"Uchiha Keizumi's ninja cat!!!"
Utatane Koharu did not know Tachibana Jirō's name, but she knew that this was that hateful ninja cat always at Uchiha Keizumi's side.
Hadn't this damned ninja cat left the village together with Uchiha Keizumi?
Why was it here? Had it gotten the news and rushed back?
If it had returned to the village…
Did that mean Uchiha Keizumi had returned as well?
Utatane Koharu was suddenly on high alert.
"Stop staring, meow."
Tachibana Jirō slightly steadied his breathing, masking the fatigue on his face, and fixed his gaze on Utatane Koharu, baring sharp fangs at the corners of his mouth: "To deal with you, Keizumi-sama doesn't even need to act. I, Tachibana Jirō, am enough!"
Not far to the side, seeing the tense, drawn atmosphere before him, Fukasaku couldn't help but raise his brows.
He said to Jiraiya: "Little Jiraiya, is your Konohagakure usually this chaotic? Why does it feel like the state inside Konohagakure right now is even more turbulent than during the great wars of the ninja world years ago?"
Jiraiya couldn't help but show a wry smile: "I don't know either why the village's situation has developed into this. I just happened to return by chance only in these past few days."
On the other side, Shima spoke: "It looks like a clash between different ideals. Looking at all sorts of events in the history of the ninja world, it is struggles over ideals that are the hardest to reconcile."
She paused, then continued: "Unless one side is completely eradicated, otherwise… the clash of ideals will always continue."
"Ongoing conflict of ideals then produces armed conflict. And thus, it becomes the scene we are seeing now."
Shima continued: "Little Jiraiya, if you don't step in to stop this farce, they may really start fighting."
"Understood."
Jiraiya took a deep breath. He had already thought of a plan to have both sides retreat a step. Just as he lifted his wooden clogs to take one step forward, suddenly a hand pressed down on his shoulder.
That hand almost slapped Shima Sage, who was on his shoulder, right off.
Jiraiya found himself unable to move—the strength in that hand pressing on his shoulder was immense, forcing his shoulder to sink.
Startled, he looked back, only to find that it was Tsunade!
"Jiraiya, if you set yourself against Justice." Tsunade's tone held no emotional fluctuation as she slowly said: "Then the friendship we've had all these years will be written off. Remember, don't let these two grotesque toads warp your outlook."
"Grotesque… toads…"
Hearing this, Shima Sage—who had nearly been slapped off—even with a mind tempered over hundreds of years, could not stop her eyelids from twitching violently.
"What an ill-mannered brat of Shikkotsu Forest…"
Shima Sage ground her teeth, snapping back without hesitation: "I wonder how that Slug Sage ever taught you!"
"What generation are you, to dare pass judgment on the Slug Sage?" Tsunade glanced at her, still merciless: "Even that Great Toad himself, coming forward in person, would have no qualification to speak those words about the Slug Sage."
The twitching of Shima Sage's eyelids was already nearly spasmodic.
Sensing things were going badly, Fukasaku Sage hurriedly hopped over.
He immediately pulled Shima Sage back, saying quickly again and again: "Calm down, don't lower yourself to bickering with such a junior."
Afterward, Fukasaku Sage raised his head to look at Tsunade, speaking: "Little Tsunade, the two of us have not caused any negative influence on Little Jiraiya's outlook. On the contrary, it was because of our careful teaching that he became a hero of the ninja world."
"A hero of peeping on women's bathhouses?" Tsunade dug at her ear canal.
"…That was just for gathering material," Jiraiya weakly interjected.
As a result, the hand pressing on his shoulder suddenly increased its strength.
It crushed Jiraiya's wooden clogs beneath his feet.
Tsunade's cold eyes said: "You two old toads with your set from hundreds of years ago—it's already outdated now. Whether it be the Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest or that great serpent of Ryūchi Cave, they have never interfered in the ninja world by their own will."
"Because they know the ninja world is changing at every moment. If they rely on their old ways of thought and rashly intervene, it may trigger unforeseeable consequences."
"If some disaster were to result, the two of you would never forgive yourselves for life. But Mount Myōboku—you are forever trying to interfere in everything of the ninja world."
"I even suspect now, were the continuous wars of the ninja world perhaps all the butterfly effect of Mount Myōboku's meddling?"
"Is Mount Myōboku the source of many of the evils of the ninja world?"
The sudden accusations, the sudden trampling down and lifting up, made the expression on Fukasaku Sage's face turn unsightly.
And Jiraiya, caught in the middle, was drenched in cold sweat.
