Soon.
A large crowd arrived at a palace next to the Daimyo's bedroom.
The Daimyo sat high on his chair, obviously having waited for a long time.
No unnecessary pleasantries.
He just signaled with his eyes, and the Lord Elder, who had already prepared, took the initiative to launch an attack.
"Kōkage, Hokage, there have been some noises in the Land of Fire recently about my assassination case... I wonder if you two have heard about it."
The Lord Elder said.
Then he paused deliberately and looked up at the ninjas in front of him.
Senju Hashirama looked blank, as if he knew nothing... Is he really a genius at playing dumb?
Uchiha Makoto had a smile on his face, and his gaze also looked at the Lord Elder. Their eyes met.... domineering, courting death!
And today's scapegoat, Senju Tobirama.
His expression was obviously a bit unnatural, but he tried his best to remain calm.
Along the way, Senju Tobirama kept winking and signaling at Uchiha Makoto, but without exception, all fell into the sea, which made him have some bad thoughts.
Could Uchiha Makoto, this naturally evil Uchiha brat, want to sell him out?
Although this possibility is small... Senju Tobirama is still afraid.
But in the current situation, Senju Tobirama has no way but to pray in his heart that Uchiha Makoto won't sell him out at this time.
"Lord Elder, what exactly is the matter? Why don't you just say it directly."
"That's right, speak quickly if you have something to say. I don't like riddles."
Senju Hashirama maintained his respectful tone as always and asked the Lord Elder.
Currently, he really doesn't know the grapevine news released by the Land of Fire. Uchiha Makoto echoed on the side. Now he doesn't mind continuing to play with the Lord Elder.
—Unless he uses his basic attack, skills, and ultimate move, and completely gives up, this matter will only be endless.
"Then I'll be direct."
"There are rumors outside that the group of ninjas who assassinated me were from Konoha, seemingly the elite of the Konoha ANBU."
"Here, this is the intelligence I collected."
"Hokage, what do you... think about this matter?"
The Lord Elder said while taking out the prepared evidence from his sleeve and holding it high.
Instantly.
The atmosphere in the palace became solemn.
Whether it was Konoha ninjas or Akatsuki ninjas, they all focused their attention on Senju Hashirama.
In fact, they had also heard about the news released by the Lord Elder to the outside world, but no one really took such grapevine news to heart.
After all, these grapevine news were very sensitive.
Not only involving Konoha but also involving the Konoha ANBU.
Regardless of whether one understands the power structure of the Konoha ANBU.
As the First Hokage of Konoha, Senju Hashirama actually cannot escape involvement.
And considering Senju Hashirama's terrifying strength, no one dares to really question whether Senju Hashirama is the mastermind behind the scenes... If an ordinary ninja's head is cut off, it won't grow back.
But now these grapevine news were actually taken seriously by the Lord Elder, and were even put on the table—something big is going to happen today!
And at this moment, Senju Tobirama was standing behind Senju Hashirama.
Clearly everyone's eyes were on Senju Hashirama, not on him, but because of a guilty conscience, he felt that these eyes were all on him.
So Senju Tobirama was already sweating profusely, wishing he could use the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape immediately.
—Makoto, help, you absolutely cannot drop the ball this time!
As the mastermind who knew everything, Uchiha Makoto was not interested in Senju Hashirama's reaction at all... This good old man only knew how to smooth things over.
He was admiring Senju Tobirama's expression with interest.
Under that pretended calm expression, how much fear is hidden?
Probably almost unable to hold on.
Uchiha Makoto imagined Senju Tobirama's mood.
If their positions were swapped, and Senju Tobirama held Uchiha Makoto's "lifeline," even if he threw a steel wool ball to Uchiha Makoto, Uchiha Makoto felt he would have to clench his fist, grit his teeth, and consider carefully... Fortunately, this possibility will never appear.
Of course, Uchiha Makoto was not interested in throwing steel wool balls at Senju Tobirama to play, uhm.... soap, he didn't like it either.
He liked throwing balls of yarn to tease the Two-Tailed Cat.
Kitty... so cute.
Soon, Senju Hashirama reacted. He subconsciously didn't believe such a thing.
"Lord Elder, you must be joking."
"... This... how could Konoha ninjas attack you..."
