"That will depend on the Third Hokage," Byakuya said calmly, his tone very peaceful.
How Hiruzen Sarutobi acts is the key to whether Konoha's power transition will be a bloody storm.
If he insists on resisting, then the only option is to send him and the other corrupt high-ranking officials to their graves.
If he cooperates, it can be done with some dignity.
But if he's unwilling, then it can only be undignified.
If you are unwilling to be dignified, then you will naturally be made to be dignified; this is very reasonable and nothing to be surprised about.
"This…" Tsunade opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the words got stuck because she knew very well that it was impossible for Hiruzen Sarutobi not to play dirty tricks.
Furthermore, if she were to take the position of Fourth Hokage, she would likely become Hiruzen Sarutobi's enemy, turning against her own teacher.
Power is indeed terrifying; it has completely corrupted people's hearts, making them no longer human, but rather old immortals greedy for power and influence.
Upon her return this time, Tsunade had already discovered that Hiruzen Sarutobi was deeply immersed in the lust for power, refusing to allow anyone to disrupt his rule.
There had been signs before, but now he was becoming increasingly fanatical, willing to sacrifice the village's interests to maintain his rule.
But was that truly the right thing to do?
Hiruzen Sarutobi no longer cared; he only cared about his Konoha, which was the Konoha under the rule of the Third Hokage, not the Konoha of the Third Hokage, which he feared would not be recognized and would be considered heresy.
"If you ask me, you just need to wait to ascend to power. Byakuya has a lot of experience in this area; you don't need to worry," Esdeath said meaningfully at this moment.
Her meaning, of course, referred to Byakuya's act of helping her ascend to power as empress.
The Thousand-Year Empire had completely collapsed.
Who was the new emperor?
It was her!
The new empress of the Empire—Empress Esdeath.
"I'm not worried," Tsunade replied, clearly too lazy to bother.
As long as Konoha didn't collapse, that was fine.
As for Hiruzen Sarutobi's fate, she couldn't intervene.
Who told Hiruzen Sarutobi that he had so many problems? Just the incident where Sarutobi Miroku led the Anbu and Root members to ambush them midway, she knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi was no longer normal.
For power, he would not hesitate to sacrifice the village's prodigies.
Of course, Tsunade herself didn't have much affection for the Uchiha clan, but not having affection didn't mean going as far as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura, who harbored endless malice towards the Uchiha clan.
Yes, you were influenced by my great-uncle, but he wasn't mindlessly prejudiced against the Uchiha.
Your approach is completely wrong; you've gone down an extreme path, which can be described as abnormal…
Meanwhile, at the Cloud Village headquarters.
Killer B returned with a surge of anger and boundless grief, hastily summoning the high-ranking officials of Cloud Village at the front-line headquarters.
And on the Cloud Village side, the high-ranking officials led by Dodai finally learned of the Fourth Raikage's death in battle, along with the loss of twelve elite Cloud ninja.
It could be said that this reconnaissance mission ended in failure, with only Killer B returning, and Cloud Village had lost its strongest combatant—the Raikage!
More importantly, the Third Raikage had died first, and now the Fourth Raikage, who had only recently taken office, was also gone.
The successive deaths of two Raikage were a truly devastating blow to Cloud Village.
It could be said that the current Cloud Village high command was at a loss.
Even someone like Dodai, who had seen his share of storms, felt a bit lost and afraid, and this hint of fear, he clearly didn't understand.
But at this moment, inside the entire tent, the high-ranking officials who could attend the meeting had all fallen into silence.
Who could speak?
Who could break the silence at a time like this?
No one; Killer B was currently withdrawn.
Dodai was at a loss, his eyes vacant; Mabui was just a secretary, her words carrying little weight; Samui was willing but powerless; and Darui was too young.
As for the others… well, there's no need to mention them; none of them were capable of holding the fort.
The Third Raikage died first, and now the Fourth Raikage is gone.
Cloud Village had lost two Kage in succession.
This blow was truly too great.
So now, no one could step forward to stabilize the situation, to take over the current mess.
Who could stabilize it? One could only say no one.
However, Killer B, fueled by hatred, was the first to regain his composure, and he knew they couldn't delay; a next step had to be decided.
What should they do?
This had to be made clear.
"Uchiha Byakuya will surely come.
Now we are at a moment of life and death.
What should we do next?
What do you think we should do?"
Cloud Village was at a moment of life and death; what should they do?
This would determine the future of Cloud Village.
"Lord Dodai, what do you say?" Samui took a deep breath, looking at Dodai with a serious expression.
"I don't know either."
Facing the question, Dodai looked troubled; if he knew, why would he be like this? He could only say that he didn't know what to do next.
"I think we should retreat."
Darui spoke at this moment.
His tone was very firm, believing that they should retreat now.
"Retreat? How can we retreat now? It's too late," Killer B shook his head, not believing they could successfully retreat now.
There were at least three thousand people in the camp; even if they abandoned all supplies, they couldn't ensure everyone's complete evacuation.
Darui believed that they had no choice but to retreat now; for the future of Cloud Village, they had to retreat, so he immediately responded: "It's impossible for everyone to evacuate, but we can evacuate a portion.
The rest will stay to block the enemy, buying time for those who are evacuating.
We must preserve the elites of Cloud Village."
To protect the vital forces of Cloud Village, it was necessary to sacrifice some people.
A portion of ninja would need to stay behind at the headquarters to hold off the enemy.
And these people, whether they succeeded in holding off the enemy or not, were essentially doomed to die.
"Darui, don't forget Yugito.
Are you just going to abandon her?" Samui, upon hearing this, remembered Yugito, who had been dispatched on a assault mission.
If something happened to Yugito as well, then the strength of Cloud Village would plummet.
Now that the Raikage was gone, there could be no further losses of jinchuriki.
"We can only notify her to evacuate, but who should we send?" Dodai had by now adjusted and regained his composure and wisdom, but when it came to this matter, he was still at a loss.
Time was running out, and this was a mission of nine deaths and one life, with almost no chance of survival, so who could go was the key.
"I'll go."
Samui volunteered.
She knew very well that there was no suitable person left to shoulder such a heavy responsibility, so she could only go herself.
As for the consequences?
That wasn't important; if they could evacuate, great; if not, they could hide.
After all, the Land of Hot Water wasn't small, so hiding would still be an option.
Hiding for a period of time didn't necessarily mean they couldn't survive, so she planned to go find Yugito.