"I said it—I trust Kushina." The Third Hokage still responded with that calm tone.
Danzo snorted coldly upon hearing that and turned to leave the Hokage's office.
Homura Mitokado also left with a flick of his sleeve.
Seeing this, Koharu Utatane sighed and said, "Hiruzen, why are you so protective of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki? This isn't like your usual conduct."
"Koharu, compared to Homura and Danzo, I've always trusted you more. Since you asked, I won't hide it.
The Third Great Ninja War is about to end. Minato has rendered outstanding service during this war—I believe he has what it takes to become the next Hokage."
Upon hearing this, Koharu's expression changed slightly.
"Hiruzen, are you trying to nominate Namikaze Minato as the Fourth?"
"It's not that I'm nominating him. The selection of a Hokage is never decided by one person—it depends on the will of the whole village. I just personally favor Minato."
"Then what about Orochimaru? Isn't he your most prized disciple? Why not choose him?"
"Orochimaru... he and Danzo did some things they shouldn't have. One reason I assigned him to the Bear Country battlefield was to separate him from Danzo—to break off their connection if possible."
"Things they shouldn't have done? Like what?" Koharu pressed.
"They tampered with the First Hokage's cells."
"What? That…"
"This is something I must also take responsibility for. When the war first broke out, the village faced internal and external threats. Danzo repeatedly proposed studying the First Hokage's cells to strengthen the village. After much hesitation, I tacitly allowed it."
"Then Danzo went to Orochimaru?" Koharu asked.
The Third Hokage nodded.
Koharu didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Koharu, to be honest, I didn't expect Orochimaru to be interested in the First's cells, nor that he'd collaborate with Danzo on it.
This act has already crossed a major taboo in the village—especially considering his teammate is Tsunade, the First Hokage's granddaughter. That's why I deliberately assigned Orochimaru to the Bear Country front."
"Hiruzen, I understand. I know what to do now." Koharu turned and left after speaking.
Two days later, the Konoha camp at Kikyo Pass received a reply from the Third Hokage instructing them to return to the village with the two captured Jinchūriki.
Jinchūriki were excellent bargaining chips—Konoha certainly wouldn't let that opportunity go.
Jiraiya and the others escorted Bunpuku and Han back to Konoha, handing them over to ANBU.
Then came negotiations with Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
As the defeated sides, it was only natural for Suna and Iwa to cede land and pay reparations.
However, Sunagakure was extremely poor—located in the desert, lacking both funds and food. Konoha was well aware of this.
So their demand was simple: in future missions, 20% of Suna's commissions must be handed over to Konoha. The Suna delegation wept internally upon hearing this.
But the strong dictate terms—the Suna no longer had the strength to keep fighting.
After repeated defeats, morale within Suna was at rock bottom. No one even mentioned vengeance for the death of the Third Kazekage anymore.
So despite their reluctance, Sunagakure agreed to Konoha's terms.
After signing the treaty, the war between Konoha and Suna officially ended. Konoha returned the One-Tails Jinchūriki to Suna.
Next came Iwagakure. With both their Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchūriki in Konoha's hands, Konoha demanded even greater compensation.
Though Iwagakure suffered greatly in this war, they were better off economically than Suna. Gritting their teeth, they agreed.
After signing the agreement, Iwa would deliver the compensation money to Konoha in the coming days—exchange for people, money for hostages.
Thus, of the five great villages, only Kumogakure and Kirigakure remained in conflict with Konoha.
Once negotiations with Suna and Iwa concluded, the Third Hokage immediately issued an order: all Konoha shinobi stationed on the Suna and Iwa fronts could now return home.
Many of these ninja had been deployed since the beginning of the war—six or seven years without seeing their families.
At that moment, countless people were overwhelmed with homesickness, yearning to reunite with their loved ones.
However, Konoha shinobi on the Bear Country and Frost Country fronts could not let their guard down yet.
Uchiha Yuan and Orochimaru returned to the Bear Country front two days later.
Minato also returned to the Frost Country front after two days.
Upon returning, Uchiha Yuan immediately found Hyuga Asana and told her about the Uchiha clan council and the events at Kikyo Pass.
After listening, Asana sighed, "That trip back to the village was really dangerous. One misstep could've been catastrophic."
"Yeah. But at the end of the day, it's because I'm not strong enough. If I had Uchiha Madara's power, I wouldn't need to worry about plots—I'd just steamroll them all."
"True. In the ninja world, strength rules all," Asana agreed.
"Speaking of Madara—how's your research into the First's cells going?" Yuan asked.
"Progressing well, though…"
"Though what?"
Asana hesitated but didn't elaborate. She just smiled and said, "Nothing for now. I'll let you know once I confirm something."
Yuan nodded and didn't press further.
After parting ways with Asana, Uchiha Yuan opened his personal stat panel.
Thanks to the last month of narrative events and the battle at Kikyo Pass, he'd accumulated 165 attribute points. He dumped them all into his visual prowess.
Now his stats looked like this:
Chakra: 434
Constitution: 197
Visual Power: 600
Vitality: 39
Nature Affinity: 4
Level: lv42 (33/70)
Attribute Points: 0
Uchiha Yuan estimated that with 600 visual power, he was likely unbeatable among those with just the three-tomoe Sharingan—he might even rival Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyō.
If nothing went wrong, all he needed was another 400 points in visual power to unlock the Mangekyō Sharingan.
War is cruel. Even after Suna and Iwa surrendered, Kiri and Kumo continued their stalemate with Konoha for another half year.
During that time, both sides alternated between talks and skirmishes.
Eventually, after months of back-and-forth, Konoha signed separate ceasefire agreements with Kiri and Kumo.
However, since Konoha did not sign as the victor, there were no reparations involved.
Regardless, for Konoha, the Third Great Ninja War had officially come to an end.
(To Be Continued...)