"When friends come, there is fine wine. When jackals come, there are swords and spears!"
When Sarutobi Hiruzen first heard this sentence, he felt greatly shocked, and the hot blood in his body seemed to gradually boil.
But... when he thought of the current situation, that boiling hot blood instantly cooled down.
"Your words make sense, and I also know the Kumo-nin envoy group has ulterior motives, but we cannot deal with three great nations at the same time..."
Hiruzen said as he lowered his head.
Hearing this, Uchiha Ryun suddenly thought of a possibility. His pupils subconsciously contracted, and his eyes narrowed.
"So how do you plan to handle this matter? Are you going to hand me over to the Kumo-nin? Or make me pay with my life?"
Ryun asked directly without beating around the bush. Hearing this, Hiruzen abruptly raised his head, his eyes widening in shock.
"What nonsense are you talking about? When did I ever say I would hand you over to the Kumo-nin? When did I say you should pay with your life?"
Hiruzen loudly scolded, his expression appearing both angry and flustered.
"Won't you..."
Ryun murmured softly. He did not look at Hiruzen, keeping his head lowered as if deep in thought.
Hiruzen also fell silent at this moment. The Hokage's office was plunged into an eerie quiet.
After a long while, Ryun was the first to break the silence.
"Then, do you still need me to lead the team into battle tomorrow?"
Hearing this question, Hiruzen felt his head throbbing with a headache.
Now, whether he let Ryun go to battle or not, it was a problem, because this question was equivalent to forcing him to take a stance again.
"Let Uchiha Fugaku lead the team first... You wait until this matter is resolved..."
After saying this, Hiruzen picked up the tobacco pipe beside him and slowly stuffed tobacco leaves into it.
"Understood... Do you have any other orders? If not, I'll go back to sleep now..."
Ryun looked calmly at his actions with the tobacco pipe, his tone equally calm.
After a moment of silence, Hiruzen did not make the decision to detain Ryun. Instead, he waved his hand, allowing him to leave.
"Then I'll take my leave..."
Ryun bowed slightly and then walked straight out of the Hokage's office.
After Ryun left, Hiruzen seemed to lose all strength as he slumped into the Hokage's chair. The tobacco pipe, now fully stuffed, was casually tossed onto the desk.
He closed his eyes wearily, but then, as if remembering something, he suddenly opened them again and coldly issued an order.
"Summon the Uchiha First Elder to see me!"
He was not calling the Uchiha First Elder to assign blame. Even though the Uchiha Clan's police force was responsible for daily security patrols, and the fact that Kushina had been kidnapped and even taken out of Konoha meant the Konoha Police Force bore some responsibility...
But at this point, he could no longer focus on assigning blame, because the Uchiha Clan was set to go into battle tomorrow. This was not the time to hold them accountable.
He was summoning the Uchiha First Elder mainly to discuss the matter of replacing the team captain. Ryun could no longer go to the battlefield!
This incident made the Third Hokage extremely furious. Yet, despite his raging anger, he did not know who to direct it at.
The future Nine-Tails jinchūriki being kidnapped by an enemy nation—if this had really happened, the consequences would have left Konoha without a 'container,' and there was a high chance Mito Uzumaki would be unable to accept such a thing, leading to a rampage or even an early death...
Ryun had saved Kushina, so logically, Hiruzen should have felt relieved.
However, while saving her, this boy had also brought him another huge problem.
If he was going to silence witnesses, he should have done it thoroughly. Yet, he had left behind a troublesome survivor...
That the scheming Kumo-nin would turn the tables and blame Konoha was something Hiruzen was not surprised by.
But what could he do even if they were being unreasonable? Could Konoha handle facing three great nations at once? Could they afford to go to war with all of them simultaneously?
Fighting was not an option. Right now, Hiruzen could only hope the Kumo-nin would not go too far and, considering their own wrongdoing, would choose to settle the matter peacefully...
The best outcome now would be for both sides to compromise. Konoha would not pursue their attempt to kidnap the Nine-Tails container, and they would not hold Ryun accountable for killing three Kumo-nin.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Ryun's originally calm expression gradually darkened.
'Konoha... I can't stay here anymore!'
He had already begun to consider defecting from Konoha!
This matter had escalated to this point, and Hiruzen was clearly afraid of war. In the end, Ryun would inevitably become the scapegoat. He did not want to stay and be sacrificed!
As a transmigrator who had read the original story, Ryun knew exactly what fate awaited him next.
In the original story, the Kumo-nin boldly broke into the Hyūga Clan's territory to kidnap the young Hyūga Hinata, only for that Kumo-nin to be killed on the spot by an enraged Hyūga Hiashi.
The Kumo-nin, because their comrade had been killed, turned the tables just like now, threatening to go to war with Konoha.
Even though this matter became widely known, Konoha ultimately chose to compromise and planned to sacrifice Hiashi to appease Kumogakure's anger.
At first, it was Hiashi who was abandoned. However, he happened to have a twin brother willing to be his substitute, which saved his life.
Keep in mind that Hiashi was the head of one of Konoha's top three clans. Even he could be abandoned by the higher-ups, who did not fear alienating other clans with this decision, openly choosing to sacrifice the individual for the greater good...
So what did a so-called 'Konoha hero' like Ryun amount to?
If he didn't know this part of the story, Ryun might have dared to gamble, betting that the Konoha higher-ups wouldn't abandon him, betting that his status as a Sannin disciple, the Hokage's grand-disciple, and a Konoha hero could withstand this storm.
But knowing what happened then, understanding Hiruzen's attitude now, and seeing that the current situation was even worse, Ryun could no longer hold any illusions about Hiruzen.
If he didn't defect, Ryun would undoubtedly become the sacrifice. He was absolutely certain of this!
'I'll take Mom away first. Once things stabilize, I'll come back for Kushina...'
On his way home, Ryun secretly made up his mind. He planned to act as soon as he got home. While his freedom of movement hadn't been restricted yet, he had to defect decisively!
Unfortunately, his plan was not to be. The moment he arrived home, Ryun could no longer sense Asuka's presence inside the house.
His mother had disappeared at this critical moment!
"Damn it!!!"
Ryun's face instantly twisted in fury. He immediately turned around and rushed straight toward the underground Root headquarters.
He was sure that the one who had taken Asuka away at this time was none other than that damned Danzō!
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