Malphegor
patreon
IUTT: Ch. 102
🕑 Added 2025-05-28 22:15:58 +0000 UTCIn the Hokage's office, Hiruzen held the visit request sent by the Third Raikage, his expression quite strange.
Because written in it, quite blatantly, was that A was coming to propose marriage, and they asked him to give it serious consideration.
Hiruzen set the document aside with a quiet sigh. The audacity of the request was almost impressive in its brazenness. Did Kumo really think he wouldn't see through such an obvious ploy? The timing alone made their intentions transparent: it was damage control dressed up as courtship.
But as he put down the request and picked up an intelligence report on his right, his gaze gradually turned cold and sharp.
"Tsunade, oh Tsunade, I really underestimated you. And Mito too, huh… very well. Even I was deceived. After all these years, I really thought you had stepped away from everything."
During this time, it was not that Hiruzen had done nothing. After everything that had happened, the biggest beneficiary of it all was Tsunade. It wasn't hard to guess who was pulling strings behind the scenes. Maybe it wasn't obvious when the events were still unfolding, but by now, how could he not see it clearly? Adding to that, many of the rumors circulating in Konoha bore the shadow of the original Senju clan.
Though these people had hidden themselves well and only said things that seemed objective and impartial, there was no hard evidence to link the rumors to them, but he, as the Hokage, wasn't so easily fooled. Especially since he knew far more than the average person, it was naturally easier for him to see through things. And now, the only one who could rally and command the remaining Senju clan was Mito. Other than her, no one else could do it.
Putting down the intelligence report, Hiruzen picked up Kumo's visit request once more, and a plan immediately formed in his mind.
---
As the delegation from Kumo headed toward Konoha, two pieces of news began to circulate within the village.
The first came from the Hokage's office. In this public statement, Hiruzen issued a deep reflection on the matter concerning the Land of Whirlpools, and explained the reasons behind the "helpless decisions" he had made.
The core message could be summarized as: In the incident with the Land of Whirlpools, the one primarily responsible for external intelligence gathering was Danzō, who had been misled by misleading and contradictory intelligence and reported incorrect information to Hiruzen, causing him to misjudge the situation and fail to issue the order to assist the Land of Whirlpools in time.
In fact, once he realized what was really going on, he had wanted to send reinforcements, but Danzō messed it up again.
As for the later accusations that they tried to take advantage of the crisis?
Total nonsense.
It was just that Danzō had expressed things poorly, leading to misunderstandings from the Land of Whirlpools, which escalated tensions between them and Konoha.
In the end, Hiruzen expressed deep remorse for his own actions, harshly rebuked Danzō for his dereliction of duty, and dismissed him from his position as Hokage's aide as punishment.
Danzō, forced to take the fall, grudgingly accepted it. He also issued a statement repenting for how he had been misled by enemy intelligence and failed to properly convey the Hokage's goodwill toward the Land of Whirlpools.
As for this scapegoating from above, he, of course, was unhappy. But what could he do? It was part of the deal he'd made with Hiruzen in exchange for being allowed to form Root.
As for the title of Hokage's advisor, once the storm passed, getting reinstated would only take a single word from Hiruzen.
Besides, the title was only for show.
Hiruzen had never really trusted him. He'd stripped away Danzō's actual power, leaving him with nothing to do all day.
Because the Land of Whirlpools was ultimately preserved and Konoha suffered no losses, combined with Hiruzen's status as Hokage and the reputation he had built over the years, this public announcement quickly defused the resentment of the vast majority of people.
After all, who among us was without fault?
To recognize one's mistakes and correct them was a great virtue.
What the common people needed was merely an explanation, what were they supposed to do, overthrow the Hokage?
As Hokage, Hiruzen had personally admitted fault, offered an explanation, and even harshly punished Danzō, the one responsible for the whole mess. What else was there that couldn't be forgiven?
It had to be said, Hiruzen's public relations handling this time was truly masterful. In addition to the official announcement from Hiruzen, a rumor also began spreading throughout Konoha.
It claimed that during Kumo's campaign against the Land of Whirlpools, they had suffered heavy losses due to Tsunade's interference. As a result, they had sent an envoy to Konoha to protest, essentially a prelude to a declaration of war against the village. If this matter wasn't handled properly, it could very well lead to war between the two great shinobi villages. And once war broke out, other villages that had also suffered heavy losses in the Land of Whirlpools might seize the chance to get involved, forming a coalition against Konoha.
People were forgetful.
With so much time having passed and the Land of Whirlpools ultimately unharmed, few in Konoha were still paying attention to that old incident.
Their attention had now completely shifted to the Kumo envoy. For a matter that could potentially lead to war, it was impossible not to draw public attention.
And Tsunade, whose reputation had soared after she defeated the ninja alliance in the Land of Whirlpools, inevitably became a hot topic of discussion.
Public opinion had already begun to turn against her. Although no one said anything openly, many people couldn't help but think that this looming crisis was caused by her.
If she hadn't insisted on interfering in the Land of Whirlpools' war, things never would've escalated this far.
If she had defeated the alliance purely for Konoha's sake, no one would have blamed her. But her actions had ultimately benefited the Land of Whirlpools, while the consequences now had to be borne by Konoha, something that some citizens found hard to accept.
Some people argued that with her overwhelming strength, even if war did break out, the other villages wouldn't gain the upper hand, but still, most people didn't want a war at all.
Among the various ninja villages, nearly everyone in their middle ages or older had lived through the Warring States period or the First Great Ninja War.
These people had only recently begun to enjoy peace, why would they want another war?
---
Late at night, in Konoha's underground research lab, thanks to a large influx of experimental subjects, many from different villages, skilled in various jutsu, and some even possessing bloodline limits, Shin and Orochimaru had made rapid, breakthrough progress in their research on chakra nature transformation.
Using these subjects, they began to study the principles behind fusing different chakra natures, with the ultimate goal of unlocking non-hereditary bloodline limit through scientific means.
If this research could succeed, it might one day be possible for highly talented ninja to wield bloodline limit without needing the right bloodline.
Such research would be revolutionary.
Because of this, Shin, who had originally planned to leave early, was pulled back by Orochimaru and forced to stay, he wasn't allowed to go home until they determined a direction for the next stage of research.
Helplessly, he was still stuck in the lab, looking miserable.
Tsunade was there too. But she didn't interrupt the two of them. Instead, she sat quietly in a corner, resting her chin on her hand, her bright eyes unblinking as she gazed at the busy Shin.
She couldn't help it, his serious face was handsome...
