given me a body, could you please stop dangling me like that?"

"Sorry, no."

……

Several days later.

Suzuki and Madara Uchiha stood on the edge of a cliff a thousand meters high, looking down at the bustling village below.

"Konoha is still the same as always..."

Madara Uchiha looked at his long-lost hometown and couldn't help but feel emotional.

"yes."

Suzuki's face also showed a hint of emotion.

Konoha Village is not only Madara's hometown, but he also came from there.

Madara Uchiha gave Suzuki a strange look, then looked down at the cliff face, a hint of nostalgia flashing in his eyes as he sighed:

"Speaking of which, this is a spot where Hashirama and I used to come from."

"Yeah?"

Suzuki smiled, then looked at the lively scene of firecrackers exploding in the village below, and said:

"The Fourth Hokage's inauguration ceremony, let's go take a look."

……

In Konoha Village.

The succession of the Fourth Hokage is a major event.

In addition to many high-ranking officials from Konoha Village, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire also arrived with his wife.

The heads of the major ninja clans of Konoha, almost all the Jonin, and even most of the ninjas and villagers of Konoha Village came here.

The grand and solemn platform was surrounded by a dense crowd.

Many Konoha villagers were beaming with joy as they prepared to welcome a young new Hokage.

They had known about the new Hokage's deeds from the publicity long ago.

The villagers eagerly awaited the arrival of Minato Namikaze, the "Yellow Flash," who was said to be the key turning point in the war and had reversed the tide of battle, hoping that this new Hokage would lead Konoha Village forward.

"Minato rendered tremendous service to Konoha in the previous war!"

"Countless Konoha ninja survived because of his existence..."

"I hereby pass the title of Fourth Hokage to Minato. He will lead Konoha Village to continue its prosperous future!"

Meanwhile, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just finished delivering his abdication declaration on stage, breathed a sigh of relief and then smiled as he handed the Hokage robe to Minato Namikaze, who was standing to the side.

"Minato, the future of Konoha is in your hands!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi solemnly patted the young man on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Third Generation Lord!"

Minato Namikaze took the Hokage robe and draped it over his shoulders. Then, with a confident and sunny expression, he turned around, looked at the crowd below the stage, and waved to them.

Instantly, the countless people in the audience erupted in cheers.

"Ah... Lord Minato!"

"So handsome..."

"Lord Minato is the Hokage, that's wonderful!"

"Look, that's our Fourth Hokage of Konoha!"

"Naruto!" "Naruto!" "Naruto—"

The cheers grew louder and more unified, eventually echoing throughout the entire Hidden Leaf Village.

"Minato... he's so cool!"

"Naruto—"

Kushina Uzumaki, sitting in the first row, looked up at Minato Namikaze with excitement, shouting along with the others.

Beside her, Kakashi Hatake, now a young boy and wearing a mask, remained silent.

Even after his teacher became the Fourth Hokage, he still sat in his seat with his head down, looking quite dejected.

And beside Kakashi.

"Father/Kaiyo!"

"This is youth!"

Because the hatred of Kirigakure was drawn to the Uchiha clan during this war, Might Guy, who did not suffer any casualties among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, was holding his father's hand and looking up at the high platform with an excited expression.

Then, the father and son hugged each other and cried tears of joy.

At this moment, two figures dressed in green bodysuits became extremely conspicuous even in the dark crowd.

In the corner of the crowd.

Looking at the imposing Minato Namikaze on the high platform and the cheering villagers, Shimura Danzo, a high-ranking official of Konoha, immediately revealed intense jealousy in his eyes:

"Hiruzen...you actually entrusted such an important position as Hokage to this brat?!"

"You'll definitely regret this!"

Beside him, Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, watched the lively scene unfold with an expressionless face.

"Teacher...it seems there's no place for me in this village."

Thinking of Jiraiya and Tsunade, who were not in the village, Orochimaru couldn't help but feel the urge to leave Konoha completely.

In the front seat, Fugaku Uchiha turned his head to look at his wife beside him and smiled:

"Mikoto, send some secret medicine to the Hokage's wife later."

"Hehe." Mikoto Uchiha covered her mouth and chuckled, then stroked her slightly protruding belly and said, "That's good, Kushina is also preparing for pregnancy."

……

The edge of the platform.

Two figures, invisible to everyone and seemingly not of this world, stood on the steps, quietly observing everything.

"I know this kid."

Madara Uchiha looked at Minato Namikaze with an expression of appreciation:

"Although he's using that guy's ninjutsu, his demeanor and style are completely different—they're worlds apart!"

"Just considering the Flying Thunder God Technique alone, this brat has already surpassed Tobirama Senju."

"Konoha Village should undergo many changes under his leadership."

Suzuki glanced at the crowd, a smile in his eyes, and said:

"That's for sure."

"Change will always face obstacles, but now, they have no choice."

(End of this chapter)