Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 93
🕑 Added 2024-12-23 17:48:47 +0000 UTCAs Masashi once again saw the gates of Konoha under the night sky after traversing half of the Land of Fire, he couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of his heart.
At this point, the stoic clan leader had to have already gone through the first round of voting. The votes shouldn't look too bad.
Hiryū was just there as a formality, so no real competition there. Shikaku and Tazuna would be fighting over votes amongst themselves, and the Hyūga clan might even throw a few votes toward the Uchiha.
Their vote tally shouldn't look as pitiful as it used to.
As for Uchiha getting the most votes overall, he hadn't even considered that possibility.
The Hokage faction couldn't possibly be that incompetent.
The Uchiha were politically inept, so their focus had always been on making money. The Hokage faction, on the other hand, had both power and wealth. All they needed to do was centralize authority where needed, delegate appropriately, and play the card of civilian rights with the villagers.
Their votes would be solid.
This kind of thing wasn't Masashi's forte, and even if he wanted to make suggestions, he wouldn't know where to start. After all, his expertise was in physical combat, not politics.
In his previous life, even though he held official positions, there was no "politics" to speak of. With two major figures overshadowing everything, no one dared to challenge their dominance.
Who would dare go against them?
Those were simpler times. You either followed orders or disappeared.
Working under such titans left little opportunity for Masashi to accumulate political experience.
As he pondered his next steps, he approached the village gates.
"Masashi-sama!" The gate guards greeted him enthusiastically, startling him from his thoughts.
"Oh, hello there," Masashi replied.
"You're back in the village?"
If I'm not back, then am I leaving? What kind of question is that? Masashi gave a polite smile. "Yes, I just returned. Let's get the paperwork done."
"Oh, there's no need for that! You can just go straight in."
"What? Are you trying to get me into trouble? I want to register. Hurry up."
What kind of attitude is this? Ignoring Konoha's rules and regulations. Who even trained these people?
Masashi noticed the familiar armband on the ninja's right arm.
Ah, they're with the Police Force.
Wait—what? The Police Force?
Did they expand the force this quickly? The stoic clan leader couldn't have moved this fast without approval.
Sighing at Fugaku's recklessness, he completed his registration and teleported back to the Uchiha compound using Flying Thunder God.
At first glance, he thought he had arrived at the wrong place.
The entire compound was decked out in celebratory decorations. Bright beams of light shot into the sky as enormous fireworks bloomed, scattering like rain.
Something's definitely wrong.
Excited clan members were everywhere. When someone spotted him, they shouted his name, and the crowd surged toward him. Before he knew it, Masashi was hoisted into the air and tossed upward.
What the hell just happened? Can someone explain this to me?
As he landed and felt the crowd preparing to toss him again, he hurriedly waved his arms and shouted, "Wait! Hold on! What's going on!?" If they throw me again, I swear I'll use Substitution Jutsu.
"Masashi, you don't know?" a clansman asked with a grin. "Fugaku-sama has been appointed as Hokage Advisor!"
What? That wasn't part of any scenario I considered. Masashi turned to see a familiar elder.
"Uncle Fujibayashi? But wasn't the voting just starting?"
"There's no need for voting. Everyone else withdrew!" Fujibayashi chuckled. "You were out of the village, so you didn't know. Fugaku-sama presented your proposal and won over everyone!"
Nonsense! What proposal of mine? I never wrote any proposal! Fugaku's gone and done something outrageous again.
"That wasn't me!" Masashi said, struggling to process the information. "It was Fugaku-sama's idea! But seriously, everyone withdrew?"
"Yes."
"Tazuna was the first to step down."
Tazuna? That weakling? But why did Shikaku also withdraw? What kind of game is the Hokage faction playing?
I hadn't even played my trump card yet! You're telling me the game's already over?
Do you have any idea what I went through at the daimyō's palace these past few days? One of his ministers even dragged me to tea sessions!
Although, to be fair, the tea was quite good...
Wait—this isn't the point!
Seeing Masashi's dumbfounded expression, the clansmen assumed he understood and cheered again, tossing him into the air like a ragdoll.
As one of the few contemporary masters of the Flying Thunder God, Masashi found himself completely disoriented by their enthusiastic tossing.
