HSU: Ch. 349

The nighttime Konoha was as noisy as ever.

The only difference was that campaign posters for the election could be seen everywhere on the streets, proving that the village was in the midst of another round of power transition.

Masashi walked along the street. The surrounding clamor reached his ears, yet it didn't strike him as particularly loud. Even the streams of people coming and going seemed, in his eyes at that moment, to blend seamlessly with the surrounding lights.

It was as if, at this instant, he and Konoha were two different paintings. That once simple and primitive little village could no longer be found in the great metropolis before him. Not a trace remained. Not even the Hokage Rock.

Back then, the Hokage Rock had been a proper cliff face, with nothing carved into it at all. The practice of carving into it, hollowing out space to establish shelters, had only begun in the era of Hiruzen. Before that, there simply hadn't been any spare manpower to do such things.

Masashi lifted his head. In the night sky, even the starlight seemed dimmed by the glow of the lights below. Suddenly, a hand slapped down on his shoulder with a sharp pat.

"Masashi-nii!" Tetsuka popped out from behind him. "Haha, I knew it was you."

Masashi glanced at the other hand he was holding a big jug filled with alcohol. Was this guy not planning to make it through the night or what?

Tetsuka noticed Masashi's gaze and immediately looked smug.

"This is good stuff. My family's been storing it for years."

"So you're not planning to go home tonight?" Masashi said, at a loss for words.

Everyone knew that the purpose of urging others to drink was to make them drink, while you yourself drank little or not at all. But Tetsuka's drinking-table skills were abysmal. Even when he tried to urge others to drink, he always ended up drinking more than anyone else. And on top of that, his alcohol tolerance wasn't great.

When Tetsuka drank, he relied purely on his drinking manners to survive.

"Go home? What for? I already told my family that today the future Fifth Hokage is treating everyone to dinner. I'm staying at an inn tonight."

Tetsuka was vibrating with excitement. This was also a true reflection of every Uchiha these days. Uchiha ninjas had zero interest in modesty.

"You're getting carried away," Masashi warned him. "And what do you mean by 'future Fifth Hokage'? Are you trying to get me killed? You're shouting it out on the street. There are several nominees, you know."

"Huh? But isn't that just how it is?" Tetsuka froze.

He'd only yelled it out a couple of times on the street. Masashi was being way too cautious. Itachi had gone and awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. Wasn't that way more outrageous than anything he'd said?

What was this supposed to be, the Will of Fire Eye-Opening Technique?

He didn't get along well with Itachi, mainly because he found Itachi's perpetually serious attitude unbearable. And Itachi was always going on and on about the Will of Fire.

The night Masashi was nominated for Hokage, Itachi awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. This caused quite a stir within the clan, but it was temporarily kept confidential and not made known outside the family. That the Uchiha, whose calling in life was showing off, could obediently keep quiet about this was only possible because, after Masashi awakened the Rinnegan, their horizons had expanded. The Mangekyō Sharingan's prestige had dropped within the clan, and even Itachi himself felt it was nothing special.

Itachi could be called the most low-key Mangekyō wielder in Uchiha history. He genuinely thought the thing wasn't all that impressive. But in Tetsuka's eyes, it just meant that Itachi had become even more smug than before. Because to him, this meant that Itachi actually cared more about Masashi becoming Hokage than he did.

That was just too strange. Clearly, he was closer to Masashi, wasn't he? So how come he didn't awaken it?

There had to be something wrong somewhere!

"All right, take it easy tonight. Don't go too crazy," Masashi said. He had no idea about the overly rich inner drama playing out in Tetsuka's head, but as a friend, he still offered a reminder. "Keep a low profile. Besides, it's not over yet. If it doesn't work out in the end, it'll be embarrassing. You're already a jonin. Be more careful with what you say."

"Got it." Tetsuka didn't argue, nor did he really care.

After all, the Masashi he knew was like this. Always liked to put on an act. Who knew how happy he really was inside?

Not wanting to be Hokage? That was definitely something Masashi said on purpose. Just polite words, that's all.

Convinced he'd seen through everything, he patted his chest and assured Masashi, "Don't worry. My mouth is sealed tight. If you don't say it, I definitely won't."

