Chapter 71 (Patreon)

Homura and Koharu sat beside Hiruzen, listening as everyone argued in front of them.

Neither of them said a word. Every so often, they glanced at each other, already knowing what the other was thinking.

Hiruzen had spoken to them in private before the meeting.

They knew he wanted Kushina to become the Fifth Hokage.

At first, they had planned to oppose the idea. It was not because they wanted the position for themselves. They simply did not believe Kushina could lead Konoha properly.

But Hiruzen had caught them off guard.

He was not only planning to retire. He wanted both of them to step down as well.

If they retired willingly, Hiruzen promised that he would not investigate the things they had secretly done for their own benefit over the years.

That was when Homura and Koharu finally understood.

For years, their main purpose had been to stand between Hiruzen and Danzō.

Whenever those two argued, Homura and Koharu stepped in before things went too far. Because of them, Hiruzen and Danzō had never completely turned against each other.

But Danzō was gone now.

Hiruzen no longer needed anyone to keep the peace between them.

They had two choices.

They could retire quietly and keep everything they still had, or they could refuse and lose it all once their past actions were exposed.

There was nothing to think about.

In the end, Hiruzen and Danzō were more alike than either of them would ever admit.

Hiruzen simply had to protect his image as Hokage, so he was more careful about how he did things. That was the only real difference between them.

Hiruzen did not want to threaten two people he had fought beside since his youth. Even so, he knew they were no longer the same people they had once been.

There was no way they had failed to notice how many of Danzō’s actions had harmed Konoha. Yet because Danzō gave them what they wanted, they continued to support him.

If they remained as advisors, they would only get in the Fifth Hokage’s way.

This time, Hiruzen had to make sure the transfer of power was complete.

When Minato became the Fourth Hokage, if Hiruzen had truly handed over his authority and stopped Danzō from interfering, the Uchiha jōnin would not have been kept away from the battle during the Nine-Tails’ attack.

With the Uchiha there to help, perhaps Minato would still be alive.

Hiruzen had already made that mistake once.

He would not make it again.

As for replacing the village advisors, they could simply choose new ones from the next generation.

The argument over whether Kushina was fit to become Hokage continued until nightfall, yet they still could not reach a decision that most people supported.

The Uchiha clan stood firmly behind her. Several smaller clan heads and a number of jōnin without clan ties also supported Kushina.

Neither the Sarutobi nor the Shimura clan gave an opinion. They were clearly waiting to follow Hiruzen’s decision.

The loudest objections came from the members of Homura and Koharu’s clans.

Cold sweat ran down the two elders’ backs as they silently cursed those fools for being unable to understand the situation.

Could they really not see what was happening?

If Hiruzen had opposed Kushina becoming Hokage, he would have rejected Fugaku’s suggestion the moment it was made.

Even Homura and Koharu had not dared to speak against it.

Among everyone present, there was one other group that had remained silent.

The Hyūga brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi.

To the Hyūga clan, it did not matter much who became Hokage.

They knew that the position would never go to a member of the Hyūga clan. The Hyūga mostly handled their own affairs, and their relationship with Konoha was more like a partnership.

As long as the Hyūga did not rebel or cause trouble for the village, no Hokage would have a reason to act against them.

The Uchiha had been pushed into their current position because they never stopped thinking about opposing the village.

Seeing what had happened to the Uchiha was enough of a warning for the Hyūga.

Meanwhile, Kushina had no idea that Konoha’s leaders were still arguing about her.

After returning home and discussing Danzō’s defection with Roy, she went straight back to training.

Perhaps because Danzō’s escape had removed one of her biggest worries, the Nine-Tails’ chakra felt easier to handle than before.

After training for the entire afternoon, she had also made a lot of progress with her Water Release Chakra Mode.

When Water Release chakra covered her body, she could feel it flowing through every part of her and healing her from the inside.

Combined with the natural vitality of the Uzumaki clan, even small wounds could heal in an instant.

Her only problem was that she still could not control the technique properly.

Every time she used the Water Release Chakra Mode, her clothes ended up completely soaked.

She still could not control her chakra cloak as well as the Raikage. No matter how fiercely he used his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his clothes remained completely unharmed.

“Are you ready? Then let’s begin.”

Roy stood beside Kushina inside her mindscape.

They were about to release the seal restraining another of the Nine-Tails’ tails.

The more freedom the Nine-Tails regained, the more of its chakra would flow into Kushina. That chakra would also carry an even stronger wave of negative emotions.

As long as Kushina endured the first wave, she could slowly get used to it afterward.

The Nine-Tails wanted to regain its freedom as soon as possible, so it cooperated by holding back some of its negative emotions.

However, all the caution from Roy and the Nine-Tails soon seemed pointless.

The wave of negative emotions was much stronger than before, but Kushina did not even flinch.

Roy and the Nine-Tails stared at her in confusion.

“I used happy feelings to keep the negative ones out,” Kushina said calmly. “It worked much better than I expected.”

What she did not tell them was that those happy feelings came from her memories of Roy.

Whenever she remembered those moments, the feelings became so intense that they filled her entire mind.

There was no room left for anything else.

If the Nine-Tails’ negative emotions could not even enter her mind, they naturally could not affect her.

Of course, Kushina would never explain that to the Nine-Tails.

She would not tell Roy either.

In the end, releasing the seal on the fifth tail caused her no trouble at all.

If Roy had not insisted on being careful, Kushina would have released the sixth tail immediately.

So much had happened that day that Roy did not remember his plan to “kill two birds with one stone” until he was preparing for bed.

Kushina was probably already asleep in the next room, so he would have to tell her tomorrow.

Before that, he decided to ask Kaorui what she thought about it.

Kaorui was still awake, so Roy seriously explained his plan to her.

“If it will help you, Roy-sama... then I’m willing to do anything.”

Her face turned red as she lowered her head and hid against his chest.

Just imagining doing it together made her entire body grow hot and her breathing quicken.

Roy had expected to be happy after hearing her answer.

Instead, something about it bothered him.

Kaorui was always willing to place herself beneath him.

It was not that Roy wanted to accept what she offered and then complain about it afterward. He had simply grown up believing that everyone should be treated equally.

Seeing Kaorui give herself to him so completely left him feeling uncomfortable.

“Why am I making this so complicated? As long as I treat both mother and daughter well, never take what they do for me for granted, and have nothing to be ashamed of, that should be enough.”

Roy quickly cleared his head.

Kaorui was not at fault for thinking this way. She had only become like this because of everything she had suffered in the shinobi world.

This world was filled with tragedy, and there were many people who had suffered even more than Kaorui.

If that bothered him, then he would find a way to change this world.

Until then, Roy only needed to make sure he gave back as much as he received. As long as he never used their feelings for his own benefit, there was no reason for him to feel guilty.

The moment Roy finally accepted that answer, his Spiritual Pressure suddenly surged.

His power had risen simply because he had cleared the doubts from his heart.

Apparently, that was all he had needed.