Chapter 208: Konoha's Tension
Ishiro, after all, didn't possess a cheat like the Sharingan. Watching once was not enough to completely analyze the details of the Lightning Release Yanagihara had just used. Since Tanimoto Naoto was willing to have a few more rounds, how could Ishiro refuse?
Next, Ishiro deliberately had Shimoyama Mayuzumi and Nakata Tatsunori, two ninjas who were not adept at dealing with close combat, compete against Yanagihara. And Yanagihara didn't disappoint Ishiro; to secure a quick victory, he used that Lightning Release body technique from before.
Finally, Ishiro sent out Haraguchi Hanpei, the strongest among Ikura's three disciples, who managed to defeat Yanagihara.
Tanimoto Naoto was very satisfied because he had obtained enough intelligence. Moreover, Yanagihara's record of winning three matches and losing only once made him feel he had gained face.
Ishiro was also very satisfied. After these few battles, especially the final one with Haraguchi Hanpei, Ishiro had carefully observed the Lightning Release ninjutsu Yanagihara used. In the end, he reaped a bountiful harvest.
Ishiro now wished he could immediately throw himself into developing Chidori Current.
However, there were currently quite a few ninjas from other villages within Iwagakure. Ishiro had to maintain himself in peak condition at all times to respond to various unexpected situations.
The lively situation on Iwagakure's side naturally couldn't escape Konoha's notice. Of course, Iwagakure had no intention of concealing this matter either.
Konoha, Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had summoned all the high-level advisors: Danzō Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado. At this time, Konoha only had these three advisors left. There were originally other advisors, but they had all perished in this war.
This high-level meeting in Konoha was rather somber. Upon hearing that Iwagakure was hosting a joint Chūnin Exam, although Konoha felt disgusted, they didn't actually care much.
In the minds of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, they thought no major power would be willing to participate in a joint Chūnin Exam led by Iwagakure.
But soon, they were slapped in the face. Sunagakure's participation could still be understood; the Land of Wind had produced a bizarre Daimyō, which Hiruzen Sarutobi could still accept. But Kumogakure's joining made Konoha unable to sit still any longer.
Kumogakure had joined hastily just before the exams began. Their purpose in joining was impure, largely perfunctory. But Konoha didn't know this.
All Konoha saw was Kumogakure announcing its participation in the joint Chūnin Exam at the last minute. Did that mean Iwagakure and Kumogakure had reached some secret agreement?
Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Sunagakure – the combination of these three was enough to deliver a fatal blow to Konoha, not to mention Kirigakure was still in an actual state of combat with Konoha.
Once the three parties reached some agreement, Konoha would once again face a passive situation of being ganged up on, four against one.
Perhaps even smaller countries like Amegakure and the River Ninja Village would be included. Normally, these small countries posed no threat to the Land of Fire, but Hanzō of Amegakure and the mysterious Kage-level figure in the River Ninja Village made Konoha's higher-ups unable to ignore them.
Homura Mitokado was the first to break the silence: "Hiruzen, can we also host a joint Chūnin Exam?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said, "The current Konoha is not suitable for hosting such an exam."
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't state his reasons, but the others understood. The current Konoha was still in a de facto state of war. Even if Konoha sent out invitations, no one would come to participate.
After a while, Koharu Utatane said, "Hiruzen, let's end the war in the Land of Whirlpools direction as soon as possible."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes flashed, and he looked towards Danzō Shimura.
Danzō Shimura seethed inwardly; they were trying to make him the scapegoat again. However, Danzō was already accustomed to such things and immediately said, "No! Have you all forgotten about the Uchiha clan's previous insubordination?"
Homura Mitokado interjected, "No matter what, the Uchiha clan is also Konoha's strength. Moreover, only by ending the war as soon as possible can we recover our strength in subsequent development. Otherwise, Iwagakure's overall strength might really catch up."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and then said, "Let's end the war in the Land of Whirlpools as soon as possible."
Pausing for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi added, "Dispatch a batch of elite ninjas to cooperate with the Uchiha clan and drive Kirigakure back into the sea."
Danzō Shimura sneered inwardly. Dispatching elite ninjas to cooperate with the Uchiha? You're still just trying to consume the Uchiha clan's strength. Hmph, Hiruzen Sarutobi, you really are still that hypocritical Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Danzō Shimura was right. In a major battle, the casualty rate of elite ninjas wouldn't be too high; it was ordinary ninjas who would suffer heavy casualties.
By not dispatching the main forces and only sending elite ninjas, Hiruzen Sarutobi was clearly intending for the Uchiha clan to act as cannon fodder.
Homura Mitokado asked, "Who will lead the team?" He didn't dwell on who would be cannon fodder. Anyway, suppressing the Uchiha clan was their consensus; the only difference was the degree.
Speaking of this topic, Danzō Shimura's expression turned somewhat unsightly.
Originally, he would have been very suitable, and if he could win against Kirigakure at this time, the war merits would not be small.
If it were before the surprise attack by the Third Raikage, Danzō would definitely have fought for this mission.
But now, having lost a large number of elite subordinates, Danzō was unable to compete for the position of Fourth Hokage in the near future. So he proposed Orochimaru.
Danzō proposed Orochimaru not to support Orochimaru's rise, but because Orochimaru, like him, had suffered a defeat. Naturally, Orochimaru had also lost his eligibility to contend for the Hokage position this time.
During the Third Great Ninja War, among all of Konoha's Kage-level figures, Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze had the greatest merits. Although both had suffered a defeat against Iwagakure, they had since washed away that shame.
