Parasites (Please Keep Reading!)

This was probably the most serious information leak in recent years.

Aside from the Konoha's White Fang incident, whose classification remained unclear, this event had now caused a massive uproar throughout Konoha.

There was no way to suppress the news. Those utterly shameless ninja had casually blown up the Konoha Library, sending smoke and flames into the sky for every ninja and civilian to see.

The civilians probably did not understand just how important the things inside had been, but the jonin's hearts instantly sank halfway. Hadn't their confidence in returning come from the brothers at the border, who kept Blut Vene active all day and jumped into enemy territory like they were invincible?

But now, the moment you dared to jump over, a Blut Arterie Sage Art Great Fireball would come crashing down and turn you straight into an ionized state. You could keep dancing in the air for the rest of your life. This dealt a tremendous blow to the Third Hokage's prestige, once again throwing Konoha's previously stable situation into turmoil.

Although Sosuke Aizen promised at the following meeting that he would spend time improving and upgrading Blut Vene and Blut Arterie, everyone knew perfectly well that the most important thing was the underlying concept. Once the concept was right, no matter how they improved it or developed it, there was only so much they could achieve.

Konoha's advantage in wartime technology had been shattered in an instant, leaving everyone inwardly fearful.

Moreover, according to the Data Report, unlike Konoha's lax carelessness, the Four Great Shinobi Villages had apparently joined forces as never before to steal Konoha's military technology.

For this theft operation, they had dispatched nearly every spy and undercover ninja they could spare. Taking advantage of the moment when the jonin were observing Blut Arterie, they used their numerical superiority to forcibly break through the relatively weak defenses of the library.

Meanwhile, another group of ninja specializing in diversionary tactics attacked the archive room and both sides of Hokage Rock. Under those circumstances, the ANBU ninja could only split up to defend multiple locations. If Hokage Rock had been destroyed, it would have been like Konoha being slapped across the face.

Even knowing that no sane person would do such a thing, even if the odds were one in ten thousand, they could not gamble on it. They could only grit their teeth and fall for the classic lure-the-tiger-from-the-mountain scheme. The subsequent investigation revealed that all four great nations outside Konoha had participated. There were even several corpses from Takigakure, though no one knew what they had come for.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was furious beyond measure, yet there was nothing he could do. He had never expected Konoha to place such immense pressure on the others.

Konoha had clearly put on an appearance of retreat, yet the enemy had instead joined forces even more aggressively to break Konoha's technological monopoly. In the Third Hokage's eyes, this should have been impossible.

But now, what they were after was obvious.

The pressure brought by Blut Vene and Blut Arterie was far more terrifying than imagined—so terrifying that the enemy was willing to accept such an enormous strategic disadvantage in exchange for technological resources.

After this battle, the Four Great Shinobi Villages' networks within Konoha could be said to have been completely wiped out. Every contact point and minor base had been uprooted. To ensure smooth communications and carry out their plans, the outposts of these major villages had even begun sharing facilities with one another.

The more the Third Hokage looked at the enemy casualty figures in the reports, the heavier and more pained his heart became. Because the more that was true, the more it proved the value of Blut Vene and Blut Arterie. He could not even blame anyone, because every piece of evidence showed that this had been an all-or-nothing gamble.

They had gambled that the Third Hokage would seek glory and gather all the jonin together to witness the debut of Blut Arterie. They had gambled that Sosuke Aizen lived up to his name, that he was a graceful gentleman who would make copies of all the materials and store them in the library archives so Konoha could take root and flourish. They had gambled that Konoha would never abandon the Land of Rain and would act in secret.

Their string of actions proved that they had won their gamble.

For the first time since the First Great Ninja War, the Four Great Shinobi Villages had joined forces—and once again, it was against Konoha.

Faced with such a situation, even Sosuke Aizen could not suppress all the dissatisfaction and clamor. The Uchiha Clan even publicly declared that if the Third Hokage was old and weak, the Uchiha Clan was willing to provide jonin to assist him.

In the past, such a declaration would have been fiercely condemned and dismissed outright. But faced with such enormous losses, everyone now seemed inclined to turn a blind eye. Back when Konoha's White Fang had not explained what mission he had undertaken—though under Aizen's propaganda, it was more or less assumed that he had killed the Kazekage—merely saying there had been losses had caused such a fierce reaction.

Yet because of his own preferences and judgment, the Third Hokage had brought such enormous harm upon Konoha. Shouldn't the Third Hokage show something now?

