After venting his emotions thoroughly, Hiruzen finally calmed down and quickly sorted through the current situation. The present fact was that he had publicly promised that there would be no issues with the strategic reserve warehouse.
If a problem was discovered with the strategic reserve warehouse, it would be a devastating blow to his credibility.
But... would there really be a problem? And even if there was a problem, could it have been tampered with by Shin? After all, at such a critical moment, Koharu wouldn't likely lie to him.
The root of his despair was ultimately the prophecy that had flashed through his mind. But was the prophecy truly accurate?
That sudden and mysterious prophecy was suspicious from the start.
Although he had never heard of a similar technique and hadn't noticed anything unusual even after carefully checking himself, it might very well have been a trick by Shin, intended to confuse him at a critical moment. Even though the prophecies had always been extremely accurate before, this time, he decided to take a risk and no longer place his faith in it.
He didn't know why he felt this way.
At present, there were three possible scenarios:
First possibility: The strategic reserve warehouse had no problems, and Shin had miscalculated this time.
If that turned out to be the case, then the one whose reputation would suffer would not be him, but Tsunade.
After all, she had publicly promised: if there were no issues with the strategic reserve warehouse, she would volunteer to guard the border for three years and stay out of village affairs during that time.
In other words, if Shin was trying to trap Hiruzen, but the trap failed, it would actually help Hiruzen regain his standing, and the prestige Tsunade had built up would collapse overnight.
Second possibility: There really was a problem with the strategic reserve warehouse, and it had nothing to do with Shin, it was simply Koharu failing to clean up the mess properly.
This would need to be confirmed again, and every detail carefully reviewed.
Third possibility: There was a problem with the warehouse, but it was caused by Shin's interference.
If this was the case, then as long as even a trace of evidence could be found, he could turn the situation around. Not only could he recover all the reputation he had lost, but he could also utterly crush both Tsunade and Shin.
This might infuriate Shin, but at this point, he no longer cared.
Over the past three months, he had come to understand many things, mainly, that Shin must have some reservations.
Otherwise, after Hiruzen had poisoned him and sent people after his brother, he wouldn't have just sulked, he would've taken real action by now.
At this life-or-death moment, Hiruzen decided to take a bold gamble.
To make a final confirmation, he went to see Koharu again.
"Koharu, did you patch up the missing supplies in the strategic reserve warehouse?"
Hearing the same question again, Koharu flew into a rage. She stood up abruptly and nearly shouted, "What do you mean by this? Why do you keep asking the same thing? At a time like this, do you think I'd lie to you?"
Hearing her reply again, Hiruzen paid no attention to her anger. After calming her down, he told her everything Tsunade had done.
Koharu was momentarily stunned, but then her face lit up with joy. She had personally filled in the gaps in the strategic reserve warehouse and was confident Tsunade wouldn't be able to find any issues.
If this matter escalated, and everyone in the village watched eagerly only for Tsunade to come up empty-handed in the end, then Koharu would no longer be the scapegoat. It would be Tsunade who took the fall.
The chance for a counterattack had finally arrived.
Not long after, Homura, also notified, arrived at the Hokage's office.
Although a decision had been made and things now looked like an opportunity, Hiruzen didn't dare to relax in the slightest. Having clashed with Shin in secret so many times, he had started to lose confidence.
As soon as he saw Homura enter, he immediately asked him about all the details regarding how the deficit in the strategic reserve warehouse had been covered.
To avoid exposure, Homura hadn't used conventional means to purchase the medical supplies. Instead, he had others act on his behalf while he remained hidden in the shadows, completely distancing himself from the matter. Moreover, unlike usual, the supplies this time weren't transported by cart. Instead, a large number of space scrolls were used, regardless of cost, leaving absolutely no trace of the transportation process.
Finally, the manufacturing of this batch of supplies didn't happen in the Pharmaceuticals Department, it had been secretly handled by Orochimaru, whom he had privately asked for help.
Among the four elders at the top, Homura was usually the most inconspicuous, but he was meticulous in his work. And if anywhere in Konoha could be considered the most hidden, it was undoubtedly Orochimaru's laboratory. Only Orochimaru himself had access, and anything that happened in there was completely unknown to outsiders.
So the most likely, and perhaps the only, possibility was that Shin simply assumed there had to be a problem with the strategic reserve warehouse. That was the only reason he pushed Tsunade to act this way, trying to force Hiruzen into submission.
After getting the answers he wanted, Hiruzen finally felt at ease.
It seemed that transferring Tsunade to the border had been the right move, because removing her was essentially the same as removing Shin. Even if Shin occasionally returned to Konoha, Homura and Koharu had handled the matter of replenishing the warehouse deficit with such secrecy that unless someone was watching very closely, they would almost certainly miss it. And Shin's active involvement at the border proved that he hadn't had the time to keep constant watch over Konoha. In that case, there was no way he could have known the warehouse deficit had already been filled.
Thinking of this, Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle coldly.
Information was king.
"What should we do next?" Koharu asked eagerly.
"Delay," Hiruzen said coldly.
"Delay?" Koharu frowned, puzzled. "Why would we delay?"
"What do you think would happen if I intentionally stall things and don't take any action?" Hiruzen continued with a smile.
"It'll definitely stir up public outrage and direct the people's anger at us," Koharu said nervously. "Why would you want that?"
"Koharu," Hiruzen said calmly, "think about it. If public anger boils over, but in the end it's revealed that Tsunade falsely accused us, who do you think all that anger will be redirected at?"
Koharu suddenly understood. "It'll definitely shift and land squarely on Tsunade."
But just then, a thought occurred to Hiruzen, and a trace of concern appeared on his face. "But... what if Shin has already entered the strategic reserve warehouse and secretly swapped the contents, deliberately setting a trap for us?"
"Absolutely impossible," Koharu replied firmly. "Have you forgotten? Back when the strategic reserve warehouse's barrier was set up, Sensei personally participated in its construction. One of the key standards was that his Flying Thunder God Technique couldn't penetrate it."