"Hokage, I trust you, but the intelligence is here. Why don't you take a look yourself? These intelligence reports don't seem fake..."
Although Senju Hashirama was dull, the atmosphere at the scene really made him uncomfortable.
He forced a smile and used his usual trick of smoothing things over.
However, the Lord Elder didn't accept it. He reached out and handed the intelligence in his hand to Senju Hashirama.
Senju Hashirama had to step forward, take the intelligence from the Lord Elder, and read ten lines at a glance.
The intelligence collected by the Uchiha clan was indeed true.
Experienced and mature ninjas could distinguish true from false at a glance, so the more Senju Hashirama read, the more he doubted his previous judgment.
—Really not bandits causing trouble?
But fortunately.
Senju Tobirama was fully prepared for the assassination of the Lord Elder.
Not only carefully selected trustworthy ninjas but also conducted a long period of training, so Shimura Danzō and his group acted neatly and skillfully, trying their best to disguise as rogue ninjas.
And even if the tiny evidence left at the scene was magnified...
It could only prove that Shimura Danzō and his group were well-organized and stronger than ordinary rogue ninjas.
The Uchiha Great Elder just speculated from normal logic that a group of ninjas with such strength was unlikely to be rogue ninjas disguised as bandits causing trouble.
Then once the possibility of bandits causing trouble is ruled out, it can only be someone deliberately planning.
But... there are always accidents in the world.
Uchiha Makoto and Senju Tobirama also made a plan to prevent Senju Hashirama from seeing through the disguise of rogue ninjas. The two insisted it was an accident.
Since it is an accident, the possibilities of accidents are diverse.
There is room for defense in this... As long as you are willing to believe, this is an accident, Shimura Danzō and his group are a group of strong enough rogue ninjas!
As for the judgment of "Konoha ANBU ninjas."
A large part is because of the psychological suggestion planted by the Lord Elder in the Uchiha Great Elder earlier, and a small part comes from the Uchiha Great Elder's ninja experience. He just felt that some techniques of the rogue ninjas were similar to those of the Konoha ANBU ninjas.
These cannot be considered evidence, at most suspicion, an excuse used to investigate the Konoha ANBU.
Of course... investigation is impossible.
Can't investigate everything!
But despite this, the impact of this intelligence on Senju Hashirama was still not small.
"Lord Elder, this... these intelligence reports.. where did they come from."
"Hokage, I am very willing to trust you, trust your Konoha, but I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation."
"After all, the case closure report you and the Kōkage submitted before said it was rogue ninjas disguised as bandits causing trouble."
The Lord Elder said unhurriedly, his tone quite mocking.
And Senju Hashirama couldn't figure it out for a while.
Because he really couldn't believe that Konoha ANBU ninjas assassinated the Lord Elder.
Moreover... the Konoha ANBU has always been controlled by Senju Tobirama.
Senju Hashirama also didn't believe that his brother Senju Tobirama could do such a treasonous thing behind his back.
This is simply shocking.
But the intelligence in front of him really couldn't be denied, and someone needed to have a reasonable excuse to explain it clearly.
Subsequently, Senju Hashirama could only turn his head and look at the "sweating profusely" Senju Tobirama.
"Tobirama, you must explain this matter clearly. The Konoha ANBU has always been controlled by you."
"What exactly is going on!"
Senju Hashirama asked Senju Tobirama for an explanation.
Everyone's eyes quickly focused on Senju Tobirama.
The Akatsuki ninjas were still watching the fun. After all, they didn't know much about the Konoha ANBU.
For them, eating this melon was really too lively.
The melons of this New Year were simply one wave after another.
Just the story of the ancestors of the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan and the Sage of Six Paths was explosive enough, and now there are still experts?
... Satisfying, really f*cking satisfying!
And the eyes of the Konoha ninjas seemed a bit strange.... Lord Tobirama, it wouldn't really be you, would it?
Facing Senju Hashirama's questioning.
Even though Senju Tobirama has always been cautious and calm, able to solve various crisis situations with ease.
But at this moment, his legs were a little weak.
There was no helping it.
The situation was different from the past. In the past, facing various crises, Senju Tobirama could constantly take out new ninjutsu to make enemies who looked down on him pay the price.
