Main World, Konoha Village – Hokage's Office, The Next Day
"Starting today, you're the Sixth Hokage."
Tsunade patted Link on the shoulder, casually tossing the Hokage hat onto the desk, then left with a broad grin on her face.
She'd been dashing between worlds daily, swamped with no time to mend her relationship with her boyfriend. She'd only become Hokage as a temporary measure, and besides stamping papers, all she'd done was show up to speak on behalf of the three little kids—her predecessor Hokage selves. She was sick of that.
Now somebody was willing to take over as Hokage in this main world. She couldn't be happier.
Link stared blankly at the two old-timers nearby—Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado—pointing at himself. "Just like that—I'm Hokage?"
Earlier in the morning, he'd been dragged before the Daimyo, had a brief talk, and boom, he was named Hokage.
What about the traditional jōnin vote?
"Yes, Sixth Hokage. Remember, two days from now is the Chūnin Exams—you need to attend." Homura reminded him.
At the moment, these two elder advisors were the main figures keeping the village's mission system running. Ever since Kaguya's threat appeared, many jōnin had taken turns going to the Second Parallel World on watch duty. Gone were the days of jōnin taking a mission maybe once every ten or fifteen days and then spending a month or two on it.
Espionage, assassination, infiltration—Root hardly bothered with those missions anymore, because with Konoha's current power, there was no need for underhanded tactics.
As for war and mercenary jobs? Tobirama vetoed such things outright. The other villages grew curious about what was going on in Konoha, sending an endless flood of spies, while the Anbu spent all day dealing with them.
Hashirama sat in the village, so any caught spies got flung in prison to wait for ransom. Konoha had already sent out notices, yet so far no one had come with money—most likely because they couldn't fathom what was happening.
"Chūnin Exams?" Link stood inside the Hokage's desk area, still feeling like this was unreal. The next second, he was plopped into the seat.
A three-year-old Hiruzen Sarutobi hopped onto the desk, shoved a mountain of files at him, smacking his lips. "Don't worry, by the time you attend the Exams, Biwako will have finished sewing your Hokage robes."
After all, making a kid-sized robe was simpler. In a ninja's hands, it wouldn't take long to sew.
"Eh? But—" Link eyed the stack of files towering above his head, feeling something ominous.
He reflexively looked to Hiruzen for help, but that little rascal had already jumped out the window. Turning to the advisors, he realized each of them had even more files than he did.
"Tsunade hasn't been back to handle village affairs for ages," Koharu said with a hint of bitterness. "They've piled up forever. The last business she took care of was promoting Haruno Sakura to jōnin."
So she's basically done nothing since before I left? Link thought, flipping open one file. "Don't you usually need the jōnin's confidence vote to become Hokage?"
"Oh, that." Koharu nodded. "They voted this morning while you and Tsunade were out meeting the Daimyo. You passed unanimously."
She stamped a document and set it aside, pulling another from the pile. "Anyway, once you've processed these documents, we'll go back to handling day-to-day affairs in the village. Your main job is just to show up at important events."
"It won't disrupt your training," Homura added.
"Then what's… all this?" Link saw that the top page was a medical corps application, and he had no idea how to respond.
Homura's previously stiff face broke into a grin. Both he and Koharu wore smiles now.
"These are files we've already dealt with," Koharu explained, head still lowered over a document, stamping away. "It's just so you can get familiar with the kind of work a Hokage does."
"If there's anything you don't get, just ask. We'll tell you why and how we handled it."
In truth, a Hokage's workload was immense—sitting at the mission desk, handing out assignments to ninja, commanding the Anbu, approving promotions, coordinating personnel, dealing with VIP visitors, plus reading and acting on intelligence from the entire region.
After all, a ninja village was a military organization, and for it to function smoothly, someone had to be the final decision-maker. For efficiency, they couldn't indulge in much "democracy." The Hokage was the village's "brain"; all other departments were "hands and feet." Being busy was normal.
Leafing through the reports, Link felt a headache. Sure, he used to daydream about being Hokage, but now actually sitting here, facing everything head-on, his scalp tingled.
Anbu being your direct subordinates meant placing squads to do missions, guard the borders, sniff out spies, and keep watch on powerful clans, etc. Even though jōnin just had to do the missions themselves, the Hokage had to worry if they could finish, if they'd need back-up, or if some special conditions might arise. Piles upon piles of random intelligence left his head spinning.
He spent half the day either flipping through documents or listening to the two advisors muttering endless clarifications. Only at lunchtime did he finally catch a break. Then he realized something:
He really wasn't cut out to be Hokage.
Sure, he was great in a fight, had weird and powerful ninjutsu, held a unique position of prestige—but running a ninja village like this was a nightmare.
Most importantly, Link was an adequate ninja, but as a "Kage" he lacked many necessary qualities. Just skimming the monstrous volume of intelligence, sorting it, and deciding how to act would eat up enormous chunks of time. The two older advisors near him could glance at a page and instantly see what to do, summarizing it neatly, thanks to a lifetime of experience.
No wonder Naruto in the future timeline was always swamped despite peace. Link wouldn't fare any better.
After lunch, Link said seriously to the two advisors: "Is it possible to resign as Hokage?"
The pair exchanged knowing looks, amusement lighting their faces. Koharu answered, "Sure, as long as there's someone qualified who's willing to take your place."
Different times, indeed. Once upon a time, people fought fiercely over the Kage title. Now it was becoming a hot potato no one wanted to hold.
Homura recalled his old friend Danzo, resurrected as a small child. Once a fanatic about being "the root of Konoha," Danzo was now in the Second Parallel World, diligently serving the Ninja Alliance. After seeing what a whole separate world was like, how could he possibly crave such a restricted seat as Hokage?
(Maybe I should think about retiring soon too, storing up enough "contribution points" to be resurrected as a child and enjoy a leisurely life…) He sighed inwardly. Time marched on, leaving them behind.
Koharu and Homura gave each other a gentle smile. Indeed, the new generation had plenty of people capable of supporting the future. Even if they died right now, they'd have no regrets.
~~~
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