The crowd's excitement only attracted more clan members to join the fun. Eventually, after everyone had taken their turn, they finally set him down.
After planting his feet firmly on the ground, he felt relieved.
Then he noticed someone leaning against his house: Pakura, smiling faintly at him.
Looking back, he realized he had been carried straight to his doorstep.
Pakura was no longer in her usual tight combat outfit. Instead, she wore a loose, kimono-style casual dress and even had light makeup on.
She looked stunning.
Except for the fact that he'd just made a complete fool of himself.
"This is how the Uchiha clan operates—everyone's like family, no need for formalities," Masashi said as he tidied his clothes and tried to explain. "By the way, that outfit looks great on you. Where did you get it?"
"Mikoto gave it to me," Pakura replied, her smile widening. "White Ghost, even you can end up in such a mess?"
"White Ghost?" Masashi was puzzled.
"Your nickname—it's already spread far and wide."
Masashi was stunned. That embarrassing nickname from Kiri had gotten out?
Realizing this, his mood instantly plummeted.
"I guess it's fine," he sighed. "But this turn of events—I really didn't see it coming."
"Your clan doesn't see it that way," Pakura said with a laugh. "They're calling you the hero behind it all."
"I don't have that kind of ability. It was a collective effort," Masashi replied, shaking his head.
In the shinobi world, individual prowess could sometimes outshine collective efforts—like when Hashirama used his charisma to unite people and establish Konoha.
But such cases were rare exceptions.
The second notable exception in the original timeline was Naruto.
This world was essentially a playground for the Six Paths family. Everyone else was just playing catch-up.
"Want to take a walk with me?" Pakura suddenly asked.
"Huh? Sure, let me just change clothes," Masashi said, heading inside. After all that tossing around, I must look a mess.
But she grabbed his arm and leaned in, her touch soft and warm.
"Looks like the situation really caught you off guard," Pakura said, tightening her grip. "You should come out and see for yourself."
---
In Masashi's memory, the nights in Konoha had always been tranquil.
As more people came, it gradually grew livelier, but the level of bustle remained moderate.
The original commercial street was just a place filled with small stalls. When he came back for a second round, oh wow, the commercial street had everything.
As a frequent visitor to the commercial street, he immediately felt something slightly different as he stepped onto the street.
The people of Konoha walking along the street were all wearing expressions he was once very familiar with.
They were all talking about the new Hokage Advisor matter.
From their conversations, he confirmed it.
Fugaku had really become the Hokage Advisor.
This was absurd.
Masashi realized one thing: Konoha's financial crisis had come even faster than he had anticipated.
"As a key contributor, how does it feel right now?" Pakura's voice cut through his thoughts.
"What key contributor…" Masashi turned to look at her. "You're getting quite skilled at teasing people now, huh? What happened to your aloof demeanor?"
"This isn't Suna." Pakura's reply was rather layered, her expression very relaxed. "I just want to live a carefree life too."
"Fair enough." Masashi sighed. "I want to live a carefree life too…"
"You think like that as well?"
"Why wouldn't I? You've been in Konoha for quite a while now; you should have noticed, right?"
"No, in my opinion, the situation of the Uchiha clan isn't that bad at all." Pakura suddenly grabbed Masashi and pulled him toward a store.
It was a shoe shop.
Pulled inside, he watched as Pakura let go of him and began looking at shoes.
"In Suna, the Uchiha clan's lifestyle is something even the most powerful clans would envy," she said as she picked out a pair of shoes and began trying them on.
As she bent down to try them on, her clothing struggled to keep her modesty.
"That's really tragic…" Masashi couldn't help but comment. "Suna is in such a state, and yet there's been no rebellion?"
"The Land of Wind is a poor country," Pakura said as she removed the shoes and asked a store clerk nearby, "Could you get me a size larger, please?"
"Of course." The clerk was sharp enough to notice Pakura had entered arm-in-arm with Masashi and didn't say anything unnecessary.
Among other things, Masashi's dusty Konoha ninja outfit was clearly a key detail.
The clerk moved quickly and soon brought over a new pair of shoes.
But as she handed them over, she gave Masashi a sly wink and said, "Your girlfriend is really beautiful! What a great figure!"
