Tightening Konoha's Strings

After Chiyo spoke, the Kazekage's Office fell completely silent.

Immediately, the Sunagakure Ninja felt humiliated and jumped up to refute them.

Jonin Fusha said, "How can we ask the enemy for help?"

Chiyo didn't even glance at him. "Konoha is an ally, not an enemy."

Jonin Shajin's face flushed red as he shouted, "Sunagakure is Five Great Shinobi Villages! To have to ask for help after being attacked is utterly shameful!"

Chiyo sneered, "Shame?"

"What's more shameful than the Sunagakure being breached by two enemies? What's more shameful than the Fifth Kazekage being kidnapped right in front of you?"

The Sunagakure Ninja fell silent.

But a few seconds later, someone muttered quietly, "It's not like the Fifth Hokage hasn't broken through before. Last time, it's just that he didn't manage to capture the Fourth Kazekage."

Chiyo was speechless.

The guy who was muttering quietly was met with angry glares from all the Sunagakure Ninja, and he shrank into a ball.

Chiyo took several deep breaths before speaking again, "Faced with the dire situation of Sunagakure's fall, you bastards are actually arguing about who should be held responsible?"

Chiyo picked up the photo and said, "You're not arguing about how to rescue the Fifth Kazekage, so it seems you all recognize who these two are, right?"

"Even I, an old woman who's almost dead, know that this Golden-Haired is Deidara from Iwagakure, who stole the show during the Joint Chunin Ninja Exams three years ago."

"And this Short Black Ugly fellow is a puppet of our Sunagakure. The one controlling it is very likely Puppeteer from Sunagakure, and Puppeteer at the Kage-level Ninja level."

Chiyo sighed, silently thinking to herself: It might be my dear grandson.

But on the surface, she concealed it well, saying without the slightest hesitation, "Although there are only two enemies, they are both Kage-level Ninja."

"And the only Kage-level Ninja that Sunagakure can still fight is the Fifth Kazekage Gaara was just kidnapped. Haha, how pathetic."

"The Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, doesn't even have a single Kage-level Ninja capable of stepping forward to settle this matter."

"No wonder you're all pretending to be blind and spouting nonsense. You know you can't save the Fifth Kazekage Fifth Kazekage, so you're just stalling for time until he's killed, then there'll be no need to save him."

Chiyo's words ripped open the darkest thoughts in the hearts of the Sunagakure Ninja, instantly making them feel utterly ashamed.

Jonin Baki was a disciple of the Fourth Kazekage and also the teacher of the Fifth Kazekage. He genuinely wanted to save Gaara, but he was misled by the old guys just now.

Upon hearing Chiyo's words, Baki, realizing what had happened, flew into a rage. He stood up and shouted, "You bastards!"

"When the enemy attacked, you were all helpless, but the Fifth Kazekage stepped forward and single-handedly withstood the enemy's attack."

"It was the Fifth Kazekage who sacrificed himself to save Sunagakure and your lives. How can you abandon the Fifth Kazekage? Are you still Ninja of Sunagakure?"

"Do you even deserve to be called human beings?"

No one answered Baki's question, but no one avoided Baki's angry glare.

The Sunagakure Ninja seemed to be asking in response with their eyes, "Those are two Kage-level Ninja, and they're flying in the sky. What can we do?"

Under the watchful eyes of the Sunagakure Jonin, Baki suddenly realized that they were all elderly people over fifty years old, with cloudy, lifeless eyes and no fighting spirit whatsoever.

Baki finally realized that the backbone of Sunagakure had long been broken. No wonder his disciples were so obedient to Konoha and were desperately training younger Genin.

This made him even more convinced that Sunagakure could not exist without the Fifth Kazekage, otherwise there would be no hope at all.

Baki turned to Chiyo and said, "Chiyo, I will go to Konoha immediately to ask the Fifth Hokage for help. We must rescue the Fifth Kazekage no matter what."

Chiyo nodded, then added, "Take Temari with you and contact the Nara Clan for help."

Baki was taken aback, then his face turned bright red, but he still forced himself to nod in shame.

Chiyo's meaning was clear: she, on behalf of Sunagakure, agreed to Temari and Shikamaru Nara's marriage in exchange for Konoha's support.

This was certainly not just a simple agreement to a marriage; it also subtly indicated that Sunagakure would henceforth completely submit to Konoha.

Due to the strength of the Fifth Hokage Shazo, Natsume, Konoha was the undisputed overlord of the Ninja World, and Sunagakure's attitude towards Konoha was naturally not as perfunctory as that of the neighboring timeline.