Masashi wasn't very confident about that, but since Tetsuka had said so, he had to at least look like he believed him. To be fair, Tetsuka was very capable as a ninja. His flaw lay in interpersonal relationships. To put it more bluntly, his social skills were abysmally low. The two of them finally arrived at the hotel they had booked. This was the most luxurious venue in all of Konoha. Those who came here to dine were all big shots from the business world.

Today, it had a group of especially important guests. Because even its owner and shareholders were among them. As the actual owner of this hotel and the current head of the Police Force, Hiashi was waiting at the entrance.

In today's Konoha, there were two major alliances of ninja clans: one was Ino-Shika-Chō, and the other was Uchiha-Hyūga.

From the era of Hiruzen through Minato, Ino-Shika-Chō had been regarded as the Hokage's staunchest supporters. But in the era of the Fifth Hokage, Hiashi believed that title would have to be handed over to the Hyūga-Uchiha alliance.

From afar, seeing Masashi approaching from across the street, Hiashi broke into a smile. Though there was a hint of bitterness in it. But that had little to do with Masashi.

"Masashi," Hiashi stepped forward to greet him.

"Hiashi." Seeing him, Masashi quickened his pace. "Why are you personally waiting for me? I'm really sorry. I got held up by something."

"Haha, no problem, no problem." Hiashi's laughter matched the frankness of his expression. "After all, you were accompanying two Hokage. Spending a little more time is only natural."

As the head of the Police Force, and with Hashirama and Tobirama not deliberately concealing themselves, Hiashi was naturally well aware of their movements.

"My apologies. The two of them discussed some work-related matters with me," Masashi said, not lingering on the topic. He linked arms with Hiashi. "Please, after you."

"All right, then I won't stand on ceremony," Hiashi replied, not refusing, and walked into the hotel alongside Masashi. "Fugaku has already arrived as well. We're just waiting for you. Tomorrow is the first round of the village-wide public vote. Everyone is fully prepared."

Left without anyone greeting him, Tetsuka looked at the two ahead of him, who seemed inseparable, and sneered inwardly. Still, he didn't slow down, briskly hoisting the basket of alcohol and following after them.

---

When Masashi, Hiashi, and Tetsuka entered the room they had reserved, it was already packed with people. It was a private room that could hold more than forty guests, and everyone present was a prominent figure in Konoha.

Speaking of those representing the ninja clans, setting aside the two clan heads, Fugaku and Hiashi, there were elders from the Aburame and Inuzuka clans. Even the Ino-Shika-Chō trio had sent representatives: Shikaku, Chōza, and Inoichi, the three current clan heads.

Konoha had now restored the configuration of the Nine Great Ninja Clans, and seven of them were represented in this single room. This was more or less Masashi's normal routine these days. Either he was inviting others to dinner, others were inviting him out for drinks, or Fugaku would organize a gathering and call him over.

True flexible working hours. The kind that flexed exclusively at night. If not for the large number of people today, Masashi wouldn't have chosen this place. After all, Konoha's bigwigs nowadays also favored this kind of "club-style" hospitality.

Places like this had no real privacy.

When Masashi entered, many people stood up. Fugaku was an exception. He didn't need to stand. Personally speaking, he was older. An elder who lived right next door, no less, with the two families frequently having meals together.

After entering the room, he first apologized to everyone for arriving late. The atmosphere in the room was completely warm and cheerful. Shisui was also present. Lately, he had been smiling at everyone he met, in an excellent mood.

Thinking back to how he had once doubted whether Masashi possessed enough of the Will of Fire, he now felt deeply ashamed. Even the First and Second Hokage had acknowledged Masashi's Will of Fire. Its "purity" hardly needed further discussion. Being nominated as a Hokage candidate was nothing new for the Uchiha clan.

During the Fourth Hokage election, hadn't Fugaku himself been a candidate? Not just for the Fourth. Back in the First Hokage's time, Madara had been a candidate. During the Second Hokage's era, another Uchiha had also been nominated.

Only during the Third Hokage's selection was there no nomination, because Hiruzen had assumed the position in an emergency during wartime. A special case. In short, the Uchiha clan had always been nominated, but it was usually just for show, running alongside the real contenders.

This time, however, the nature of things was completely different.

