Chapter 169: Ninxiong is caught in the crossfire
Inside the Hokage's office.
"Sir, the Rain Village announced that the last war was a conspiracy by our Konoha."
"The Kingdom of River and the Kingdom of Wind have formed an alliance and are jointly attacking the border."
"The Kusagakure Village responded to the call of the Iwagakure Village and severed ties with our Konoha..."
"Third-Hero, there are all kinds of rumors in the ninja world, and all the contradictions of the war are directed at our Konoha. There are also spies from various ninja villages in the village..."
Ninjas from the Anbu and Intelligence Department kept reporting in wave after wave, but there had been no good news since the Sand Ninja and the Kumogakure declared war.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was sitting in the position of Hokage, had been frowning since the sudden outbreak of war, and his old face was full of fatigue and anger.
"First destroy the Kazekage, then the Raikage. I am the only Sarutobi who will dominate the ninja world!"
At this moment, Danzo Shimura of the Root said these words that were popular in the ninja world with a grim expression, and looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a strange look.
Seeing the look in Shimura Danzo's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed the table in anger and shouted coldly: "Danzo, this is not what I did!"
He was wronged!
But this arrogant sentence, yet it has the power to swallow up the mountains and rivers of the ninja world, all of which show his heroic spirit.
This made Danzo Shimura a little doubtful. It was too imposing. Damn, if this happened to Danzo, he would accept it even if it meant provoking a war. At least his fame had risen and he would have a chance to compete for the position of Hokage.
"Hiruzen, although this was not done by you, could it be done by your Sarutobi clan?"
Shimura Danzo hesitated for a moment, still a little doubtful, and then he said in a serious tone:
"The black-and-white conflict in the Hidden Cloud Village and the rampage plan of the tailed beasts were all part of our plan, but the disappearance of the Third Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village and the sudden appearance of the Copper Horn were not part of our plan!"
Shimura Danzo had no choice but to doubt it, it was such a coincidence and the coordination was perfect.
Seeing Shimura Danzo's suspicious eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt even more aggrieved. This time the enemy was really too cruel.
It was a conspiracy completely tailor-made for his title as a ninja hero.
"Danzo! Orochimaru has returned. The Two-Tails rampage and the Copper Horn incident were all planned by Orochimaru."
The story of Tongjiao was originally fabricated out of thin air, especially after Orochimaru came back and proved it, but they could not announce it to the public.
No matter what the Hidden Cloud and Sand Ninjas say, Konoha will never admit it directly, otherwise it would really provoke a war in the Ninja World.
"But the Third Kazekage is missing or even murdered. He is the Kage of one of the five great ninja villages. Even if a jonin was murdered, there should be information. Are all the people in the Sand Village useless?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took all the blame, except for the third Kazekage who murdered the Kages of the five major ninja villages.
"Huruzen, if it's not us, then who else in the ninja world has this ability!"
Shimura Danzo's solemn expression made Mito Kado En and Utane Koharu beside him frown.
"Huruzen, what Danzo said makes sense. Could it be that someone in the Sarutobi clan doesn't want to see you lose the power of Hokage, so he secretly borrowed the information from the Anbu..."
It's not that they are suspicious, but the one who disappeared is the Kage of one of the five major ninja villages, not an ordinary person, and the Sand Village will not talk about such an embarrassing thing.
The suspicion of the three old friends at the same time made Sarutobi Hiruzen even more aggrieved.
"Danzo, Yan, Xiaochun, we developed our family because we were facing pressure from the big families, so we needed to develop our own family to have the power to compete.
Although the Sarutobi clan has developed a bit fast in recent years, it is also because of the large number of people in the Sarutobi clan that it has convenience. I admit that I have been a little indulgent towards the Sarutobi clan in recent years, but this is all to compete with the Uchiha and Hyuga clans!"
This was their original intention when they developed the family together. After all, facing so many big families at the same time, only they could understand the pressure.
When it came to developing the family, only Danzo Shimura looked a little embarrassed. Among the four, he was the only one who secretly invested the resources used to develop the family into the Root.
Not to mention developing the family, he even secretly absorbed the blood of the family to strengthen the Root. Otherwise, how could the Root have developed to an existence that is not inferior to the Dark Department in just over twenty years.
"Huruzen, we understand you, but what about the other ninjas in the village? They won't understand."
Mitomon En sighed and said helplessly, while Utane Koharu beside him also shook his head and said:
"Usually, Hiruzen, you indulge the Sarutobi clan too much, but this time you got caught by chance. Now, there are not only spies from the major ninja villages in the village, but also these wealthy families who will not let go of this opportunity.
