Tense Konoha

Yichen didn't have the Sharingan, so he couldn't fully analyze the details of Yanagihara's Lightning Release after just one viewing. Since Tanimoto Naoto was willing to come a few more times, how could Yichen refuse?

Next, Yichen deliberately sent two ninjas, Shimoyama Tamaki and Nakada Tatsunori, who were not good at physical combat, to spar with Yanagihara. Yanagihara did not disappoint Yichen; in order to finish the battle quickly, he used the same Lightning Release Body Technique he had used before.

Finally, Yichen sent out Haraguchi Hampei, the strongest of Ikura's three disciples, to subdue Yanagihara.

Tanimoto Naoto was satisfied because he had obtained enough information, and Yanagihara's record of winning three consecutive matches and losing only once made him feel proud.

Yichen was also very satisfied. After these battles, especially the final First Shinobi War against Haraguchi Hampei, Yichen carefully observed the Lightning Release Ninjutsu used by Yanagihara. In the end, he gained a lot.

Yichen couldn't wait to get started on the development of the Chidori Flow.

However, there are quite a few ninjas from other villages within Iwagakure now, Yichen needs to keep himself at his peak condition at all times to deal with any unexpected situations.

The lively scene at Iwa ninja naturally did not escape Konoha's notice, and of course, the Iwa ninja had no intention of hiding it.

Konoha, Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned all the high-ranking advisors: Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura. At this point, Konoha only had three advisors left; there were originally other advisors, but they had all sacrificed themselves in this war.

The Konoha High-Level Meeting was rather somber. Although Konoha felt disgusted upon hearing that Iwa ninja was holding Joint Chunin Exams, they didn't really care.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's and the others' minds, no major power would be willing to participate in Joint Chunin Exams led by Iwa ninja.

But he was quickly proven wrong. The involvement of the Sunagakure was understandable, and the emergence of a powerful daimyo from the Land of Wind, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was acceptable. However, the addition of the Cloud ninja made Konoha unable to sit still any longer.

The Cloud ninja joined hastily before the exams began; their motives were impure, and their participation was mostly perfunctory. But Konoha was unaware of this.

Konoha only saw the Cloud ninja announce their participation in the Joint Chunin Exams at the last minute. Does that mean that the Iwa ninja and the Cloud ninja reached some kind of agreement in secret?

The combined forces of Iwa ninja, Cloud ninja, and Sunagakure are enough to deliver a fatal blow to Konoha, not to mention that Mist ninja is currently engaged in actual combat with Konoha.

If the three parties reach an agreement, Konoha will once again face a passive situation of four against one.

Perhaps we should also include the smaller countries like Rain Village and River ninja. Normally, these smaller countries wouldn't pose much of a threat to the Land of Fire, but Hanzo from Amegakure and the mysterious Kage Level from River Ninja Village are figures that the Konoha High-ranking officials cannot ignore.

Mitokado Homura broke the silence first. "Hiruzen, could we also hold a Joint Chunin Exams?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said, "Konoha is not in a suitable place to hold such an exam right now."

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't give a reason, but the others understood: Konoha was still in a state of de facto War State, and even if Konoha extended an invitation, no one would participate.

After a while, Utatane Koharu said, "Hiruzen, let's end the war in the Land of Land of Whirlpools as soon as possible."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes flashed as he looked at Shimura Danzō.

Shimura Danzō secretly furious; he was being made a scapegoat again. However, Danzo was used to this kind of thing and immediately said, "No way! Have you all forgotten how the Uchiha Clan disobeyed orders before?"

Mitokado Homura interjected, "In any case, the Uchiha Clan is a force of Konoha. Moreover, only by ending the war as soon as possible can we recover our strength in the future. Otherwise, the overall strength of Iwa ninja might really catch up."

Hiruzen Sarutobi a drag of his cigarette and said, "Let's end the war in the Land of Whirlpools as soon as possible."

After a pause, Hiruzen Sarutobi added, "Move a group of elite ninjas to cooperate with the Uchiha Clan to drive the Mist ninja back into the sea."

Shimura Danzō sneered inwardly. What do you mean by sending elite ninjas to cooperate with the Uchiha? You just want to deplete the Uchiha Clan's strength. Hmph, Hiruzen Sarutobi, you really are still that hypocritical Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Shimura Danzō was right. In a major battle, the casualty rate of elite ninjas would not be too high, but ordinary ninjas would suffer heavy losses.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's decision to send only elite ninjas instead of his main force clearly indicated his intention to use the Uchiha Clan as cannon fodder.

Mitokado Homura asked, "Who should lead the team?" He wasn't concerned about who would be used as cannon fodder; after all, suppressing the Uchiha Clan was a consensus among them, the only difference being the degree.

When this topic came up, Shimura Danzō's expression turned sour.

He was originally a good fit, and if he could defeat the Mist ninja at this time, his achievements would be considerable.

If it were before the Third Raikage's surprise attack, Danzo would definitely have tried to take the mission.

But now, having lost a large number of elite Danzo, Danzo is unable to compete for the Fourth Hokage in the near future. So he suggested Orochimaru instead.

Danzo's suggestion to Orochimaru wasn't to help him rise to Orochimaru, but rather because Orochimaru, like him, had suffered a defeat. Naturally, Orochimaru had also lost his eligibility for the Hokage election.

