The Shadow of Konoha

It has to be said that it was a very lucky thing for him to fall into the hands of the Konohagakure ninja. It's not that his destination was the Hidden Leaf Village itself, but compared with the consequences of falling into the hands of the Iwagakure ninja, the current situation was really too good... If the ninja team that surrounded Hanyu when he fainted were from Iwagakure, then things would be really bad. Firstly, an Iwagakure ninja would have died in his hands; secondly, he had no way to explain the fact that he was carrying Konoha's secret letter on him. He would actually be the Hokage of Konoha... Who could have imagined it?

Hanyu had a lot of things in mind, but he did not hesitate and carefully told the story of his previous encounter with the Hokage from beginning to end. "Yes, that day was like this..." Who would have thought that the "Third Hokage" would appear in front of him in such a young appearance? At the moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked only in his early twenties, which was really... too young. From meeting the Hokage to encountering the ninjas of Iwagakure, Hanyu's narration was neither hurried nor slow, meticulous and truthful. Because the matter itself was very serious, he would never mix unnecessary or false content into his speech.

"Can you confirm that you burned the remains of the Nidaime Hokage?" After Hanyu explained, someone asked in a very sad voice. "Yes, I burned his body as requested by the other party." Hanyu said this with certainty. Anyway, Konoha would never hold him responsible for such a thing. Strictly speaking, this was an act of merit and no fault.

As soon as Sarutobi received the secret letter, he had already confirmed its authenticity. There was no problem with the handwriting or the seal code. Moreover, it took almost no time for the secret letter written in special code to be successfully deciphered. The content of the letter was too simple: one was the appointment of Sarutobi Hiruzen as the successor to Hokage, and the other was to emphasize that the affairs of the village would be entrusted to the new Hokage. The regret-free life and the earnest expectations for those who come after him are vividly expressed on the paper.

After Hanyu finished speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen lowered his head and remained silent for a long time, probably with tears in his eyes. Because his physical condition was extremely bad and he was forced to wake up, the explanation just now seriously consumed Hanyu's energy. At this time, he was already unstable and shaky. Seeing this, the medical ninja quickly walked to his side and gently pressed on the back of his neck, and Hanyu fell asleep again. There was no need for him as a narrator here anymore, and the medical ninja was about to take him away when he saw this, but a cold voice stopped the medical ninja.

"Wait, this isn't over yet... Yamanaka, go and confirm if what he said is true."

"But, Lord Danzo, given the child's current physical condition, I'm afraid..." The medical ninja wanted to explain, but his eyes were met with the other party's cold expression. Things cannot be stopped, the ninja named Yamanaka has come - words are not trustworthy, only the memory in the brain will not lie. Yamanaka placed his palm on Hanyu's forehead. In a coma, he had no idea that an unprecedented crisis had befallen him. However, no one present paid attention to Hanyu anymore. Danzo's behavior was completely overly cautious and unnecessary... Subjectively speaking, everyone here believed that what Hanyu said was true. However, probing his memory was an established procedure.

At this time, Sarutobi and the others were concerned about the aftermath of the Second Hokage and the future direction of Konoha... They no longer had any extravagant hopes, as some things were already irreversible: The younger brother of the leader of the Senju clan who pacified the troubled times and the great contributor to the founding of the Konohagakure has passed away. As a ninja, Tobirama Senju was very powerful and had developed many extremely powerful ninjutsu and forbidden techniques; as the ruler of Konoha, he meticulously established the system of the ninja village, which was impeccable. However... there is absolutely no immortal ninja in this world.

For the Hidden Leaf Village, after losing the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, who was the best in the world, Uchiha Madara, who was almost as powerful as Hashirama, and the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, one after another, its power to intimidate the ninja world was almost completely eliminated. An era has ended. The sacrifice of the Second Hokage is a sad thing, but everyone has been more or less , so no one will lose their minds. After losing the Hokage, the most important thing is to sort out the current situation of Konoha... But the war is still going on. From the perspective of maintaining Konoha's stability, the second-generation's last words brought back by Hanyu are to some extent of considerable significance.

The second Hokage died suddenly. It was just an alliance with Kumogakure. Who could have expected that it would lead to the loss of the leaders of two ninja villages at the same time? Therefore, the Hokage did not arrange his own funeral before leaving, let alone designate his successor. He designated his disciple Sarutobi Hiruzen as the new successor of Hokage before his death. For other people in the village, this was a very "temporary" decision. And the only people who could provide testimony for this were the guards who followed the Hokage at the time, so this was not enough to convince everyone.

Not everyone would like to see a young man in his early twenties become the village leader. However, with the Nidaime's explicit appointment written on paper, Sarutobi Hiruzen's legal status as the successor to Hokage is no longer in question... leaving aside the undercurrents below, at least this is the case on the surface.

"Although we had the support of Lord Mito before, the rumors and opposition voices could not be stopped. After all, we are too young. But now with the final explicit appointment of the Nidaime, Sarutobi, your situation will be greatly improved... In fact, you are already the Third Hokage." Mito Kado En said while looking at the blood-stained note. This is the difference between word of mouth and written down.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head and said, "It's still too early to be the Sandaime, but... at least now I can be the Acting Hokage."

"…You are right." Compared to directly gaining the supreme power of the village, Sarutobi hopes to strive for a smooth transition. In any case, doubts about him are inevitable, and this doubt will continue for a long time - compared to the first and second generations of Hokage who are famous all over the world, Sarutobi, as the successor, will inevitably be compared. The brilliance of the predecessors is too bright, enough to make the later generations dim.

With the war going on outside and the numerous conflicts caused by the loss of the Hokage inside, it has to be said that even the usually steady and positive Sarutobi found the world difficult.