The next day, at the Hokage Building.
Masahiko came early, then stood in front of the enormous transparent glass window, overlooking the entire village.
"I… actually became the Hokage… this is really unexpected…." Masahiko shook his head, and all of a sudden, an Anbu flashed in.
Looking at the familiar mask and sensing the familiar chakra, Masahiko frowned, "Guze, are you the only Anbu around here? Why are you showing up in front of me every time?"
Guze didn't answer. Masahiko then smiled and said, "Nothing? Okay, the more familiar they are, the better. You'll be responsible for delivering and receiving my letters…"
"Substitute-Hokage, I'm the Anbu Captain."
"Oh…" Masahiko paused, "Then go find me responsible for my letters… a messenger."
Guze flashed out, then Masahiko shook his head, "Did he just add the word Substitute while addressing me? Who does he think I am, Ichigo?"
Masahiko murmured, then he sat on the chair behind the Hokage's desk.
"C-level tasks applications, B-level tasks applications, C-level tasks applications…" Picking up these three documents one by one, Masahiko's brows grew tighter and tighter, "What the hell is this? Does Hokage also approve task entrustment personally? No wonder that Tobirama was always busy."
"I think it's necessary now to set up a Task Delegation Department, and the Hokage will on take responsibility for looking at the S-Class tasks only…"
"So, until I establish that department…"
Masahiko quickly ran through the documents, and after a while, he divided them into four.
"C-level, B-level, A-level, S-level, and some others…" Masahiko then looked at the uneven stacks of documents, then nodded with satisfaction.
Another Anbu then flashed in, "Substitute-Hokage, the three elders are here!"
"I know, let them in…" Masahiko waved his hand and wondered in his heart, "So much for confidential, can they at least send someone I don't know? This guy is caller Yiran… impossible is there only two people in the Anbu Department?"
One minute later, the three elders entered the room and sat on their respective seats.
Masahiko sat in the center then leaned back on his chair sighing, feeling a little bit emotional, "The last time I was at this meeting Hashirama was the Hokage, I didn't expect that the next time would be me the one sitting in this chair."
The three elders glanced at each other, then Uchiha Izumi shook his head, and said with a light tone, as if he was whispering, "Masahiko Grandpa, you're just a Substitute-Hokage…"
Masahiko glanced at him, but didn't contradict, "Let's get down to business… If you don't have anything useful to say, then just go back!"
The three elders seemed stunned for a while; they really didn't have anything to say…
Masahiko looked around then realized that he was the one who called up this meeting, and he didn't have anything to say too…
Hesitating for a while, Masahiko said, "Although the Kumogakure managed to ambush both Tobirama and me, during the battle, we managed to kill all of their Elite Shinobi. Their famous Gold and Silver Horn Brothers were killed, their leader is eliminated, the only S-rank shinobi left is the one estimated to be the Third Raikage. They're currently crumbling, so what are your thoughts?"
"I'm gonna take the liberty to ask, but are you still capable of fighting now?" Asked the Nara patriarch, this also happened to be the same question that the other two elders wanted to ask.
Masahiko hesitated to answer, "I can still fight, but I better not push myself for the time being." The side effects of the Hachimon technique haven't been wholly lifted yet, and Masahiko doesn't want to waste anymore witness points on the "physique" attribute…
"It's better if we leave it this way." Nara Patriarch said, "Currently, Lord Second is still recovering, Mito is pregnant, and your condition is not good, and Sunagakure hasn't really abandoned their aggression… According to what you said, Kumogakure is crumbling, and they won't be able to recover from this easily, it will be better to settle accounts with them half a year or a year later before they do."
Masahiko nodded, "One year? Give them ten, and they will not recover… In fact, if the second Tsuchikage wasn't there, I wouldn't have been hurt this much."
"Just wait until I recover completely, I will go to him in person to settle the accounts!" Masahiko was planning to put his head against Muu's this time.
The three elders glanced at each other without objection.
