"It hurts!"
"It hurts so much!"
Clutching his chest, Uchiha Obito felt a pain unlike anything he had ever known.
It hurt even more than when he had been pinned beneath that rock, dying.
"Why does something as disgusting as Kirigakure even exist?"
"They deserve to die!"
…
"If only there had never been a war!"
"Then I wouldn't have nearly died. Kakashi wouldn't have lost an eye. Rin wouldn't have died either."
…
"The one in the wrong is this world!"
…
Only when Konoha shinobi began approaching did Obito finally force himself to leave.
A figure rushed urgently into the Hokage Building.
"Report!"
"Speak."
"Hokage-sama…"
The intelligence shinobi quickly explained the entire sequence of events—how Kirigakure shinobi had captured Nohara Rin, turned her into the Three-Tails' jinchuriki, and sent her toward Konoha in an attempt to trigger a tailed beast rampage; how Rin had thrown herself onto Kakashi's blade to die and stop it all.
The moment Hiruzen heard it, he flew into a rage.
"What is Kirigakure trying to do?"
Obito could not understand it.
And neither could Hiruzen.
Kirigakure and Konoha were allies, were they not?
Given how terrible Kirigakure's current situation was, they were only barely holding on thanks to Konoha's support.
And yet they had secretly stabbed Konoha in the back?
Were they tired of living?
Moreover, Hiruzen knew very well that Yagura had methods of becoming close to a perfect jinchuriki. If Kirigakure had truly captured the Three-Tails, then the best option for them should have been to make Yagura its jinchuriki himself.
That would have been the ideal outcome for Kirigakure.
So why had they chosen to target Konoha like this?
"No. Something is wrong."
"This cannot be that simple."
"Kirigakure has no reason to do this."
"There is no benefit in it for them."
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
"So this may have been orchestrated by Iwagakure… or Sunagakure?"
"To drive a wedge between Kirigakure and Konoha?"
"Yes. That's the most likely explanation."
"Given Onoki's style, it wouldn't be surprising if he pulled something like this."
"And Rasa has learned a few shameless tricks from Onoki as well."
Hiruzen gradually calmed down.
"The real question now is… what should I do?"
"What course of action is best for Konoha?"
At that moment, another shinobi hurried in.
"Hokage-sama, good news!"
"Hm?"
This intelligence shinobi wore an openly excited expression.
"Hokage-sama, we won! Under Orochimaru-sama's command, we defeated the Iwagakure army. Using Manda, he destroyed Kannabi Bridge and killed Sumashi!"
"The Iwa army suffered several thousand casualties."
"They've already retreated."
Joy appeared on Hiruzen's face.
"Good."
But almost immediately, another thought rose in his mind.
With Orochimaru's seniority and now such a major victory to his name, the people of Konoha—who had gradually begun to forget the Sannin due to the passing years—would certainly remember Orochimaru's achievements in the Second Great Ninja War once more.
His prestige would soar to an extremely high level.
Would Minato Namikaze still be able to compete with him?
If not, should Hiruzen use the authority of the Hokage to forcefully pass the title to Minato?
Or was there another option?
Hiruzen shook his head and temporarily pushed those tangled thoughts aside.
"What about our casualties?"
The intelligence shinobi hesitated slightly.
"Hokage-sama… we also suffered quite a lot of losses…"
After hearing the number, Hiruzen let out a sigh.
"This is war."
"Konoha never wanted war. We love peace. But those other villages refuse to abandon their ambitions and insist on causing this kind of bloodshed."
Before long, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane also arrived after receiving the news.
Both wore smiles.
"Hiruzen, this is excellent. We won."
"Iwagakure kept hounding Konoha all this time. Now that we've beaten them, I'd love to see the look on Onoki's face."
Homura turned to Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen, we can't let this end here. Iwagakure lost. We must make them pay compensation to cover Konoha's losses in this war."
Koharu nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. Konoha has suffered too much in this war."
"Iwagakure must bear responsibility for that."
"And now that Iwagakure is dealt with, we can focus our efforts on Sunagakure next."
"That miserable Sunagakure has gotten far too arrogant lately. It's time they were taught a lesson."
Suddenly—
Creak.
A figure pushed the door open and entered.
All three pairs of eyes turned at once.
"Danzo?"
A thick smell of blood clung to Danzo's body.
He looked tired, but his mood seemed quite good.
Hiruzen asked,
"How did it go?"
Danzo bared his teeth in a grin.
"We killed over twenty Uchiha. The rest fled in disgrace."
"A pity. There are still other enemies threatening the village, so I can't pursue them too far. Otherwise, I'd have wiped them out completely this time."
He looked at their expressions.
"That look on your faces… is there good news?"
Koharu nodded.
"That's right. Orochimaru led Konoha's forces to defeat the Iwagakure army. The Iwa army has already retreated."
Danzo's eyes lit up.
But before he could speak, Hiruzen spoke first.
"There's bad news as well. An elite Kirigakure squad ambushed our Konoha shinobi. They killed many of them and turned Nohara Rin into the Three-Tails' jinchuriki."
"Kirigakure was likely planning to trigger a tailed beast rampage inside Konoha, but fortunately Nohara Rin chose death herself and stopped their plan before it could be realized."
The moment those words fell, Danzo, Homura, and Koharu all looked shocked.
"Kirigakure attacked Konoha?"
"Why?"
"Is that true?"
Hiruzen said firmly,
"This was reported to me directly by ANBU. There is no mistake. The ones who attacked Konoha's shinobi were indeed Kirigakure ANBU."
Homura looked puzzled.
"But that makes no sense. Aren't they our allies? Given how miserable their situation is, how does attacking us benefit them in the slightest?"
Koharu was equally bewildered.
"En is right. Kirigakure can't possibly be stupid enough to do something like this. Could it have been the Kaguya Clan impersonating them?"
Hiruzen shook his head.
"It wasn't the Kaguya Clan."
"But Kirigakure making a move like this truly is difficult to understand. I suspect there may be some hidden factor behind it."
Suddenly, Danzo let out a cold snort.
"No hidden factor changes the fact that Kirigakure ambushed Konoha."
"The casualties among our shinobi are real. Kirigakure must pay for that."
"Even if there's some problem behind it, it's not our responsibility to investigate. That is Kirigakure's mistake as well."
"And this is the perfect opportunity for us to cut ties with them."
"Hiruzen, you've already gotten what you wanted."
"The alliance you promised Kirigakure? We've already fulfilled it."
"This time, Kirigakure is the one at fault first."
"There's no need for us to keep paying for Kirigakure any longer."
"If we cut ties now, it will be the best possible choice for Konoha!"