After all, the Sarutobi clan's jonin have been freely entering and leaving the Hokage building over the years, and even now there are rumors that your son can freely enter the Hokage archive room..."
Utane Koharu was not making this up. In the original work, the dynasty had already changed after the death of the Third Hokage, and Konohamaru was able to enter easily. Even the Anbu were blind the entire time. You can imagine how outrageous this indulgence was.
What's even more outrageous is that the entire Konoha Village and the Anbu have become so accustomed to it that they think it's normal.
Normally, these are trivial matters for those in power, but when the critical moment comes, they can have a decisive effect.
"Although the Sand Ninja's 5,000 ninja army was mobilized at a rapid pace, we discovered it in time. Now reinforcements have been continuously dispatched from the border of River Country, and Jiraiya happened to be performing a mission nearby.
With three thousand ninja troops and Jiraiya here, plus a steady stream of ninja reinforcements arriving, we are not at a big disadvantage in terms of ninja numbers."
As Mitomon En shook his head, he slowly explained the situation on the front line.
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned with a worried look on his face, staring at the defense map of the Fire Country, and nodded and said in a deep voice:
"Although the Hidden Cloud Village has declared war on us and even called for an alliance with the Hidden Sand Village, the dirty tricks between the major ninja villages clearly show that they want to use the Hidden Sand Village to consume us. Therefore, the Hidden Cloud Village may seem aggressive, but it is more of a bluff..."
"What we should be most worried about now is the Iwagakure Village and the Kirigakure Village behind it. The Kirigakure Village has not made any statement, but Ohnoki of the Iwagakure Village will definitely not let go of this opportunity."
You don’t know the situation until you see it. Once you see it, you’ll be shocked.
The previous Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen had a calm expression and was a powerful ninja, but at this moment he felt it was difficult to move forward. The entire border of the ninja world was full of potential wars.
Danzo Shimura, who was usually taciturn, became unusually serious after looking at the current situation the village was facing. He looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and said something caring in a deep voice.
"Huruzen, we also survived the Ninja World War this way, but now there are rumors all over the village. The most important thing to deal with is your reputation as Hokage, Hiruzen!"
If you think about how high Sarutobi Hiruzen's reputation was after winning World War II, then you can imagine how chaotic things are now.
Especially the previous White Fang incident, in order to shut these people up, they themselves had been making a big fuss that if Sarutobi Hiruzen really coveted the position of Hokage, he would just start a war directly, and there would be no need to frame and exclude the ninjas from the same village.
As a result, less than half a year later, he was slapped in the face!
The Ninja World War has begun, and the entire Ninja World is pointing its spearhead at this heroic ninja of Konoha.
Before, Sarutobi Hiruzen's reputation in Konoha was at its peak. Everyone knew about his power as a great ninja, and there was even a slogan that he was the strongest Hokage.
As a result, his initial prestige turned into a boomerang, leaving him in a miserable state now.
"Hiruzen!"
Mitomonen and Utane Koharu also showed solemn expressions. It was a troubled time. To the outside world, the Ninja World War broke out, and they had to face two major ninja villages as soon as they entered the battlefield.
Internally, public opinion is deadly. The reputation of the Sarutobi clan and the image of Sarutobi Hiruzen's conspiracy and ambition seem to have been deeply rooted in people's minds.
"beat!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath and faced with internal and external pressure, his eyes burst with fighting spirit, which surprised Mito Kado En, Utatane Koharu and Shimura Danzo.
Under such powerful pressure, Sarutobi Hiruzen is worthy of the title of Ninja Hero, especially since he is at the peak of his power now, and he is not the Ninja Bear who suffered from humiliation later.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was in full force, calmly pointed at the border defense map on the table and shouted:
"Since war is unavoidable, let's fight! With the open and covert fighting between the four major ninja villages, everyone wants to use others to consume us first, so this just gives us an opportunity.
A jonin meeting will be held tonight. I have decided that Konoha will directly send out the strongest force. We should focus on one point first, hurt, scare, and defeat one ninja village. Even if other ninja villages join forces in return, what does it matter!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's extremely bold decision made Mito Kado En and Utane Koharu show their fighting spirit, and they nodded and said:
"That's right! Hiruzen is right. Since we have to fight anyway, let's knock one out first. This will deter other ninja villages and we can also reduce one enemy at the same time."
"But..." At this time, Utane Koharu frowned and showed hesitation.
"Huruzen, the major families are still resentful about the White Fang incident. Also, after the war in the ninja world more than 20 years ago, we did not fulfill our promises to the major families. I'm afraid this time!"
During the First Ninja World War, all the major families rushed to the war one after another, and they also reached some kind of agreement at that time.
As a result, after the victory of the war, the major families suffered heavy losses. They first released some goodwill while constantly strengthening themselves.
