Meanwhile, the Third Hokage stood by the window, his expression grim as he watched Hiashi's retreating back.
[The Hyuga Clan... as expected, relying on their military achievements and Byakugan, they're becoming increasingly restless. How dare they pry into my secrets, and be so unyielding.]
[It seems I need to give them a good 'lesson' to let the Hyuga Clan know who truly rules Konoha.]
"Someone."
The Third Hokage tapped on the desk a few times.
An Anbu instantly appeared in the room.
"Lord Hokage."
"Inform Danzo Shimura about Hiashi's dissatisfaction with the peace talks and his intention not to attend subsequent meetings."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
The Anbu's figure flickered and instantly vanished.
The Third Hokage slowly exhaled a puff of smoke and sat back down in his seat... at the former site of the Land of Whirlpools.
The Uzumaki Clan of Uzushio Village originally possessed powerful physiques and immense Chakra, coupled with Sealing Jutsu unrivaled throughout the Ninja World.
This caused panic among other nations, leading to a joint invasion shortly after the Land of Whirlpools was founded.
This occurred during the Second Great Ninja War, after the death of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
At this time, Konoha was in internal turmoil, preoccupied with its own affairs, and also to preserve itself, it did not come to their aid at all.
This resulted in the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools in that catastrophe.
Uzushio Village had invested great effort in establishing its nation here.
Although the nation was destroyed in a very short time, the necessary city walls and houses still remained.
However, under the erosion of time, these city walls and houses had long become a pile of ruins.
Numerous vines climbed upon them, making the area appear desolate.
But if one looked closely, they would notice many indentations pressed into these vines.
Clearly, someone had passed through here.
At this moment, a figure rapidly stepped across these vines, moving forward like a phantom.
When he reached a well in a corner, he immediately jumped in.
However, the bottom of the well was already partitioned by a wooden board, and there was a man-sized hole in the well wall.
After walking a dozen meters inside, it turned out to be a excavated underground shelter.
It was crisscrossing, clearly not a small space.
"Lord Kunihiko."
The figure knocked on an open door.
Kunihiko, who was sitting at the table reviewing intelligence documents, looked up: "Ah, Enmori, come in."
Enmori quickly walked over to Kunihiko and placed the scroll in his hand down.
"There are too many of these underground shelters in the Land of Whirlpools. Many people from Uzushio Village must have escaped back then."
"This was unearthed from a collapsed shelter."
"It's a Sealing Jutsu I haven't seen before."
Kunihiko unrolled the scroll and a hint of joy appeared on his face.
Under the bright light, several large characters were clearly written.
[Domination Sealing Jutsu]
...Root Base.
Danzo Shimura saw the documents in his hand, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"Only now do you remember me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura were the light and dark sides of Konoha Village.
They depended on each other yet competed with each other; of course, Danzō had always been at a disadvantage.
So, even if Danzō was verbally dissatisfied, he was still prepared to take action against the Hyuga Clan.
Because the Hyuga Clan had now openly expressed dissatisfaction with the Konoha Leadership.
If this unhealthy trend wasn't suppressed, other ninja clans might follow suit, making it difficult to lead the team.
However, the extent of personal grudges involved remained unknown.
Danzō stood up, took a scroll from a nearby bookcase, and unrolled it.
After observing it thoroughly, he nodded with satisfaction.
"Have this delivered to the Kumogakure delegation via an informant."
"Understood, Lord Danzō."
The waiting Root member took the scroll and disappeared... Above a mountain bandit gatehouse in the Land of Fire.
Aoran, in his owl form, drew his bow into a full moon, slightly adjusting the angle of the arrow in his hand with his gaze.
"Thwip!"
He loosened his grip, and the fully charged flowing light arrow flew down with a whooshing sound.
A bandit had just run two steps when his body suddenly shook.
The flowing light arrow had pierced through his chest and into the ground.
Looking at the bloody hole in his chest, the bandit fell down in disbelief.
Uchiha Yoichi, who was nearby, sheathed his sword and made two hand gestures to Aoran.
Aoran activated his Byakugan to scan the area, then put away his bow and jumped down from the gatehouse.
"Where's the money in this hideout?"
Yoichi's face was stained with some blood, and his excitement was visible.
Aoran beckoned Yoichi to follow.
With his Byakugan active, he arrived at a rock wall on the back mountainside and pointed to the ground.
"One meter."
Yoichi immediately took out a shovel and began to dig.
Uchiha Yoichi was a close friend he had deliberately sought out.
He was only seventeen this year, already an elite Uchiha with the Three Tomoe Sharingan.
He had a boundless future; besides being a bit greedy for money, everything else about him was good.
"Chh, stab... chh stab..."
A ninja's strength was comparable to a human excavator; the palm-sized shovel flew up and down in Yoichi's hands.
With a "clang" of metal, Yoichi chuckled and pulled the box out directly.
He skillfully used the iron shovel to break the lock on it and opened it.
Although the box wasn't large, it was filled with genuine gold and silver jewelry, and even two Kunai.
Yoichi quickly sorted them out and estimated their value.
"Hmm, it should be worth over a million, hahaha..."
"Alright, you handle it. Give me my share after you sell it."
Aoran didn't have much time, so he usually left it to Yoichi to handle.
Yoichi licked his lips, seemingly still wanting more:
"Let's go back and take on more bandit-clearing missions."
During this time, Aoran had been going on missions with Yoichi while honing his archery skills.
Although his bow hadn't changed and his range remained the same, his accuracy when shooting at moving targets had significantly improved.
The Land of Fire was vast, and bandits were rampant. The village constantly had many bandit-extermination missions posted.
However, those who were bullied by bandits were usually poor, so the mission rewards were low, and the bandits were very slippery. Most of the time, few people took on such missions.
Aoran specifically chose these missions to train his archery skills and Byakugan.
"These two times were just luck. How can there be money hidden every time?"
Aoran impatiently interrupted Yoichi's fantasy.
Bandits spend money as soon as they get it. This situation clearly meant they had just robbed some valuables and hadn't sold them yet.
Yoichi said unwillingly, "Let's try. Maybe we'll encounter it again next time."
Aoran shook his head: "The village is going to hold peace talks with Kumogakure. I won't be leaving the village for a while."
Yoichi was tempted to say that Konoha signing a peace treaty with Kumogakure didn't have much to do with him.
But remembering how many people from the Hyuga Branch Family had died, he closed his mouth.
"Alright then, let's head back."
Yoichi, having plundered a pile of money, was also ready to return. As for the corpses here, wild beasts would naturally take care of them.
"Let's do missions again after the village's peace talks with Kumogakure are over."
"Don't worry, leave finding missions to me. I'll pick all the high-profit ones."
Aoran observed Yoichi. Having been on missions with Yoichi for this period, he understood him even better.
The Uchiha was a large clan, and not all of them were battle maniacs. Yoichi, like Shisui, was not keen on fighting.
He was keen on: getting rich... Aoran thought of the Uchiha's catastrophe a few years later, and how he still couldn't find an opportunity to intervene, and would have to use Yoichi as a stepping stone. A thoughtful expression appeared in his eyes.
"The mission reward this time is also quite a lot. Let's go back and eat Tempura."
Aoran shook his head: "No, I have something else to do. Let's do it after the peace talks are over."
...