Chapter 351: The Argument
After some thought, Ishiro said, "How is Kawakita's bandit suppression mission coming along? If he's almost finished, we might as well have him join the Third."
Megumi replied, "It's nearly complete. Only a few remote areas remain to be cleared. There are not many rogue ninja left in the Land of Snow now; most have been driven south to countries like the Land of Demons and the Land of Bears."
Ishiro made a swift decision: "Then have him join the Third. Also, have Rōshi go with the Third as well. Hasn't he always felt that staying near the village is like being in prison? Let him go out and get some fresh air."
A corner of Kitsuchi's mouth twitched. Rōshi and his old man had never gotten along. Was it really a good idea to have the two of them together every day?
"Kitsuchi, you will arrange this. Contact the Third quickly and have him rendezvous with Kawakita and Rōshi," Ishiro commanded.
Megumi thought for a moment and said, "Master Ishiro, Kawakita originally wanted to pick a few disciples from this year's graduating class."
"Then have him come back at once. The class will be graduating in a few days anyway. He can take the students away early." Ishiro wasn't concerned about such minor details.
Saka asked again, "The Anbu just said that the one using the Third Kazekage puppet was not Chiyo, but someone else. That person was able to exhibit Kage-level combat power through the puppet. Could it be Ebizō?"
Upon hearing this, a thought struck Ishiro. "I have a guess. That person might be the winner of the last joint Chunin Exams we held: another genius puppet master from Sunagakure, Ryosuke."
Ryosuke? The others were surprised. How old is he? He seems even younger than Megumi and Kawakita. He can already display Kage-level combat power?
"Puppet masters are different from conventional ninja. A relatively weak puppet master can be very strong if they have a good puppet," Ishiro explained. "However, this Ryosuke is definitely a genius; there's no doubt about that. He is at least an elite jonin, perhaps even a Quasi-Kage by now."
"Rasa's policies these past two years have been relatively conservative. I suspect he's been waiting for this Ryosuke to mature."
"This reminds me, it's not just us secretly nurturing the next generation; Sunagakure hasn't been idle either. So what about Kumogakure? Sunagakure has shown its hand this time. We need to pay attention to Kumo as well."
"Saka, you will focus on monitoring the young geniuses of each village. See if there have been any recent abnormalities."
"Yes," Saka replied.
The others also felt a chill. That's right, everyone was likely improving. They couldn't judge the future combat strength of the villages based on old intelligence.
...
Two days later, this session of the joint Chunin Exams finally came to a close. The winner was an Iwa-nin. Although this ninja's strength was also very average—he had just happened to miss the previous chunin selection and unexpectedly hit the jackpot—the villagers of Iwagakure were unaware. They only knew that Konoha had lost, Suna had lost, and Iwagakure was indeed growing stronger day by day.
Shortly after, the agreement for in-depth cooperation between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth was also reached and publicly announced to the entire ninja world. Of course, the new issue of Iwagakure's Bi-Weekly Report also hyped this event: Iwagakure's influence was about to extend to the southernmost tip of the ninja world, a key step in enhancing Iwagakure's soft power.
At this time, Kakashi and the rest of the Konoha delegation finally returned to Konoha. Because of the incident with the Monkey Clan's extermination, Tsunade and the other high-ranking officials immediately summoned Kakashi, Shikaizumi Nara, and Akira Sarutobi.
The moment Kakashi entered the Hokage's office, Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Danzō noticed the change in him.
Thus, Hiruzen, who had originally intended to question Shikaizumi Nara, immediately began to interrogate Kakashi instead. The destruction of the Monkey Clan was already a fact. At most, they could hold Shikaizumi Nara responsible, which was rather meaningless. But this matter with Kakashi was extraordinary. Thinking on the bright side, Konoha was about to gain another Kage-level powerhouse, which would alleviate their current predicament.
But if one thought of the worst-case scenario, if Kakashi had been brainwashed by Iwagakure, Hiruzen felt his scalp go numb. He thought about how he had treated White Fang. He thought about the Iwagakure Bi-Weekly Report that Shikaizumi Nara had sent back. Finally, he connected it all with the methods of the Fourth Tsuchikage, known as the "Fox of Iwagakure."
Hiruzen felt that the peace in Konoha, which he had painstakingly maintained, was about to be shattered.
However, Hiruzen was still able to maintain a basic level of composure. He said in a deep voice, "Kakashi, first, tell us what happened to you."
Kakashi knelt on one knee and said, "Lady Hokage, Lord Third, I sparred with many Iwa ninja in their village. In the end, I challenged Iwagakure's advisor, Ikura."
"In the process, I witnessed the power of Ikura and the Fourth Tsuchikage. I felt the gap between myself and them, and then... this happened."
Hiruzen relaxed a little. At least the reason was plausible.
However, Danzō didn't see it that way. He immediately barked, "Kakashi, you became a Quasi-Kage in front of the Tsuchikage and Ikura? And they just let you come back like this?"
