Chapter 130: Assassinating the Hokage
Hiruzen Sarutobi caught the crucial detail slipping from the massive beast's jaws.
"You said Ida Mutzuki is injured?"
"Get out of my way," the colossal fox growled, its voice vibrating through the damp forest air. "And do not make me repeat myself a third time, or I will use fist-force persuasion on you just like that woman did."
A deep sense of absurdity washed over the two Konoha elders. It seemed their Fourth Hokage really had forged a close relationship with the Nine-Tails—mostly by beating the towering entity into absolute submission.
Yet, even if Hiruzen possessed a hundred times his current courage, he would never dare step aside and let a walking natural disaster stroll casually into the heart of the village. The standoff stretched on, suffocating and tense.
Suddenly, a streak of brilliant purple light tore through the dark canopy. In the blink of an eye, the blinding flash touched down in the clearing.
Seeing Mutzuki finally arrive, both Hiruzen and Danzo exhaled heavy, synchronized sighs of relief. Neither of them was exactly a specialist in wrestling Tailed Beasts. Such catastrophic matters were best left to the resident monster.
"Mutzuki, are you alright?" Hiruzen asked, wiping cold moisture from his brow.
The Nine-Tails immediately bounded forward, kicking up dirt as it circled her small frame like an oversized, anxious hound.
"Of course I am perfectly fine," Mutzuki replied smoothly, feigning complete innocence. "But what exactly is going on over here?"
She had been the one to secretly leak the seal-releasing technique to Black Zetsu in the first place. Without her deliberate sabotage, the ancient entity would never have broken the barrier so easily.
"Are you absolutely sure you are okay?" the giant fox rumbled, leaning its massive snout closer. "I clearly sensed your life force plummeting just a moment ago. You felt like you were about to draw your last breath."
A single, massive drop of cold sweat rolled down Mutzuki's forehead. She had intentionally applied a temporary weakness debuff to herself for exactly five seconds just to bait Black Zetsu into a false sense of security. Why in the world was this stupid fox exposing her act?
Feeling the sudden, intensely suspicious gazes of Hiruzen and Danzo locking onto her, Mutzuki felt her eyelids twitch violently. This walking carpet really knew exactly which buttons to push.
Foregoing any further explanation, she stepped forward, condensed a terrifying amount of chakra into her fists, and slammed two brutal uppercuts directly into the Nine-Tails' jaw, driving the colossal beast face-first into the dirt.
"Who exactly did you say was about to draw their last breath?" she demanded, dusting off her hands.
Feeling that all-too-familiar, bone-shattering kinetic force, the fox whimpered. This woman was as lively and vicious as a female tyrannosaur. Where on earth did she look injured?
The Nine-Tails clutched its ringing head with two massive paws, lying flat against the crushed earth. It seriously began to doubt its own existence. Could its legendary sensory abilities actually be malfunctioning?
"As the Fourth Hokage, you actually dare to assault the Konoha Guardian Beast you personally appointed?" the fox complained loudly, its muzzle buried in the soil. "You have absolutely no martial integrity! I am furious. You had better hurry up and fix my house, compensate me with double—no, make that five times the snacks and drinks, and triple my monthly salary! Otherwise, this is far from over."
"Fine, I will compensate you," Mutzuki sighed, rubbing her temples. "I will have someone handle the renovations immediately, so stop throwing a tantrum and making a mess."
Sensing that the two elders behind her were practically vibrating with a million questions, Mutzuki waved a dismissive hand, ordering the nearby Uzumaki clan members to begin cleaning up the wreckage.
Once the designated enclosure was thoroughly cleared of debris, she personally stepped forward and erected a brand-new, reinforced protective barrier.
Satisfied with the reinforced walls, the Nine-Tails sluggishly dragged its massive body back into the enclosure. Just before it closed its heavy eyelids to sleep, it grumbled one last reminder about the promised salary increase.
Mutzuki refused to even look at the beast. She honestly missed the days when the Nine-Tails was a terrifying, untamable force of nature, rather than a lazy extortionist.
The moment she turned around, Hiruzen and Danzo instantly crowded her space, flanking her like two relentless gargoyles.
On her left, Hiruzen pressed in. "Is your body truly unharmed? Why would the Nine-Tails make such a specific claim about your life force?"
On her right, Danzo scowled deeply. "Other hidden villages seal their Tailed Beasts securely inside a Jinchuriki's belly. Why does our village spend an exorbitant amount of funds raising one in a luxury enclosure? Do you think my treasury fills itself with the wind?"
Left side again. "And what was that display just now? You can simply open and close the beast's seal whenever you please? Can you stop acting so recklessly? Please, mind your status as the Hokage."
Right side again. "It is one thing to pay a demon a salary, but you are tripling it? Do you have any concept of how much capital that requires? I absolutely refuse to approve this expenditure."
Then, in perfect, headache-inducing unison, both old men barked, "In short, can you stop messing around all the time? Our aging hearts can only take so much stress!"
Reaching the absolute limits of her patience, Mutzuki delivered two swift, manual chops to the top of Danzo's head, effectively silencing the miserly finance minister before turning to address the more pressing concerns.
"The seal on the Nine-Tails is placed directly onto its physical body, restricting it from using catastrophic amounts of chakra," Mutzuki explained smoothly, weaving her bluff. "The secondary barrier is not actually there to prevent the fox from breaking out. It is designed to prevent foolish intruders from trying to break in."
