"But I won't," Nara said. "I will support Jiraiya. He has the contacts and the experience. Instead of fighting with him I will devote my efforts to keeping him reined in so he doesn't go rampaging around the village threatening clan leaders and destroying buildings."
Jiraiya's blush got deeper.
"Now," Nara continued, "despite Jiraiya's undeserved slander, I know that the Hyūga are some of the strongest champions of Leaf. He's not wrong that you can be too formal sometimes. For example, I am aware of several merchant families who prefer not to trade with the Hyūga because the merchants in question lack formal education and trading with you makes them feel inadequate. They may be uncouth, but I estimate that driving them off has cost your clan roughly eight percent of its potential income for the last six years. If it would be helpful then I would be happy to offer my services as a consultant, and introductions to the families in question, once we have settled this current issue."
For the first time, Nara sat up in his chair, his gaze sharpening as he looked around the table "Make no mistake," he said. "We face an existential threat to Leaf. When—not if, when—word gets out that our Hokage and ANBU were slaughtered and our jinchūriki taken, Leaf will be the laughingstock of the Elemental Nations. Leaf is powerful, but the perception of our power was based in large part on the knowledge that we controlled the Nine Tails and that our leader was the God of Shinobi. Sarutobi was respected and feared throughout the Nations. He was both charismatic and wise; our favored trading status with River is based in large part on personal relationships that he built. With him gone there will be a great deal of uncertainty as people wait to see who the new regime will be and if we will have a smooth transition of power or if we will break down into petty squabbling." He shot pointed looks back and forth between Jiraiya and Hyūga; both men had the self-awareness to look away. Nara paused to make sure that he'd driven the point home, then continued.
"When I say this is an existential threat, that isn't idle speculation. Thirteen years ago the Nine Tails destroyed eight percent of the city and the Fourth Hokage died stopping it. Our trade plummeted for three months and did not return to its former levels for three years. In large part that recovery was due to the speed with which the Third Hokage came out of retirement to take up the office again after the Fourth's death, and the amount of time that he spent on diplomacy thereafter. I don't know if you recall, but Sarutobi was only in Konoha for fifty-two of the four hundred days after taking office. The rest of the time he was traveling to our allied nations and some of the neutrals, rebuilding our relationships and reassuring everyone that we were still strong enough to make a reliable trading partner.
"Losing the Third so soon after the Fourth is going to be a disaster for us. Civilian families are going to feel unsafe; they will begin migrating to other villages, taking their labor and economic resources with them. And no, Manaka, clamping down and preventing them from leaving will only make the situation worse. We need their loyalty, and that cannot be gained with a stick." The Inuzuka clan head sank back into her chair with a disgruntled look.
"We desperately need to show ourselves still strong; we need to find these cloaked ninja, kill them, and recover Naruto. We need to do it soon, and we need to present a united front while doing it so that foreign nations will not believe they can drive wedges between us and pry Leaf apart.
"Now, my suggestion is this: Jiraiya, you will serve as Hokage for the next three months. By the end of three months we will either have dealt with our enemies and retrieved Naruto or we will need to face the fact that he is beyond our reach and turn our efforts to preventing Leaf from bleeding to death slowly. In either case, at the end of three months you will agree to step down in favor of the candidate selected by the Councils...which might be you, depending on how your time in office goes.
"For the duration of those three months, the Nara are completely at your disposal. You may draw on our treasury, have unfettered access to our library, and use whatever other resources we can offer. I will make available whatever ninja or civilian operatives you need, even if it means shutting down our internal projects. Leaf needs us, and the Nara will answer the call."