Prompted by Danzō, Hiruzen's heart leaped into his throat again. That's right, a Quasi-Kage... Iwagakure just let him go so easily? This doesn't seem like Ishiro's style. This was a situation where the Kage of any hidden village would make the same decision: to nip the threat in the bud.
At this moment, Tsunade spoke up. "Danzō, that's enough. Kakashi is one of our own, not a criminal. Don't speak to our own people in the tone of an interrogator."
Danzō gritted his teeth and said to Hiruzen, "Hiruzen, place the Tongue-Destroying Seal on him and have him join Root."
This method was excellent. If Kakashi really was a problem, this could minimize the potential harm he could cause. But if this had been before Orochimaru's defection, Hiruzen might have actually agreed. It was just that back then, Danzō had coveted Orochimaru's subordinates, which was why he had forced Orochimaru to rebel. This matter had always weighed on Hiruzen's mind.
So now, Hiruzen seriously suspected Danzō's motives. Was Danzō trying to recruit Kakashi, and thus deliberately framing him? Danzō's recent actions were markedly different from his past behavior. He had actually started to cultivate his own power base outside of Root. Now that I've stepped down from the position of Hokage, are you no longer content with being a shadow?
If he handed Kakashi over to Danzō as well, would he and Tsunade still be able to suppress Danzō a few years down the line?
Thus, Danzō's words ended up helping Kakashi. Hiruzen said to him, "Kakashi, stand up. The village does not suspect you. We simply wish to understand your mental journey to becoming Kage-level."
"Back then, when the Second and I were being pursued by Kumo's Gold and Silver Brothers, it was my resolve to stay behind as the rear guard that allowed me to become a Quasi-Kage," Hiruzen said.
Of course, this was a story to deceive children. Danzō sneered inwardly. Hiruzen had already been a Quasi-Kage before that. He only said this to make his own image seem grander. After all, a Kage willing to sacrifice himself for the village was more worthy of everyone's love and respect.
Kakashi nodded. "Rest assured, Lord Third. I understand. I am also willing to make sacrifices for the peace of the village, just like my teacher."
Tsunade didn't want to dwell on this issue. In any case, she didn't sense any malice from Kakashi. Her Kage-level intuition told her that Kakashi was still loyal to her as the Hokage.
"Shikaizumi, tell us the detailed situation in Iwagakure," Tsunade said to Shikaizumi Nara. On the side, Shikaku Nara, who had been silent all this time, wore a tense expression.
A long time later, after Shikaizumi Nara had finished his account, Tsunade gave her conclusion: "Shikaizumi, the problem does not lie with you. We also did not expect that Iwagakure's target was actually the Monkey Clan."
Shikaizumi's voice trembled. "Lady Hokage, I don't suppose... how great were the losses suffered by the Monkey Clan?"
Beside him, Akira Sarutobi and Kakashi also looked towards Tsunade. They had lost contact with Konoha ever since Ishiro attacked the Monkey Clan and still didn't know the specifics.
Tsunade sighed. "The Monkey Clan has been annihilated. Only Enma managed to escape."
Although he had expected it, Shikaizumi had held onto a sliver of hope. What if the Monkey Clan had only lost a portion of its members, and the rest had hidden or fled?
But reality was cruel.
With all his illusions shattered, Shikaizumi Nara spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted on the spot.
Tsunade, the medical ninja, immediately rushed forward and began to examine him. After a moment, she said, "Heart failure. He's not in mortal danger this time, but if he can't walk out of the shadow of this event, I'm afraid he won't live for long."
Shikaku Nara took a deep breath. "Thank you, Lady Hokage. This was also Shikaizumi's own choice."
Hiruzen said, "Shikaku, have a good talk with Shikaizumi when you get back."
Shikaku Nara acknowledged him.
After Kakashi and Akira Sarutobi carried Shikaizumi Nara out, the atmosphere in the meeting room became somewhat somber.
Homura Mitokado said, "The Fourth Tsuchikage is remarkable. To think he could reverse-calculate the Monkey Clan's location from the Summoning Jutsu. It seems Iwagakure's understanding of space-time ninjutsu is no longer low. In the past, we used space-time ninjutsu to attack our enemies, but after Minato's death, our research in that area has fallen behind."
"Hiruzen, Tsunade, we must also devote a portion of our energy to researching space-time ninjutsu. We can't have Iwagakure attacking us with it while we lack the ability to even defend or retaliate."
Tsunade thought for a moment and said, "Then let Genma Shiranui and his two teammates perform fewer missions. Have them spend more time studying the Flying Thunder God Technique. Let the three of them be in charge of space-time ninjutsu research as well. After all, the three of them were chosen by Minato as ninja he believed had a talent for it."
Hiruzen and the others had no objections. They had all tried to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, and the feeling after studying it was the same: it was like a heavenly scripture, completely incomprehensible. Such specialized matters were indeed best left to the specialists.
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