Hokage’s office, inside the room.
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, his eyes lowered in silence, puffing smoke from the pipe in his mouth.
The air was as oppressive as the inside of a clay pot under high atmospheric pressure, making one want to smash the walls or uncover the lid to escape.
“Ahem!”
It wasn’t until Koharu Utatane couldn’t help but cough that the unbearable dead silence was broken.
“Hiruzen, about this matter…”
Homura Mitokado immediately let out a breath of relief, glanced at Danzo who was stubbornly refusing to bow his head on the side, and then looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi to persuade: “This time, Danzo did indeed go a bit overboard…”
“Secretly conducting Wood Style experiments, secretly hoarding research results and a Wood Style ninja, isn’t that overboard enough?”
Before Homura Mitokado could continue making excuses for Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted expressionlessly: “That’s Wood Style.
Don’t tell me you don’t understand what that means!”
As soon as these words came out, Homura Mitokado’s old face flushed slightly red, and he looked helplessly at Danzo Shimura.
Yes, that was a Wood Style ninja.
Who could have thought that Danzo’s guts had grown so big that he dared to secretly hoard a Wood Style ninja?
If it weren’t for the investigation into Orochimaru’s defection incident this time, they wouldn’t have known that Wood Style had re-emerged into the world.
Danzo’s current control over “Root” made even Homura Mitokado feel somewhat alarmed.
“Root is the root of Konoha, the root of the Anbu, and also my root.
But now, to actually dare to conceal such important intelligence from me, the Hokage, does that mean…”
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, squinted at Danzo, and questioned: “It has already become an independent organization for certain individuals to seek personal gain?”
Hearing this, Danzo Shimura, who originally had no expression, said in a deep voice: “Everything I do is for Konoha.”
Listening to his old friend’s resounding reply, Hiruzen Sarutobi silently exhaled a puff of smoke.
His face was shrouded in the dense white fog, looking unpredictable from Danzo’s angle.
“Hiruzen…”
Koharu Utatane, who had remained silent, couldn’t help but speak up as well.
“Enough.” Hearing that they were about to plead for Danzo again, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand irritably, gesturing for them to stop.
After Sensei Tobirama passed away due to the Hidden Cloud Village’s assassination, he was appointed in times of peril, taking over the position of Hokage from his teacher.
But “Hokage” was different from his youthful fantasies.
As soon as he took office, he faced war and pressure from ninja clans, instantly shattering his illusions about the Hokage position.
Whether it was the Hyuga clan or the Uchiha clan, their initial attitude towards him was obeying orders in name only but not fully cooperating.
Fortunately, as Hokage, he held the moral high ground during power struggles.
Besides the Sarutobi clan, he also had the support of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
So he adopted a strategy of striking one faction while rallying another.
With the assistance of Danzo and others, he used some special methods to create opposition between the two major clans, Uchiha and Hyuga.
Only then did he firmly secure his position as Hokage, grasping the power belonging to the Hokage in his hands and planting his trusted aides in key departments.
And the “Root” during Tobirama Senju’s era was actually just a training department for the Anbu.
It wasn’t until he let Danzo control “Root” to handle some dirty, unseemly business that couldn’t be done under the Anbu’s name, such as monitoring ninja clans, that it gradually evolved into an espionage organization.
The “Root” responsible by Danzo was essentially equivalent to an Anbu squad.
According to the Anbu organization, Danzo, as a squad captain, could only lead four teams, totaling seventeen people.
However, with Hiruzen Sarutobi’s intentional or unintentional indulgence, “Root” continuously expanded and grew.
Under Danzo’s influence, its style of doing things became increasingly dark, right up until today…
If “Root” was allowed to continue developing like this, it would definitely become too big to handle and completely degenerate into Danzo’s personal armed organization.
Therefore, restrictions had to be imposed.
“There’s no need to mention the matter of the Wood Style ninja ‘Kinoe’ anymore.
I’ve already had him enter the Anbu.
Now there is another matter.”
Ignoring Danzo’s resentful expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked deeply at the three people in front of him and asked: “Intelligence from the border says that the Hidden Cloud Village seems to be mobilizing troops.
They might be up to some little tricks again.”
“Regarding this, what are your views?”
As soon as these words were spoken, both Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado frowned simultaneously.
“Here they come again?
Disgusting!”
Homura Mitokado furrowed his brows tightly, his tone serious: “No matter what, we cannot act rashly.”
“Homura is right,” Koharu Utatane nodded.
“No matter what they want to do, we just need to be on guard.
We cannot give them any reason to start a war!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi was noncommittal.
He tapped the pipe in his hand, looked at Danzo, and asked, “What do you think?”
Danzo’s gloomy eyes narrowed slightly.
After a moment of silence, he spoke frankly in a low, hoarse voice: “Of course, we hit them where it hurts!”
“…”
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn’t say anything.
With the pipe in his mouth, he took a deep breath, let it reach his lungs, held his breath, and finally exhaled the smoke.
