Chapter 105: Frontline Crisis, Persuasion
Due to the enormous power of the explosion on the battlefield, the area within a six-to-seven-kilometer radius had been completely devastated. There were no clues left behind—not even a single hair of Danzō remained.
After searching all night and finding nothing, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others had no choice but to return to Konoha. Since no evidence was found, they stopped searching. In any case, he had already concluded that the culprit was someone from the Uchiha clan.
So after leaving the explosion site, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered his subordinates to go to the Uchiha compound and conduct a carpet-style search of the entire Uchiha clan.
In the end, they discovered that not a single member of the Uchiha clan was missing. Moreover, no one had any information about a ninja who had supposedly awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan mentioned in the rumors.
Even the Uchiha clan head "Uchiha Fugaku" personally came forward to guarantee that Danzō's death had nothing to do with them and that they were completely unaware of it.
Of course, all of this was orchestrated by Ling Yu. While Hiruzen Sarutobi was searching the Uchiha compound, Ling Yu had already arrived there early.
He then used Kyōka Suigetsu to hypnotize every ninja involved in the search, making them see a fake Uchiha Fugaku.
This was precisely why Hiruzen Sarutobi always felt something was off. He had no leads on the culprit and even began to suspect that the one who killed Danzō was a fugitive Uchiha clan member living outside the village.
But the investigation into the killer continued until the early morning of the next day.
An ominous piece of news arrived from the front lines, forcing Hiruzen Sarutobi to halt the investigation of the Uchiha clan and set Danzō's matter aside for the time being.
"What?! The Land of Lightning, Land of Earth, and Land of Rain have formed an alliance?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the confidential document from the front lines in complete shock, his face turning icy cold.
One wave had not yet calmed before another rose. He hadn't even fully dealt with Danzō's matter, and now something unexpected had happened on the battlefield.
The combined forces of the three nations had recently launched an attack on Konoha's front lines. Konoha's defenses were completely unable to hold. They had already suffered heavy losses, and the three-nation alliance's advance was about to push into the Land of Fire.
"Damn it! Immediately summon all the ninja still stationed in Konoha—have them gather at the village gate right now."
"And call Jiraiya to come here. I need to take him with me to find Tsunade. This battle concerns the very survival of Konoha—we cannot afford to be careless."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew increasingly grave. The three-nation alliance currently had close to five or more Kage-level powerhouses. With Konoha's current strength, they could not possibly withstand them. A head-on fight would only end in defeat.
Danzō—this Kage-level powerhouse—had also been killed yesterday. Konoha's high-end combat power had already suffered a major loss.
Now, they could only rely on Tsunade (also at Kage-level) and Senju Ling Yu (whose strength had surpassed Kage-level) if they wanted any chance of resisting the enemy.
Although they had just had a major falling out yesterday and Tsunade had clearly severed her master-disciple relationship with him, for the sake of Konoha's survival at this critical moment, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and go beg for their help.
The reason he was bringing Jiraiya along was because Tsunade and Ling Yu had a good relationship with him. If he went alone to persuade them, the success rate might be higher with Jiraiya present.
Once Jiraiya arrived, Hiruzen Sarutobi took him straight to the Senju clan grounds—outside the Senju residence where Ling Yu and the others lived.
Knock knock knock
Following Hiruzen Sarutobi's signal, Jiraiya politely knocked on the gate to announce their arrival.
"Come in."
A lazy voice answered from inside. The tightly closed gate opened by itself the moment the voice spoke.
As soon as the door opened, the scene in the courtyard appeared before Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya.
At this moment, Ling Yu was lying alone on a lounge chair he had created with Wood Release, wearing sunglasses and leisurely sunbathing. Beside him was a small table also made of Wood Release, with several glasses of juice placed on it. He looked utterly relaxed.
Meanwhile, Tsunade stood seriously on the nearby grass, personally teaching Konan how to train ninjutsu.
Inside the house, Mikoto was preparing breakfast for everyone in the kitchen. As for Kushina—ever since moving into Ling Yu's home, she had turned into a night owl, staying up late watching TV every night and refusing to wake up before noon.
The moment the door opened and they saw Ling Yu and Tsunade in such a leisurely state, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but frown.
The front lines were already in such crisis—yet these two were this relaxed. Did they really have no sense of urgency at all?
"Ahem… Tsunade, how have you been lately?"
But fortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi's ability to change expressions had been honed to perfection. He quickly put on a fawning smile and walked toward Tsunade.
"Third Hokage, there's no need for small talk. If you came to find me, just say what you want."
Tsunade glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi. While continuing to instruct Konan, she spoke in a cold, distant tone.
Her way of addressing him had already changed from "Sensei" to "Third Hokage." This alone showed how deeply yesterday's events had hurt her.
Whether it was his suppression of other clans—including the Senju—after becoming Hokage, or his recent collaboration with Danzō to slander Ling Yu and destroy his reputation, causing the Senju clan's standing in Konoha to plummet—
All of it was targeting her and the Senju clan. After seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's true nature clearly, Tsunade no longer regarded him as her teacher.
"Sigh… To be honest, Konoha's situation is not good right now. The Land of Lightning, Land of Earth, and Land of Rain have allied and launched an attack on our front lines. Konoha is already…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a small sigh. He dropped the fake smile and spoke seriously, but stopped halfway.
"Konan, go inside and watch some TV for a while. I have something to discuss with the Third Hokage."
"Okay, Big Sis Tsunade."
Hearing this, Tsunade paused her instruction of Konan. She guided Konan away, and only after Konan entered the house did Tsunade turn back. She looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi expressionlessly.
"Speak. What exactly is going on?"
"…"
Unlike the awkward atmosphere on Hiruzen Sarutobi's side, the conversation between Jiraiya and Ling Yu was much more normal.
"Ling Yu, you brat really know how to enjoy life, huh? Two little girlfriends aren't enough—you even brought back an even younger one from the Land of Rain. Are you building a harem or what?"
Jiraiya sat down on another lounge chair beside Ling Yu with a perverted grin. He grabbed the juice on the table, downed it in one gulp, then nudged Ling Yu's arm teasingly.
Jiraiya and Ling Yu had always had a relationship of "the one being teased" and "the teaser." Their personalities got along surprisingly well, so their conversations felt just like casual banter between friends—very relaxed.
"You're not only ugly on the outside—you're filthy on the inside too."
"I'm not like you, always sneaking around peeking at old ladies bathing. With my handsome appearance and overwhelming strength, isn't it only natural that I'd have multiple girlfriends?"
Ling Yu shifted away in disgust to avoid Jiraiya's elbow nudge. He took a sip of his juice and turned to retort.
"Tch, you little punk really aren't cute at all."
Jiraiya smacked his lips, speechless. Then he remembered why he came here, sat up straight, and asked Ling Yu:
"Enough of that. You already know why Sensei and I came here, right?"
"Of course. But you don't need to go through all this trouble to persuade me. This time, it's up to my big sister to decide. Whatever she tells me to do, I'll do."
Ling Yu turned his head toward Tsunade's side and spoke to Jiraiya.
"Sigh… Alright then. Guess we can only count on Sensei now."
Hearing this, Jiraiya stopped talking and quietly waited for the outcome between Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
---------------------------------
Support me and be 100 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/inkshield