The Shopkeeper of Konoha

Hiruzen now looked more guilty than ever before and in top of that he was angry beyond words. He didn't know what to say, his words carried weight as there were many jonins here, and though he felt like he could take down Aoto, which in all sense wouldn't be easy since his friends had already arrived and were encircling them, and the damage which would be done today would throw Konoha into a turmoil. 

They were already trying to deal with the Uchiha turmoil, they didn't want another one. Hiruzen regretted giving the green signal to kidnapping Naruto. 

"I am deeply sorry for what had happened. I understand that you are angry.." Hiruzen said and after a long sigh and looking into the clear sky he said. "I know that I haven't been the good Hokage and in order to compensate that I resign from the position of Hokage and appoint you as the 6th Hokage." Hiruzen said. 

This time it was Aoto's turn to get surprised. He wasn't expecting that. This sudden change was not on the expected cards of Aoto. 

"Hokage-sama what are you saying? We don't accept the resignation." 

"Hokage-sama please think again." 

"Hokage-sama.." 

"Hiruzen.. You better think now." Koharu wanted to speak more but felt a warm liquid flowing down the neck as Retsu was still holding her Zanpakuto 

"You don't need to say anything. After 4th died, I have been searching for a good candidate of being the Hokage and I want Aoto to take up my position. I know that he hasn't been to the Academy but the financial power he has brought to Konoha is more than amazing and at the moment we will even have a trade route that will be opened. We have a good trade route with the Sunagakure and that is something we didn't expect." Hiruzen said and then he went on to say more about how Aoto had helped a lot and even though he hadn't been in the same power as everyone, he could go on to mission for the village while slowly getting accustomed to the position of Hokage. 

Until then, he would train him himself and soon would be ready both mentally and physically to take over Konoha and bring the village to a new era. Of course, none of the people around agreed, especially not the two old people. 

Hiruzen then looked at Aoto with a warm smile while Aoto looked back, thinking of all the things that had just happened. His brain was working overtime to understand why out of nowhere Hiruzen came up with this suggestion. Aoto was silent as he looked at Hiruzen for quite sometime and then replied. 

"No!" 

Kisuke and Unohana had smiles on their faces behind the masks. Aoto seemed to be much more mature than they expected him to be.

"Aoto.. This is the Hokage position we are talking about. If you feel you are weak, we can make you a great shinobi," Hiruzen said. Aoto took a deep breath and said.

"Hokage-sama, we need to talk privately about this matter," Aoto said. He had calmed down by now. Hiruzen nodded and eyed Kisuke and Unohana, but they acted like they hadn't seen him at all. Hiruzen turned around and indicated the shinobis to leave them, and that included Corazon, Edward, and others.

Only the two people from the Konoha council, Hiruzen, Aoto, and the two Captain-class shinobi with the black cat remained. The silence again prevailed with everyone leaving. Even Homura and Koharu, who had been squirming around, stopped as Unohana and Kisuke stood near them, and their towering figures gave off an air of intimidation.

"Aoto.. You are the perfect candidate for being the next Hokage," Hiruzen said.

"No.. I am not.. We both know that. Hokage-sama, it's time to come clean," Aoto said. Hiruzen's eyebrows creased as Aoto said that.

"What do you mean?"

"You wanted them to kidnap Naruto so that, in the end, you could push the position of Hokage onto me, didn't you? You knew I would flip out the moment Naruto gets captured and would probably attack since you knew how powerful we were or at least have an idea. But you also knew that I love Konoha. And once I catch these two scumbags, you could easily push the whole Hokage position to me in the name of guilt. Since I have never joined the Academy, so in the name of teaching me, you could always have control over me as soon as I take the position."

"Thus, even though I will hold the Hokage position, you and your friends will continue to act the way you have been doing so. And you expected me to take the position of Hokage because you thought that I will take it since I just assaulted the two high council members. You believe in my morality and think I will not refuse the position. Am I right?" Aoto said.

Aoto said all of this in one breath, but as Aoto spoke more, Hiruzen's eyes went wide. He didn't expect that his small calculations would actually be seen through by Aoto quite easily, laying all his small actions bare for everyone to see. The two council members now looked at Hiruzen with glaring eyes as they couldn't believe that their own friend would betray them in this way.

They thought that Hiruzen was on the same page, but it definitely wasn't.

"You are wrong, Aoto.. I never thought of this this far. This isn't true at all," Hiruzen said with a stoic voice.

"I am right or wrong; maybe I will never know and neither do I care if my conjecture is correct or to the gutter," Aoto said and turned to face Kisuke and Unohana. Both of them, getting the indication, decided to do something out of Hiruzen's expectations or to the expectations.

Unohana inserted her Zanpakuto's sharp blade into the right eye of Koharu, and Kisuke slashed at the face of Homura multiple times. The movement was so fast that both of them didn't even see it coming, and only the pain echoed from their mouths in the next minute. Hiruzen jumped to save them but was slashed at by both Retsu and Kisuke.