"...The Third Hokage won't let go."

Sitting in the Writing Room, Sosuke Aizen's brush danced across the rice paper as he wrote the character for "heart."

"The Sarutobi Clan is relying on the Third Hokage. He loves this village, and he loves his clan as well, so he will definitely keep holding on. Besides, this cannot be blamed on him."

"..."

Before Aizen, Tsunade seemed to have been frozen in midair.

Her beautiful face was filled with fury, and immense Chakra gathered around her fist. The Chakra Enhanced Strength that Tsunade was famous for condensed in her palm as she poised to strike through the air.

Yet even after Aizen had finished writing the character for "heart" on the board and begun mounting it, Tsunade remained in that furious pose, suspended in the air in her white Fourth Division Haori, frozen as though she were about to strike.

In a corner of the courtyard, Hatake Sakumo boredly held a small dish of breadcrumbs in one hand as he squatted by the pond and fed the koi.

Behind the Haori of the 11th Division, Dan Katō of the 2nd Division was also frozen in place, surprise on his face as if he had been about to say something to Tsunade in midair.

After Hanging on the completed calligraphy among the countless fluttering calligraphy pieces in the Writing Room, Sosuke Aizen sat upright at the desk. Looking at Tsunade's seemingly fierce face, he wore a gentle, calm smile.

"An hour has passed. Have you finally calmed down, Senior Tsunade?"

"..."

As though time had begun to move once more, Tsunade immediately fell from the air and landed rather awkwardly in front of Sosuke Aizen.

By habit, she would definitely have first noticed her own appearance and then given everyone who had seen her in such a sorry state a punch each. But Tsunade now merely looked at Sosuke Aizen numbly.

Her lovely face, one utterly unrelated to her age, was filled with emptiness and confusion, even a trace of helplessness.

"...Why?"

"What?"

"I'm asking you why..."

Sitting on the ground, Tsunade drew in a long breath, suppressing some emotion as she said quietly:

"Didn't you want to control Konoha? Didn't you want to seize all of this? Why did you let those people invade the village? Why? I don't understand. What exactly are you trying to do? I can't understand it at all..."

"If I said I was a terrible villain, hoping to use Konoha's resources to secretly control the entire world, and that when necessary I would lead the 13th Division in a great rebellion that swept across the entire ninja world, ultimately becoming the strongest dictator and sitting upon the throne in the sky looking down upon the Human World—would that satisfy you?"

Looking at Tsunade, who sat on the ground with her head lowered and her body in disarray, Sosuke Aizen shook his head in disappointment.

"Once the other party's actions exceed your understanding, you begin to use what you know best to speculate and compare. Then you project your own worst desires onto others and claim that this is what they must be thinking."

"Though I have seen it countless times, every time I see it, I wonder what an immensely great sage the Soul King must have been to allow all this to happen when he witnessed it. You always like to use your own way of thinking to judge me. That is mistaken."

"Because the gap between us is simply too vast, and the gap in our understanding is too deeply divided. What I want to do, what I intend to do, is often beyond your comprehension. Or rather, even if you understand it, your worldview and perception will leave you unable to accept it. But those are my true actions."

"I'm asking why you let them steal your technology! Wasn't that yours?!"

"Didn't I say so? What I hope for is that everyone can progress together. I hope more people can develop the courage and will to move forward."

Watching Tsunade growl low on the ground like a grievously wounded beast, Aizen's expression became ever gentler and more pitying, as though he were looking at some stubbornly misguided child.

"Indeed, these past years, I have been helping Konoha strengthen its foundations, and the Results of my work have all remained in Konoha. But when did I ever say that I would only help Konoha produce such things?"

"..."

"However, this time had nothing to do with me."

Smiling at the ashen-faced Tsunade, Aizen sat back down at the desk and resumed writing.

"Do not underestimate the other Ninja of this world. Konoha is not the only one with convictions and ideals. It is good to have a sense of ownership, but do not have too much of it, understand?"

"...But you clearly knew, yet you did not stop it?"

"What reason did I have to stop it? I gave Konoha powerful technology. I allowed Konoha to produce and live in stability. I created many systems and technologies for Konoha. And now, you wish to tell me that I failed to stop them from destroying Konoha. Then I would like to ask you something."

Adjusting the glasses on the Bridge of Nose, Aizen looked at Tsunade, who seemed to have realized something and shuddered. His smile gradually faded into a cold void.

"If I must help you with everything, then what meaning does your existence have for me? Are you parasites?"