It wasn't just the Sunagakure Jonin around the bush; Baki and Chiyo's backbone had long been broken by Shazo, though they refused to admit it.

No matter how much they resisted in their hearts, they couldn't bring themselves to say they wouldn't rely on Konoha, and their actions honestly expressed the respectful attitude they should have.

For example, when it came to asking for help, Baki didn't dare to be negligent in the slightest towards the Fifth Hokage Shazo, and decided without hesitation to personally make the trip and beg for the Fifth Hokage's support.

When Baki from the other timeline asked the Fifth Hokage Tsunade for help, he simply sent a letter. Not only would he not dare to do that, but even the Sunagakure Ninja who Messenger Hawk wouldn't dare to do it.

Everyone knows that the Fifth Hokage Shazo, Sunagakure dares to offend him, that bastard—oh no, that old man—will immediately run to Sunagakure and tear their house down.

It's not like he hasn't done it before.

It wasn't just Sunagakure; he kicked up several strongholds throughout the Ninja World. Only Iwagakure was lucky enough to escape unscathed thanks to the Third Tsuchikage 'Iwagakure reputation.

Thinking of the Fifth Hokage Shazo's sour face, Chiyo felt a chill run down her spine and had no choice but to lower her guard and resistance towards Konoha, even pushing Temari forward on her own initiative.

The other Jonin of Sunagakure remained silent, tacitly approving of the two's decision.

Two days later, Baki and Temari arrived at Konoha, having traveled a long way. Since the Konoha Ninja had informed the Konoha by phone after entering the Land of Land of Fire, Shikaku Nara Shikamaru Nara greeted them at the Main Gate.

By this time, the Main Gate of Konoha could no longer conceal the Skyscraper within. Baki and Temari were stunned by the completely transformed Konoha before they even entered.

Once he regained his composure, Baki anxiously asked, "When can I see the Fifth Hokage?"

Shikaku Nara shook his head and said, "Baki, don't worry."

"The Lord Hokage already knows why you've come and is discussing the details of your support with the Council members. You'll be able to depart soon."

"You should rest for a bit and eat something before you go back with the Support Force."

As he spoke, Shikaku Nara dragged Baki off to drink, while Temari was pulled away by Shikamaru to go play with their friends who were taking the Chunin Ninja Exams together.

How can we get Baki to meet the Fifth Hokage now?

It should be noted that the entire Konoha 20-Person Group was doing their utmost to dissuade their Lord Hokage from personally leading the Support Force.

Kakashi Hatake said with a look of horror in his eyes, "Lord Hokage, you must be clear about your place!"

"If you personally lead the team and leave Konoha in a grand manner, Sunagakure will be in an uproar, and even Iwagakure and Kumogakure will be terrified."

"They're all afraid you'll suddenly turn back halfway, using the pretense of chasing the two people who attacked Sunagakure as a cover to attack them instead."

"That is to say, the completely decadent Kirigakure and those Shinobu villages are not worried, because they all believe that you no longer care about them and will not personally take action against these weaklings."

Shazo stroked his chin with satisfaction. "That's right. I really can't be bothered with small villages, and Kirigakure is indeed too weak to be worth my attention."

"But these good-for-nothings actually think I'd use my trip to Sunagakure as a cover-up; they're treating me like a thief who's ashamed to show his face!"

"What I want to do and how I want to do it have to be my own decision, not yours, and certainly not theirs."

"Since they dare to gather information from me like this, then I, the Hokage, will go and raid their base, and show them that the Fifth Hokage is not someone they can fathom!"

Kakashi Hatake was dumbfounded, completely unable to comprehend the Lord Hokage's thought process. How could the Hokage interpret his simple explanation as a slander against him?

But what the Fifth Hokage was about to do was too terrifying, Kakashi Hatake could only cling even tighter to the Hokage's leg and desperately try to dissuade him.

Finally, even Shisui Uchiha joined in the dissuasion efforts, which finally made Shazo relent and ask, "I don't have to go, but who will protect my students?"

"Ah?"

The turn of events was so abrupt that the Jonin of Konoha were all stunned, and it took them more than ten seconds to remember who the Lord Hokage was talking about.

The planned reinforcements were Team 7 and Team 3 Konoha, along with their respective instructors, so their strength should have been sufficient.

Furthermore, Naruto Uzumaki's strength is already comparable to Kakashi Hatake's, so why protect him?

Upon hearing the question from the Konoha High Command Ninja, Shazo immediately flew into a rage and unceremoniously flicked the foreheads of each of the Department Head present.

