Malphegor
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IUTT: Ch. 77
🕑 Added 2025-05-20 20:16:57 +0000 UTC"There are a total of twelve people who secretly fueled the flames behind the scenes. Among them, seven have been identified as spies sent by other villages into Konoha. The identities of the others are still being verified."
"Spies?" Hiruzen's mood slightly improved.
If they were spies, then this whole matter could be explained. At least it would offer some sort of explanation to the villagers of Konoha.
"Which villages are these spies from?" he continued asking.
"They're from all four of the great ninja villages, and one of them is even from Ame."
"What are they trying to do?" Hiruzen frowned. "Do they really intend to make a move against Konoha?"
"No, Hokage-sama!" the Yamanaka ninja said. "We've already examined their memories. The orders they received this time did not come from the villages behind them."
"I knew it wasn't that simple. Who's behind this?"
"We don't know."
"You don't know? Didn't you read their memories? How could you not know?"
"Reporting!" The Yamanaka ninja frowned. "All of these spies returned home that night and found a mysterious letter that had suddenly appeared on their tables. The letters directly exposed their identities as spies and included evidence to prove it. At the same time, the letters demanded they do one thing, or else their spy identities would be revealed to Konoha's leadership, including you. That task was to publicly and fervently praise you, while disparaging Lady Tsunade, stirring up chaos in Konoha."
Hiruzen fell into a long silence. The first person that came to his mind was Shin. Among those he knew, Shin was unparalleled when it came to secretly delivering letters like this, without anyone noticing.
But this thought was dismissed almost immediately.
Though Shin was the most likely person to pull something like this off, it didn't mean others couldn't do it as well. Moreover, he had no connections or resources in Konoha. How could he have precisely identified all twelve spies?
It just didn't sound like something Shin could have pulled off!
But then who could it be?
After getting nowhere, Hiruzen continued asking, "And these spies just agreed to it?"
"Hokage-sama, some of them were hoping to get lucky and escape notice. Others… Others had come to Konoha in the first place with the intent to cause trouble at a critical moment. Now that someone knows their identities and they realize there's no way to pass this test, and since this plan aligns with their original goals, they simply went along with it. Should this matter be made public to the villagers?"
"Make it public," Hiruzen ordered.
When it came to spies, every village handled them harshly. Even revealing their actions publicly wouldn't be enough to provoke them. If any village caused trouble now, it would only prove they had already been prepared for this and that the spy incident was just an excuse.
He even considered using this as a chance to test the attitudes of the other great ninja villages. Though the matter seemed to be temporarily resolved, his mood was far from calm.
The dozen or so main perpetrators had indeed been uncovered. But those few didn't have the ability to spread the message across Konoha overnight.
There were still others fanning the flames, they just used more subtle, gentler methods, making them harder to identify. The biggest mystery remained: the true mastermind.
Who was it? What did they want?
After methodically eliminating possibilities, his gaze finally settled on Danzō.
Sometimes, when intelligence was lacking and a clear judgment was impossible, the best approach was to look at who stood to benefit the most.
As the one who knew Danzō best, Hiruzen was fully aware that Danzō's desire to become Hokage hadn't diminished with time, it had only grown stronger.
This incident hurt both Hiruzen and Tsunade, but Danzō came out unscathed.
However, the method used this time was somewhat restrained, not quite the ruthless approach he was known for. Had the man matured? Or was this just a test run?
Once the seed of suspicion was planted, it inevitably grew and took root.
---
The mastermind whom Hiruzen had conveniently ruled out was, at that very moment, in the Land of Whirlpools giving instructions to Tsunade.
"Remember, your safety is more important than anything else," Shin said solemnly.
"Never try to act tough on the battlefield. If you're in danger, immediately activate the Flying Thunder God mark. I'll come to you instantly."
"Don't let anything happen to you!"
"Got it already~" Tsunade dragged out her words in mock impatience. "How many times have you said that? My ears are getting calluses from hearing it!"
"Then let me say it one last time. If anything happens to you, there won't be a corner of this world that remains untouched by my response."
Shin's words startled Tsunade, but at the same time, filled her heart with sweetness. Because it meant, in his heart, she meant more than anything else.
"Alright, I promise I'll be fine!" she assured him.
She was genuinely afraid that if something did happen to her, he would unleash a rampage across the shinobi world without hesitation.
If he truly decided to bring destruction to the ninja world, the result would be catastrophic...
---
In the Kiri ninja camp, Genji frowned deeply upon receiving the intelligence. "What? The citizens of Uzushio are all being orderly evacuated under ninja escort? And they're even bringing supplies with them?"
One of their original plans had been to sustain their campaign in the Land of Whirlpools by waging war and looting resources. Although the Kiri army had already arrived, the journey had been long and exhausting. The initial batch of rations they brought was only enough to last five days. And according to the plan, the supply ships carrying additional food wouldn't arrive until the next day, tomorrow.
Now, a difficult decision lay before him: Should they pursue the fleeing civilians and seize their supplies? Or should they stay put and wait?
If they gave chase, there was a risk of running into ambushes along the way. But if they didn't, and the civilians managed to retreat successfully with all their property and supplies, the cost of this war would skyrocket.
Kiri came to the Land of Whirlpools to reap benefits. If all the civilians left, how would there be anything left to gain?
Even if the property and supplies didn't just disappear, there was no telling who would get their hands on them in the end.
"Genji-sama, what should we do?" Fuguki asked, carrying the massive Samehada on his back.
Genji didn't answer immediately. With his hands clasped behind his back, he paced the command tent, pondering a strategy. He had never seen anything like this. The war hadn't started yet, but civilians were already evacuating in an organized manner.
But it wasn't entirely his fault. The great ninja villages hadn't been established for long, and the only large-scale conflict they had experienced was the First Great Ninja War.
Wars before that, during the Warring States period, had been fought between ninja clans and rarely involved civilians directly. So Kiri had been completely caught off guard.
"Send scouts immediately to check for traps and ambushes along the route, and also—"
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Just as he was giving the order, a series of violent explosions suddenly erupted in rapid succession.
