Chapter 58 Showing Off Muscles
The rumors about Kakashi that had been circulating in the village recently had caused widespread anxiety. They feared that if Kakashi was the target today, they might be next. Furthermore, most of the Anbu members had received favors from Kakashi, and a large portion had been present at his previous banquets. Therefore, their decision to remain neutral was not surprising.
Meanwhile, the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans, having received orders, urgently summoned their ninja. However, before the clans' ninja could even reach the streets of Konoha, a group of ninja and a pack of ninja dogs arrived at their clan territories.
Leading the group were Inuzuka Jacques and Aburame Shiki, who smiled as they watched Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza.
Seeing this, Nara Shikaku sighed slightly and asked, "May I ask what brings you two to the territory of my Ino-Shika-Cho clans with your clansmen?"
"Clan Chief Nara, that's too formal. We've simply come to pay a visit, nothing more," Inuzuka Jacques replied with a smile.
"Just a visit?" Yamanaka Inoichi frowned slightly, noticing the fully armed state of the other side, even their ninja dogs.
"Of course," Inuzuka Jacques said, "However, it seems we've come at an inopportune time. Where are the three clan chiefs and their clansmen headed so late? Don't you know the village is under martial law tonight?" "
Our three clans are here on the orders of the Third Hokage to maintain order in the village. We ask for your assistance," Nara Shikaku said solemnly.
"But our orders are for martial law tonight. Anyone acting without authorization in the streets, except for members of the security forces, will be treated as a rioter," Aburame Shiki said.
"Since when have Aburame and Inuzuka started obeying the orders of the security forces?" Nara Shikaku frowned.
"Our two clans aren't following orders from the Security Department," Inuzuka Jacques said. "However, unlike your Ino-Shika-Cho clans, we don't have many juniors holding important positions in the village. Now, we've finally produced two juniors serving as captains in the Security Department. As clan leaders, we naturally have to fully cooperate with them. If we have offended anyone, please forgive us, Nara Clan Chief."
At that moment, in the chat channel created by Yamanaka Inoichi using a clan secret technique, Akimichi Choza asked, "What do we do now, Shikaku? Should we make a move?"
Nara Shikaku pondered for a while before speaking in the chat channel, "No, they've come at the right time. Let's just stay here and wait for things to end."
"But, that won't be easy to explain to the Third Hokage," Yamanaka Inoichi said.
"With them here, that's enough for us to explain," Nara Shikaku said.
Taking action is out of the question. Although the Ino-Shika-Cho clans have more Jonin overall, and their combined attacks should make it relatively easy to defeat the Inuzuka and Aburame alliance, Nara Shikaku has to consider the Uchiha clan behind them. If they really start fighting, the feud will be permanent, and the Ino-Shika-Cho clans will be forced to stick to Hiruzen Sarutobi's cause. Even if Hiruzen wins the political battles, how long can he hold power at his age? And what about the Fifth Hokage? In Nara Shikaku's analysis, the only suitable successors to the Third Hokage are Jiraiya and Tsunade. If Tsunade were to return to the village now and declare her desire to take the position, Nara Shikaku would be willing to bet on her without hesitation. But she'd rather be heavily in debt than return to the village. As for Jiraiya, Nara Shikaku certainly wouldn't dare gamble the fate of his clan on someone who was fooled by a vague prophecy from his summoning beast and was searching the world for a child of prophecy.
Besides them, only Kakashi remained as a reasonably suitable successor. Although his strength was currently insufficient, he was still young. But even disregarding Kakashi's true stance, even if he were on the Third Hokage's side, they couldn't intervene. If the Ino-Shika-Cho trio intervened to stop the Security Department from standing up for him, would they be left to suffer the consequences?
Therefore, after some consideration, Nara Shikaku decided that stalling with the Inuzuka and Aburame clans was the best solution. This way, they could appease the Third Hokage and extricate their clans from the situation.
Soon, the Third Hokage, in his office, realized that the situation in the village hadn't improved and had to use his telescope technique to check on things.
However, seeing the disorganized Anbu on the street and the standoff at the gates of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart sank. Although he hadn't expected the Anbu to play a significant role in this matter, he had envisioned the Ino-Shika-Cho clans being the ones to intervene and stop the Security Department. But the fully armed combined forces of the Aburame and Inuzuka clans at the Ino-Shika-Cho clan gates were something he hadn't anticipated at all.
He had witnessed the Inuzuka clan's welcoming ceremony for Uchiha Touhuan and the Security Department's welcoming ceremony for their police dogs; he knew the Inuzuka clan had sided with the Uchiha, but he hadn't expected them to be so all-in in their support. This group included all the Chunin-level and above members of the Inuzuka clan, except for those working at the Security Department. The
fact that the Aburame clan had also joined in was something he hadn't even considered.
Even now, the Third Hokage had to admit that his control over the village had indeed diminished considerably after Danzo's death.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, puffing on his pipe, looked at the last remaining ANBU in the Hokage's office: "Go and mobilize the village's Jonin squad to support the ANBU."
"Understood." After the last ANBU left the Hokage's office, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado resumed their incessant chatter, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had no desire to listen to what they were saying.
Hiruzen Sarutobi understood that today's events, besides being a pretext for the Security Department, were largely a show of force by Touhuan Uchiha. In less than a month since Danzo's death, Touhuan had amassed a complete set of cards sufficient to launch an armed rebellion. What chilled him even more was that Touhuan had been operating within the rules, even he, the Hokage, couldn't escape his influence—a stark contrast to the previous Uchiha clan leaders who succeeded Madara Uchiha.
For the Third Hokage, the only good news was that Uchiha Touhuan had exercised enough restraint to prevent things from spiraling out of control.
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(End of Chapter)