Chapter 477: Baring Her Fangs
Minato Namikaze expressed his limited approval for restoring the Uchiha clan's original status.
It was true that the Uchiha had planned a coup, but it was also true that the village leadership had ordered their extermination.
There was no point in dwelling on it now. It was time to face history and look forward.
So he had a few words with Naruto.
He pointedly mentioned that Sasuke could also become Hokage in the future. "So, little Naruto, you have to work hard."
His words were filled with the earnest expectations of a father.
Naruto saw Sasuke being dragged away by Sakura, a horde of fangirls in hot pursuit.
He remembered the "blond big brother's" words and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Sasuke! The Hokage's seat is mine! I won't lose to you! That's my promise!"
Sasuke: "???"
Are you insane? Can't you see I'm busy here?
Hearing that Sasuke was going to be Hokage, the fangirls' passion could no longer be contained. Sakura was like a mother hen protecting her chick, blocking them from the left and right. But with so many people crowding around, one would sneak a touch on Sasuke here, another would pinch a certain sensitive area there.
Sasuke didn't even bother with Sakura anymore. He broke free from the encirclement and ran.
Naruto immediately used his Shadow Clone Technique to block him, declaring that they had to settle things once and for all.
"Get lost! I don't have time to play with you!"
This delay allowed the fangirls to catch up again.
The scene was utter chaos.
Shion: "???"
The following day, and the day after that.
The village seemed to be carrying out some sort of public announcement campaign.
The contributions of the Sarutobi, Hyuga, Yamanaka, Nara, and other ninja clans to the village, and the sacrifices of their ninja, were all listed one by one.
Ino had initially wanted to place the Hyuga clan in the second rank, but Hiashi Hyuga strongly objected. Don't make us a target; the third rank is just fine.
With each day's "update," to those in the know, Ino's system of ranking both ninja clans and civilian ninja together slowly came into focus.
"Senior Aoba, I'll leave these guys to you."
Ino walked into the Analysis Division and handed the assassins she had encountered on the road to Aoba Yamashiro, who had taken over from her father, Inoichi, as the head of the division.
After two years of continuous adjustments by Jiraiya, Konoha had now established six major functional departments.
At the top was the Administrative Department, composed of the Hokage, advisors, counselors, and numerous second-line staff.
Next was the ANBU, a department with formidable military strength directly under the Hokage's command.
The Medical and Education Departments were both managed by the Administrative Department.
The newly established Police Force was just a framework and would need time to become fully functional.
Apart from the five departments above, the last one was the Intelligence Department, which the Yamanaka clan had always controlled, both overtly and covertly.
Originally, the Intelligence Department was split in two. The Third Hokage's trusted subordinate, Ibiki Morino, was in charge of interrogation, while Inoichi was in charge of analysis.
With Inoichi's retirement, Aoba Yamashiro took over as the head of the Analysis Division.
Ino had drawn personnel from both divisions to create the Sensory Division. Now, the Sensory Division worked alongside the Interrogation and Analysis Divisions. Nominally, the Intelligence Department had three divisions, but since most of the ninja with sensory abilities were from the Yamanaka clan, many matters could not bypass her.
She opened a scroll. With a dull thud, five bodies were unsealed.
The reputation she had gained during the Great Ninja War was too great.
After the war ended, the assassination attempts against her had never stopped.
She was skilled and fearless. The more they wanted to kill her, the more she went out for strolls. During this period, she encountered assassins every time she left the village.
Men, women, old, young, jumping down from trees, emerging from the ground—they were endless.
She went to the Exchange Office to check and found that her bounty was now as high as 130 million ryō, the same as the Kage of the five great villages.
According to Yamanaka clan intelligence, some Jonin-level rogue ninja had even organized a "Kill the Pig Convention," planning to team up to kill her for the bounty.
A couple of days ago, Ino had even spotted Kakuzu, but he was also very cunning. After seeing her Wood Golem, he threw a single shuriken from a distance and then ran for his life.
Aoba Yamashiro and the ninjas of the Analysis Division studied the bodies for a long time but couldn't retrieve any important information from their minds.
"Unfortunately, the key information seems to have been lost upon death," he said.
Ino waved her hand dismissively. "Then forget it. Just check their identities. If any of them have a bounty, let me know. I'm so poor."
Aoba Yamashiro: "...That's not a problem."
In fact, even without reading their minds, Ino knew that these guys were just stones thrown to test the waters.
Who was most affected by her sudden rise? Heh, it was the two organizations she had designated as major threats. Among them, Akatsuki was too high-profile, and Pain, with his Rinnegan, looked down on her Wood Release. So, the Kara Organization, hiding in the shadows, was the most likely suspect.
Jigen had been preparing in secret for a thousand years. The money and resources he had accumulated over that time must have been staggering.
The probability that Jigen was the big boss behind the Exchange Office was high. He was also the one who could afford to put such a large sum—a figure that even a Daimyō would consider significant—on Ino's head.
Jigen, or rather, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki hidden inside Jigen, was powerful, capable of toying with Sage Mode Naruto and Rinnegan Sasuke. However, considering that Isshiki had been severely injured for thousands of years, he was still in a half-dead state.
The Ōtsutsuki clan's "Kāma," which digitized and copied their data for the purpose of taking over a host, had very high requirements. Until he found a suitable "vessel" for his successful reincarnation, Jigen would almost certainly not risk his last bit of life force to fight to the death with a minor character like Ino, who was irrelevant to the grand scheme of things.
Since he couldn't act personally, Ino wasn't afraid.
The Exchange Office dared to post a bounty on Ino, and a few clueless rogue ninja dared to hold a "Kill the Pig Convention"? Ino was not one to indulge them.
After the intelligence investigation was complete, she led Fū Yamanaka, who had returned to the family, and three hundred Root ninja led by Sai out of Konoha overnight.
The respected leader of Root, Danzō, had indeed left them, but the vengeful spirit of Root—the spirit of "you take a single green onion from my house, I'll kill your whole family"—must not be abandoned!
Good traditions must be maintained and carried forward.
The Root ninja, it had to be said, were all elites.
Killing and arson were as easy as drinking water for them, and they carried out anti-humanitarian missions without any moral pressure.
All participants of the "Kill the Pig Convention" were killed, the kind where not even a body could be found.
Ino then led the Root ninja to raid seven branches of the Exchange Office.
We're all people from the gray area. It's fine if you post a bounty on me, maybe ten or twenty million just for show. But you put up a bounty of 130 million and even organize people to kill me? You think I'm going to tolerate that?
After several rounds of back-and-forth, the Exchange Office finally sought a mediator. Ino accepted 80 million ryō in cash from them, and the Exchange Office removed her bounty. Only then was the matter considered closed.
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