[Konoha, Hokage's Office]
Hiruzen was listening to an Anbu report.
"Lord Hokage, after our investigation, those villagers who died, before their deaths, they were fighting over the Sato family's house. They held in their hands legal documents issued by the War Inheritance Department. Only, it seems those documents were torn apart by someone."
Hiruzen froze for a moment, then sighed, "So it was an inheritance dispute? But the Battle of Kikyo Mountain has been over for quite a long time already. All inheritance matters should have been settled by now, no?"
The Anbu shook his head, "That house is inheritance from the battlefield at Kannabi Bridge."
Hiruzen, upon hearing this, flew into a rage.
"Minato only just returned with his squad. The casualty numbers are still being tallied, death notices haven't even been issued yet. What right does the War Inheritance Department have to turn someone else's house into inheritance property?"
"If that Sato clan ninja didn't die, and came back to find his house gone, occupied by others, what would he think?"
"He's fighting desperately at the front lines, and yet the people at the rear are scheming to seize his family's property. If this matter gets exposed, it will shake the very foundation of the Will of Fire."
The Anbu reporting nodded, hesitated a little, then reported further.
"Lord Hokage, the Sato clan's only surviving child, Sato Yuki, is indeed not dead. She was carrying out the mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge. Though her companions all perished, she, by sheer luck at the brink of death, encountered Obito and Rin and was rescued."
Hiruzen's vision darkened. He had thought she was already dead, and that the War Inheritance Department had received definite news of her death before daring to act like this.
'To think… a bunch of fools who achieve nothing but ruin everything!'
He muttered.
"So it really is connected to Obito? What's the situation now? Has Sato Yuki already learned the truth? If she has, you must find a way to calm her down. This matter must never be exposed."
The Anbu replied, "It is not only connected to Jonin Obito, but actually quite closely connected."
"According to our investigation, this Sato Yuki is the younger sister of Zero, the Iwagakure spy in the case of the Hokage building explosion."
"At that time, the one who captured Zero, leading to Zero's death, was Obito himself. Perhaps because of this, he has taken special care of Sato Yuki. This matter even received your approval back then, Lord Third."
Hiruzen immediately recalled. Indeed, there had been such a matter. Obito had mentioned Sato Yuki to him. He even remembered, at that time, he praised Obito as a kind-hearted child who embodied the Will of Fire.
For a while, his expression kept shifting. In the end, he asked, "What about the aftermath?"
The Anbu answered, "That Root member… well, let's just say, treat it as Root's doing. She acted with absolute decisiveness, she killed everyone, leaving no eyewitnesses."
Hiruzen let out a breath of relief.
"Obito, in anger, and at the same time realizing this must not be exposed, chose the most extreme approach, did he?"
"Although he killed so many villagers, at least he didn't let the matter ferment, didn't let the biggest scandal leak out. It seems… this can also count as a kind of merit, and it matches Root's style." [T/N: 😶😐😑]
"Obito… has he already begun protecting Konoha from the shadows?"
Hiruzen regained his calm expression and said lightly to the Anbu, "This matter was indeed Root's doing. You need not interfere. Later, find a suitable explanation to give the villagers an account."
"What you must do is clear out all those parasites profiting off the war."
The Anbu's whole body trembled. He did not dare speak for a long time. Finally, cautiously, he said, "Lord Hokage, we have in fact already discovered some things. This matter runs deep, and perhaps bears the shadow of one of the Hokage's advisors… Elder Mitokado."
Hiruzen turned his back in some disappointment, "No matter who is behind it, this has already touched Konoha's bottom line. I will never allow such things to happen again. So, no matter who is backing them, whether it's Homura Mitokado or Koharu Utatane, once it's confirmed, deal with it as it should be dealt with!"
The Anbu replied, "Yes!"
———
On the other side, Obito parted ways with Sato Yuki and Orochimaru, suddenly realizing he hadn't spent time alone with Rin in a while.
Sweet Rin, now following Tsunade, how should he snatch her away?
The ever-scheming him immediately came up with a sinister plan.
He pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai engraved with Rin's name, then cut open his own palm.
Then, with a whoosh, his figure vanished from the spot.
The next moment, he appeared before Rin and Tsunade.
At this time, Tsunade was teaching Rin some medical ninjutsu knowledge, when she suddenly saw Obito's figure appear.
Tsunade was very displeased, "Brat Obito, disturbing us again? Can't you see I'm giving Rin a lesson?"
But Obito raised his bleeding palm and said to Rin, "Rin, I'm injured, I urgently need bandaging."
After being reborn, Obito had learned a killer move against Rin, acting pitiful and miserable.
Sure enough, when Rin saw Obito's bleeding hand, she instantly couldn't sit still.
She hurried to his side and raised his hand.
"How could you be so careless? I'll heal you right away."
Yet before Rin could activate her Healing Palm Technique, Obito whispered softly to her, "Rin, heal me slowly. Don't use your Dragon Vein chakra to instantly close it up."
At this moment Rin suddenly realized, 'Wait, someone whose phasing ability is so untouchable that even Six Paths-level powerhouses are helpless against him, how did he manage to injure his own palm?'
'Anyone capable of touching Obito like that can probably destroy Konoha with ease, right?'
She puffed up her cheeks, "Obito, how could you do this? Just to see me, you didn't need to hurt yourself!"
Obito said honestly, "Rin, I missed you."
Rin's face reddened slightly. Truth was, she also wanted to spend time playing with Obito, but ever since she came back, she had to accompany her master and Tsunade-sama, and couldn't find the chance.
She couldn't help but sneak a look at Tsunade, only to see Tsunade already turning her head away, a little dizzy, raising a hand to cover her forehead.
"You two, right now, immediately, get out of my sight!"
Rin couldn't help feeling concerned, "Tsunade-sama, you…"
Yet before she could finish, Tsunade cut her off, "That brat Obito, just to drag you away from me, has already started using this trick. If I don't let you go, who knows what else he'll come up with next?"
Rin felt both secretly happy and slightly guilty.
Obito, on the other hand, said to Rin, "Rin, go ahead and heal me."
Only then did Rin use medical ninjutsu to heal Obito's injury.
Obito hid his hand behind his back, then looked at Tsunade and said, "Tsunade-sama, your hemophobia, if you keep dragging it out like this, it's not good. Why not try to overcome it?"
Obito simply did not believe that Tsunade couldn't overcome this issue herself. After all, in his previous life, during her time as Fifth Hokage, Tsunade's hemophobia was clearly cured.
Tsunade, seeing Obito wasn't bleeding anymore to torment her, finally turned her head back.
"If I could overcome it, I'd have done it already. Brat, don't think it's that simple. Though saying this sounds like cursing my beloved disciple, if you've got the guts, let Rin die once first, then come talk to me about overcoming it."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.