During the Third Shinobi War, among all the Konoha Kage Level, Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze made the greatest contributions. Although they suffered a defeat against Iwa ninja, they later redeemed themselves.

Minato Namikaze, in particular, not only achieved considerable merit in the battles against the Sunagakure, but also performed outstandingly in supporting Danzo.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi were to continue fulfilling his pre-war promise to let the ninja with the greatest battle achievements succeed him, then the most qualified person would be Minato Namikaze.

If Minato Namikaze were to go back to the Mist ninja battlefield and rack up more battle merits, Danzo feared that Hiruzen Sarutobi would take the opportunity to retreat.

Although Danzo's proposal was not without ulterior motives, Hiruzen Sarutobi might have readily agreed in the past. After all, Orochimaru was his disciple, and the merits Orochimaru had made could be attributed to him, his teacher.

However, as Hiruzen Sarutobi thought about the recent reports the Anbu had given him regarding Orochimaru, his brows furrowed deeply. Hiruzen Sarutobi had a feeling that this disciple was drifting further and further away from him.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Let Minato Namikaze lead the team."

"Hiruzen..." Danzo was about to say more, but Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, stopping him from continuing and moving on to the next topic.

"What's going on with River Ninja Village, Danzo? Explain yourself!"

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi mention the River Ninja Village, Danzo his spine, and his voice weakened slightly. "What River Ninja Village? I don't know what you're talking about."

"You might not understand River Ninja Village, but you should at least understand Akatsuki Organization. A small organization from the Land of Rain has a Kage Level member, and you didn't even report this to me? Do you even respect me as Hokage?" Hiruzen Sarutobi questioned Danzo sternly.

At this moment, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu also looked over in surprise and suspicion, as they knew nothing about the Akatsuki Organization either.

Seeing that the other three were dissatisfied with him, Danzo had no choice but to honestly confess about the Akatsuki Organization.

"The Rinnegan?!" When Danzo mentioned the Rinnegan, both Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were startled. "The legendary Sage Eye really exists?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly remembered something: his good disciple Jiraiya had mentioned taking in a student with the Rinnegan. At the time, Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to find out the child's whereabouts, but Jiraiya refused to reveal Nagato's information.

"Could this Rinnegan user be Jiraiya's student?" This possibility flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, and then he subconsciously thought, "Perhaps we can use Jiraiya's connections to bring the Rinnegan user into Konoha's camp."

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi deep in thought, Mitokado Homura spoke up, "Hiruzen, the Rinnegan is too important; we can't just ignore it."

Utatane Koharu added, "That's right. The owner of the Rinnegan is in the Land of Rivers Land of Rivers, which isn't far from us. Besides, the River ninja are now participating in the Joint Chunin Exams hosted by the Iwa ninja, which isn't a good thing."

Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi glared fiercely at Danzo again and said, "Danzo, explain clearly why the Akatsuki Organization went to the Land of Rivers to establish a ninja village."

Danzo was speechless. Who knew why the Akatsuki Organization didn't occupy the Land of Rain but instead chose the Land of Rivers? Hanzo was clearly at a disadvantage that day too.

Danzo initially wanted to keep it a secret, but seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's murderous gaze, he finally explained in detail how he and Hanzo had joined forces to eliminate the Akatsuki Organization.

These words left Hiruzen Sarutobi speechless. Utatane Koharu even further, directly questioning, "Danzo, why didn't you tell us about your alliance with Hanzo against Akatsuki Organization? Do you even care about us? And what's more, you haven't even gotten your hands on the Rinnegan yet!"

Danzo didn't seem to care much about Koharu Utatane Koharu's furious Utatane Koharu, but he did feel a pang of regret for her last words.

Mitokado Homura added, "What's worse is that after our Konoha attacked the Akatsuki and our plan was exposed, it was the Iwa ninja who came to our rescue. With things like this, Hiruzen, we probably need to make a decision sooner rather than later."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was also furious. He heard that Danzo had attacked the Rinnegan using such a despicable method as kidnapping. The worst part was, he failed! And with that, he dared to call himself the Darkness of the Ninja World?

Thinking about this, and hearing Mitokado Homura's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also somewhat unsure of what to do. He naturally understood what Mitokado Homura meant, which was to act quickly and strike first. But the problem was that Danzo had already made his move, Konoha had lost the initiative. It seemed impossible to pull off another surprise attack.

If a sneak attack didn't work, then they had to resort to force. So Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "How strong is that guy named Nagato? What abilities does his Rinnegan possess?"

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, Danzo hesitated, unsure how to answer.

"Bang!" Hiruzen Sarutobi his hand heavily on the desk and shouted, "Danzo, you've paid such a high price to turn a potential ally of Konoha into a mortal enemy. You didn't even figure out the enemy's strength?"

Danzo could only say, "The Rinnegan user at that time was probably only at the Kage level, and his raw strength wasn't outstanding. However, the Rinnegan's eye techniques are very unique; it has the ability to control gravity and repulsion, making it difficult for ordinary attacks to harm him."

"Furthermore, he possesses a massive amount of Chakra, and coupled with his red hair, I suspect he has connections to the Uzumaki Clan."

At this point, Danzo looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and said, "Hiruzen, although my actions have made the Akatsuki Organization wary of Konoha, there are still people in Konoha who can make the Akatsuki Organization lower their guard."

Upon hearing Danzo's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.