novelraw Page 351
Page 351
A podium was set up on the stage, with an electronic display screen behind it, and high-ranking officials of Konoha and the heads of various clans on both sides.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane were all present.
Directly in front of them were many Jonin, almost all of the younger generation.
The Third Hokage's son, Sarutobi Asuma, and his girlfriend, Yuhi Kurenai, were also standing in the crowd.
Akimichi Torifu rarely makes an appearance at the event, but due to injuries sustained in his youth and his advanced age, his health is not ideal.
Several junior members of the Akimichi family worked together to carry a huge armchair and seat him in the last row.
Earlier, Uchiha Kawasaki led the Uchiha clan members, along with others who had rushed back from Otogakure.
They were the first to enter the square.
Yaoyue, standing in the queue, looked around and muttered to herself, seemingly whispering something.
Tsunade, accompanied by Shizune and a group of medical ninjas gathered from the Konoha medical system, entered the plaza together.
Despite their relatively small numbers, the medical ninjas were far more valuable than ordinary ninjas, and their imposing presence was in no way inferior to that of Uchiha Kawasaki.
Sasuke followed closely behind Kawasaki, while Naruto stood behind Tsunade.
Naruto actually wanted to side with Kawasaki, but Kawasaki arranged for him to stand alongside Tsunade to avoid touching the Third Hokage's sensitive nerves.
After Kawasaki and Tsunade arrived, Orochimaru slowly made his way in.
Behind Orochimaru, in order, are Konoe No. 1, Karin, Jugo, Shin, Sai, and Kakashi.
Anko, Orochimaru's disciple, stood in the audience.
She was also wearing a straw hat to conceal her face.
Clearly, Hongdou was worried about being recognized.
She hasn't gone to see Orochimaru since the last incident.
Ever since she was separated from Orochimaru as a child, her world has been a monotonous white.
Orochimaru suddenly returned and told her:
That white world was an illusion; the reason her surroundings were bright was because she had deliberately avoided the darkness.
Orochimaru exposed the disguise behind all of this.
As her worldview crumbles, Hongdou begins to try to connect with the real world.
At this moment, the village's new announcement seemed to give Hongdou a push.
Orochimaru's cloning technology has achieved a breakthrough and can now be used to treat people with physical disabilities.
It has given new life to many people who were helpless in the face of death.
The brilliance of this technology is self-evident...
However, Hongdou, who had regained her memory, knew everything about the origin and development of cloning technology.
She suddenly realized that she had always had a narrow perspective.
The world is not simply black and white, but a complex shade of gray.
However, she did not return to Orochimaru's side.
The reason is...
She! Has! Gained! Weight! And she's gotten extremely fat.
Her face had become rounder, and a "spare tire" had appeared around her stomach.
.
If she was a red bean in the past, she is now a sweet potato!
She completely broke down.
Both were staying at home, drinking excessively, overeating, and constantly consuming sweets.
I never used to gain weight, but now I've suddenly become like this.
When Hongdou first encountered appearance anxiety and body image anxiety, she was completely overwhelmed.
She couldn't accept herself being around her teacher like this.
Especially when they heard the news that their teacher had been nominated to run for the Fifth Hokage.
Despite her efforts to lose weight, Hongdou found it easy to gain weight but difficult to lose it, and after a month, the results were not obvious.
Looking at my overweight self in the mirror, I thought of my teacher, who was still handsome and hadn't changed in appearance.
Hongdou, who is usually open-minded, playful, and impulsive, suddenly felt inferior.
Driven by this emotion, she ultimately chose to sit in the audience rather than stand behind Orochimaru.
...
Orochimaru's team was small, appearing somewhat deserted compared to Kawasaki and Tsunade's.
However, when Orochimaru entered the venue.
Suddenly, loud "bang bang bang" sounds rang out from outside the stadium.
The sound was from fireworks.
The atmosphere at the 5.4 event reached a climax instantly, and the ordinary people watching from the outside were even more excited.
Kawasaki found the third generation's petty trick somewhat amusing.
Seriously, they went to great lengths to create hype for Orochimaru's appearance.
Orochimaru has not made a public appearance for a long time.
Everyone who wanted to see him was stopped by the Third Hokage.
This allows him to concentrate on the experiment.
This is also the first time Orochimaru has participated in such a large gathering since his defection.
Orochimaru surveyed the venue, and many familiar faces came into view.
The man sitting on the stage, Akimichi Torifu, seemed to be nearing the end of his life.
Life is so fragile.
His gaze wandered, searching for traces of the past.
Suddenly, he paused briefly on a man wearing a straw hat in the audience, then moved away.
Little Red Bean, do you think I wouldn't recognize you just like that?
Chapter 218 Kawasaki's Reward! The Great Fire Extinguished!
Orochimaru gazed at the bustling, lively atmosphere of the venue.
My thoughts drifted back to the day I competed with Minato for the position of Fourth Hokage.
That was shortly after the devastating Third Shinobi World War ended.
Everyone was eager to escape the shadow of war as soon as possible, and the public's enthusiasm was incredibly high.
At that time, the war had just ended, and both Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru were frontline commanders.
In terms of strength and prestige, Orochimaru was superior to the rising star Minato.
However, Watergate enjoys extremely high prestige among ordinary people.
However, the support from ordinary people had no real effect because they did not have the right to vote.
Just as Orochimaru was brimming with confidence, reality dealt him a heavy blow.
The vote count showed that the number of votes for the Watergate event far exceeded expectations.
Orochimaru later discovered that many of the ballots were from the Sarutobi clan.
Thus, it became clear that the mastermind behind all of this was none other than the Third Hokage.
But today, the situation is different.
Orochimaru slightly turned his head, passing by Minato's figure behind him.
A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Everything was under his control.
The Third Hokage stood in the center of the stage, his gaze sweeping over Uchiha Kawasaki and then over Tsunade's group.
Finally, it stopped on Naruto behind Tsunade.
It was surprising that Tsunade did not withdraw from the Hokage election.
But as long as Naruto gets close to Tsunade, everything is still within his plan.
Today, Uchiha Kawasaki is destined to gain nothing.
As for Kakashi standing behind Orochimaru, that would be the best outcome the Third Hokage could accept.
After everyone had arrived, the Third Hokage walked to the front of the stage.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Third Hokage stood in front of the microphone.
The whole place fell into silence.
In addition to the villagers of Konoha, representatives from various villages were also present, all of whom were visiting in official capacity.
Some people come to commission tasks, while others come to do business.
The nominally distinguished guests were seated in the balcony at the back.
Among them was the daimyo of the Land of Fire.
"I hereby declare that the vote of confidence for the Fifth Hokage is now officially open!"
These words stirred up the crowd of villagers on the outskirts, but the center of the meeting room fell silent.
As the third generation was announced, a huge ballot box was brought to the front of the stage.
Several aisles were specially cleared in front of the stage for voters to come forward and cast their ballots.
Although proxy voting was allowed, most ninja clans chose to cast their votes personally to demonstrate their strength.