Although the Third Great Ninja War had ended, in reality, the current situation in the ninja world was not stable.
The main reason was that Konoha was now severely lacking in top-tier combat power.
First, the Konoha White Fang, who made a prestigious name during the Second Great Ninja War, committed suicide.
Then, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, died during the Nine-Tails incident.
The combat power that suffered massive casualties while besieged on all sides in the Third Great Ninja War had yet to recover, and many ninjas died in the Nine-Tails chaos stirred up single-handedly by the masked man.
No matter how large Konoha’s family and deep its foundation were, it was somewhat unable to hold on.
Anyone could see the awkward predicament of Konoha lacking a new generation of successors.
Although the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Stone Village had been beaten quite painfully by Konoha, seeing such a rare opportunity, they inevitably felt restless.
Therefore, the two had been constantly testing the borders of the Land of Fire.
Almost every few months, a border conflict would erupt due to the provocations of the Cloud and Stone, resulting in more and more casualties.
It couldn’t be helped.
Because Konoha had consistently shown a weak and easily bullied attitude, it greatly stimulated the arrogance of the Cloud and Stone Villages.
Fortunately, it hadn’t been long since the end of the Third Great Ninja War.
The anti-war sentiment among the people of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth was still very strong, and the Cloud and Stone Villages didn’t dare to risk universal condemnation by directly declaring war on Konoha unilaterally without any reason.
However, they were only lacking one valid excuse to escalate the conflict and spark a war.
A “valid” excuse that could stir up the pro-war sentiment of the Daimyo, nobles, and commoners.
Hiruzen Sarutobi chose to endure time and time again in the face of provocations precisely because he didn’t want to give them this excuse.
He really didn’t dare to gamble.
Konoha could no longer afford to gamble either.
“Phew.”
Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke and looked down at the intelligence report submitted by the Anbu.
His gradually aging face was obscured by the smoke.
Even under the sunlight from the window, his expression couldn’t be seen clearly for a moment.
“Hidden Stone Village, Hidden Cloud Village…” After a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed: “Let’s endure for now.
Assemble a group of ninjas to head to the border to guard against the Cloud.”
Danzo frowned and subconsciously retorted: “By doing this, you’ll only make those damn bastards even more arrogant!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at him and said calmly: “In that case, dispatch a group of people from ‘my’ Root to go assist at the border.”
“What?” Danzo was stunned.
Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, saying meaningfully: “Is there a problem?”
If there was any more problem, he would be removed from his position as the leader of Root.
Realizing this, Danzo’s expression changed unpredictably.
He snorted coldly, turned around, and said with resentment: “Hmph, what problem could I have?
It’s ‘your’ Root anyway!”
Having said that, he turned to leave, but suddenly stopped in his tracks, his tone filled with unwillingness: “Hiruzen, remember your choice today.
You will definitely regret it!”
“Watch your attitude, Danzo,” Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped his pipe and said deeply.
“Remember, I am the Hokage!”
Hearing this sentence, Danzo’s face twitched.
“Then just be your Hokage!” He gritted his teeth, shouted in a low voice, and grabbed the doorknob.
Bang!!
The door was slammed shut with a loud noise.
Koharu Utatane’s body trembled slightly.
Seeing this, Homura Mitokado sighed, thinking to himself that Danzo was still held firmly in Hiruzen’s grasp.
Hopefully, with this lesson, Danzo could behave a bit more…
“By the way, Hiruzen.”
As if thinking of something, Homura Mitokado suddenly frowned, looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, and asked in a low voice: “The village’s power is already empty right now.
Leaving Jiraiya outside, is it really okay?”
Hearing this, thinking of Jiraiya who left the village under the pretext of “pursuing Orochimaru,” Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed in his heart.
His tone was calm: “When it’s time to come back, he will come back.”
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane looked at each other, seeing that Hiruzen Sarutobi was unwilling to say more, they had no choice but to shake their heads helplessly, stand up, and take their leave.
Click.
Looking at the closed door, Hiruzen Sarutobi stayed silent for a long time.
Only his breathing could be heard in the room.
After a long while, he stood up somewhat stiffly and walked to the window of the office.
His cloudy eyes couldn’t see clearly through the smoke rising from his pipe.
Konoha after the rain always looked very clean.
Dew hung on the eaves, and mottled water stains inlaid everywhere like scattered mirrors—on the leaves, the street lamps, the wall tiles—all reflecting Konoha’s prosperity together.
Looking at the scenery outside, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of many things.
He thought of Konoha’s hard-won peace today, the predicament of being besieged both inside and outside under the peace, Orochimaru and Jiraiya who left the village, Tsunade who lingered in casinos every day to numb herself, the orphan left behind by Minato and Kushina, and the look of admiration in the eyes of that child from the Hyuga clan when looking at him…
“Hiss…”
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s chest rose high.
The bittersweet and astringent airflow was inhaled into his lungs, and finally, he slowly exhaled.
