"What?"
"The nerve of them!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm onto the desk and shot to his feet.
"These Uchiha… they've got some nerve!"
"They actually dared to attack Konoha's shinobi at a time like this?"
Across from him, Danzo let out a cold snort.
"Hiruzen, I told you already. Those Uchiha are evil by nature. We should never have given them any room to breathe. If we had wiped them out sooner, would we be dealing with this now?"
Homura Mitokado glanced at Danzo and corrected him calmly,
"Danzo, 'the Uchiha are evil by nature' was something Teacher Tobirama said. Not you."
Danzo: "???"
He turned to glare at Homura, visibly displeased.
Was this really the time to argue over that?
Homura showed no fear whatsoever.
Ever since learning that Danzo had not fully handed Root over to him, Homura had grown deeply dissatisfied with him.
Koharu Utatane let out a sigh.
"We have to admit it… in this regard, that brat Rasa handled things well."
"In one night, he wiped out the entire Hongsha Clan."
"If he hadn't, then the Hongsha Clan would be just like the Uchiha right now."
She paused for a moment before continuing,
"Come to think of it, the Kaguya Clan must have taken action against Kirigakure by now as well."
"Those two shinobi clans probably can't wait for Konoha and Kirigakure to collapse on the spot."
Danzo turned to Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen, it's still not too late to wipe out the Uchiha. Let me lead the operation. I'll make sure every last one of those damned Uchiha is taken down and killed."
Hiruzen frowned slightly.
"Danzo, didn't you say you were unwell?"
Danzo: "…"
He quickly explained,
"My injuries have indeed affected me badly. If you send me to the front line against Iwagakure's army, I definitely can't do it. But dealing with the mere Uchiha? That's still within my capability."
"We can't just sit here and watch them continue slaughtering Konoha's shinobi."
That line persuaded Hiruzen.
Whether or not they would exterminate the clan was another matter.
The immediate priority was obviously to stop the Uchiha from attacking Konoha shinobi.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Hiruzen, rest assured."
Danzo revealed a smile, turned, and walked out of the Hokage Building. With a single order, a large number of shinobi quickly assembled.
Through the window, Homura looked down below, his face dark.
Danzo turned back, glanced at him, and smiled faintly.
"…"
Homura immediately turned to Hiruzen in complaint.
"Hiruzen, you have to stand up for me. Danzo has gone too far. He won't even listen to your orders as Hokage. I'm the head of Root now, and those men are supposed to be mine—"
Hiruzen only felt his headache worsening and quickly waved his hand.
"En, the village is in urgent danger right now. Leave these side issues for later."
"We cannot lose this battle."
"If we lose, then everything is over."
"Konoha cannot be destroyed in our hands."
"At the very least, it cannot be destroyed in the hands of our generation."
Hiruzen walked to the window and looked in the direction of the Hokage Rock.
"Teacher Hashirama alone was enough to bring the entire shinobi world to heel."
"Under Teacher Tobirama's leadership, Konoha fought all four of the other great villages at once without falling behind. He only died because he was caught in Kinkaku and Ginkaku's trap in the Land of Lightning."
"He sacrificed himself to save the rest of us."
"In the Second Great Ninja War, under my leadership, Konoha also achieved victory."
"But now… Konoha's situation is truly dire."
"Iwagakure's strength exceeds expectations."
"And Sunagakure has produced a genius and suddenly risen."
By now, Hiruzen had already pieced together the full story behind Kirigakure's frontline collapse.
One Yata Crow. One chameleon.
Those two summoned beasts had brought a massive increase in the combat strength of Sunagakure's forces.
On top of that, both Rasa and Pakura had reached the level of top-tier shinobi.
"Rasa in particular can fight Minato on equal footing."
"And Pakura has suppressed Yagura as well."
"Moreover, they are husband and wife. There is no internal strife between them. Unlike me and Danzo, who are always at odds."
"And they are still young."
"If nothing unexpected happens, Sunagakure won't decline for decades."
"As for Konoha… that depends on what Orochimaru and Minato can do."
Elsewhere, the Third Mizukage received intelligence from the Kirigakure front. When he heard that the frontline army had been ambushed by Sunagakure, routed, and forced to flee in Konoha's direction, the body he had only just begun to recover was struck again.
"Pfft!"
Driven by rage and fear, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Sunagakure!"
Hatred filled the Third Mizukage's face.
"I never should have given you breathing room back then. I should have crushed you in one go. If I had, Sunagakure would never have had a chance to turn things around. That was my mistake."
"And now you take advantage of Kirigakure's internal chaos to press the attack this hard."
"Despicable. Petty."
"I'll remember this."
"Enjoy yourselves while you can. One day, Kirigakure will settle this debt."
Just then, a figure rushed in.
"Mizukage-sama, bad news!"
"What is it?"
The Third Mizukage frowned.
"It's the Kaguya Clan! The Kaguya Clan has come back to attack us!"
"What?"
The Third Mizukage's eyes widened abruptly.
"Animals!"
"Those damned Kaguya bastards actually dare come back?"
He would never forget Kaguya Kyou.
That man had claimed, over and over, that he could no longer tolerate the Kaguya Clan's conduct and had come to report them.
But in reality, he had wrapped himself in explosive tags from head to toe and charged in to blow himself up.
Mad to the core.
If the Third Mizukage had not mastered the Hydrification Technique, he might have been blown to pieces on the spot.
The explosive tags had not taken his life, but they had still injured him.
And because of that, when he later faced the siege of the other Kaguya shinobi, he had fallen into a disadvantageous position.
After an entire night of bloody battle, the Kaguya Clan had fled Kirigakure—but he himself had been gravely wounded.
Because of the Kaguya Clan, Kirigakure's situation had worsened tremendously.
The Third Mizukage hated the Kaguya Clan even more than he hated Sunagakure.
His eyes bloodshot, he roared,
"Pass down my order. Kill them. Kill them all."
"Don't let a single one escape!"
But he also knew exactly why the Kaguya Clan had chosen this moment to return.
They had seen that Kirigakure's defenses were weak.
The front-line situation had deteriorated, forcing Kirigakure to pull shinobi from within the village to reinforce it.
"How did things end up like this?"
"I haven't neglected my duties as Mizukage in the slightest."
"If things had gone according to my plan, Kirigakure's strength would have entered the top two among the great villages."
"So why?"
"It's as if fate itself refuses to stand with me… and instead keeps siding with that brat Rasa."
The Third Mizukage gritted his teeth in jealous hatred.
Rasa, however, would have strongly disagreed.
He did not believe he had relied on luck at all.
Everything he had achieved came from his own effort.
An invisible roulette wheel began to spin.
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an F-rank item: One tael of gold.]
…
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a B-rank item: Ninjutsu Scroll (Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere Technique).]
…
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a B-rank item: One-Day Mind-Listening Card.]
…
[Congratulations, Host. You have triggered the pity reward and obtained an A-rank item: Sun Disc (Blueprint).]