Emotionally, the Four Hokages found it difficult to accept Akihara Kagura's request.
The Hokage represent the ultimate dignity of Konoha, and they did not wish to see the Hokage become a puppet.
Moreover, many of the Hokages present were close friends and relatives of Tsunade, and all four Hokages hoped that Akihara Kagura could peacefully coexist with Tsunade, allowing Konoha to transition smoothly.
"Kid, we all understand that Tsunade is no match for you."
Tobirama stared at Akihara Kagura and spoke solemnly, "You don't need to resort to these tactics to fight her, our presence has already made her position as Hokage challenging enough; there is no need to usurp her authority further..."
"Because her power infringes upon my own."
Kagura's smile faded, seemingly puzzled, "Lord Hokages, this all started because Lady Tsunade wanted to transfer Karin from my side, without ever considering changing her mind. If Lady Tsunade wants to take Karin away and treats me and the Root as if we are there to be exploited, why shouldn't I retaliate?"
Silence fell.
Tobirama and Sarutobi Hiruzen exchanged glances.
Of course, it's because you, kid, are just an assistant to the Hokage! Isn't it natural for the Hokage to transfer someone from the hands of a Hokage's assistant, given that the position of the assistant is granted by the Hokage himself?
But...
Akihara Kagura's situation was a bit different.
Akihara Kagura was granted the power of a Hokage's assistant not only because of his considerable strength but also because of his numerous contributions to Konoha.
The alliance between Konoha and the Mist Village, the peace with the Rock Village maintained through the kidnapping of the Third Tsuchikage, the internal conflicts of the Uchiha clan smoothly handled—all these were reliant on Akihara Kagura's presence.
Even today, Akihara Kagura still holds the position of a Hokage's assistant, having helped Konoha suppress the Sand Village and the Mist Village, re-establishing even stricter alliances, and even turning two major ninja villages into vassals of Konoha...
Just this series of accomplishments alone...
Former Hokage's assistant, Shimura Danzo, couldn't even come close...
Of course.
The other things that Akihara Kagura did, Danzō couldn't match either, at least Danzō's harm to Konoha was nowhere near that of Kagura's...
"Actually, you don't really care for power, do you?"
Hashirama furrowed his brows, contemplating his own thoughts when he once held the reins of power in Konoha: "Shouldn't there be other pursuits?"
"But he doesn't like others using power to suppress him..."
Tobirama cut to the heart of Kagura's thinking with a single statement, speaking solemnly, "I can help you and Tsunade resolve this conflict this time, and even continue to slowly restrict Tsunade's power later, making her understand your bottom line, but let's stop here for this incident, shall we?"
"Tsunade is not your enemy..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed deeply, feeling uneasy.
"I think so too."
Minato nodded, following the footsteps of his predecessors.
[System Prompt]: [New Work Task (Senju Hashirama), abandon the political struggle with Tsunade, maintain the peace and stability of Konoha.]
[System Prompt]: [New Work Task (Senju Tobirama), abandon the political struggle with Tsunade, maintain the peace and stability of Konoha.]
[System Prompt]: [New Work Task (Sarutobi Hiruzen), abandon the political struggle with Tsunade, maintain the peace and stability of Konoha.]
[System Prompt]: [New Work Task (Namikaze Minato), abandon the political struggle with Tsunade, maintain the peace and stability of Konoha.]
"Alright."
Akihara Kagura's eyes twinkled slightly, looking at a series of system notifications, four Hokages under his control from Edo Tensei, their tasks just exploded! Is this method useful? Sometimes, when a superior wants him to do something, the system might issue some tasks; can it also issue tasks when the superior does not want him to do something?
Another point.
This matter is very important, and only he must do it.
The treasures of a superior are like water in a sponge, just squeeze hard, and it comes out; they are also like juice in a pear, just squeeze hard, and it comes out...
"So how should this be resolved..."
Senju Hashirama felt a bit brain-burning.
