Chapter 70.1- One Thousand Hands
Added 2025-08-07 00:57:28 +0000 UTC“Do we have the votes?” I asked Uraume the question the first thing in the morning. Uzume was scheduled to arrive in a matter of minutes, and while she had delivered me my first political victory in these chambers, Danzo was not Hiruzen. Hiruzen was almost universally beloved by the clans. He was my Granduncle’s chosen and that meant something. We had tossed some mud on his robes with the Danzo scandal, but the monkey was nothing if not a political animal. I had expected him to defend Danzo, insist on his innocence, try to preserve his legacy, but there was none of that. Hiruzen Sarutobi tossed his dead best friend to the wolves with no hesitation, and very little in the way of an apology. It was impressive.
So it meant his position was strong. Strong enough that I would probably have to give concessions if I wanted my coup to succeed. And my coup needed to succeed before I brought the war to an end. It was why the plans for dealing with Kumo just sat on my table unimplemented. Kumo were, at present, the biggest baddest threat. If we put them down, then it was possible some of the clan heads could argue against the necessity of switching Kage. Hiruzen was definitely a more capable administrator— in peace times— than I was at present. He had the experience on his side. But me, I knew I’d male a lot of mistakes early on.
That was another reason why I needed to wait till I was officially Hokage to deal with Kumo. A win like that would give me leeway for half a decade worth of mistakes and missteps.
“We might. We just might” She replied with a shrug.
“Might? You’ve been making the rounds for over a week now, I would expect better than that considering all the time you spent”
“You were the one that ordered me not to directly broach the subject. All I dropped were hints and the clan heads took that as a cue that even we aren’t sure of ourselves, and they’re non-commital. Uzume has your back. Same with the rest of our classmates that sit on the council, but we don’t have a direct majority on our own.
Comments
Okay, i think we need to look at it a different way. We see everything through Shori's eyes not through anyone else's (most of the time). So we know what Shori knows and Shori is far better informed than most people. if anyone had leaked the information about Hiruzen being a second choice Kage, there could have been rioting in the streets whenever he did something even slightly unpopular. So why would he allow that information to be out there? As for leaking that Hiruzen can't be capable, that's what he's trying to do with a medical report. If someone wanted to take your job and went around telling everyone that you're unfit for it, you'd expect most people to lift an eyebrow. He can leak whatever he wants, but without evidence, it's just throwing mud at the wall, and very little of it will stick. Also, we need to cionsider what Hiruzen's support looks like. He has three guaranteed votes-- Onikuma, Sarutobi, and Shimura. Shori has five! He's just worried about the noncommitted because hey have no reason to vote to upset the status quo. Also, as for losing a war, we've seen exactly zero records of any Kage being blamed for lost wars. Onoki lost back to back and got thousands of Iwa nin killed but the Iwa nin still considered him the best thing since sliced bread. If your friends and family get killed, you tend to focus he hatred on the people who did the killing rather than the leader who was miles away. Sure, Hiruzen lost to the Raikage but that was an issue of one Kage being stronger than another-- not like anyone could blame him for that when they'd stand even less of a chance in his place. Can't really blame him for the freak of nature that is Hanzo. As for Shori, i think I've tried to show how some of his policies have been less than well received. Essentially forcing the less powerful clans to put up more shinobi, covering his own clan's arse by only putting Kushina out there, ending all missions and fucking with people's money (Ninja get paid by the mission, he's fucked with everyone's income by closing shop), and essentially turtling up for so long. Sure, he beat Iwa, but that's it. He did it while head of the Clan Council. So why make him military dictator. Maintaining the status quo is easy, and in politics, it's the easy thing to do. it's easier to convince people to keep things as they are rather than changing things to favour one side. We can see that Shori even knows this and he's holding back on attacking/beating Kumo. if he does, war is over, and Hiruzen makes a more compelling option than he does. Hiruzen ruled for a minute before the war started proper, and in tis story, he did a great job with things.
Oghenevwogaga Odjugo
2025-08-07 09:22:14 +0000 UTCDoes it really make sense for Hiruzen to have this level of support for Hokage in a time of war? Or at all. Even if no one knows he's crippled yet, he still got half the Villaige killed in the last battle. Is there really no significant backlash towards him after that? No resentful relatives or people afraid of what his next decisions might bring? Also him being chosen by Tobirama is hardly an advantage over Shori, when everyone knows that Hiruzen was the second choice. Tobirama never planned for Hiruzen to be Hokage and he was never supposed to hold the position with Shori around. Everyone with a brain knows that he was at best a backup plan that was implemented based on a mistake. This makes his appointment tainted and controversial from the start. Since then, his decisions and orders have directly brought the village to the brink annihilation, proving that he isn't actually on the level to effectively compete against the other Kage's (much less outwit and defeat them as he needs to). The only reason Konoha hasn't been destroyed yet is the guy that was always intended and expected to be the Hokage. Shori has the birthright, he was groomed and chosen by the last Hokage and he's proven to have the strength and wit to not only fight, but actually defeat other kages. I like conflict and drama as much as anyone, but I find it hard to believe that his influence and reputation are so weak that the crippled Hiruzen can effectively rival him without getting out of bed. Realistically, there should be all sort's people in the village whispering that Hiruzen is unfit and Shori was always meant to take charge. I don't mind the outcome in itself, but I'm struggling to make sense of it or the character perspectives. Can all this really be the result of his childhood shenanigans and lack of political tact? Because Hiruzen hardly strikes me as a Machiavelli or Napoleon/Caeser type of leader either.
Kolek
2025-08-07 07:32:56 +0000 UTC
