Warlock Invasion of Naruto.

If we suffer setbacks within the Land of Earth, we may very well lose even our current gains.

The war has already had a significant impact on the village's economy. Ending the war sooner will also restore peace sooner, allowing the village to recover as quickly as possible.

In this war, we have lost too many comrades and sacrificed too many ninjas.

Giving up compensation was a last resort!

Minato Namikaze's words were reasonable and well-founded, and many Jonin from humble backgrounds agreed with them.

After all, even if war reparations were received, the family would take the lion's share, while these individuals would receive less.

Even setting aside the issue of self-interest, this battle left them exhausted. Even for Jonin, surviving required a certain amount of luck, and they really didn't want to fight the enemy anymore.

The loss of family, friends, and comrades cannot be compensated with a little money, and continuing the war will result in even more casualties.

It's time to end the war!

"Easy for you to say! Without war reparations, wouldn't our people have died in vain?!"

No sooner had Minato Namikaze finished speaking than someone retorted.

Because of their differing perspectives, even if Minato Namikaze's arguments were entirely reasonable, they couldn't agree.

Just as Minato Namikaze was about to argue further, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was in the lead, looked pleased and waved his hand at him, signaling him to stop talking.

"Even without war reparations, Iwagakure won't thank Konoha. That old fox Onoki will still try to cause trouble for Konoha if he gets the chance," Danzo, who had been silent all along, said calmly.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up and said with a look of remorse, "Everyone, as the Third Hokage, I will take responsibility for this incident and the wrong decisions made in the war."

"How will you take responsibility?" Danzo pressed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared directly at Danzo and said, "I will resign from my position as the Third Hokage!"

"what?!"

"Lord Sandai, you shouldn't be doing this!"

"Third generation, things haven't gotten to that point yet. Everyone makes mistakes."

Upon hearing that Hiruzen Sarutobi was going to resign as Hokage, many Jonin panicked. After all, during his more than 20 years in office, regardless of his great achievements, he was at least diligent and conscientious, and many of the policies he implemented provided a path for commoners to advance in their careers. Many small and medium-sized clans, as well as ninjas from commoner backgrounds, supported him.

Unfortunately, due to the Sakumo incident, many Jonin were disheartened, and with the addition of strong figures like Kushina and Shiraha, the village was unable to retain them, resulting in a significant loss of Hiruzen Sarutobi's reputation.

Some command errors in this war were not a major problem; the most important thing was to win the war.

On the western front, Orochimaru used dozens of Jonin as bait in order to recapture Kikyo Castle with fewer troops, resulting in heavy casualties. However, most ninjas could understand Orochimaru because even if he was going to his death, Orochimaru was on another front, facing many powerful enemies and charging at the forefront of the battlefield.

A series of key issues surrounding Hiruzen Sarutobi erupted in recent years, causing his popularity among Jonin to plummet.

Of course, he still enjoys high support among the villagers because many of his policies have brought tangible benefits to the most disadvantaged people.

"Everyone, there's no need to persuade me anymore. I will go to see the Daimyo soon and bring up this matter with him. Also, everyone can nominate a candidate for the Fourth Hokage. The person who is recognized by everyone will succeed as the Fourth Hokage," Hiruzen Sarutobi continued.

Danzo narrowed his eyes. He hadn't expected Hiruzen to resign from the position of Third Hokage so decisively. He had thought Hiruzen would definitely hold onto the position for a few more years.

If Hiruzen were to step down, Orochimaru would definitely be the most likely candidate to become Hokage.

Today's incitement of the ninja clans to attack Hiruzen is the result of Danzo's recent efforts, since many ninja clans are hoping to receive war reparations after the victory in this war.

Danzo was afraid that Hiruzen Sarutobi would use various excuses to delay the election of the Fourth Hokage after the war, so he wanted to take this opportunity to remove him from the position of Hokage as soon as possible.

As it turned out, Danzo's plan was correct.

......

The news that Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to step down caused a sensation in Konoha.

Even the Daimyo repeatedly urged him to continue serving as Hokage, since for the Daimyo, as long as Konoha remained stable and could continue to win in wars, that was enough.