The final agreement was not fully implemented, which made the major families deeply dissatisfied, leading to the joint nomination of White Fang.
After the White Fang incident a while ago, the major families were obviously jealous again.
Facing Utatane Koharu's concerns, Shimura Danzo became angry and slammed the table angrily:
"This group of greedy families are sucking blood from Konoha!"
The reason they were angry was that they were doing all this for the development of Konoha and from their own perspective.
Among the F4 members of Konoha, only Danzo Shimura can say this bluntly, because he is the only one who has not truly expanded his own family.
Even for the sake of their roots, the Shimura clan suffered misfortune, having to deal with such a clan leader who actually sucked the blood of the clan members to nourish their roots.
It can be said that in the entire Konoha, there is only one outlier, Danzo Shimura.
Faced with Shimura Danzo's anger, Mito Kado En and Utane Koharu felt a little embarrassed. They had secretly taken advantage of the conditions agreed upon with the big families.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was worthy of being the Third Hokage. His expression was calm and he said in a serious tone:
"Don't worry, all the big families want is profit. What we are facing now is winning this war!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, may have many contradictions, but one thing is undeniable: he only believes in his own will of fire for Konoha.
Mito Kado En and Utatane Koharu might still be worried that they would lose power if the Third Hokage stepped down, but Shimura Danzo simply thought that after Monkey King stepped down, he was the only one in the entire Konoha who was qualified to be Hokage.
At this time, Sarutobi Hiruzen was already anxious under all the public opinions in the ninja world. Having enjoyed glory all his life, he would never allow his reputation to be ruined at the last moment, and he would never allow Konoha, in his eyes, to fall from the altar.
Therefore, whether Sarutobi Hiruzen can remain firmly on the position of Hokage is closely related to them.
"Now that Sand Village and Kumogakure have declared war on us, if we have to choose between the two, Kumogakure has the biggest internal conflict right now..."
Under the sinister cold light of Shimura Danzo, Mito Kado En and Utane Koharu also nodded solemnly.
"Yes, relatively speaking, we have the most complete information in the Hidden Cloud Village, and the Hidden Cloud Village seems to be stronger than the Hidden Sand Village, but the internal conflicts can only be resolved when one side falls."
Surprisingly, they all chose the seemingly more powerful Cloud Village.
Because the conflict within the Hidden Cloud Village is an unsolvable conspiracy, the Land of Lightning, from the highest to the lowest nobility, to the number of jonin and shadow, are all black.
How do you resolve this conflict? It can only be resolved when one side completely falls.
……
When Uchiha Ya and his group returned to Konoha, they saw a depressing atmosphere in the village.
When they left to complete their mission, the village still looked lively, but when they came back, the whole village was filled with a depressing feeling of the coming war.
Even countless ninjas were being mobilized.
"Damn it, why would the Third Hokage start a war!"
"Shut up, think about how many ninjas from the Sarutobi clan there are in various departments. Even a ninja hero will change for the position of Hokage."
"Just for the position of Hokage, you are willing to start a war!?"
"No! I don't believe it! I don't believe that the Third Generation would do this."
Along the way, the entire Konoha was filled with an atmosphere of suspicion. This scene was very similar to when White Fang failed in his mission and rumors suddenly broke out in the village.
The difference is that this time it broke out in the entire ninja world. First, the Sand Ninja and the Cloud Village simultaneously started a war against Konoha, and they did it under the banner of revenge.
The Iwagakure Village was not to be outdone and directly sent out 3,000 ninja troops to block the border, saying that they had also discovered Konoha's conspiracy and were now trying to stop it.
With the exception of the Hidden Mist Village far overseas, almost all the big ninja villages in the ninja world have sent out a signal to the ninja world without exception.
That is, Konoha is plotting to persecute the major ninja villages, and the entire ninja world seems to be caught in the conspiracy woven by Konoha.
There was no opportunity before, but now that they have the opportunity, all the major ninja villages are trying to put the blame on others.
All kinds of rumors have been flying around, such as Sarutobi Hiruzen coveting the power of Hokage, and the Sarutobi clan already has three thousand ninja soldiers. Especially, there are countless spies in Konoha Village.
In a word, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was suddenly labeled as an ambitious and conspirator in the ninja world, and he could not wash himself away.
"Minister Ya, there will be a jonin meeting in the Hokage's office building in the evening."
As soon as Uchiha Ye returned, the Anbu came to report, and the same thing happened throughout Konoha.
The sudden war disrupted the development of Konoha, especially Sarutobi Hiruzen in the Hokage's office, who was caught off guard and had no time to react as waves of enemies kept coming one after another.
Thank you for your support.
(End of this chapter)
