"Did Hiruzen Sarutobi get stripped of the Hokage position? Did Orochimaru become the acting Hokage?"
The next day, Tamura Hiroshi received intelligence from that side, mainly because Orochimaru and the others made no attempt to conceal it, openly sending word back to Konoha to publicize it. The entire Konoha knew about it, and Orochimaru even generously sent people to notify their Four Village Allied Forces.
This move truly exceeded Tamura Hiroshi's expectations, but upon closer reflection, Orochimaru was indeed best suited to serve as the acting Hokage at this stage. He could ease and regulate the conflicts between the various factions within Konoha and unite them better.
Moreover, upon seeing the three of Fugaku Uchiha, Senju Chōsu, and Hyuga Hiashi join forces, he had guessed that a massive upheaval was bound to occur on Konoha's side.
"Are we applying too much pressure?"
The Third Raikage stroked his long beard, feeling that perhaps the pressure exerted by their Four Village Alliance on Konoha was simply too great, which had caused those individuals to develop an excessive sense of crisis and unite as a result.
"Isn't this even better? Konoha is our enemy, and the other shinobi villages are as well. Furthermore, our true target is the next Great Ninja War. The stronger the strength Konoha displays, the better the Four Village Alliance can sustain itself until the next Great Ninja War."
Tamura Hiroshi felt this was a good thing. At this stage, although he and the Third Raikage were extremely strong, Kumogakure still lagged far behind by a wide margin, insufficient to swallow the territory of the Land of Fire and contend with the other four great shinobi villages.
They could only wait until the next Great Ninja War, and to do so, they had to utilize the Four Village Alliance