met free Chapter 197: Victory in Conquest or Victory in Economy?
Chapter 197: Victory in Conquest or Victory in Economy?
A few days later, the Hokage election in Konoha officially began.
Tobirama Senju and Izuna Uchiha were jointly responsible for monitoring the votes to prevent any favoritism or fraud during the election.
However, this precaution was ultimately unnecessary.
Both Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha possessed the pride of a strong person and disdained cheating.
"Clan Chief Sarutobi, whose side does your clan intend to pledge allegiance to?" Hyuga Tenjin asked with a smile.
Sarutobi Sasuke chuckled twice, making no attempt to hide his feelings: "We naturally pledge our allegiance to Lord Hashirama. The Hyuga clan, presumably, will pledge their allegiance to Lord Madara, right?"
Hyuga Tenjin nodded: "Whether you join someone or not, you are all serving Konoha, there is no difference."
Amidst their laughter and conversation, the two cast their ballots into the ballot box.
Following closely behind, various clans, including Shimura, Kurama, Shiranui, Haruno, Namikaze, Hatake, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, also came to cast their votes.
(I know some of these are surnames, but we already mentioned this in Chapter 58; they are counted according to ninja clans.)
The voting was quick, taking only one day.
Because of Manji, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Konoha, so there is no need to see if the Daimyo agrees.
In fact, even a daimyo wouldn't dare to give pointers to Madara or Hashirama.
Because Daimyo wasn't sure if these two would have the same good temper as Manji.
It is well known that Madara and Hashirama are very strong.
The daimyo of the Land of Fire wondered if the two would still respect him.
After all, Wanci is gone, and no one can control the two of them anymore.
If he said something wrong, and Hashirama and Madara acted rashly and came straight to him, he would be finished.
Madara: I think you're just reluctant to part with this famous case, aren't you?
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
"The election is over, and a new Hokage has been chosen!"
"The Second Hokage is..."
Hyuga Tennin's voice slowly rang out.
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, sitting in the audience, both looked up, their hearts tightening in unison as their gazes were fixed on the figures on the stage.
"Hashirama Senju!"
As soon as those four words were uttered, the entire Konoha Square erupted in cheers, which swept across the area like a tidal wave.
Hashirama Senju slowly rose to his feet, his posture upright and his expression solemn, yet a hint of complexity lurked in his eyes.
Madara Uchiha, standing beside him, remained silent for a long time...
In an instant, his world seemed to fall silent...
A moment later, Madara looked up at Hashirama, his voice carrying a hint of relief, but also an undeniable sense of loss: "Hashirama, congratulations."
"spot....."
Hashirama met Madara's gaze and caught a glimpse of the undisguised loneliness in his eyes. His heart felt a pang of mixed emotions.
In fact, he had a vague idea of the outcome long before the vote.
In terms of interpersonal relationships, I am far superior to Ban, who is aloof and dislikes socializing.
I have repeatedly advised Ban not to keep people at arm's length and to interact with others to build connections, but Ban has always been a loner and never cares about such things.
Ban is the kind of quiet, pragmatic person who rarely interacts with crowds.
Hashirama was kind and approachable, able to get along well with his clansmen and ordinary villagers.
Given this contrast, the people of Konoha naturally preferred their approachable and friendly leader.
"spot!"
Suddenly, Hashirama strode forward, grabbed Madara's wrist, and, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, declared clearly, "From this day forward, Madara is my assistant Hokage, and his position is exactly the same as mine!"
Madara Uchiha looked at him like this, the helplessness in his eyes turned into a smile, and he gently patted Hashirama's hand.
Fine, I'll hand over the Hokage position to you today.
I will definitely challenge you again in the future and win back this position!
Izuna and Tobirama, who were standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
Who is more important than Naruto?
What the two of them actually cared about more was internal unity.
It would be terrible if internal disunity were caused by just one Hokage.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
A few days later, the ceremony for the Second Hokage began.
A few months later
The Second Hokage, Hashirama Senju, held his first high-level meeting.
The meeting was about Konoha's grand strategy.
Although Manji lived, Konoha maintained a peaceful philosophy of non-conquest and non-dominance, and remained quietly in the center.
But the newly arrived Hashirama, Madara, and others didn't think that way.
Hashirama, Madara, and others wanted to unify the ninja world.
Even Hashirama wanted to unify the ninja world.
The reason it turned out this way is because of the tens of thousands of times.
First of all, there are no tailed beasts now.
The balance of tailed beasts that Hashirama had created would naturally no longer exist.
Secondly, Hashirama received countless lessons, and his thoughts were largely influenced by those lessons.
However, internal disagreements still arose.
The issue of fast and slow.
"I think we should gradually unify the ninja world through economic and cultural means. Once all the items used and worn by the major ninja villages come from Konoha, we can achieve unification."
"At the same time, we can use tariff increases to control other countries."
"Simply put, Konoha possesses abundant martial virtue, but chooses victory through economic and cultural means!"
Hashirama Senju spoke.
Hashirama inherited Manji's ideas and was adept at using culture and economy to control the villages.
Using force is too crude; let's use economic sanctions instead.
However, Madara Uchiha soon objected.
"Hashirama, you're too naive. This is too slow."
"We can't give those people time to develop!"
"I believe we should immediately issue ultimatums to all countries and ninja villages, demanding they join Konoha, or we will conquer them!"
Madara Uchiha said.
"Ban, war only causes pain. We should use other methods."
Hashirama Senju frowned and gently advised.
Tobirama Senju, who was standing nearby, also spoke up.
"I agree with Madara's suggestion! I, Tobirama Senju, also think we should fight!"
"The ninja world will eventually be unified, just like the Land of Fire, which was originally in war and became unified. As time goes by, the original disorder will eventually move towards unity and order."
"If we don't fight, our descendants will. We might as well fight while we're still strong!"
Tobirama Senju calmly looked at Hashirama Senju and said.
Upon hearing Tobirama Senju's agreement, Madara Uchiha gave Tobirama a look of approval.
At this time, Tobirama and Madara got along quite well because they shared similar ideals and Izuna was still alive.
"Hashirama, even your brother thinks you've already hit him, so don't be stubborn."
Madara Uchiha said.
"I disagree with war."
Suddenly, Izuna objected.
Madara Uchiha was taken aback and looked at Izuna in surprise.
Everyone was also surprised and incredulous, not expecting that Izuna, who had the lowest presence among the four, would jump out.
"Everyone, I am very clear: Konoha does not desire war at this moment!"
"I am in charge of the Konoha Ninja Academy and grassroots work."
"I conducted a survey a month ago, which asked: If Konoha were to launch a war of unification, would you be willing to go to the battlefield for Konoha?"
"The result is that most people said they would!"
"But I phrased it differently: Would you, or your family, children, or friends, be willing to go to the battlefield?"
"The result is that most people are unwilling!"
Uchiha Izuna held the documents and spoke earnestly and calmly.