Seven days later, Shin and his group arrived at Konoha and immediately went to visit Mito.
After three months apart, seeing Tsunade, Shin, and Minato again brought a constant smile to Mito's face. She kept asking them about their experiences during this time.
Kushina and Nawaki were there too.
Kushina had already graduated early from the Ninja Academy and had spent the past three months by her side, learning sealing techniques. As for Nawaki, he was now old enough to enter the Ninja Academy and would be enrolling soon.
Given his personality and Shin's dedicated guidance over the past two years, he would likely become quite the troublemaker once he joined.
When Minato proudly recounted how he had single-handedly fought elite ninjas and special jonin, Mito didn't react much. But Kushina and Nawaki were full of admiration.
They looked up to him with yearning in their eyes, although they couldn't be there, their hearts longed for that kind of glory. They even made a promise to one day fight side by side.
After resting for two days, the uninvited guests from Iwa finally arrived in Konoha.
They wore Iwa forehead protectors, had rugged appearances, and all looked fierce and aggressive, like they were ready to devour someone.
Although they carried documents and presented them, the way they entered Konoha was practically a forced intrusion. Because they made such a commotion, they nearly clashed with the Konoha ninjas. With someone secretly stirring the pot behind the scenes, they attracted a lot of attention.
The villagers were clearly displeased by the arrival of these uninvited guests. But upon hearing some of the things they were loudly shouting in the streets, many wore strange expressions.
Hiruzen, upon receiving word, had a massive headache and immediately sent people to invite them. Unexpectedly, the group refused to budge and instead shouted in the street, demanding Koharu come out and give them an explanation.
They questioned why, after paying more than a month ago, the medicine she had promised them still hadn't been delivered. They even claimed the reason they refused to go to the Hokage's office was that they feared someone might try something underhanded.
This group, of course, was the "first gift" Shin had prepared for Hiruzen. Naturally, he didn't know these people, and he likely wouldn't have any dealings with them in the future either. But certain methods could still be used effectively. After all, Ōnoki wouldn't miss any chance to cause chaos in Konoha.
Soon enough, Hiruzen personally arrived with members of the ANBU. Seeing his unfriendly gaze, the Iwa ninjas remained completely unfazed.
"The Hokage is here?"
The leader stepped forward respectfully when he saw Hiruzen and said, "Perfect timing. I believe you will give us a satisfactory explanation."
"You'll get your explanation, but this isn't the place for discussion," Hiruzen warned.
"Fair enough. Out of respect for you, we'll comply," the leader said politely, no longer shouting. "We apologize for the method we used, it was simply to get your attention. After all, Koharu is an elder. But now she's hiding and refuses to meet us, and we can't get in touch. We had no choice but to take this step. Besides, the Tsuchikage gave us a strict order, if this issue isn't resolved properly, even he doesn't know what he might do."
Though the leader's words remained courteous, the underlying threat was crystal clear.
"Let's go," Hiruzen said coldly, using his Hokage hat to obscure his eyes, and led them toward the Hokage Building.
Half an hour later, the Iwa ninjas left Konoha without staying a moment longer. However, news of the incident had already spread throughout the village, and many were curious about what had really happened.
Why did the Iwa ninjas arrive looking like they were here to settle a score, and why did the Hokage seem unwilling to retaliate?
Could it be that Konoha had done something to Iwa?
As expected, Hiruzen's worries about the incident being leaked proved to be well-founded. By the afternoon, a rumor had spread throughout Konoha, leaving everyone who heard it utterly stunned.
The cause of the incident turned out to be that Koharu, for personal gain, had secretly sold new strategic medicines, which were never meant for external sale, to major ninja villages.
One of the buyers happened to be Iwa.
Although the deal with Iwa was successfully made and they had readily paid in full, she failed to deliver the promised strategic supplies. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but rather that the shipment had been intercepted midway.
With no other choice, she had to divert medicines from the strategic reserve warehouse to fulfill the order to Iwa, planning to replenish the stock once a new batch was produced. But the second shipment was also intercepted.
At that point, she snapped.
She firmly accused Iwa of stealing the goods, arguing that since the deal had been conducted in secret, no one else could've known about it.
Once might have been coincidence; twice was clearly intentional. As a result, she clashed with the Iwa ninjas handling the deal. But Iwa denied everything, insisting they never received the goods and demanded an explanation from her.
In response, she completely cut off contact with them. That led to the scene where the Iwa ninjas came to Konoha to stir up trouble.
Whether Iwa had actually stolen the goods was beside the point. What enraged everyone in Konoha was that Koharu had sold strategic medicine for personal profit, and even diverted supplies from the strategic reserve warehouse.
The strategic warehouse was crucial to the village's safety.
If war were to break out, or if a sudden crisis occurred, the weapons, food, and medicine stored there would be Konoha's greatest safeguard. This kind of resource is a top priority for any village. If these two allegations were true, then not even a village elder could be let off the hook. And yet, the Hokage had suppressed the matter. Half a day had passed without any explanation, and many of Konoha's citizens had lost patience.
Crowds began gathering in front of the Hokage Building, demanding that the Hokage give the people a clear answer.
In truth, Hiruzen was currently at his wit's end, because Koharu was sitting right in front of him. But she denied everything. She told him that if he didn't believe her, he could inspect the strategic reserve warehouse or audit the Pharmaceuticals Department's records.
The truth, of course, was that everything was real.
The medicine she had sold to Iwa wasn't just any ordinary drug, it was the Vital Surge Pill, jointly developed by Shin and Orochimaru. And she had a reason: the pill was cheap to produce, sold at a high price, and generated extraordinary profits.
After her fallout with Iwa, she panicked. She used her own wealth, and with the help of Homura, purchased a large quantity of medicinal ingredients from outside and rushed to produce more pills to fill the gap during that period.
That's why she now firmly denied everything. Because she understood well, whether you did something was one thing; whether you admit it was another. As long as she filled the gap, she believed Hiruzen wouldn't actually go after her. After all, his own hands weren't clean either. Over the years, Koharu and Homura had always cut him a share of the profits they skimmed.
Hiruzen had always been smart, he never asked questions or touched the money directly. The ones collecting the money were trusted members of the Sarutobi clan. But if he really wanted to press the issue, she was fully prepared to turn against him.
She understood this well. And so did he. Which was exactly why Hiruzen was more anxious now than ever.
At such a critical moment... Koharu, can't you show some restraint?
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200 = +1 bonus chapter
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Completed at Chapter 278!