Konoha Year 53, early autumn.
Inside the Hokage Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen smoked his pipe with a haggard expression.
Over the past few days, intelligence claiming that Kushina was the Masked Man had spread throughout the Ninja World.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had indeed intended to suppress Kushina, and he had even intended to let Danzo spread some slanderous rumors about her.
But directly accusing Kushina of being the Masked Man who had single-handedly caused Konoha's Nine-Tails Night was utterly inappropriate.
While this would damage Kushina's reputation, one must not forget that the Masked Man had attacked the Jinchuriki of the other Four Great Shinobi Villages. That was an indisputable fact.
Although several years had passed since then, if Kushina Uzumaki was truly the Masked Man, the Four Great Shinobi Villages would absolutely pressure Konoha.
Konoha had already been severely weakened after the Third Shinobi World War. Afterward, it had fought a medium-scale war against Kumogakure, remained locked in a standoff for quite some time, and shed plenty of blood.
Now that things had finally been peaceful for a while, this had happened. The Third Hokage's scalp was about to explode.
He had repeatedly pressed Danzo about whether he had spread the rumor, but Danzo stubbornly refused to admit it.
Danzo: If I'd thought of spreading this news, would I have waited until now?
If I had spread this news earlier, your position as Third Hokage would have been unstable, the Uchiha Clan would never have risen to prominence, and Kushina would have been even less of a concern. What a perfect opportunity to become Hokage!
And it had indeed happened.
On Sarutobi Hiruzen's desk now sat four letters seeking confirmation—letters that were also threats.
This time might be even more dangerous than the Third Shinobi World War.
The Third Shinobi World War