I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

After all, Konoha's current medical system was created by Tsunade, and with Tsunade around, more medical ninjas can be trained.

Tsunade stared at the Third Hokage for a few seconds, then said somewhat impatiently, "I won't be staying in the village for long this time, but I heard that the Uchiha clan and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki have defected?"

"Yes, they all defected and even established a village..."

The Third Hokage's smile gradually froze, and he continued, "However, their leaving the village may not be a bad thing. Everyone in the village hates the Uchiha and Jinchuriki."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya, and then at the Third Hokage.

"..."

After a few seconds of silence, Tsunade sighed softly, then turned and left the Hokage's office, with Jiraiya following closely behind, considerately closing the door behind her.

Upon witnessing this scene, the Third Hokage sighed softly; he had anticipated such a situation.

Ever since he rejected Jiraiya's impeachment of Danzo, he knew that he and Jiraiya had broken up. Even though they still had a harmonious master-disciple relationship on the surface, they could never be as close as before.

Jiraiya will obey my orders as before, but only because I am the Hokage, not my teacher.

A few minutes later, the office door opened again, and this time it was none other than Danzo, the leader of the Root organization. Leaning on his cane, he looked at the Third Hokage for a moment and then said:

"Jiraiya and Tsunade have returned, you need to prepare in advance."

"What preparations should we make in advance?" the Third Hokage asked, somewhat puzzled.

Danzo glanced coldly at the Third Hokage and said without any emotion, "Stop playing dumb, Hiruzen. Even my Root organization received news of Tsunade's visit to the Daimyo. It's impossible that the Twelve Guardian Ninja were completely unaware."

"I received this news a long time ago...Tsunade is a relative of the daimyo, so it's normal for them to meet."

The Third Hokage frowned as he looked at Danzo, clearly displeased with Danzo's attempts to sow discord.

"That's true, but Tsunade and Jiraiya appeared in Kusagakure earlier, and after that, all of Konoha's spies stationed in Kusagakure went missing."

"You suspect that Jiraiya and Tsunade betrayed the village, but they couldn't possibly have betrayed the village."

After a pause, the Third Hokage emphasized, "Anyone could betray the village, but only Tadashi and Tsunade could not. Their love for the village is no less than ours."

Danzo snorted and said, "Then why did Jiraiya bring Tsunade back after arguing with you and leaving? Why didn't he come to the Hokage Building immediately after returning to the village? Why did you have to send someone to invite him?"

The Third Hokage stared intently at Danzo, his face serious, and said, "Stop making trouble here. Jiraiya and Tsunade can participate in the Hokage election anytime they want. You've been in the shadows for too long, and you've come to think of others as dark as you think of yourself."

"Whatever... You'll regret it soon enough."

Having said that, Danzo didn't want to offer any further advice and simply slammed the door and left.

The return of Jiraiya and Tsunade is full of strangeness. The Third Hokage can ignore these things, but as the leader of Root, he cannot ignore them and must make corresponding preparations in advance.

Looking at Danzo's retreating figure, the Third Hokage said in a low voice, "Danzo, I am different from you. I will never regret my decision. Even if I do regret it, I will never show it or offer any further explanation."

"You can't regret being the Hokage."

Chapter 186 Visiting the Hyuga Clan

After leaving the Hokage Building, Tsunade and Jiraiya parted ways temporarily and headed towards the Senju headquarters.

The brutal Fourth Shinobi World War drastically reduced the number of Senju clan members, causing them to lose their title of "Forest Senju." However, these ninjas did not disappear; instead, they integrated into the Konoha ninja system, holding important positions in the ninja academy and hospital.

After the Third Hokage and Danzo were overthrown, these people were needed to stabilize the situation.

As for contacting ninja clans and gaining their support, as well as that of commoner Jonin, that was Jiraiya's responsibility. Given the prestige Jiraiya had accumulated over the years, it wouldn't be difficult for him to do so.

After a moment's hesitation, Jiraiya headed toward the Hyuga clan's territory, expressing his desire to meet with Hiashi.

Inside the main Hyuga family mansion, Hiashi Hyuga personally received Jiraiya and warmly greeted him. Although the Hyuga clan was a powerful family, they were no match for the Sannin.

The three legendary Sannin, in terms of both influence and individual strength, far surpass the Hyuga clan, which has a history spanning thousands of years.