"Rumors have already appeared in the village, this won't be easy to solve..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen well knew the harm of rumors; even using power to suppress them would only make things worse, especially when Tsunade's authority as Hokage was still not solid enough.
"Let someone take the fall."
Akihara Kagura looked at the four Hokages, casually suggesting, "The village's two Hokage advisors are already of age, it might be time for them to retire..."
These two Hokage advisors had always been a restraint, often disagreeing with Kagura's suggestions, sometimes even requiring Kagura to use open-window theorizing to persuade them.
"!!!"
The four Hokages present were startled.
But...
Kagura made sense.
However, it felt a bit strange that the Hokage and his assistant had a conflict, yet the Hokage advisors had to step down for this matter...
"This could also work."
"By the way, I'm curious about something..."
Tobirama looked at Akihara Kagura, proactively asking, "This all started because of a kid named Karin; you helped her make a decision, does that kid really want to stay in Root and not leave this dark place? Won't she resent you?"
"..."
Akihara Kagura fell silent.
On the other side.
Tsunade was still troubled by her own problems.
Because Jiraiya thought Tsunade was somewhat overbearing, which made Tsunade question whether she was really doing something wrong, she left the Hokage building planning to walk around the village.
Rumors in the village had yet to subside, many villagers still respected Tsunade when they saw her, but they could also see their fear and unease.
The origin of this conflict... what really is it?
Did Akihara Kagura think that by trying to transfer Karin, Tsunade was trying to disband his Root and strip him of his power?
Just then.
At that moment.
Tsunade saw a group of youngsters gathering.
Just as Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy from the same generation of jōnin gathered, these genin of the same generation also gathered, even bringing along peers like Tenten.
Because Karin was also their classmate, even the work in Root was actually easier than that of these genin who frequently undertook missions; she occasionally appeared at these gatherings.
"I really don't understand..."
Uzumaki Naruto held the back of his head, the least understanding of the village rumors: "Although I also think that Kagura isn't quite suitable to be a Hokage's assistant, he seems pretty good to everyone in the village, right?"
"..."
The other genin were a bit at a loss.
Because this matter was still too early for these kids.
The group of genin quickly moved past this topic, discussing some of the troublesome missions they had recently undertaken, then dispersed to continue with their tasks.
Only Karin idly returned to the Root base.
"That kid named Karin..."
Tsunade stopped Karin, actively sharing her thoughts, "I want you to become my disciple, your talent is very suitable..."
"Sorry, I don't want to leave Root!"
Karin quickly interrupted Tsunade, continuing on her own, "Lady Tsunade, you were able to discover my talent because Lord Kagura saved me when I was six years old, taught me up to today; unless I die, I will never leave Lord Kagura..."
Karin had always been by Akihara Kagura's side, she knew nearly all of Kagura's secrets, and also knew of many things Kagura had done.
From the age of six, Karin was brought to Konoha, sent to the Ninja Academy, even worried she couldn't keep up with the pace, specially finding a home tutor for supplementary lessons;
After graduation, Karin became Kagura's assistant, continually receiving Kagura's teachings, even getting supplementary classes from Kabuto and Dean Nonō;
During the Chunin Exam, Kagura helped her find suitable teammates, worried that the little one might not have food to eat during the Chunin Exam.
If one day...
Akihara Kagura was gravely injured...
Karin would give all her blood to him, in exchange for Kagura's survival.
"That's how it is..."
Tsunade thought for a while, sighed, and then handed Karin a scroll as a gift, "You can learn this... go tell Kagura, I won't transfer you anymore, I hope this turmoil will soon settle down!"
However...
When Tsunade returned to the Hokage building, she saw the four Hokages.
"Grandfather, Great-uncle, Sarutobi-sensei, Minato..."
When Tsunade saw their arrival, she felt a bit panicky.
This panicky feeling was like she, this foolish ruler, had just done something foolish, and the previous Hok
ages had collectively come to scold her.
"We are here because of your conflict with Kagura."
