Chapter 214 Shadow

That night, Ye Shan sat alone against a tree trunk in silence all night, and did not return to the camp until the morning dew soaked his clothes. It was still early, only around six o'clock, and many ninjas in the camp had already woken up to practice. When they saw Ye Shan coming, they all came forward to make hand seals and salute. Ye Shan forced a smile to cope with the enthusiasm of the crowd, and then went straight to the cafeteria to prepare for dinner.

Nara Shikaku had been waiting here for a long time. He came forward from afar and saluted and greeted him: "Sir, did you have a good rest last night?"

"It's okay."

Ye Shan was not used to being flattered by others. He preferred to do his own thing without any restraint. But there was nothing he could do. He became the focus wherever he went, so he became very frugal with his words.

Nara Shikaku consciously followed behind Ye Shan, one step behind, and diligently lifted the transparent curtain, leaving Ye Shan speechless.

Although it was still early, the cafeteria was still full of Konoha ninjas who were eating. None of them had the dejected look of yesterday, but instead were in high spirits, gathering in groups of three or four and whispering to each other.

Ye Shan gestured with his hand for everyone to sit down and continue eating. He picked up the rice plate, poured a bowl of porridge, two buns and an egg, then found a corner and sat down.

The food in Konohagakure was as good as ever during the war, not only providing a variety of staple foods, but also a lot of meat. Ninjas consume a lot every day, especially physical ninjas, who are a bottomless pit and eat meat in a horrible way. It's just a little food, which is nothing for the wealthy Fire Nation.

"Shikaku," Ye Shan said after taking a sip of porridge, "After dinner, you will arrange for someone to notify the village to be prepared. The coffin of the Third Generation will arrive tomorrow at the latest."

"The ninja who brought the news was sent out last night. Your Excellency, don't worry. Tsutomu Koharu and the others will take care of it in the village."

"Well, I will leave for the village soon. I'll leave the frontline matters to you."

"Don't worry, the Hidden Cloud Village has become a lost dog, and there are no large-scale battles on the front line."

Ye Shan nodded in satisfaction and stopped talking. He finished the food in no time. Before he could take the plate to be washed, a strange ninja took it away first, not forgetting to put on a flattering smile.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. The more this happens to the companions in the village, the more vigilant Ye Shan is. Extremely high status often leads to unconscious degeneration. If there are too many sweet words around, one will naturally lose himself. Ye Shan knows this truth very well.

Not long after, Ye Shan flew away from the camp with everyone's farewell. He did not return to Konoha immediately, but came to the Hidden Cloud Village on purpose.

"Enemy attack!"

The Cloud Ninjas on guard soon discovered his tracks, and sharp bamboo whistles rang out one after another. Teams of Cloud Ninjas came running over upon hearing the sounds, but they all stood there with their heads lowered, with no intention of taking action at all.

Of course, the Cloud Ninjas didn't dare to take action. With such a huge gap in strength, any of them with brains would know what to do. A sturdy Cloud Ninja came hurriedly accompanied by several others. Ye Shan looked at him and found that he looked exactly like the Third Raikage, so he asked, "Are you the son of the Third Raikage?"

The man had messy hair and faint traces of tears on his hard face. When he heard Ye Shan's question, a fierce look flashed in his eyes, but he still said honestly: "That's right, I wonder why you came here? Are you really not going to leave a way for the Hidden Cloud Village to survive?"

Ye Shan stood in the air with his hands behind his back. Although he was very powerful, it was impossible for him to completely wipe out the Cloud Ninja army. Unless they fought to the end without moving, it would be easy for the ninja to escape.

"As one of the five great nations, the Hidden Cloud Village has a profound heritage. Even with the sudden death of the Third Raikage, it cannot be underestimated. I am here to warn you all. You only have one day to leave the Fire Country. Not only that, you must also leave the Frost Country and the Hot Spring Country. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude."

The sturdy Cloud Ninja's expression eased a little after hearing this: "Now we are at the mercy of others. The Hidden Cloud Village has no other choice. I will do as you say, but please respect yourself and don't think that the Hidden Cloud Village can be slaughtered at will."

Ye Shan chuckled and said, "I have no interest in what happens to the Hidden Cloud Village. As long as you don't set foot in the Land of Fire again, maintaining the continuation of your bloodline will not be a problem."

"Okay, I'm busy, you don't have to see me off!"

After saying that, Ye Shan flew away into the sky amid the angry eyes of the Cloud Ninjas.

"Lord Ai, please restrain yourself." A ninja in his sixties reminded in a low voice.

Ai, the son of the Third Raikage, clenched his fists. He wanted to rush up immediately to avenge his father, but he was rational and finally gave up.

"Don't worry, Advisor. Ai knows what is important and what is not. The village was defeated and suffered heavy losses in this battle. Our top priority is to return to the village as soon as possible."

"That's right. Think about how arrogant Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara were in the past, but didn't they disappear in the long river of time? We can just wait a few more years. It's not like we can't afford to wait!" The old ninja continued, sounding very optimistic.

Ai hesitated and said, "But Baiyun Yeshan is still very young, only in his twenties this year, and he can still sit firmly in the position of Hokage for at least twenty years. Can we really afford to wait?"

