Lowering his head to look at the short blade protruding from his chest, Hiruzen trembled as he tried to turn around.
He wanted to ask his bodyguard why he would do such a thing, but as he felt his life force fading away, he didn't have time to say a single word before collapsing to the ground, stiff and lifeless.
The Third Hokage... just died like that?
This scene utterly stunned everyone.
Regardless of how the people felt about Hiruzen, the title of "Hokage" alone meant that his death would cause a massive upheaval.
Even Danzō and Homura were dumbfounded.
But while they stood there in shock, Hiruzen's bodyguard suddenly stepped forward, knelt on one knee before Danzō, and shouted, "Danzō-sama, the mission is complete. Please give your orders."
Danzō was completely baffled.
We... know each other?
But soon, he thought of someone, could this man in front of him be a contingency he himself had arranged?
That was the only possible explanation.
But then, why the hell would he pull something like this? Wasn't this just putting him right over the fire?
Snapping back to his senses, he was immediately enraged. "You madman! How can you frame me in front of everyone!"
As he spoke, he launched a fierce attack at the ninja.
But the ninja seemed to have anticipated it, he instantly dodged using the Body Flicker Technique, appeared beside Hiruzen's body, picked him up, and with a wave of his hand, threw down a smoke bomb.
Those nearby were choked by the smoke, coughing violently.
By the time the smoke cleared, both the man and Hiruzen's corpse had vanished without a trace.
This bizarre turn of events left everyone at a complete loss.
What made it so strange was that Hiruzen had died so abruptly, it created a deep sense of dissonance.
What made it worse was that the one who killed him had always been known as his loyal bodyguard.
From what people saw, it looked like this guard had been arranged by Danzō. But then again, the way he exposed himself publicly and saluted Danzō, it felt like he was deliberately pushing Danzō into the fire. And in the end, this guy disappeared mysteriously, taking Hiruzen's corpse with him.
Which raises the questions: Is Hiruzen really dead?
Who actually assassinated him? Was it truly his bodyguard, or someone impersonating him?
Was that man truly one of Danzō's agents? And what does he want to do with Hiruzen's body?
Too many unanswered questions!
After a long silence, Danzō finally growled, "Find him! I don't care what it takes, bring that man to me!"
---
In the days that followed, Konoha entered a very strange state.
Danzō, as he had wished, moved into the Hokage Building, took over the Hokage office, and sat in that chair, officially becoming the interim Hokage.
The reason, of course, was the same one he had mentioned earlier to Homura: a village cannot be without a leader.
What surprised him, however, was that throughout the entire process, not a single person stepped forward to stop or oppose him. Everything happened smoothly and naturally.
And yet, he felt no joy at all.
Because while he had taken the seat, no one acknowledged his position. Everyone acted as if nothing had changed, as if his appointment as interim Hokage had never happened.
This moment, which should have been the pinnacle of his life, felt more like a pathetic game of make-believe, full of shame and awkwardness.
Sitting in that chair made he feel like he was on pins and needles, constantly on edge.
What made things even stranger was that, aside from a few signs of unrest among Hiruzen's remaining clan members, the rest of his former faction, ANBU included, showed no interest in avenging his death.
But neither did they pledge allegiance to Danzō. Instead, they chose to stay out of the system entirely, forming a temporarily independent third party.
As for the ninjas stationed in Konoha for defense, they acted as if nothing had happened and simply continued with their duties.
Even the common villagers carried on with their lives as usual, eating and sleeping as though nothing had occurred.
After all, as ordinary civilians, they had no say in what happened.
This left Danzō, though officially the interim Hokage, as nothing more than a figurehead, completely powerless and without any real sense of authority or presence.
He couldn't command anyone outside his original subordinates, and no one came to report anything to him. He simply sat in the office, doing nothing.
Worse still, as interim Hokage, wherever he went, no one so much as glanced at him. Aside from his own men, not a single person even addressed him as "Interim Hokage."
The sheer emptiness of this role was driving him mad.
I'm the interim Hokage! Why are you all treating me like this?
He had even spread rumors about Hiruzen, but no one believed them.
Fine... you don't believe me now, but you will eventually!
But even if you don't acknowledge me as Hokage, you could at least treat me like the bad guy, right? Curse me, insult me, even try to assassinate me, I'd take it!
But you're all just... ignoring me completely... Isn't that a bit much? Don't you think that's just plain disrespectful?
Damn it... What the hell...
This strange situation made him regret, more than once, ever taking on the title of interim Hokage in the first place.
And yet, he didn't risk doing anything reckless, not even kill someone to set an example. Just having the title already felt like a dream come true.
He also understood why things in Konoha had taken such a bizarre turn.
At this moment, everyone in the village shared one common hope: for Tsunade to return to Konoha.
Until then, this fragile balance was unlikely to be broken.
---
A few days ago, during the internal conflict, Konoha suffered heavy casualties. The deaths and injuries among the ninjas involved were bad enough, but over 3,000 civilians were killed, which was even more severe in some respects.
In a certain sense, the deaths of so many civilians had even more serious consequences than the losses among the ninjas.
Danzō and Homura clearly remembered that they had deliberately avoided harming civilians during the battle, Hiruzen as well. By all accounts, such heavy civilian casualties shouldn't have happened. Yet... it did.
Among the dead were many who simply disappeared without a trace.
What frustrated Danzō the most was that many of these accidentally killed or missing civilians had publicly expressed support for Hiruzen.
To everyone, Hiruzen's death was seen as the result of his scheming.