Sarutobi Hiruzen, seeing Tsunade still distressed, took the initiative to speak, "Tsunade, don't worry, this time it's because you wanted to transfer Karin from his side, Kagura that kid just reacted a bit excessively..."
"Alright!"
Tobirama stopped Sarutobi Hiruzen from continuing, speaking solemnly, "We've already advised that kid Akihara Kagura, now we are just here to provide a solution to resolve the conflict, let Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado take responsibility for this matter, the two of them will resign to take the blame, also giving the villagers an explanation..."
"!!!"
The expressions of Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado suddenly turned odd.
It seems...
It seems something isn't quite right?
Why would the two Hokage advisors have to resign over a conflict between the Hokage and his assistant, why does this trouble fall on their heads!
However...
With all four Hokages here.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado couldn't speak out against it.
Surely for the stability of Konoha, the two Hokage advisors couldn't sacrifice themselves?
Within Konoha Village.
This matter soon settled down.
Because Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, the two Hokage advisors, issued wrong orders under the guise of the Hokage's command, leading to a conflict between the Hokage and his assistant, and the two Hokage advisors had no choice but to resign to take the blame.
This conflict was thus declared over.
For Tsunade and Akihara Kagura, this resolution was actually excellent.
Tsunade, the newly appointed Hokage, was free from the restraint of the two Hokage advisors, and Akihara Kagura no longer had to bother dealing with the Hokage advisors.
The upper echelons of Konoha truly only had two people left.
[System Prompt]: [Abandon the political struggle with Tsunade, maintain the peace and stability of Konoha, the task has been completed, reward Ashura Chakra (Senju Hashirama).]
[System Prompt: Ashura Chakra has been integrated into the God of Ninjas trait.]
"!!!"
Akihara Kagura couldn't believe the task reward he had received.
Is this some kind of joke?
Is the mine going to collapse?
How could mining still dig up the chakra of Hashirama's past life?
Akihara Kagura furrowed his brows in thought, he could feel that the chakra inside his body was already abundant as if it were endless, even the shell of the Ten-Tails could provide chakra, Ashura Chakra was even more terrifying than that of the Nine-Tails.
The only problem is...
He couldn't find a comparable object.
If speaking seriously, the amount of chakra should have increased quite a bit, but this still far from reaching the potential for a qualitative change...
However...
When Akihara Kagura looked down, he knew that the mine of Hashirama could continue to be mined because the mine of Tobirama was really about to collapse.
[System Prompt]: [Abandon the political struggle with Tsunade, maintain the peace and stability of Konoha, the task has been completed, reward Combat Experience (Senju Tobirama).]
This boss, for the sake of Konoha, left behind all the forbidden techniques he had researched and studied in Konoha, and they were all mastered by Akihara Kagura...
This means...
This Second Hokage's mine was mined dry, only then were these combat experiences dug up.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was the same.
As a professor of ninjutsu, the Third Hokage mastered many Go-style techniques, after his death, Kagura learning those techniques was no longer hindered, the Third Hokage's lifetime of combat experience lay in his application of the Five Element Release.
The only mine left...
Probably only Minato Namikaze.
[System Prompt]: [Abandon the political struggle with Tsunade, maintain the peace and stability of Konoha, the task has been completed, reward Yin Nine-Tails Chakra (Minato).]
[System Notification]: [Yin Nine-Tails Chakra has been integrated into the Ten-Tails (Shell)!]
"..."
Akihara Kagura sensed that the Ten-Tails' eyes immediately lit up with two, this nearly alive half of the Nine-Tails being absorbed into the Ten-Tails' shell, the revival progress of the Ten-Tails' shell suddenly increased by a quarter, the entire revival progress had already surpassed sixty percent!
However, since the reward of half of the Nine-Tails' chakra had been dug up, it seems that Minato's mine was also basically about to collapse...
"Konoha's mine is about to be exhausted..."
Akihara Kagura watched Minato, but his mind was on this Fourth Hokage's rogue student: "Must quickly dig out Uchiha Madara's legacy from Obito…"
~~~
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