This time, everyone else was running alongside Masashi.

From the moment Masashi was nominated, the Fifth Hokage had effectively already been decided. Like the First and Second Hokage back then, it was merely a matter of going through the motions.

After a round of pleasantries, everyone took their seats again.

Masashi sat to the right of Fugaku. At the other end, Tetsuka had already handed the basket of alcohol to a server. But there were still two empty seats at the table.

"Where's Itachi?" Fugaku asked immediately when he noticed that only Tetsuka had come in.

He clearly remembered telling his son that he had to attend tonight. He was very satisfied with Masashi's arrangements for Itachi. To be honest, although he once believed that Itachi had the makings of a Hokage, he no longer thought so.

With that temperament of his eldest son, forget being Hokage, he wasn't even suited to be clan head. That Will of Fire of his, no one knew how he had learned it. It was practically a suicidally intense mindset. Being the head of ANBU, on the other hand, was perfect. It would allow him to assist Masashi effectively while also strengthening ties between the Hokage's office and the clan.

There was also, admittedly, a small desire to show off.

His son awakened the Mangekyō.

Father and son both having awakened it. No matter how you looked at it, that was a story worth boasting about. He was, in truth, quite fond of keeping up appearances. Secrecy was for the general public. After all, it was an election period, and being too flashy wouldn't be good. But there were only so many ninja clans in Konoha. They saw each other every day, all within the same circle. There was no need to hide it. Just keep it understated.

"Itachi..." Masashi thought of how energetic Itachi had been today and didn't even know where to begin criticizing him. "I originally gave him the day off, but he refused and ran back to work."

"He really doesn't know what's appropriate anymore."

"You could actually look at this from a more positive angle." Seeing Fugaku's expression, Masashi more or less knew what he was thinking. But now that Itachi was his kid under his wing, he couldn't shirk the responsibility. "Itachi works incredibly hard, and the results are outstanding. No one else can really compete with him."

"That's true." Fugaku was satisfied. "ANBU is a place where results matter. Fine, then, call it a fool's luck."

Everyone at the table watched the two of them repeatedly making excuses for Itachi, and they all understood that ANBU would belong to Itachi in the future. The Uchiha clan had been stiff and rigid for so many years, yet now these two foxes with clever schemes had emerged.

"Please stop showing off your son to us," Shikaku said with a smile. "If we had a son like that, we'd be so happy we wouldn't be able to sleep."

Then he silently added in his heart, Please, let me never have a son or grandson like that. I couldn't handle the shock.

That wasn't meant as an insult, but as a matter of reality. The Nara weren't the same type as the Uchiha. Since Shikaku had set the example, the others naturally followed suit.

After all, Fugaku was still the Hokage Assistant. During the Hokage election period, now that Minato had officially stepped down and the new Hokage had yet to take office, he was effectively the acting Hokage.

The acting Hokage had to be respected.

Watching this bunch of hypocrites, Tetsuka began to miss the good old days when the four of them hung out on the commercial street.

As the host, Masashi raised his glass.

"I arrived late... so I shall atone with this drink."

Without giving anyone the chance to stop him, he tilted his head back and drained the glass in one go. After that, he poured himself another glass and raised it again with a smile.

"Shall we all have one?"

Everyone hurriedly raised their glasses. Here's a fun fact: throughout the entire era of the Fourth Hokage, no one ever drank alcohol with Minato.

The only thing you could drink in his office was tea. It seemed that in the era of the Fifth Hokage, things could finally return to normal. After several cups of alcohol, the people at the table gradually loosened up. They were all old acquaintances who had once fought side by side on the battlefield. Though their positions were different now, once seated at the same table, the feelings of the past slowly returned.

They talked about their youth, starting from their school days, then moving on to the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars. Most of the people at this table had forged their personal bonds on the battlefields of the Third Great Ninja War.

Masashi was no exception. His friendships with the Hyūga clan had all been formed on the Kiri battlefield. Among this generation of ninja clans, the non-Uchiha he was closest to were, without exception, the Hyūga. As the alcohol took effect, emotions began to surface. They were drinking the same wine, yet each tasted something different.

Gradually, and quite naturally, the conversation shifted toward the upcoming Fifth Hokage election.