Regardless of Hiruzen Sarutobi's abilities and achievements, at least three victories in the Fourth Shinobi World War were won during his tenure.

What matters is the result.

His most favored successor, the Fourth Hokage, Sakumo Hatake, had already committed suicide, so it didn't matter much who became Hokage.

Orochimaru is the most popular candidate to succeed Jiraiya as the Fourth Hokage, because Jiraiya has repeatedly stated publicly that he will not compete for the position. Therefore, a significant number of Jonin who support Jiraiya have chosen to support his disciple Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze's reputation soared to the level of the three thanks to his stunning performance in the Third Shinobi World War. The fact that the Iwagakure leadership issued an order that "if you encounter the Yellow Flash, you can abandon your mission without being punished" is enough to demonstrate their recognition of his strength.

However, to everyone's surprise, the one with a similar approval rating to Minato Namikaze was not Tsunade, but Danzo Shimura, the leader of Root.

Danzo served the Third Hokage from the First Shinobi World War onwards and was active in both the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars.

If it weren't for his ruthless style, his approval rating might not be lower than Orochimaru's.

At this moment, in the Root headquarters, Orochimaru and Danzo were talking in a room on the lowest floor.

"Danzo, why are there fewer experimental subjects you promised to give me?"

Orochimaru's expression darkened slightly as he questioned him.

His experiment had reached a critical point, but he was running out of subjects, which made him very frustrated.

Not only have his Cursed Seal experiments stalled and his Wood Release experiments progressed very slowly, but now even his most important forbidden reincarnation technique has hit a bottleneck.

"Don't you care at all about who gets the Fourth Hokage position?" Danzo's expression darkened slightly, showing some dissatisfaction with Orochimaru's attitude.

Orochimaru said, "Don't you understand? No matter how many candidates there are for the Fourth Hokage, the old man's support is the key."

This was Orochimaru's confidence. He believed that with so many years of master-disciple relationship and mutual understanding, the Third Hokage would definitely choose him. Although Orochimaru wasn't particularly interested in the Fourth Hokage at the moment, if the Third Hokage chose him to become the Fourth Hokage, he would still do his job as Hokage well, cultivate a suitable successor as soon as possible to inherit his position, and then continue his experiments.

Currently, Orochimaru's favorite person is Nawaki, who has become one of Konoha's strongest after awakening Wood Release.

“That Minato Namikaze is a huge threat. Based on his performance in the Third Shinobi World War, he will be a formidable opponent for you. Aren’t you afraid that the Third Hokage will switch his allegiance to him?”

Danzo continued.

Orochimaru smiled faintly. Perhaps Minato Namikaze had surpassed him in strength after learning the Flying Thunder God Technique, but in the struggle for the Hokage position, he didn't take a junior like Minato Namikaze seriously at all.

Seeing Orochimaru's confident expression, Danzo felt little joy.

Admittedly, after Orochimaru takes over, Danzo will have more power and a higher status based on their previous relationship of interests.

But at this moment, Danzo felt that he was the closest he had ever been to becoming Hokage.

As long as Orochimaru doesn't stand in his way, he has a much better chance of becoming the Fourth Hokage. After all, what makes Minato Namikaze, whose foundation isn't deep, a worthy competitor?

He and the third generation have supported each other for decades. Would the third generation really support Minato Namikaze and abandon him?

Thinking of this, Danzo found himself unable to contain himself.

"I will make preparations for the experimental subjects as soon as possible. After all, as you know, the war is coming to an end, and it is much more difficult to catch spies than before."

"Hmm." Orochimaru nodded, then turned around and prepared to leave.

"How far have you progressed in your Wood Release cell research?" Danzo asked. He never expected that Nawaki would also awaken Wood Release, and that its power was even stronger than the 'Armor' he had carefully cultivated. Although there was the age difference and the fact that Nawaki was the grandson of the First Hokage, there was definitely also the reason that Orochimaru's Wood Release experiment was not as complete as Yagami's.