The pipe in his mouth lit up with a spark, suppressing all his emotions to the bottom of his heart along with it.
“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered in a slightly hoarse voice after a moment of silence, as if speaking to himself.
“No matter what sacrifices must be made, everything Konoha has won so far must be protected.”
Meanwhile, at Training Ground 44, on the edge of Konoha, inside the Forest of Death, sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, sprinkling fine golden spots on the shoulders of two figures.
“Senior, power rises from the ground, strength is generated from the spine, combining hardness and softness…”
“A-da!”
The wooden posts in front of Yun Chuan Hyuga and Might Guy were both shattered, but it was obvious that the former’s post burst from the inside, while the latter’s post had clearly suffered a savage pummeling from heavy fists.
Looking at Might Guy, who could almost be said to be completely lacking in technique and relying purely on brute force, the smile on Yun Chuan Hyuga’s face, who had been teaching all morning, also couldn’t quite hold up anymore.
“Phew.” Might Guy, who usually wouldn’t be tired even after running around Konoha all day, was currently sweating profusely and panting heavily.
He couldn’t help but touch his head and smile helplessly, “Yun Chuan, your improved version of the Gentle Fist is really hard to learn.”
“After all, Senior has studied the Strong Fist for over ten years.
To adjust the body’s instincts does require some effort,” Yun Chuan Hyuga shook his head.
“Let’s stop practicing here for today.”
In the duel between Neji and Hinata during the second phase of the Chunin Exams, Might Guy and Rock Lee had proposed a classification for taijutsu.
Taijutsu focusing on surface damage, directly attacking to cause bone fractures or other external injuries to the opponent, was called “Strong Fist.” The taijutsu of the Hyuga family, which damages the enemy’s chakra pathway system and internal organs, was “Gentle Fist.” As for the styles of Tsunade and the Fourth Raikage, which combined ninjutsu and taijutsu, they were called “Nintaijutsu.”
What Yun Chuan Hyuga was attempting now was to combine the advantages of Strong Fist and Gentle Fist, to develop a taijutsu system most suitable for himself in the future based on the Eight Inner Gates.
“Okay, then…”
Halfway through Might Guy’s words, Yun Chuan Hyuga suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and an extremely deep chill arose.
Incredibly abrupt, incredibly terrifying.
All the muscles in Yun Chuan Hyuga’s body tensed, and the veins around his Byakugan popped out.
Sizzle!!
Sure enough, almost the instant Yun Chuan Hyuga reacted, a barely audible whistling sound of breaking air reached his ears.
This was an assassination, an assassination aimed at him, an incredibly deadly murderous intent.
At this sound, this distance, to look for it and then dodge was already too late.
Realizing this, Yun Chuan Hyuga’s originally gloomy eyes suddenly became calm.
Driven by his body’s instinct, he closed his eyes.
The next moment, invisible ripples spread out from his body.
Yun Chuan Hyuga seemed to step into another world.
All physical senses were shut off, leaving only the mental “perception.”
No wind howling, no insects chirping, no breathing, no heartbeat…
The world was as dead silent as if it had died.
And it was also as if time had stopped in its tracks for him.
Then, he “saw” it.
Yun Chuan Hyuga “saw” the kunai wrapped in sharp, cutting airflow behind him.
Wind Style: Vacuum Blade—a wind style ninjutsu combining shape transformation and nature transformation, injecting wind-natured chakra into an external object to turn it into an incredibly sharp, swift sword.
The assassin had trained this jutsu to the pinnacle.
The speed was so fast that even Might Guy didn’t have time to react.
However, under Yun Chuan Hyuga’s intuition, the kunai, which should have been too fast to see clearly, seemed to be dragging an endless string, sliding towards his direction at a very slow speed.
Yun Chuan Hyuga didn’t turn his head.
He raised his hand and spread his five fingers like the wings of a crane preparing to take flight.
His knuckles gleamed with the pale yellow calluses from years of practicing martial arts under the sunlight.
The handle of the kunai was caught in his hand.
The lingering wind blades pierced his palm, but it was as if they hit an invisible iron wall, abruptly stalling in mid-air.
Yun Chuan Hyuga opened his eyes.
His pupils, calm as snow, reflected the tense face of Might Guy beside him, as well as the depths of the forest fragmented by falling leaves.
No matter who it was, it was impolite not to return what one receives.
“Then, I’ll give it back to you.”
He turned and threw the kunai out.
His movement was as fast as a fallen leaf blown by the wind.
The hem of his clothes fluttered, revealing his lean waist.
His spine undulated like a taut bowstring, bursting out all of his strength.
The next moment, the kunai left his hand.
Buzz!
The ear-piercing shriek of tearing air exploded beside Might Guy’s ears.
The falling leaves were crushed into powder by the gale in the blink of an eye.
The yellowed fallen leaves on the ground were all swept up by the airflow, swirling into the air.
Almost simultaneously, the sound of a blade entering flesh came from the distance in response.
Slash!
(END CHAPTER)