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Hearing the only good news so far, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally let out a sigh of relief.
Hiruzen Sarutobi reached for the pipe on the table, put it back in his mouth, and after a moment of silence, he spoke again, "Did you confirm the news with Naruto and the others?"
Iruka nodded, a serious expression on his face: "The general sequence of events is clear. According to their descriptions, it seems a Konoha Anbu Ninja killed Kinoshita Yoshiro of the Mist Ninja Village."
"Then Kakashi's squad was attacked by Kirigakure Ninja, and Jonin Kakashi held back the Kirigakure Ninja, creating an opportunity for Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to escape…"
At this point, Iruka's voice paused slightly before he continued, "And then, Naruto somehow caused the Nine-Tailed Chakra to leak out, and after that, the three of them don't know what happened."
Konoha Anbu?
Hearing these four words, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyelids twitched slightly. He naturally knew this couldn't have been done by Konoha Anbu, which left only one conclusion.
His conversation with Danzo earlier was only about making contact with Kinoshita Yoshiro, not killing him.
Danzo, you acted too rashly!
A displeased expression flashed across Hiruzen Sarutobi's face. If the person had been killed without anyone knowing, it would have been fine, but now it seemed the people of Kirigakure already knew they were responsible.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a light puff from his pipe. Although the information he received wasn't complete, he still felt a faint sense of something strange.
Unfortunately, Kakashi was still unconscious. If he woke up, perhaps everything that happened would become clear.
"Hokage-sama, Naruto absolutely didn't mean to do that."
Iruka looked at the silent Hiruzen Sarutobi and quickly spoke up.
After all, even though the Tailed Beast-transformed Naruto had lost consciousness, hurting fellow Village members was a fact, and Iruka was very worried that Naruto would be punished by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Seeing Iruka's tense expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone:
"Don't worry, Iruka, this isn't Naruto's fault. I won't punish Naruto."
"By the way, Iruka, how are Sasuke and the others' emotions?"
Iruka shook his head, a hint of sadness in his voice: "After this incident, Sasuke and the others are a bit down, especially Naruto."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, not showing any surprise. After all, after hovering on the brink of death, probably no one's mood would be high.
However, Naruto could be said to have grown up under Hiruzen Sarutobi's watchful eye, and Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally understood Naruto's personality. He would probably recover soon enough.
So, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't too worried.
"Kakashi won't be waking up for a while, so I'll leave the three of them in your care for this period. After all, you're their teacher and quite familiar with them."
"During this time, I'll trouble you to help Naruto adjust his emotions. Oh, and for now, don't tell Naruto about hurting Kakashi."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Iruka, a serious expression on his face.
"No problem, Third Hokage-sama!"
Iruka quickly and respectfully replied. Even if the Third Hokage-sama hadn't said it, he would have done it.
Watching Iruka leave the Hokage Office, the smile on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face slowly faded.
He tapped the desk in front of him with his finger while he was deep in thought.
The office door suddenly opened, and Danzo walked in with a grim expression.
"I've said it before about the Jinchuriki; the Jinchuriki is an unstable factor and must be supervised by Root."
"And the Uchiha Clan's sole survivor, Hiruzen, you should know what his existence means to Konoha. If anything happens to Uchiha Sasuke, you should know the consequences!"
As soon as Danzo entered the office, he went straight to the point without any preamble, speaking passionately to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Uchiha Sasuke was one thing, as a formidable individual stood behind him, but Danzo had always wanted to bring the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki into Root.
And this time, the Nine-Tailed Chakra leak was a great opportunity for Danzo.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Danzo expressionlessly. Only after Danzo had finished speaking did Hiruzen Sarutobi coldly say, "Kinoshita Yoshiro is dead."
Danzo was stunned, not reacting for a moment.
Regarding what happened in Wave Country, no one besides Kakashi's squad knew what occurred. And as soon as Kakashi and the others returned to the Village, Anbu took over everything.
Because of this, Danzo's information was limited, apart from knowing about the Nine-Tailed Chakra leak.
"Kinoshita Yoshiro died at the hands of Root personnel, witnessed by Kakashi's squad at the scene. There was even a conflict with Kirigakure Ninja. You didn't know about this, did you?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked coldly at Danzo.
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Danzo's expression changed slightly. He had indeed given a secret order to bring back Kinoshita Yoshiro's head if he was found.
But all of this was predicated on secrecy. With Root's operational principles, they shouldn't have made such a small mistake.
Moreover, the Root Ninja he had sent out still hadn't reported back.
Could it be!
Danzo's expression changed, and he looked up directly at Hiruzen Sarutobi, saying, "If I say I wasn't aware of this, would you believe me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned but didn't speak.
While Danzo's methods were sometimes despicable, he shouldn't make such an obvious mistake.
Of course, it was also possible that Danzo did it intentionally, but that possibility was relatively small.
However, there was one thing Hiruzen Sarutobi could be sure of: Naruto and Sasuke and the others should not be lying.
Bang!
The office door, which had just been closed, was suddenly pushed open again.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo both frowned and looked in the direction of the sound.
Two elderly individuals walked straight in.
In the entire Konoha Village, the number of people who could enter and exit the Hokage Office without restraint could be counted on one hand.
These two individuals were Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu, the highest officials of Konoha's Administration Department, specifically managing Konoha's political affairs, similar to elders.
The Administration Department was a relatively special agency in Konoha. It generally did not interfere with the Village's internal affairs, but once it did, it meant that an event capable of affecting the entire Konoha had occurred.
As these two entered, they saw Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, whose atmosphere in the office was somewhat tense, and were slightly taken aback.
"Since you're all here, that's for the best."
Homura Mitokado looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, smiling faintly, though his voice was somewhat low.