Malphegor
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IUTT: Ch. 97
🕑 Added 2025-05-26 16:24:26 +0000 UTCTsunade and Shin had finally left the Land of Whirlpools. They had stayed there for a full two months. But the gains had been immense.
Just the wealth Tsunade possessed, equivalent to thirty years of Konoha's financial revenue, felt almost unreal.
As expected, the earning capacity of a nation had been on a completely different level compared to a single village. No wonder the daimyō was willing to spend so much each year to support the ninja villages. It turned out he never really took it seriously.
After all, ninjas didn't engage in production; for most of them, the only way to make money was by completing missions issued by the daimyō's government. And on top of that, training a ninja was extremely expensive. This led to a situation where most of the ninja villages were genuinely strapped for cash.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, the only one that was never short on funds was Kumo.
Konoha could have been financially stable too, but the upper echelons were too greedy, supporting those four people was almost beyond the village's capabilities. The greatest gain, however, had been in Tsunade's reputation and prestige. As they neared Konoha, Shin returned home on his own.
Tsunade walked through Konoha's gates alone. Her return, naturally, caused a huge stir. Wherever she passed, people were shouting, "Lady Tsunade is back!"
Soon, large crowds gathered around her, some asking about the war in the Land of Whirlpools, some inquiring about the country's current situation, and others concerned about how she had been over the past two months.
Tsunade responded to everyone politely, and then dragged her exhausted body home.
"I'm dead tired!" she collapsed on the sofa, unwilling to move. "Dealing with the villagers is more exhausting than fighting a war."
Shin put down the pan, walked over, and started massaging her back, helping her relax.
"Oh right," As if something had just occurred to him, he smiled and asked, "Did anyone ask when you're going to become Hokage?"
"Uh…" Tsunade recalled awkwardly, "Someone actually did say they'd firmly support me becoming Hokage."
"How did you respond?"
"I said I had no interest in the Hokage position, what else could I say?" Tsunade replied helplessly.
"Looks like Homura's setback in the Land of Whirlpools is starting to have some real impact."
About ten days ago, Homura had visited Uzushio. While talking with Ashina, he had taken a very humble stance, sincerely trying to repair the relationship between Konoha and the Land of Whirlpools.
But Ashina silenced him with: "Right now, in the whole of Konoha, I recognize no one, only Tsunade and Mito. You want reconciliation with Konoha? Fine. Come talk to me again when Tsunade becomes Hokage. Otherwise, the Land of Whirlpools and Konoha are destined to be enemies. If you're not happy about it, go back and tell Hiruzen to send troops! Didn't Danzō already make threats? So why haven't we seen a single soldier from Konoha? Is it because Hiruzen got scared the moment he heard there might be a war? Makes sense, he's the kind of cowardly, backstabbing person who would do that. All I have to say is this, until Tsunade becomes Hokage, I have nothing to do with Konoha!"
This conversation, spread intentionally by certain people, was already circulating widely in Konoha.
But who could you really blame?
For a once-loyal ally to say such harsh things, it had to mean their hearts had completely turned cold. Once this spread, no matter what Hiruzen's reasons were for not sending troops to help the Land of Whirlpools, the damage to his reputation was already done.
Some people believed that he truly had Konoha's best interests at heart and that was why he withheld military support.
But Torifu made a good point: "If we retreated before seeing even a single soldier from the enemy alliance, then what would happen next time the other four villages jointly pressured them with demands, would they give in again?"
That would be cowardice. And no qualified Hokage could accept that. So if this reasoning was true, then it only proved one thing, Hiruzen was indeed cowardly and incompetent.
On the other hand, if he deliberately turned a blind eye and let people die while coveting the wealth of an ally, then he was truly shameless.
Of course, a third narrative had also emerged recently.
That Hiruzen really did become scared and didn't send troops, out of cowardice. But at the same time, he still harbored greed for his ally's wealth.
So in this version, he was not only cowardly and incompetent, he was also downright shameless.
Once this narrative started spreading, it quickly gained a lot of support. With the encouragement of spies from other villages, this version even became the mainstream opinion for a while.
As a result, he had been having a massive headache lately. He had completely run out of options.
He had even thought, out of sheer frustration, about quitting as Hokage altogether and handing the position to Tsunade. After all, she was at the height of her popularity now, and there would be no problem passing the title to her.
But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Especially since he knew that many of the rumors spreading behind the scenes had been deliberately stirred up by others, this only made him more unwilling to let go.
After a long period of investigation, some sources of the rumors pointed directly to the former Senju clan.
When he learned the truth, he flew into a rage, wishing he could immediately arrest those former Senju members. But in the end, the intelligence that pointed to the former Senju clan all turned out to be trivial or inconsequential.
As for the important information, either the source couldn't be found, or it came from spies of other villages. He couldn't just arrest the former Senju members and treat them like enemy spies, could he?
If he did, even if nothing happened to them, he would be the one in trouble first. But the more this was the case, the less Hiruzen wanted to step down.
His obsession with power had completely twisted him. In that moment, the madness in his heart reached its peak.
"Someone come in," Hiruzen said.
An ANBU ninja suddenly appeared, kneeling on one knee and awaiting orders.
"Go summon Danzō to see me."
"Danzō-sama is currently under house arrest for reflection. Should I—"
The ANBU ninja was just about to ask a question when he looked up and saw Hiruzen's eyes, sending a chill through his entire body.
"Since when does the Hokage's order require questioning by the ANBU?" Hiruzen gripped his smoking pipe.
The ANBU ninja immediately lowered his head and admitted his mistake. "I'll notify him right away!"
After that, the ninja fled from the Hokage's office as if escaping danger. Once he was gone, Hiruzen let out a long breath, realizing he had lost control of himself just now.
He quickly composed his emotions and returned to his usual demeanor.
Twenty minutes later, Danzō slowly entered the Hokage office, leaning on a cane. As the door closed, he found a seat and sat down without saying a word.
He was still angry.
It was your idea. I was just the one who carried it out. So why was he the one getting blamed and criticized in the end?
It just showed that Hiruzen still wasn't a master of shouldering blame like Danzō. Or maybe he just didn't get enough in return, so he deliberately showed Danzō a cold face.
"If I give you my full support, how soon can you establish Root?" Hiruzen didn't bother placating him, he jumped straight to the point.
"Are you serious?" Danzō immediately dropped the attitude, springing to his feet in excitement.
"You were right, where there is light, there must also be shadow." Hiruzen still wore his usual warm smile, but his tone was chilling. "You know this, because I've always been too lenient and trusting, even petty criminals have grown bold enough to act out. It's time... to change that."