But now Senju Tobirama was equivalent to being in a prisoner's dilemma. The teammate he relied on, Uchiha Makoto, not only suddenly lost contact but also had the possibility of selling him out.
And the Uchiha Great Elder was also eyeing covetously.
The enemy he faced was his own brother... He couldn't beat his brother's strength!
In short, the remaining "gleam of hope" was unknown where, anyway not in Senju Tobirama's own hands.... Everything was unknown and uncontrollable.
Now once Senju Tobirama said something wrong, he might fall into a situation of eternal damnation.
"That's enough, Lord Hashirama. How can you suspect your own brother casually? If you don't trust your brother Senju Tobirama, don't you trust me?"
"The assassination report of the Lord Elder case was decided by me personally."
"It's just rogue ninjas disguised as bandits causing trouble."
Just when Senju Tobirama was racking his brains thinking about how to defend himself, Uchiha Makoto appeared like a dawn.
His voice suddenly appeared in the palace.... Playing with Senju Tobirama's mentality like this again could easily cause trouble!
"Makoto, come and look at this intelligence, the content on it..."
"Yes, Kōkage, you haven't seen this intelligence."
Seeing Uchiha Makoto stand up to speak for Senju Tobirama, Senju Hashirama breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably.
He trusted Uchiha Makoto, and also trusted his brother Senju Tobirama.
But the intelligence in his hand needed a reasonable explanation.
And the Lord Elder on the side also followed Senju Hashirama's words, questioning Uchiha Makoto—now the evidence is conclusive, can you still quibble, Kōkage?
Subsequently, Senju Hashirama handed the intelligence in his hand to Uchiha Makoto, and Uchiha Makoto could only open the intelligence and pretend to look at it for a while.
Then... under everyone's gaze.
Uchiha Makoto crumpled the intelligence in his hand into a ball and threw it on the ground like trash.
No one expected Uchiha Makoto to react like this.
The Daimyo's brows furrowed instantly, and the hand on the chair clenched suddenly.... Is this hitting the Lord Elder's butt? This is clearly hitting my face!
—The Kōkage is truly presumptuous!
However, the Daimyo still did not make a sound.
As a chess player, unless absolutely necessary, he cannot personally step in, otherwise, it is easy to expose his ass.
Senju Hashirama looked confused.
The surrounding Akatsuki and Konoha ninjas were the same.
Senju Tobirama had hope in his heart... Uchiha Makoto, I knew you wouldn't sell me out!
And after a brief astonishment, the Lord Elder's face was full of anger. He was just about to ask loudly what Uchiha Makoto wanted to do.
But Uchiha Makoto didn't give him a chance to speak.
"What a boring trick. In my opinion, this intelligence is no different from trash."
"Lord Elder, compared to this intelligence, I want to ask you a few questions more."
"The assassination case has long been finalized. Now you want to reopen the case. Are you questioning the ability of the Hokage and me?"
"These are just grapevine news. Has the source of these grapevine news been verified by the ninja village?"
"And as the Lord Elder of the Land of Fire, a heavyweight minister of a country, you actually took grapevine news from nowhere and publicly questioned the Hokage in front of His Highness the Daimyo, suspecting Konoha's loyalty. What exactly is your intention!"
Uchiha Makoto's righteous voice echoed in the hall.
Defend?
Defend what!
Don't fall into the trap of self-proof!
Any defense is a target for the opponent's attack. It is completely inferior to directly putting a big hat on the opponent.
These three deadly questions caught the Lord Elder off guard.
The debate words he had prepared in his belly were useless in this situation, but became a burden.
The Lord Elder didn't react for a while, and his brain fell into a downtime state temporarily.
What intention do I have?
Just want to seek justice for my whole family!
On this basis, Uchiha Makoto also planned to give the Lord Elder a chance to react, so he continued his "interrogation."
"What, speechless, stumped by me?"
"Do you want to say that Konoha deliberately planned this assassination against you!"
"It's simply the biggest joke in the world!"
"Your Highness, the treacherous minister has jumped out himself!"
Uchiha Makoto turned around suddenly, bowed to the Daimyo, looking like a loyal minister.
The situation changed instantly.
Senju Tobirama was so excited that he almost wanted to kowtow to Uchiha Makoto.
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