Naruto: I'm the Third Hokage! I Just Want to Lie Flat

After the Nine-Tails' rampage and the Reaper Death Seal, Hiruzen Sarutobi opens his eyes again and finds himself back on the eve of the Second Shinobi World War!

Having witnessed Konoha's corruption and the horrors of war, in this life I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, just want to lie flat!

The leadership is corrupt, comrades stab each other in the back, the daimyo are greedy, and the shinobi world is consumed by endless war?

Hah. Whoever wants to shoulder the burden of being the Third Hokage can have it!

After binding himself to the "Lie-Flat System," all he has to do is slack off, and Konoha will become great all by itself!

And so, everything takes a sudden turn:

An emergency meeting? I'm an old man. I'm afraid I must decline!

Danzo wants to seize power? Wonderful, wonderful! Take the Hokage Position, it's yours!

He seems unambitious, yet his subordinates are a host of talented warriors, each of them with a warped sense of loyalty!

Power seems to have slipped from his hands, yet Konoha flourishes and trounces the entire shinobi world!

When Pain invades Konoha, Danzo, his face slick with cold sweat, gazes at the masses of elite jonin in the Anbu and pleads:

"Hiruzen! A powerful enemy is here, and the village is in mortal danger. Please lend me the Anbu!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi lies in his rocking chair, shakes his head, and smiles meaningfully:

"Oh? Danzo, you're the Hokage now!"

"What does that have to do with me?"

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.