chapter 122 part 2
Tsukasa Kaede's silence indeed left many outside feeling helpless and bewildered.
Was this rational? Accused by his comrades like this, shouldn't he immediately step forward and state his position, even if just for show? But how could Tsukasa Kaede completely ignore it?
Was his mental fortitude too strong, or did... Tsukasa Kaede simply not see them as important at all?!
"Tsukasa Kaede doesn't care about comrades at all, Hiruzen. You're too naive if you think you can stop him this way."
Danzo pushed open the door and walked in, sneering repeatedly.
His current days were tough. His few Root Ninja were dispatched to Orochimaru to seize the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, resulting in heavy casualties.
Several rounds of losses severely reduced Root's strength, reaching a point where Danzo could no longer tolerate it. Coming to the Third Hokage proactively meant he was bowing his head.
The Third Hokage's expression remained unchanged: "Don't be so arbitrary. Those with strong willpower will not be affected either."
"Hmph, you're just being wishful. I'll be direct: I plan to recruit Root Ninja externally, and every Ninja Clan must contribute personnel and effort! Only when Root is strong can it draw more nourishment for the great tree that is Konoha," Danzo said.
"Is that your objective...? From now on, all Root's actions must be reported to me first. I'm serious this time, Danzo. Many of your actions have exceeded my limits of tolerance."
"What a joke! What Tsukasa Kaede did was far more outrageous. Did you criticize him?"
Danzo was furious. He'd actually drawn a red line? Things had changed, completely changed. How could Hiruzen do such a thing?
The Third Hokage said coldly, "Everything he set out to do, he accomplished. He also smoothed over the repercussions he caused. Can you do that? After attacking the Eight-Tails, he killed three hundred Kumogakure Ninja. After killing the One-Tails, he alone repelled an attack of thousands from the Hidden Sand Village. Can you?"
While Tsukasa Kaede was certainly a headache, and the stronger he became, the more naturally wary and alert people felt of him, in terms of getting things done, Danzo truly couldn't compare.
Look at what Danzo had done in the past few years: attempting to seize a Rinnegan and failing multiple times, suffering heavy losses among Root Ninja, to the point where Root was almost a name without substance.
Danzo's face was extremely grim. He couldn't believe that Hiruzen Sarutobi would dismiss him so scornfully for a junior!! "Understood. I'll recruit people to strengthen Root as quickly as possible! Don't trust me, Hiruzen, and you'll regret it!"
"Danzo, *I* am the Hokage!"
Bang! Danzo stormed out.
The Third Hokage sat alone for a long time before rubbing his temples: "Still, Kaede's calmness is truly unsettling... not even a word of complaint? What exactly does he want? Is he truly unconcerned, or does he already have a larger goal...?"
After a long pause, he let out a deep sigh. Compared to Tsukasa Kaede, no one in the same age group could even be considered his equal.
The younger Minato Namikaze was indeed very good. In a few more years, he would definitely become an incredibly powerful Ninja, perhaps even possessing Kage-level Combat Power, but that depended on who he was compared to.
Compared to a nearly perfect, flawless being like Tsukasa Kaede, Minato Namikaze seemed to fall short, at the very least lacking the powerful deterrent to suppress Tsukasa Kaede.
Speaking of which, since the Village's founding, the Hokage lineage has never "fallen" into such an awkward predicament, has it? Even during Madara's era, there was the First Hokage to suppress him. But now, there's no contemporary who can suppress Tsukasa Kaede.
As for himself and the Sannin... they weren't of the same generation as Tsukasa Kaede, after all, and they didn't have a good way to stop Tsukasa Kaede's Space-Time Ninjutsu either.
While the complex-minded Third Hokage was deep in thought.
"Lord Hokage, Obito Uchiha has left Tsukasa Kaede's home and returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound," an Anbu Ninja entered and reported.
The Third Hokage subconsciously began to ponder the matter again. Why would Obito, the Uchiha Clan's strongest genius, go to Tsukasa Kaede's house? Surely not just for idle chatter? The Third Hokage was naturally keeping a close eye on Obito; he was a prodigious new generation talent, drastically ahead of his peers, and was destined to become a core strength of the Village. Considering the Uchiha Clan's characteristics, he wouldn't be too surprised if Obito were to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan in the future.
"Speaking of which, it's been decades since anyone in that Clan awakened those eyes. Is the Mangekyo Sharingan finally going to reappear?"
Even Kagami didn't awaken the Mangekyo, possessing only the Three-Tomoe Sharingan until his death.
But why did Obito go to Tsukasa Kaede? Was this an eccentric personal action by Obito, or some kind of signal from the Uchiha Clan?
Politics was always this troublesome. What seemed like a relatively simple matter had to be thought of and viewed with complexity, to then formulate countermeasures.
Not long after, the Third Hokage received new Intel—Tsunade, Dan Kato, and others had successively gone to find Tsukasa Kaede.
While the Third Hokage and others were getting headaches, and the Village's people were abuzz with discussions.
Hidan received Tsukasa Kaede's command and initiated action.
"Seriously, how can this be? I haven't even rested enough, and I have to go out on a Mission?"
Hidan suddenly grumbled.
Hyuga Takashi and Shizune exchanged glances, their expressions serious.
They were well aware of the atmosphere in the Village. At a time like this, Tsukasa Kaede giving orders to Hidan through some means... was he finally going to respond?
"What does Sensei want us to do?" Hyuga Takashi asked.
He had pledged allegiance to Tsukasa Kaede, originally coming with a Mission from Hizashi. Now was the time to show his worth. To put it bluntly, if things really went south, only his sacrifice would be enough; it wouldn't threaten the Hyuga Branch House, much less affect the entire Hyuga Clan.
Hidan impatiently swung his Scythe: "It's not what he wants *you* to do, it's what he wants *me* to do. I'm leaving the Village to carry out his Mission!"
"We can assist you," Shizune said gravely.
"No need. You two are simply his subordinates, while I am different; I am his disciple. Some things only I can do; you cannot participate. It has nothing to do with whether you want to or not."
Hidan, carrying his Scythe, formed Hand Kaedegns with one hand, and his figure vanished from the spot.
"Spatial Rift Jutsu, truly an enviable Space-Time Ninjutsu. It's a pity I can't learn this Jutsu from Sensei," Hyuga Takashi sighed.
Corpse Release Secret Technique, anyone who didn't want to learn it was crazy. But this level of Secret Technique, only Hidan had learned it so far, and now he could even use Spatial Rift Jutsu.
Hyuga Takashi merely thought about Hidan's bizarre self-mutilation Jutsu where he drew blood to perform it, combined with the accelerated movement of Space-Time Ninjutsu, and felt a moment of silent pity for the enemies.