Naruto: From Extra to Savior

Konoha wasn't exactly unfamiliar with cursed seals—after all, the Hyuga clan's [Caged Bird Seal] was a classic example. Danzo Shimura also used cursed seals to control his subordinates and prevent leaks of sensitive information. These kinds of techniques were usually deeply tied to one's body or soul, making them extremely difficult to remove. 

The immense power of Orochimaru's cursed seal had already become clear, but whether its side effects were truly limited to what had been revealed remained unknown. Furthermore, given Orochimaru's abilities and personality, the current characteristics of this cursed seal didn't really match his usual style of operation. Why bother creating a bunch of moderately strong underlings? If Orochimaru hadn't defected and had instead remained in Konoha, there would've been no shortage of people willing to work under him—but back then, he hadn't seemed particularly enthusiastic about cultivating followers. Even Anko Mitarashi had ultimately been cast aside, so it made even less sense for him to create expendable pawns. It was safe to assume, then, that the purpose of this cursed seal wasn't simply to boost strength. However, due to insufficient intelligence, all this was just guesswork for now. Judging from what had been revealed so far, the most suspicious aspect was undoubtedly Orochimaru's secret technique for maintaining youthfulness. This possibility grew even stronger considering that Sasuke Uchiha, the only [Sharingan] wielder in the village, had been marked with the cursed seal. 

Mizuki's answers weren't particularly new either—he provided a little bit of useful intelligence, but nothing too surprising. As for the really valuable secrets, Mizuki himself wouldn't dare reveal much, since he couldn't even clearly explain where he had obtained the information. 

Once it became clear that there was no further useful intelligence, Homura Mitokado, who carried himself with the most dignity among them, ordered, "That's enough for now. Go stand aside—you'll have things to handle later." 

'Wait, I'm not getting kicked out immediately? What other annoying business could possibly involve me?' 

Before Tsunade returned to officially take up the mantle of the Fifth, Mizuki would rather vanish completely than hang around these bigwigs. Who knew when he might suddenly fall into some trap? 

What followed next had little to do with Mizuki—things like patrol arrangements, displays of force, prevention of opportunistic threats, and post-war reconstruction to restore order. Matters such as careful monitoring of mission assignments and completion rates were also irrelevant to him. As a mere Chunin, he wasn't part of the front-line operations, though he'd certainly be called upon whenever manual labor was required. 

This kind of trivial stuff wasted way too much time—it simply failed to spark any interest in Mizuki. As he began drifting into drowsiness, he seemed to hear someone mention his name. Before his mind fully registered the situation, Kakashi Hatake beside him gave him a sharp poke. 

"Huh?" Mizuki shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked around—everyone was staring at him. 

'What's going on here?' 

Koharu Utatane spoke with clear displeasure, "Do you have any objection to the assignment?" 

"I'm sorry," Mizuki replied awkwardly, "I didn't catch what was said earlier…" 

He absolutely couldn't afford to agree blindly without knowing exactly what was going on—the last time he accepted something without fully understanding it, he ended up in serious trouble.

"You will accompany the delegation to Sunagakure and assist with the negotiation process," said Homura Mitokado. "As an added duty, you'll be escorting the Jinchuriki..."

"Understood," Mizuki nodded. "No objections to the mission."

It made perfect sense to send a ninja skilled in sealing techniques for the task of guarding a Jinchuriki. Besides, there should hardly be any danger this time around. The enemy had already surrendered, so there wouldn't likely be any combat involved—just keeping the tailed beast under control at most.

『Though leaving tomorrow is pretty tight schedule.』

Even the strongest Artificial Jinchuriki couldn't match the convenience of the original host. Relying solely on artificial ones would definitely lower efficiency.

『Looks like I need to cultivate the second one as soon as possible. With more and more work coming up, finding suitable help becomes critical. Until then, I've got no choice but to handle everything myself.』

Just thinking about all the pending tasks waiting for him while he was about to go away on a mission gave him no reason to feel cheerful.

Just as the atmosphere in the room remained calm, an Anbu suddenly appeared, whispered something into Danzo Shimura's ear, and quickly vanished again.

"What happened? Was there any result?" Both advisors seemed unusually concerned about the information just received.

"The hunt for Orochimaru... has failed," Danzo replied simply.

Although they'd always known that once Orochimaru managed to escape, recapturing him would be practically impossible given his level, still, such an effortless failure felt deeply disappointing.

Koharu Utatane spoke grimly: "We absolutely cannot let things slide with Orochimaru. Konoha must take action, or we'll be seen as weak..."

Konoha's reputation as the preeminent village in the ninja world had already taken a major hit. This would only embolden others who were eager to stir up trouble in the unstable ninja world. Sometimes the Great Ninja World War broke out exactly like that—previously, it was Sasori killing the Third Kazekage, which Suna mistakenly blamed on Konoha, sparking conflicts across the entire ninja world.

"I'll handle this matter personally..." Danzo took full responsibility, perfectly suited for someone like him—the leader of Root faction—who thrived on displaying raw strength.

"Alright, we have only one final item left on today's agenda..." Homura continued solemnly.

Right at that moment, however, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in..."

The door pushed open, and Might Guy—a man with thick eyebrows and bright eyes—walked in.

"Sorry I'm late." Might Guy had just returned from pursuing Orochimaru without success when he was summoned for this meeting.

"Hmph, hard work, certainly," Homura acknowledged with a nod before continuing. "Now the last and most important issue—we must elect the Fifth Hokage as soon as possible..."

All the younger ninja present remained respectfully silent, waiting for the higher-ups to speak first. Ideally, the position of Hokage should be democratically decided. Just like how the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, took office after the retirement of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. Yet current circumstances were completely different now. Two Hokages had died in battle, especially this latest case where no successor had even been prepared—clearly making it impossible to proceed strictly by tradition this time.

The next Hokage must be an unquestionably powerful ninja, possessing both strength and prestige, entrusted with restoring stability in this time of crisis. And this responsibility falls precisely on the elder council above, while the core group of ninjas below will merely serve as witnesses.

"I believe," Danzo Shimura spoke first, "that since our village has been provoked, we should respond with overwhelming force against all enemies. And I am the most suitable candidate to become the Fifth Hokage."

Danzo's self-recommendation wasn't really an issue, and his reasoning made sense too, but...

"Danzo," another elder interrupted, "given the current circumstances, we should instead look toward selecting a young and capable successor. We've all grown too old for this."

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