Masashi was speechless.
If this clerk weren't a woman, with that expression, he might have thought he'd run into some kind of lecher.
Pakura had already put on the new shoes and was spinning around for a look.
"Masashi, how do I look in these?"
He squinted, trying hard to discern any differences, but…
"Fantastic!" He gave a big thumbs-up.
Sigh… He couldn't tell the difference at all. They all looked the same, didn't they!?
"You're so convincing in your insincerity," Pakura remarked approvingly. "No wonder you helped your clan leader successfully campaign for the Hokage Advisor position."
She hadn't forgotten her first day in Konoha when he had brazenly concocted nonsense right in front of her with the Hokage.
Back then, she'd thought this guy had great potential, and sure enough, he'd delivered. He'd gotten Fugaku appointed as the Hokage Advisor.
That was secondary, though; the proposal itself was truly impressive. If Suna had someone like him, Rasa wouldn't have to spend his post-work hours panning for gold.
"I'll take these shoes; please wrap them up for me," Pakura said to the clerk.
"Got it! Please wait a moment." The clerk cheerfully wrapped the shoes, placed them in a bag, and handed it over—directly to Masashi.
"???"
Oh, she wants me to carry it.
He didn't react at first, probably because he'd just come back from the daimyō's mansion, where he hadn't carried anything himself.
The lifestyle of the nobility was truly decadent.
After taking the bag and paying, he looked at Pakura and asked, "Just one pair?"
Her spending seemed pretty restrained; back when he'd gone shopping with girls, they were always power shoppers.
"So generous?" Pakura said with a playful smirk, covering her mouth with her hand. "Be careful, or I might bankrupt you."
"That's impossible," Masashi said. "You might not know, but I'm actually very wealthy now."
"Never mind then," Pakura said, shaking her head. "I won't trouble you." Her pride as a former Suna ninja showed through.
She hooked her arm back through his, and the two left the store, continuing to stroll along the street.
Pakura was in a great mood that evening.
She'd stop to check out snacks one moment and try on clothes the next. Her eyes sparkled with a joy that had been absent in Suna.
She's adapted well to life here, Masashi noted, watching her examine a display of colorful fabrics.
But she always insisted on paying quickly, never giving him a chance to foot the bill.
Masashi didn't mind showing some generosity, but seeing how much she cared about it, he let it slide.
"Masashi?"
He turned around and saw someone he knew.
"Hokage-sama? Out shopping?"
He noticed Minato carrying several full bags in both hands. Even the Hokage can't escape shopping duty.
Inside the shop, a flash of fiery red appeared.
Kushina stepped out of the fitting room with a battle-ready look on her face.
Goodness, it was a kimono with a daring cut.
Masashi looked at Kushina, then at the somewhat awkward-looking Minato. The Hokage's discomfort was almost visible.
"Hokage-sama."
"Hm?"
"You're quite the player, huh."
"Huh?"
Minato looked utterly confused but felt certain this wasn't a proper comment. His face reddened slightly.
"Masashi, you've got it wrong! I'm just accompanying Kushina to buy clothes!"
"Uh-huh, I get it," Masashi said, raising his thumb again. "Quality of life is important. I understand completely."
"Oh? Masashi, you're here too?" Kushina finally noticed him and the bag he was holding.
"That brand… You're out shopping with a girl?"
Masashi shifted to reveal Pakura standing behind him. She stepped forward.
"Kushina-sama," Pakura greeted politely.
She'd adapted well to Konoha's style by now. When walking the streets, no one suspected she wasn't a local. Her accent had even picked up some of Konoha's lilting tones.
"Ah… I remember. You're Pakura, right?"
"Yes."
"I've heard a lot about you!"
"I'm nothing compared to you, Kushina-sama,."
The two women began exchanging compliments, their conversation flowing naturally despite their different origins.
The poor man looks like he needs help. Watching Minato's deadpan expression, Masashi decided to share a piece of wisdom.
"Hokage-sama."
"Call me Minato, Masashi."
"Alright, Minato. Want some advice? It'll help you stand more comfortably."
"Oh? As expected of you! Tell me!"
"Stand tall like a pine tree. You've got room for improvement, my dear Hokage."