The old ninja laughed and said calmly, "The profession of ninja is a double-edged sword. The stronger the guy, the faster he dies. Who could have thought that Hashirama Senju would die strangely in his prime? Just wait and see. There is no need for us to do anything. The Konoha Village will fight among themselves."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

"Konoha is undoubtedly the most powerful ninja in the world, but it is completely different from the Hidden Cloud Village because of the numerous clans. With more clans, there will be more conflicts of interest. Do you really think the position of Hokage is so easy to sit on? Besides, Hayama and Sarutobi Hiruzen's faction have always been at odds. The redistribution of power after the reshuffle is a big problem. Naturally, they have no energy to take care of other things. It is a truth that one must first stabilize the country before fighting against foreign enemies."

It has to be said that the old Cloud Ninja may not be particularly powerful, but his political vision is very sharp. He immediately saw what was currently giving Ye Shan the biggest headache.

That's right, if Ye Shan wants to realize his ambitions, he must hold the power of the village firmly in his hands, but power is like sand. The tighter you hold it, the more you lose. It is a job that requires skill.

Ye Shan was flying with a heavy heart, his brows furrowed, constantly thinking about how to centralize power next. His situation at this time was very similar to Sarutobi Hiruzen, both of them came to power in a hurry, both of them were successful at a young age, and both of them had many problems within the village.

"Perhaps, I can think about what Sarutobi Hiruzen would do?"

After thinking hard without any results, Yeshan changed his mind. He carefully recalled Sarutobi Hiruzen's actions in his mind and actually found some useful methods.

After becoming the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen chose to concentrate power through war in the face of internal conflicts in the village. He first used a trick to kill Uchiha Kagami, thus pulling out the teeth of the Uchiha clan; then he used war to make the Senju clan disappear, greatly strengthening his own voice. Yeshan thought Sarutobi Hiruzen was a pure idiot at first, but now it seems that he was still too young.

After thinking it over again and again, Ye Shan finally ruled out the idea of ​​damaging his own strength. He was very confident in his own strength and believed that he could take power without using dirty tricks, and that Konoha Village really couldn't stand the turmoil.

It would not benefit anyone to toss and turn himself into a commander without any troops after all the trouble. But no matter what, the war would not end in a short time, and Ye Shan was powerless to change it.

The ninja's fighting style is extremely flexible. Large-scale legion clashes will only occur in the early stages of a war. Once the situation stabilizes, small-scale infiltration, assassination, and sabotage behind enemy lines will become the main characters. No matter how strong Ye Shan's personal strength is, it is impossible for him to stay on the front line all day and do nothing but carry out missions, otherwise he will be exhausted to death.

It has become a consensus that war is not only a competition of military strength, but also a competition of comprehensive national strength.

That afternoon, Ye Shan returned to Konoha with a few people welcoming him. Looking at the fiery red Hokage office building, he felt mixed emotions. The boy who had struggled hard in the mud at the bottom of the society had actually succeeded. He had really broken free from the shackles of fate.

Minato Namikaze, with yellow hair, followed behind Hayama with a complicated look in his eyes. Becoming Hokage was his lifelong dream. Now, a ninja of the same age is about to become the fourth Hokage, and this person has mixed reviews in his heart.

A coward on the battlefield, this was the first time Minato Namikaze heard others evaluate Hayama; useless, this was the conclusion about Hayama written in black and white on the Hokage's desk; heretic, this was the sarcasm of most of the Hokage-related ninjas in the village towards Hayama.

But after several years of being teammates, Minato Namikaze found that the young man in front of him with steady steps and sharp eyes was not that bad, he was just not good at expressing himself. Minato Namikaze thought that Baiyun Yeshan was an extremely mature ninja. He had the stability that young people lacked, and lacked the determination to go all out. His attacks always left some spare power, his posture was always half bent, his eyes were both vicissitudes and sharp, and his ideas were always so out of tune.

Ye Shan stood in front of the Hokage's office and slowly turned the doorknob under the gaze of several people. The orange-red evening sunlight refracted from the huge floor-to-ceiling glass, dyeing his plain face red, but his lower body still stood in the shadow, just like his character and humanity.

Half is light, half is dark, everyone is both an angel and a devil, but it seems that both of Ye Shan's personalities are particularly prominent.

The Hokage's office is not big, about thirty square meters. Busts of the First and Second Hokage are hung on the walls on both sides of the door. Apart from that, there are no other decorations, making it look very empty.

There is a fan-shaped table facing the door in the office, and behind the table is a very fashionable boss chair. The clothes rack next to the chair is empty.

Ye Shan looked back and saw that no one had the intention of entering the room. He continued to walk towards the chair without any expression. One step, two steps, three steps, just a few meters away, Ye Shan walked very slowly, so slowly that countless people could not finish the walk in their lifetime.

"Crack~"

Ye Shan sat down firmly on the chair, turned his legs, faced the glass and admired the scenery of the village, while everyone was still standing outside the door.

Dressed in power, the plain-looking Ye Shan seemed to become handsome. His body was enveloped in the sunlight, making him look awe-inspiring and inviolable.

This is of course a visual error, or an illusion of power. Ye Shan is still the same Ye Shan. His hair, eyes, mouth, torso, and limbs have not changed at all. The only thing that has changed is his soul.

From today on, Yeshan became the Hokage whom he once despised, and Konohagakure also welcomed its fourth protagonist.