Even Jiraiya and Tsunade, who were sitting silently to the side, were not spared. Shisui Uchiha was hit three times in a row as punishment.

After playing the music for all 18 Konoha Jonin, Shazo Zuo called in Uchiha Izumi and had her recount the information about the Tailed Beast and Jinchuriki of various ninja villages that had been involved in incidents or gone missing.

After Uchiha Izumi finished speaking, Shazo saw his fiancée off before asking, "Did you deserve that blow just now?"

At this moment, the Jonin of Konoha all realized how serious the situation was. They all nodded with stiff faces, admitting that they had made a mistake.

In particular, Inoichi Yamanaka, who was in charge of the Intelligence Department, was so ashamed that he wanted to disappear.

The Uchiha Clan, whose primary function is collecting Business Intelligence and whose intelligence gathering capabilities are rather unprofessional, have managed to acquire such crucial information.

However, the Konoha Intelligence Department, led by Inoichi Yamanaka, was completely unaware of this.

This is the Intelligence Department, one of the top three core departments out of 15, with over 1,000 Ninja and tens of thousands of peripheral intelligence personnel, and an annual Intelligence Operations Budget of tens of billions of ryo.

Graduates of the Ninja Academy know how important information about the Tailed Beast and Jinchuriki is, but six of them have gone wrong in a row, and the Intelligence Department has not noticed anything at all.

Furthermore, Sunagakure took the initiative to request assistance and proactively delivered the intelligence to Konoha, yet Inoichi Yamanaka didn't realize there was a problem—this is dereliction of duty!

The Fifth Hokage Shazo, said softly, "Inoichi Yamanaka, resign and go to the Staff Department to assist Shikaku Nara."

Kneeling on the ground Inoichi Yamanaka sigh of relief and said guiltily, "Thank you, Lord Hokage. This oversight was entirely my fault. Please—"

Shazo interrupted him, "Still thinking of pleading for others?"

"Just mind your own business and don't interfere with anything else!"

Inoichi Yamanaka dared not argue any further, repeatedly kowtowing and saying, "Yes, yes! I will never dare to do it again."

Shazo looked at everyone and said loudly, "As the Department Head of the intelligence department, Inoichi Yamanaka Jonin certainly bears unshirkable responsibility for this intelligence incident, but it also shows that there are problems with all the Ninja in the Intelligence Department!"

"Slackness! Neglect of duty! Thinking that the world is at peace, so you can indulge in pleasure as you please!"

"They've only enjoyed three years of peace, yet they've become so lax. They must be severely reprimanded!"

"Later, you will elect a new Department Head of the Intelligence Department. I have only one requirement: this Konoha Ninja must be strict enough to be ruthless in dealing with unqualified intelligence Ninja."

"Those who deserve punishment should be punished, those who deserve expulsion should be expelled, and those who deserve arrest and imprisonment should all be arrested!"

The 13 Department Head present answered tremblingly, "Yes, Lord Hokage, we will definitely choose the strictest Intelligence Department."

Shazo continued, "I know that the Intelligence Department isn't the only one with problems due to negligence."

"However, the Intelligence Department was rather Bad Luck. In all the struggles of the Ninja World, intelligence is the priority, so their problems were exposed first, and even more Bad Luck, they surfaced due to the most serious issues."

"Inoichi Yamanaka from the Intelligence Department actually took the blame for you, giving you a chance to correct your mistakes. That's why I only asked him to resign and didn't impose any further punishment."

"But if other departments make any major mistakes, the Department Head in charge will definitely be severely punished!"

The Department Head bowed their heads in unison, sincerely pledging their loyalty. "Thank you, Lord Hokage. If we commit another grave error, we are willing to accept any punishment."

In truth, these Konoha Jonin all felt that if they made a serious mistake after such a stern reminder and reprimand from the Fifth Hokage, how could they possibly accept the Fifth Hokage's punishment?

He should just hand over his work honestly and then Seppuku commit seppuku.

Shazo saw that all 13 Department Head and Inoichi Yamanaka were tense, and nodded in satisfaction.

He said, "A few days ago, I was talking to Orochimaru about the current state of the village, and we discovered that after just three years of peace, everyone has become complacent. Konoha has countless hidden dangers, but they are still concealed and have not yet erupted."

"None of us expected these hidden dangers to surface so quickly."

"But this is actually a good thing; once a problem comes to light and is seen, it can be addressed."

He took one last deep breath and said, "Don't let me down."

All the Jonin, including Jiraiya and Tsunade, bowed their heads deeply.

"Yes, Fifth Hokage."