BOOM!
"Tsunade!" Hiruzen shouted, a note of relief in his voice upon seeing her arrival.
But she didn't even glance at him.
Her eyes were locked on the towering dog-like creature she had just punched—now visibly bleeding from the side of its jaw.
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, frowning. "It's stronger than it looks," she muttered.
She hadn't even used her full strength, but the punch should have caused far more damage than what she was seeing. Any ordinary creature—even of this size—should have been sent crashing into the ground, bones shattered.
Yet the beast still stood—dazed but very much functional.
Massive creatures were not rare in the shinobi world. In fact, they were one of the primary causes of both chaos and economic profit. Giant summons, chakra-enhanced animals, and mutated abominations—ninja villages had seen them all.
Excluding the Tailed Beasts, whose destructive capabilities came from their chakra bombs and unique traits, most large beasts relied only on brute force: size, strength, and sometimes speed.
Of course, there were exceptions. Some summoned creatures possessed unique abilities or heightened intelligence.
But Tsunade didn't sense anything like that here. At least not from the creature in front of her.
"Where did it come from?" she demanded, shouting at the Anbu stationed nearby, who stood alert, waiting for further orders.
Before the Anbu could reply, Hiruzen stepped beside her and answered quietly, "Nothing was found. They just... appeared. Right near the Shimura compound."
Tsunade's expression darkened. Her sharp eyes shifted toward Danzo, who was barking orders to his Root operatives currently working to subdue the monsters within his own clan's compound.
A bitter smirk tugged at her lips.
"Really? And you expect me to believe they have nothing to do with it?" she said mockingly, her voice laced with disdain.
Hiruzen didn't respond—not because he dismissed her words, but because deep down, he too had begun to doubt what role his old friend might have played in this.
Maybe it was a failed experiment. Something the Shimura clan had been testing that went terribly wrong. Or perhaps it truly was an attack—a calculated strike from one of Danzo's many enemies. Over the years, Danzo had made more than enough of them. A revenge plot aimed at his clan wouldn't be unthinkable.
But knowing Danzo as well as he did, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel that the first possibility—the one where Danzo himself caused this—was far more likely.
Seeing his silence, Tsunade snorted, already knowing what was going on in his head.
Hiruzen let out a quiet sigh, steadying himself. Now wasn't the time to dwell on suspicions or regrets.
"We'll discuss this later," he said, his voice regaining its firmness. "Right now, solve this quickly, Tsunade. They've already caused enough damage."
"Konoha has lost a Kage-level combatant. Naturally, others will want to test its strength," Tsunade muttered before leaping into action.
She activated her Chakra Enhanced Strength. With chakra surging into her fists, she launched a devastating punch at the towering beast.
This time, the impact was brutal—the creature howled as blood sprayed from its side. The damage was far more significant than before.
Hiruzen frowned, his gaze lingering on Tsunade.
She's telling me about my failures...
He understood perfectly well—she was referring to Sakumo. The shame of it still hung over him like a storm cloud.
The suicide of Sakumo Hatake had shaken the village to its core. With the Third Great Ninja War looming on the horizon, Konoha had lost a Kage-level powerhouse at the worst possible time.
Hiruzen hadn't meant for it to go that far. He had only sought to damage Sakumo's reputation—just enough so the public wouldn't see him as the next Hokage. That way, the succession would be smoother. But Danzo had taken it further.
He had turned a political maneuver into a death sentence.
Hiruzen had expected Danzo to interfere, but not to orchestrate something so cruel and irreversible. And now, with Sakumo gone, there had been no way to punish Danzo—not without creating even greater division in the village. The entire ordeal had left a bitter taste that lingered, poisoning his mood for months.
But now, watching the chaos erupting in the Shimura compound, he felt a strange shift in his heart.
Is this… revenge? For Sakumo?
His eyes narrowed.
There may be many fools in the world, but not all are blind. Could someone be trying to make Danzo pay the price for what he did?
His thoughts turned instinctively toward the Inuzuka clan. It was possible, he mused. Sakumo had earned the respect of many during his time. He had commanded loyalty, even from those outside his clan.
But no. Hiruzen quickly dismissed the idea.
The Hatake clan lacked the power to orchestrate something of this scale. And as for the rest—who among them would risk everything for vengeance? The Inuzuka weren't fools. They knew how dangerous Danzo was and how carefully he wove his webs.
No one would openly move against Danzo without expecting devastating consequences.
At least… not without a perfect plan.
SPLASH. SPLASH. SPLASH. SPLASH. SPLASH.
The wet, grotesque sounds snapped Hiruzen out of his thoughts.
He immediately turned, eyes narrowing as he looked toward the area where several Anbu had been reinforcing barriers with Earth and Water Style jutsu. The ground trembled slightly beneath his feet—subtle, but ominous.
"What happened?" he asked sharply, scanning for visual confirmation. His line of sight was obscured by the smoke and rising mist. It hadn't sounded like an ordinary explosion—more like a rupture.
A blur flickered beside him as an Anbu operative landed silently on the rooftop, kneeling low in formal report posture.
"The dogs…" the operative said, voice tight and grim beneath the mask.
"They exploded."
Hiruzen's eyes widened, body going still for a moment.
"Exploded?" he echoed, not as a question, but in stunned disbelief.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. All of them. Simultaneously. Their bodies—detonated from within."
His gaze swept the battlefield below, now obscured by a rising curtain of bloody mist and crumbled barriers.
Someone planned this to the very end… even their death was a weapon.
********
Some time in Pokemon world?