Might Guy, training alone, also heard the news, and a smile spread across his face. He had originally thought Ryōsuke was an impulsive and reckless person for disrupting the village's peace, but it seemed the initial news had been incomplete, even misleading. Now, his mood was excellent, giving him even more motivation to train.
His way of thinking was very simple: protecting the village meant protecting the people in it. If they were not at fault, why sacrifice an innocent person? It was illogical and violated his creed of protecting the village. The creed his father had taught him was not about sacrificing their own people to obtain peace. He knew he hadn't been wrong about Ryōsuke—he was someone who truly protected the village.
In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage was furious. The story had, of course, reached his ears as well. 'How did the truth of this matter get out? Doesn't this damage my glorious image as the Hokage?'
He felt that what he had done wasn't entirely right, but what choice did he have? The Cloud Village had been aggressive and overbearing, even wanting to restart the war, which could have resulted in the Leaf Village being crippled. Was sacrificing a single ninja really such a big problem? In his heart, there was no better way; any other method would have resulted in more deaths.
Of course, he had no desire to go to the front lines himself; he hadn't been on a battlefield in many years. Besides, none of his prized students were in the village right now.
Orochimaru, the student he had valued the most, had already defected. Just thinking about it brought a wave of sadness. As for Tsunade, she had developed hemophobia and couldn't even function as a ninja anymore; she was essentially crippled. Who knew how long it would take to cure her condition. And Jiraiya had abandoned his duty to protect the village to travel the world.
He was truly out of options right now.
'If only I hadn't acted against Hatake Sakumo back then.' At the time, he had only wanted to suppress Sakumo's reputation in the village, so he had allowed the villagers' slander to continue. He never expected the man to be unable to bear the burden and commit suicide. 'He couldn't even handle a small setback like that. What kind of ninja was he?' The thought filled him with discontent.
This time, if the Uchiha clan didn't leak the information, then the Hyūga clan did. 'What an infuriating pair of clans.'
Just then, the door to the Hokage's office opened. A man with his right cheek and hand wrapped in bandages walked in, leaning on a cane, and went straight to the sofa to sit down.
The Third Hokage's mood soured even more upon seeing this man. "What wind blew you in here?"
Danzō had a faint smile on his face. "The true reason for the failure of the peace talks has spread throughout the village, so naturally, it reached my ears as well. I told you a long time ago, if you had dealt with the Uchiha clan sooner, it wouldn't have come to this."
The two of them had worked together to tarnish the Uchiha's reputation in the village, making the villagers dislike and resent them. This was because the Uchiha clan's power was too great, and they even had ambitions for the Hokage seat. This was something not only the Third Hokage didn't want to see, but that he, Danzō, could not tolerate. Even if the Third Hokage were to fall, the next in line should be him.
The Third Hokage was speechless at this old man's words. He always wanted to resort to force without considering the consequences. Although he disliked the Uchiha, they needed a proper justification to act.
"The Uchiha have not rebelled. The village should not move against them."
A look of disdain crossed Danzō's face. "The Uchiha clan will never truly submit to us. They are a massive powder keg. The longer we wait, the greater the price we'll have to pay. It's better to act now and unite the entire village's strength to eliminate them. Only by removing this unstable element can we maintain the stability of the Leaf Village."
Back in the day, Uchiha Madara had betrayed the village. His teacher, the Second Hokage, had been wary of the Uchiha, even giving them control of the Military Police Force precisely to guard against their rebellion. Now, they were no longer satisfied with the power of the Police Force and were even eyeing the Hokage's seat. This was the very reason he and the Third had joined forces to suppress the Uchiha.
Hearing Danzō's words, the Third Hokage did not agree with taking action at this time. It wasn't yet the moment to make a lethal move against the Uchiha clan because their strength was simply too great. He now had two geniuses of the younger Uchiha generation under his influence; they had already been through his "re-education." The one giving him a headache now was that troublemaker, Uchiha Ryōsuke.
If things had developed normally, he could have subdued the Uchiha clan and made them work for him without lifting a finger. Going to war with the Uchiha was incredibly foolish, especially now. The Leaf Village would be torn apart, which was not something he wanted to see. If the village fell apart, what use would he, the Third Hokage, be? He would go down in history with a disgraceful name. How would he face the previous Hokage in the afterlife?
He said irritably, "If we move against them now, and a war breaks out with the Cloud Village, will you go and fight them? The Cloud ninja were provoked by the Uchiha this time; they will most likely return for revenge."
At these words, Danzō's pupils contracted, and his expression changed. Him, fight the Cloud ninja? No, thank you. He much preferred pulling strings from the shadows.
"Very well, then. Let the Uchiha clan fight the Cloud Village and exhaust their strength. It will be easier to deal with them in the future."
With that, he got up and left.
The Third Hokage was growing displeased with Danzō. He didn't even say a word before leaving. He truly had no respect for him as the Hokage. It was true that he had given Danzō too much power over the years. As a Konoha Consultant Elder, the power of his Root organization had grown to the point where it was now no weaker than his own Anbu.
If it weren't for the fact that they were old classmates, and that Danzō was a sharp blade in his hand—handling many unsavory tasks for him—the Third Hokage would never have let him go, especially after Danzō had tried to assassinate him in the past.
Sitting in his chair, he calmed himself down. 'I hope Uchiha Ryōsuke goes to the battlefield. After all, he's the one who caused this mess. I hope he dies in the great war.'
Then, the younger generation of Uchiha, Itachi and Shisui, would be under his control. In the future, the entire Uchiha clan would be under his control. This would be a good outcome for both the village and the Uchiha.
At the main gate of the Leaf Village, a robust man with a full beard looked at the entrance with a broad smile.
"I, Sarutobi Asuma, have returned."
T/n:
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