Safely tucked inside the shimmering barrier, the Nine-Tails pricked up its massive ears, openly eavesdropping as Mutzuki spun her web of lies to the two gullible elders.
Hearing that the seal was supposedly etched onto its own body, the great fox could not help but look down at its orange fur in utter bewilderment. When exactly had she placed a physical sealing technique on it? It had absolutely no memory of such a thing.
Had it not simply surrendered because she beat it half to death?
Then again, the woman made a fair point about the other Tailed Beasts. It used to communicate telepathically with the Eight-Tails quite often. But one random day, the Eight-Tails frantically yelled something about being sucked into the Sage of Six Paths' treasured tools, and their connection went permanently dead.
Compared to its siblings, who were currently locked away in cramped human bellies or sealed inside suffocating artifacts, the Nine-Tails realized it was actually the luckiest demon alive.
This freakishly strong woman, the Fourth Hokage, did not fear it in the slightest. She crushed it with sheer physical dominance, yet she also provided it with premium food, comfortable shelter, and endless entertainment.
Aside from the minor inconvenience of not being allowed to rampage through the countryside, this lifestyle was genuinely fantastic.
It was not much different from sleeping in the wild forests centuries ago, except now it had dedicated servants preparing gourmet meals. Whatever it desired, it only had to voice the demand, and the items would be delivered straight to its door within two days. They pampered it to an absurd degree.
Given all these luxurious perks, so what if the Fourth Hokage unilaterally slapped the title of Konoha Guardian Beast onto its head?
What was the actual harm in reluctantly playing along with her little game?
Even ancient chakra demons needed to follow their hearts sometimes. It could not defeat her in a fistfight, and it certainly could not outrun her.
It might as well just lie down, get comfortable, and enjoy the ride.
Speaking of which, the fox mused silently, exactly how many bags of premium potato chips could a tripled salary purchase? It needed to start doing the math.
Elsewhere in the village, the problem of the foreign intruders was resolved with ruthless efficiency.
There had been twenty-three attackers in total. Although their infiltration plan had been carefully crafted, their actual combat strength was entirely average, resulting in minimal structural damage to the village. The civilian population soon began emerging from the underground shelters.
Overhead, the heavy rain continued to pour, falling harder and faster with absolutely no sign of letting up.
Under these miserable weather conditions, the progress of the village clean-up efforts ground to a frustrating crawl.
It had only been a minor skirmish anyway; there was no logical reason to exhaust the workforce in the freezing downpour.
Mutzuki simply waved her hand, ordering the majority of the shinobi to return to their homes and rest, leaving only the essential patrol teams and Anbu operatives on active duty.
Once the sun rose and the storm finally passed, they could resume handling the bureaucratic aftermath.
Holding a simple oil-paper umbrella against the torrential rain, she began the quiet walk back toward her private residence.
Just then, the distinct sound of footsteps splashing through the puddles approached from behind. Mutzuki paused, glancing over her shoulder to see Uchiha Kou standing in the downpour.
She let out a long, exhausted yawn. "No matter what it is you want, wait until tomorrow. Absolutely no one is going to force me to work overtime tonight."
After delivering her firm rejection, she turned her back to him and continued walking down the empty street.
Uchiha Kou did not respond. He merely stared blankly at her retreating back, his legs moving mechanically to follow her footsteps.
His jaw clenched tightly, facial muscles twitching in erratic spasms as his eyes darted back and forth. Hidden deep within the sleeve of his soaked uniform, the hilt of a sharp kunai was tightly gripped in his trembling hand. The exposed steel blade shimmered with a sickly, faint blue light—the obvious glow of a lethal neurotoxin.
'Ida Mutzuki treats everyone in Konoha equally. She never discriminates against anyone due to prejudice,'a dark, insidious voice whispered directly into the depths of his mind.'Do you know why she holds such a deep prejudice against you?''Because you are an anomaly,' the voice hissed, dripping with venomous certainty.'You are not from this world. That is exactly why you are treated like an outcast.''Kill her. Raise your blade and kill her right now.''When she dies, Hiruzen Sarutobi will naturally take over the village. Only when Danzo Shimura reclaims his position as the Hokage Assistant will the Root division finally be established.''What are you still hesitating for?' the whispers mocked, tearing at his fragile sanity.'No one in this village believes you. Not even your own companions. They did not even deign to listen to your desperate explanations before sentencing you to death.''Kill her. Take her ninja tool pouch, extract the Hokage seal hidden inside, and correct this false world.'Kou's eyes glazed over as the twisted logic took root in his fractured mind.'If I kill her, will Hiruzen-sama become the Hokage? Then Danzo-sama will become the new Assistant, and Root will be established.''Yes, that is exactly right. Ida Mutzuki is the anomaly. She is the glitch that must be erased.'
His boots splashed heavily against the cobblestones as Uchiha Kou rapidly closed the distance, perfectly matching Mutzuki's casual pace.
"Hokage-sama," Kou called out, his voice eerily hollow over the sound of the pouring rain. "I have something important to tell you."
"I already told you, I am not discussing official business right now!" Mutzuki snapped, spinning around on her heel in annoyance.
The moment she turned, a flash of cold, poisoned steel cut through the curtain of rain, thrusting directly toward her heart.
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