"Finally, Sunagakure, as the victorious party…" Masahiko was about to say something, but the Hyuga Patriarch interrupted, "Substitute-Hokage, I think Sunagakure has already sent you an alliance treaty."
Masahiko paused for a moment, then dag in the fourth stack from before.
"This…" Masahiko picked up the document and glanced at it
"It's really an alliance treaty… and it's full of sand…"
Masahiko looked at three elders and took out a drawing that had already been prepared.
"This is the only thing useful that I've come with from my last trip. A weapon drawing, and I will hand it over to you for arrangement. Keep it confidential."
The three elders take a look at the drawing, then frowned.
"Grandpa Masahiko, some of the materials for this weapon are not available in our village…"
"Then go to Sunagakure and ask them for any lacking materials. After they got their ass kicked by Mito, how dare they come to ask for alliance without paying anything? Don't worry, the news of Tobirama and me are still alive will most likely make them agree!" Masahiko said.
"Yes, and if they don't agree, we will attack them!" Izumi got all worked up.
Masahiko looked at him and smirked, "Well, if we were to attack them, I will expect the Uchiha clan to send more people next time."
Izumi leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes, trying to recover.
"For the time being, Konoha shouldn't take the initiative to fight any foreign village, and it's estimated that no one will dare to provoke us too."
The three elders nodded at each other.
"No objection or something?" Masahiko asked.
Upon seeing that no one has responded, Masahiko smiled and picked the documents on his desk.
"Now… The C-level tasks will be reviewed by Uchiha Izumi."
"B-level is for you, Hyuga Patriarch."
"And A-level belongs to you, of course, Nara Patriarch."
The three elders looked at each other, then Izumi quickly said, "Grandpa Masahiko, I would love to help, but there's something that has to be done… It's related to my family."
"Don't worry, no one will jump off the cliff unless you refuse to help…" Masahiko waved his hand.
Izumi's expression changed, he sighed then and began to review the tasks applications.
"Substitute-Hokage, I really have something to do…" Hyuga Patriarch felt like Masahiko had nothing he could use on him.
"Is there something wrong? You know these days, I started thinking that maybe I should learn the Hyuga's cursed seal…"
Hyuga Patriarch's voice couldn't be heard for some time after that sentence, while next to him, Nara Patriarch had already begun to work.
"Look, how good he is…"
The Hyuga patriarch took a deep breath, then started working on the documents.
Masahiko looked around, then he picked up the last stack of documents, counted it, then smiled. Only four papers needed to be reviewed by him.
"Intel on Land of the Frost: The northern part of the Land of Frost has become uninhabited. Most of the civilians and shinobi have migrated to the Yugakure, which once again fell into chaos."
"Chaos… Their land got destroyed because of my last shot at the Tsuchikage… But that was necessary, I'm sorry." Masahiko murmured and put the document aside.
"S-Level Mission: A politician from the Land of Fire is ready now to pay a friendly visit to the Land of Lightning, and they've requested some ninjas for protection."
Masahiko looked left and right, then twitched his mouth and sighed. He shook his head then, and took a pen, and wrote five big words, "LET HIM DIE BY HIMSELF!"
"Takigakure Intelligence: Half a month ago, Takigakure shinobis raided Iwagakure. Because the Iwagakure and Kirigakure are having a fierce battle, the village was left vulnerable, and the Takigakure successfully managed to rob the Nanabi."
"Takigakure wanted the Nanabi from the start… But I remember that Iwagakure paid a lot of money to take it from them. Was this some kind of retribution?"
"Amegakure Intelligence: The years of the civil strife in the Amegakure is finally over, a Ninja called Hanzo has become their leader."
"Hanzo…" Masahiko was lost in his thoughts, "I didn't expect him to appear this early."
"Soon a new generation of Shinobis will emerge, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hanzo the Salamander, Onoki…"
Masahiko stood up and walked back to his desk after he finishes reviewing all the documents. He sat down then and watched his three elders busy reviewing their reports.
"It feels pretty good being a Hokage…"