“I don’t have the energy to continue these experiments right now.” Orochimaru frowned slightly. Nawaki was his disciple, and he had extracted cells from Nawaki’s legs for research. It turned out that Hakuba’s limb regeneration technology had far surpassed that of his teacher, so Orochimaru had now focused his energy on other things.

Danzo watched Orochimaru's departing figure, his face gradually darkening: "As a teacher, you're not even as good as your disciple!"

Since the Wood Release experiment, Orochimaru has given him fewer and fewer results. He had boasted at a high-level meeting that he would complete the forbidden technique, Impure World Reincarnation, but because Orochimaru did not put his mind to it, the experiment progressed slowly.

"Someone come here!"

Danzo spoke in a deep voice to the empty room.

brush!

Three Root ninjas appeared in the room using the Body Flicker Technique and knelt on one knee.

"Capture some commoner ninjas from the village and send them to Orochimaru. Also, find some orphans around the village."

Danzo said indifferently.

"What? Capture the village's ninjas?" Even the ninjas who had undergone Root's brainwashing training were taken aback.

"What? You dare disobey my orders?!" Danzo narrowed his eyes.

"Yes!"

The three secret agents received their orders and left the Root headquarters.

"It seems I need to find a way to increase the level of secrecy within Root." Danzo thought to himself. Root members all undergo brutal training, but there are always exceptions. The first one is Yakushi Nonou. Brainwashing training alone is not enough. We need to find a way to develop a technique that will increase secrecy.

"Orochimaru, this time, just make way for me."

Danzo thought to himself.

------

P.S.: The upstairs neighbors are renovating until Saturday. They're very nice and want to finish as soon as possible. I'll update less these next few days and make up for it later. If you think it's too short, let it sit for a few days. It feels different when you read it all together. That's all.

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[Chapter 141. The Master Doesn't Know His Disciple, and the Disciple Doesn't Know His Master (Mid-Large Cup)]

Konoha Village.

Next to the Hokage Building is a small building, which is where the Konoha Jonin Team is located.

Some Jonin, who are not clearly divided into departments in the village but are powerful and often go out on missions, usually come here to check in.

This ensured that the Jonin squad leader could relay the Hokage's orders at any time and then immediately go out to carry out missions, thus guaranteeing efficiency.

Although the Jonin squad leader has no real power, his function of conveying the Hokage's orders at any time means that he must be a highly respected ninja among the village's Jonin. Otherwise, if he cannot win the respect of the others, it will be difficult for him to manage his relationship with the other Jonin in the squad.

Basically, any ninja who becomes a Jonin class leader will either become the Hokage or become the Hokage's confidant, assisting the Hokage.

The current Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, accumulated considerable popularity during the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's time by serving as the class leader of the Jonin.

During World War II, Sakumo Hatake also came from humble beginnings and rose to the position of Jonin squad leader through his military achievements. Because of his first-rate strength and character, he gained the support of many ninjas, both commoner and clan Jonin. Eventually, he caught the eye of powerful clans like the Hyuga and Uchiha, who wanted to use him to break the Senju clan's monopoly on the Hokage position.

After Sakumo's death, the position of Jonin leader was taken over by Nara Shikaku, an elite Jonin from the Nara clan.

The Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans have maintained a deep friendship since the Warring States period, always standing together through thick and thin, and have also had a good relationship with the Sarutobi clan.

In addition, the Nara clan controls most of the medicinal herb business in Konoha. They have raised deer for generations, and many precious medicinal herbs related to deer are of higher quality from the Nara clan.

Nara Shikaku was known as the 'brain trust' among Konoha's Jonin for his correct strategies in many battles. Therefore, although his strength was much weaker than Sakumo's, he was still able to command respect as the Jonin class leader.

Currently, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Yamanaka Inoichi, the three contemporary members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, all support Namikaze Minato. Of course, the three cannot fully represent the will of the ninja clans behind them.

Among the three clans, a significant number of Jonin still support Orochimaru, while another group of Jonin are still observing and waiting for the Third Hokage's decision.

Although Orochimaru is a disciple of the Third Hokage, he has not yet made a public statement.