Marvel: Trading with Worlds

The Hokage succession ceremony was scheduled for three days later, but Orochimaru was already sitting in the Hokage's office, dealing with matters. 

All of Sarutobi Hiruzen's belongings had been removed, and the entire Hokage building now only recognized the orders of the Fourth Hokage.

After Kain left the Hokage building, he ran into Kushina, who was waiting for him at the door, followed by Uchiha Mikoto carrying a grocery basket.

It seemed that the two had gone home and then gone grocery shopping, though Kushina appeared to be more focused on the experience of shopping for vegetables.

She was learning to do housework now.

Although Kain had told her that there would be domestic robots in the future, Kushina was determined to handle housework herself. She seemed to have embraced Uchiha Mikoto's views on women's roles in the household.

Seeing Kain come out, Kushina jumped up and hugged him, but the moment she squeezed him, the pigeon flew away.

Kain smiled and said, "Kushina, Orochimaru asked if you should be the monitor of the sealing class..."

Upon hearing this, Kushina quickly shook her head. "No, I just planned to go out of the village to relax, and I'll cause trouble at this time."

"Are you relaxing?" Kain asked, reaching out to touch her silky red hair in an apologetic way. "I might be heading to other places soon."

Kushina became upset for a moment, bumping Kain's chin with her head. "Go for another year or two?" she muttered.

"How is that possible? I'll be back in a few months."

Kain smiled, then leaned into her ear and whispered, "You can rest easy and raise the baby here in Konoha for a few months. I'll come back later."

"What nonsense!"

Kushina instantly blushed, looking around as if she were doing something naughty. When she saw Mikoto still far away, she whispered back, "Then you have to work hard."

"As long as you don't beg for mercy."

Before they could say more, Uchiha Mikoto approached them and greeted Kain. " Kain-san."

Kain nodded. " Mikoto-san, thank you for spending time with Kushina. I'll come to thank you when Patriarch Fugaku returns."

Uchiha Mikoto gently shook her head and smiled. "It's not interesting for me to be alone at home, and I'm grateful Kushina often comes to keep me company."

"The Uchiha clan will probably be busy in a few days. If you have a channel, please inform Patriarch Fugaku," Kain reminded her. 

Orochimaru's promise to Uchiha Fugaku would certainly come to pass, but Fugaku wouldn't be allowed to arrange things just yet. 

After the Hokage succession ceremony, Orochimaru would begin making arrangements for the Uchiha clan.

"Understood. Thank you for the reminder, Kain-san."

Uchiha Mikoto smiled again, showing no other expression.

"It seems she's not just a housewife—after all, she's a Jōnin of Konoha."

Kain glanced at her with interest before quickly turning his gaze away, not letting Kushina beside him notice.

Afterward, Uchiha Mikoto found an excuse and left. It was likely she wouldn't go home immediately, but would first head to the security team.

Not long after parting ways with Mikoto, Kain was unexpectedly stopped by someone.

Kain chuckled and asked, "Yellow Flash. Namikaze Minato-kun? What can I do for you?"

"Ha."

Namikaze Minato noticed how tightly Kushina was holding Kain's arm and how close they were. It made him feel more uncomfortable than when he was surrounded by hundreds of Rock Shinobi.

"You won't succeed. I will protect Konoha!"

Seeing that Namikaze Minato was acting hostile, Kushina raised an eyebrow and said, "Hey, are you here for trouble? If you want to fight, I'll gladly oblige."

"Forget it, Kushina. How could a Konoha shinobi attack the publicist? You misunderstood, Minato Jōnin."

Kain smiled and waved his hand, signaling Kushina to leave temporarily. He then turned to Namikaze Minato and said, "Namikaze Jōnin, if you want to protect Konoha, you'll have to become Hokage first. Otherwise, ninjas should just do their jobs and obey orders. Don't you still have to follow the Hokage's commands?"

"You..."

"Namikaze Jōnin, I actually voted for you—not just me, but the daimyo also voted for you. Yet, you still lost to Orochimaru in the vote."

After Kain spoke, seeing Namikaze Minato sneer, he continued, "I know you don't believe me, so I kept the voting records. You can see for yourself."

With that, Kain pulled out the voting results and showed them to Namikaze Minato. 

Some of the votes for Minato were clearly marked with +20, +3, and it was obvious they came from the daimyo and ministers of the Land of Fire.

'This is fake!'

Namikaze Minato wanted to convince himself of that, but after reading it several times, he was sure that these were the votes used earlier. 

He was struck hard by the realization. He had fought desperately on the battlefield, made great achievements, and had hoped to become Hokage, gain the village's approval, and finally express his feelings to the person he liked.

But now, nothing had changed. The red-haired girl he liked was in the arms of another man, and few Jōnin in the village recognized his efforts. 

What was the point of fighting if it had led to this?

'What have I been doing these past few months? Was it all for nothing?'

"Namikaze Jōnin, do you think battlefield achievements matter that much? You do great work, and they'll praise you when they hear about it. They'll be happy, thinking, 'It feels good to have such a powerful ninja protecting us.' But that's it. Do you know why they chose Orochimaru?"

Kain shook his head and then whispered to Namikaze Minato, "Fifteen million ryo. That's 15 million ryo for each person."

"How many close friends do you think you have, who would vote for you instead of the 15 million ryo? Most people probably think, 'Minato-kun has so many friends, I'm sure he won't lose my vote,' right?"

After saying this, Kain saw that Kushina was getting impatient, so he patted Minato on the shoulder and added, "Namikaze Jōnin, if you don't have money, don't run for Hokage again."

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