After exchanging pleasantries, Hiashi Hyuga asked, "Lord Jiraiya, is there some important matter on the Third Hokage's side that you are visiting my humble abode? The Hyuga clan will certainly give its full support to the Hokage Building's decision."

Jiraiya gave an irrelevant reply: "The old man has nothing urgent to say. It is I who need the help of the Hyuga clan."

Hiashi Hyuga looked at Jiraiya with some confusion and bewilderment.

Jiraiya didn't keep anyone in suspense and went straight to the point: "Tsunade and I are planning to launch a coup, capture Danzo, overthrow the old man's rule, and become the Fifth Hokage of the village."

"???"

Hiashi Hyuga frowned, subconsciously activating his Byakugan, and said after confirming that Jiraiya was behind him, "Jiraiya-sama, are you joking? You and Tsunade-sama can become the Fifth Hokage without staging a coup, right?"

Jiraiya shook his head, his expression serious: "Becoming Hokage is secondary. I intend to uproot Danzo completely. I don't want to become a puppet Hokage, so a coup must be launched."

Hiashi Hyuga looked at Jiraiya, unsure of what to say.

The Uchiha coup a few years ago is one thing, the Hokage faction and the Uchiha faction have had a decades-long conflict, but now even within the Hokage faction, there's been a power struggle. Is the Hokage position really that important...?

Seemingly guessing Hiashi Hyuga's thoughts, Jiraiya said solemnly, "I'm not after the Hokage position, but the future of the village. Clan Chief Hiashi may not be aware of the current situation in the ninja world."

"Besides the five great ninja villages, two more forces have emerged in the ninja world that are capable of threatening it. They are carrying out sweeping reforms internally. If Konoha falls behind in this regard, it may not even be able to protect the Land of Fire in a few decades."

Upon hearing this, Hiashi Hyuga's expression became much more serious.

He knew that the Land of Fire's overseas territory, the Land of Whirlpools, had annexed the Land of Waves, but wasn't the Land of Whirlpools an ally of Konoha? How could it threaten Konoha? And besides the Land of Whirlpools, were there any other threatening organizations?

However, even if it could threaten the Land of Fire, that's something the Hokage should consider, not something he, as the clan leader, should worry about.

His two unfilial daughters are already a handful enough. Hinata is always thinking about the missing Jinchuriki, and Hanabi is always clamoring to change the main family and branch family system after becoming the main family. Neither of them is easy to deal with.

Hyuga Neji, on the other hand, has good talent. If it weren't for the Caged Bird Seal, I would have wanted to adopt him.

Without further thought, Hiashi Hyuga put aside his distracting thoughts and looked at Jiraiya, saying, "Lord Jiraiya, the Hyuga clan will not support your plan, nor will they support the Third Hokage. The only place the Hyuga clan can be loyal to is Konoha."

Hiashi's idea was simple: he didn't want the Hyuga clan to be involved in the conflict between master and disciple.

After receiving Hiashi Hyuga's assurance, Jiraiya nodded in satisfaction. The fact that the Hyuga clan wouldn't get involved was the greatest help they could give him and Tsunade.

At that moment, Jiraiya seemed to remember something and said, "By the way, how is Hinata's training going?"

"I'm surprised that Jiraiya-sama knows my daughter's name. However, Hinata is training like a madwoman and her strength is increasing very quickly. I'm worried that she might develop psychological problems, perhaps because she hasn't seen Naruto for too long."

Upon hearing Naruto's name, Jiraiya was immediately reminded of the times Naruto spent with Karin, and a pang of sadness welled up inside him.

How come Naruto is just like his dad, attracting girls, while he, as Naruto's grandmaster, remains single and hasn't even had a successful pursuit of Tsunade?

After a moment's thought, Jiraiya said, "I know about Naruto's situation. He's doing well now. Tell Hinata not to worry about him anymore. They might have a chance to meet in the future."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded, finally having a reason to appease his daughter.

However, judging from Jiraiya's tone, Naruto is probably not training in the Anbu right now. If he's not in the Anbu or the Ninja Academy, where is Naruto, the Jinchūriki,?

Surely he hasn't already defected...

After visiting the Hyuga clan, Jiraiya visited the other ninja clans and met with the heads of each clan.