Just moments ago Tsunade had still been verbally attacking that Utatane Koharu—so why was she now turning to attack these two Sages of Mount Myōboku instead?
Was it because after the Uchiha Police Force shinobi rushed over, Tsunade realized her involvement here was no longer needed?
…
Tsunade's war of words, however, did not affect Tachibana Jirō's side.
The Uchiha Police Force shinobi had already surrounded the Root shinobi so tightly not a drop of water could pass.
Not a few Police Force shinobi even drew their ninja blades.
Their eyes toward the Root shinobi carried thick hostility.
One pair after another of scarlet Sharingan made Utatane Koharu's scalp prickle.
Even if the Police Force had not fully mobilized, at least half of them had already rushed here!
This ninja cat's power to rally the Police Force was actually this strong?
No!
It was perhaps because Uchiha Keizumi's power to rally them was strong!
It represented Uchiha Keizumi!
…
"The situation… seems to have gone a bit beyond the Hokage's expectations."
Hidden in the dark to monitor Root, Yamato realized things had gone wrong.
He immediately made a hand sign.
An Anbu subordinate understood, turned, and ran back to find Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Soon...
The Anbu shinobi found the Third Hokage and relayed all of Utatane Koharu's circumstances.
"I know," Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression showed little fluctuation. He nodded slightly, speaking in a deep voice: "Have Yamato stop their conflict."
The Anbu shinobi froze, not leaving, standing unmoving as if wanting to speak but holding back.
"I know that with Yamato and his Anbu squad's strength, it will be hard to stop the clash of both sides." Without waiting for the Anbu shinobi to voice the reason, Sarutobi Hiruzen continued: "I am not telling him to suppress both sides by force, but to tell Koharu that it is I who order her to halt this conflict."
"Since Tsunade, Jiraiya, Keizumi's ninja cat, and the Uchiha Police Force have all come forward, let Koharu and those Root shinobi of hers make a trip to the Police Force."
"Tell her this is my order. Tell her that even if she is locked in prison, I can get her out, so she need not be angry."
The Anbu shinobi instantly let out a breath of relief.
After all, with only the strength of their one Anbu squad, if they truly tried to suppress both sides, even sacrificing a few lives they likely could not manage it.
It seemed that the situation now was not, as Captain Yamato had said, already beyond the Hokage's expectations.
The Hokage must have foreseen it long ago.
Truly worthy of the Third!
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen fixed his eyes on the departing back of the Anbu shinobi.
"Kakashi…"
"After all of my series of irrational actions, now that Konohagakure is this chaotic, you should have found something out too."
He murmured.
…
"Captain Kakashi, there's a new discovery." An Anbu shinobi whispered a report to Hatake Kakashi: "I found a shinobi within the Sarutobi clan who is constantly stirring up emotions among his clan. Although in this situation saying some extreme words is understandable, his behavior is a bit too unusual."
"When the Sarutobi clan's mood was relatively low, he was always the first to stir up the emotions of the clan, and every single word he said pointed at Uchiha Keizumi and his Absolute Justice. He even incited clansmen to continue going to Hokage-sama to lodge complaints."
"I feel there's something very wrong with him."
The speaking Anbu shinobi was from the Yamanaka clan. In today's Konohagakure, the Anbu were not entirely of one mind all standing on the Hokage's side.
At least…
The Anbu shinobi connected to the "Ino–Shika–Chō" trio of clans already had somewhat wavering stances.
"Investigate him."
Kakashi took a deep breath, saying: "Seize him directly, and use the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques to interrogate his memory."
Just then, another Anbu shinobi hurried over.
"Captain Kakashi, we intercepted a ninja pigeon!" The Anbu shinobi stretched out a hand, and in his palm lay a white ninja pigeon. On the pigeon's feathers, eerie curse seal patterns were drawn.
The Anbu shinobi said: "The purpose of this curse seal should be to destroy the intelligence. But I was quick-eyed and broke the seal immediately."
Kakashi took the ninja pigeon and studied it carefully.
Then he suddenly seized its head and tore it off with one pull.
Next, following its neck, he directly ripped the pigeon in half barehanded.
At that moment, a very small scroll fell down.
Kakashi, quick-eyed and quick-handed, caught it, but did not open it on his own, instead tossing it to a subordinate, saying: "Hand it to the Sealing Unit. Have them extract the intelligence inside without damaging the scroll."
"Yes!"
"Huff…" Flicking off the bloodstains on his hand, Kakashi let out a breath: "Looks like there really is someone working tricks in the dark. So this is Hokage-sama's method? To deliberately let Konohagakure fall into chaos, making the one behind the tricks careless and expose a flaw."
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