So when these civilian deaths and disappearances occurred, everyone naturally blamed him. He felt utterly aggrieved by this.
But now, no one would listen to a word he said. Even if he produced solid evidence to plead his case, no one would believe him. In fact, it would only make things worse.
Although the surface of Konoha appeared calm, powerful undercurrents were stirring beneath, and all of them, without exception, were aimed at him.
Danzō himself was fully aware that no matter how much noise he made now, the moment Tsunade returned, he would inevitably face retribution.
With the forces he had left under his control, how could he possibly stand up to the elite army returning from the front lines, not to mention Tsunade, Shin, Sakumo, Fukuyama, Minato...
Just reading out that string of names sent chills down his spine and cold sweat down his back.
If he hadn't fully grasped how powerful those people were before, his six months of frontline command had left him with no illusions.
Tsunade had singlehandedly destroyed an entire puppet army.
Sakumo had led a small squad that tore through Suna's defensive lines, striking so much fear that people in Suna would tremble at the mere mention of his name.
Fukuyama... this guy had always kept a low profile, but in one battle, he unexpectedly revealed the Mangekyō Sharingan no one had known about, and even activated Susanoo, holding his ground against hundreds of enemies. Even though it wasn't the complete form of Susanoo, it still terrified countless people.
And then there was Minato!
This guy looked innocent and harmless, but he was like a god of death on the battlefield. With just two teammates, and by using the Flying Thunder God Technique combined with his exceptional sensory abilities, he hunted down over 500 Suna infiltrators within the Land of Fire. His actions stabilized the rear lines so effectively that Chiyo no longer wanted to send even a single person to infiltrate again, it was basically suicide.
And on top of that, there was Shin, who could summon a fully formed Susanoo...
Just as Danzō was drowning in despair, a spatial distortion rippled through the air, and a man wearing a yellow whirlpool-patterned mask and a black cloak suddenly and eerily appeared in the Hokage's office.
"Danzō, you've really disappointed me!" the newcomer scolded arrogantly as soon as he spoke.
Had this been before, Danzō would have retorted with his own authority and presence.
But now, having lost all confidence and watching his schemes fall apart, he looked at the man before him as if seeing a savior. He quickly stood up and exclaimed in excitement, "Madara!"
All of his previous bold plotting had been backed by this man in front of him.
It had been right after Koharu's death, when Danzō was planning how to win over Homura, that this man had appeared, claiming to be Madara and promising to put him on the Hokage's throne.
He didn't believe such nonsense for a second. In fact, in his rage, he had even tried to kill the intruder.
What he didn't expect was that with just a single look, the man had trapped him in a genjutsu for what felt like ten years of torment, and rendered all his subordinates unconscious.
At that point, it no longer mattered whether he believed it or not.
What mattered was that this man truly had the power to crush him with a flick of a finger.
Driven by his desire for the position of Hokage, he agreed to cooperate with him.
The terms of the cooperation were simple.
The man promised to support him in becoming Hokage. In return, once he became Hokage, he was to fully support Orochimaru in researching certain things.
As for what exactly was being researched, the masked man never said, and Danzō never asked.
"I really didn't expect it, despite the intel I gave you, Konoha's weakened military strength, and your element of surprise, you still failed to deal with Hiruzen."
The cold voice came from behind the mask, showing not the slightest courtesy despite Danzō's respectful demeanor.
"In the end, I had to step in myself. You couldn't handle Hiruzen, yet you had no problem going after my people."
Danzō stiffened at those words, but quickly reacted and explained, "So those really were your people? I thought so! Actually, I was just putting on a show for others to see. I was concerned that—"
"You think just because you don't admit it, people won't suspect you?"
"If you had openly admitted it, publicly revealed the things Hiruzen did, and clearly stated that you were only acting as a temporary Hokage and would immediately step down once Tsunade returned, not only would your reputation remain intact, but you might've even regained public support."
At this, Danzō instantly objected.
"Did I hear you right? If I'm supposed to hand over the Hokage seat to Tsunade, then what have I been working so hard for all this time?"
"You really are a fool. If Tsunade comes back, you won't have a choice. Do you think just keeping quiet will change anything?"
"..."
"But isn't that where you come in? Didn't you say you'd take care of her?"
"Oh, now you remember me?" the masked man sneered. "If you had helped promote the message I wanted, regained some public support, then when I made sure Tsunade didn't return, the Hokage seat would've been yours, no question. And people might've even seen you in a better light. But now? All you've got left is a mess no one wants to clean up."
"But Shin…" Danzō tried to change the subject, seeing no way out.
"He's just a nobody. You think I can't deal with him?"
With that reassurance from the masked man, he finally felt a sense of relief.
Though this man's origins remained unknown and Danzō had always suspected his true identity, in their six months of cooperation, the masked man had never failed to deliver on a promise.
"So what should we do next?" he asked.
"Keep spreading word of all the shady things Hiruzen did. At the same time, publicly claim that everything you're doing is for the good of Konoha and out of support for Tsunade. I'll have people work with you. Even if we can't completely clean your name, we can recover at least some of your reputation."
"And then, just wait to be appointed Hokage."
With that, the space in front of the masked man twisted into a swirling vortex, and he vanished into thin air.
Seeing this, Danzō couldn't help but feel a surge of envy.
Another space-time ninjutsu.
If he hadn't seen the Flying Thunder God Technique so many times before, he might've mistaken the masked man's move for it.
Still, with such a powerful jutsu, why couldn't he ever master something like that himself?