Especially Minato Namikaze, who not only gained considerable war merits in the battle against Sunagakure first but then also performed outstandingly when supporting Danzō.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi were to continue to fulfill his pre-war promise and let the ninja with the greatest war merits succeed him, then the most qualified person would be Minato Namikaze.
If Minato Namikaze were allowed to go to the Kirigakure battlefield and rack up another wave of war merits, Danzō was afraid Hiruzen Sarutobi would take the opportunity to step down.
Although Danzō's proposal was not made with pure intentions, if it were before, Hiruzen Sarutobi might have agreed along with it. Anyway, Orochimaru was also his disciple, and Orochimaru's merits could also be credited to him, his teacher.
However, when Hiruzen Sarutobi thought about some recent Anbu reports concerning Orochimaru, his brow furrowed deeply. Hiruzen Sarutobi had a feeling that this disciple was drifting further and further away from him.
Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Let Minato Namikaze lead the team."
"Hiruzen..." Danzō wanted to say more, but saw Hiruzen Sarutobi wave his hand, not letting him continue, and directly moved on to the next topic.
"What's going on with the River Ninja Village? Danzō, explain it to me clearly."
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi bring up the matter of the River Ninja Village, Danzō felt a twinge of guilt, and his voice weakened somewhat, "What River Ninja Village? I don't know what you're talking about."
"If you don't understand 'River Ninja Village,' you should at least understand 'Akatsuki Organization,' right? A small organization from the Land of Rain actually has a Kage-level figure within it. You didn't even report such a matter to me? Do you still have me, the Hokage, in your eyes?" Hiruzen Sarutobi questioned Danzō sternly.
At this point, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane also looked over with surprise and doubt; they also knew nothing about the Akatsuki Organization.
Seeing the other three dissatisfied with him, Danzō had no choice but to honestly explain the matter of the Akatsuki Organization.
"Rinnegan?!" When they heard Danzō mention the Rinnegan, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were both startled. "The legendary Sage's eyes actually exist?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi then remembered something. His good disciple Jiraiya had previously mentioned taking in a disciple who possessed the Rinnegan. At that time, Hiruzen Sarutobi had wanted to find out that child's whereabouts, but Jiraiya had adamantly refused to reveal Nagato's information.
"Could it be that the possessor of this Rinnegan is Jiraiya's disciple?" This possibility flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, followed by the subconscious thought, "Perhaps through Jiraiya's connection, we can pull the Rinnegan possessor into Konoha's camp."
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi fall into deep thought, Homura Mitokado spoke, "Hiruzen, the Rinnegan is too important. We cannot let it be."
Koharu Utatane also said, "That's right. The owner of the Rinnegan is in the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Rivers is not far from us. Furthermore, the River Ninjas are now participating in the joint Chūnin Exams hosted by Iwagakure. This is not a good sign."
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi glared fiercely at Danzō again and said, "Danzō, explain clearly why the Akatsuki Organization went to the Land of Rivers to establish a ninja village."
Danzō was speechless. Who the hell knew why Akatsuki didn't occupy the Land of Rain and instead insisted on coming to the Land of Rivers? Hanzō was clearly at a disadvantage that day too.
Danzō originally wanted to conceal it, but looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi's murderous gaze, he finally recounted in detail the matter of him allying with Hanzō to try and eliminate Akatsuki.
This account left Hiruzen Sarutobi dumbfounded. Koharu Utatane even directly questioned, "Danzō, why didn't you tell us about you allying with Hanzō to deal with Akatsuki? Do you still have us in your eyes? And, and you actually failed to obtain the Rinnegan!"
Looking at Koharu Utatane, who was thoroughly infuriated, Danzō didn't care much, but he too felt regret about Koharu Utatane's last sentence.
Homura Mitokado also said, "What's worse is that our Konoha made a move against Akatsuki. After the matter was exposed, it was Iwagakure who came to their rescue. This whole affair... Hiruzen, I'm afraid we have to make a decision soon."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was also filled with anger upon hearing this. Hearing that Danzō had targeted the Rinnegan, and the method used was a despicable tactic like kidnapping. The key was, you bloody failed! And with this, you still have the audacity to call yourself the Darkness of the Shinobi World?
Thinking of this, and then hearing Homura Mitokado's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi also felt unsure. He naturally understood Homura Mitokado's meaning: to act early, to strike first. But the problem was, Danzō had already made a move. Konoha had already lost the initiative; trying for another surprise attack was probably impossible.
If a sneak attack wouldn't work, then they could only use force. So Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "What is the strength of that person named Nagato, and what are the Rinnegan's abilities?"
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi ask this, Danzō hesitated, not knowing how to answer.
"Smack!" Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm heavily on the desk and shouted, "Danzō, you paid such a heavy price, even turning a potential Konoha ally into a mortal enemy! Don't tell me you didn't even figure out the enemy's strength!"
Danzō could only say, "At that time, the Rinnegan possessor should have just reached Kage-level; his raw strength was not outstanding. However, the Rinnegan's dōjutsu is very peculiar, possessing the ability to control attraction and repulsion. Ordinary attacks can hardly injure him."
"Moreover, he possesses a vast amount of chakra. Coupled with his red hair, I suspect he is related to the Uzumaki clan."
Speaking here, Danzō looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi again and said, "Hiruzen, although my actions made Akatsuki wary of Konoha, there is still someone in Konoha who can make Akatsuki lower their guard."
Hearing Danzō's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression flickered, but he quickly regained his composure.
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