Jiraiya had his own reasons for visiting the heads of various clans during the day. In villages filled with ANBU and surveillance, even if he visited secretly, his presence would be leaked. It was better to visit openly and let the ninja clan leaders make their choices.

Judging from the results of the visits, most clan leaders adhered to neutrality and did not take sides.

They didn't want to get involved in the internal struggles within the Hokage lineage, and some even suspected that this was a test from the Third Hokage, since there's no reason for the Hokage's successor to launch a coup.

However, from the words of these clan leaders, Jiraiya understood just how unpopular the Third Hokage was.

No one dislikes an old man who has made great contributions to Konoha, but it is very annoying for him to hold onto the position of Hokage despite knowing that he is not capable enough.

After nightfall, Jiraiya shook off the Anbu and used the surveillance cameras to arrive at the Hatake residence.

Kakashi was eating eggplant rice and braised saury when he heard the noise behind him. He slowly turned around and looked at Jiraiya, saying, "It seems that Lord Jiraiya had a good trip this time, as he has even brought back Lady Tsunade."

"Of course, I am a hero from heaven, finding people is a piece of cake."

Jiraiya made an extremely exaggerated gesture and then said, "By the way, how's your evidence collection going? Tsunade needs to use the evidence to persuade the village elders to join forces against Shimura Danzo."

"The evidence has been collected long ago... but are you and Lady Tsunade really prepared?"

Kakashi said with some doubt, "The Hokage and Danzo are not going to surrender easily. Their resistance will probably be more intense than you imagine."

Chapter 187 Jiraiya Seizes Power

"The evidence has been collected long ago... but are you and Lady Tsunade really prepared?"

"The Third Hokage and Danzo control the Anbu, and behind them are the Sarutobi and Ino-Shika-Cho families."

Kakashi questioned Jiraiya and Tsunade's plan. Having served in the Anbu, he knew how terrifying the Anbu and Root were. Although the Anbu had only 64 official members, there were hundreds of people including reserve members and support staff.

Although Jiraiya had dealt with the Anbu, he did not understand their importance.

This number of ninjas surpasses that of all other ninja clans, with only the Uchiha clan able to compare.

Furthermore, the power of the two major organizations, Anbu and Root, was almost entirely in the hands of the Hokage and Danzo, and no one else could mobilize them. Even during Minato's tenure as Hokage, the Third Hokage and Danzo still had the authority to command Anbu.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiraiya looked toward the Hokage Building.

He had considered these factors, but he and Tsunade couldn't slowly infiltrate the Anbu and Root. Internal strife was a major taboo for the village, and the sooner it ended, the less damage the village would suffer.

Upon seeing Jiraiya's decision, Kakashi sighed softly and said, "Lord Jiraiya, I wish you and Lady Tsunade a resounding victory and that the winds of change will soon sweep through Konoha."

After saying that, Kakashi handed the scroll he had prepared in advance to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya took the scroll, looked at Kakashi as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, and then left the Hatake family mansion.

……

The next morning, Konoha was still a peaceful and serene place.

After visiting their respective ninja clans and former subordinates, Jiraiya and Tsunade, along with their former subordinates, surrounded the Hokage Building and the Anbu base under the slogan of "purging the court of corrupt officials".

Upon seeing Jiraiya, the building guard greeted him as usual: "Lord Jiraiya, you've arrived?"

Jiraiya glanced at the guard, gave him a signal, and two Chunin appeared behind him and immediately took down the guard.

The building guard struggled and said with a bewildered look, "Lord Jiraiya, I have always carried out my missions diligently. At most, I may have accepted some gifts, but I have never betrayed the Hokage!"

It was I who betrayed the Third Hokage...

Jiraiya didn't say anything, but led his subordinates to seal off communication between the Hokage Building and the outside world, and went to his office alone.

The distance from the entrance on the first floor to the Hokage's office on the third floor is only a few dozen meters.

What should have been a short distance turned into a difficult one for Jiraiya, and his feelings were incredibly complex.

He had seen the problems in Konoha years ago, but he had always avoided them by carrying out his missions. Now, however, he had no choice but to confront them and resolve them through a coup.

Finally, Jiraiya arrived at the office on the third floor, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

Inside the office, the Third Hokage was wearing a somewhat faded divine robe.