When It Rains, It Pours

Konoha, Hokage's Office.

Akatora and Tuju stood with their heads bowed below, while in front of them, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura all wore solemn expressions.

The death of their old comrade was a huge blow to them. No one expected that Danzo would die so mysteriously after just one defeat.

"Who knew when Danzo left? Did he tell anyone about his route?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in a deep voice, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.

Akatora immediately understood that the Hokage-sama suspected there was a traitor among them who had leaked Danzo's whereabouts.

"No, Lord Danzo left with Terai during the evacuation. Even the orders were given to us through Terai. None of us knew their route, and Terai is already dead." Akatora's answer was icy cold, seemingly reverting to his usual demeanor within Root.

"What about Terai's body? How is the Intelligence Division's examination going?"

"The technique was performed by a ninja from the Yamanaka Clan. We didn't get much information from his mind, only that the opponent was an Iwagakure Ninja ambushed Danzo from hiding. Terai was killed in one strike while trying to save Danzo. The fight was too short; there was no other useful information."

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, "Do you have any other questions?"

Both of them shook their heads. There was too little information, and they didn't know where to start. Based on the information they had, it seemed that the murderer was Iwagakure Ninja, but their intuition told them that things were not that simple.

"Akatora, you will lead two squads of Root members, and also select one squad each from the Intelligence Division and Interrogation Division, to re-examine the scene of Danzo's death. Make sure you find out all the details."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

"By the way, inform all Root members that upon their return, they should remain at base and not go anywhere without orders."

Akatora and Tuju exchanged a glance, both understanding that the Hokage was taking back power, but there was nothing they could do. With Danzo dead, they were simply not up to the task of maintaining the Root's structure, and they could only wait for the Hokage to assign someone else to take over.

"We understand, Hokage-sama."

"Alright, you two go get to work." Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, indicating that the two could leave.

Once only the Hokage and the two Advisor and elders remained in the office, Mitokado Homura finally couldn't help but lament, "Danzo... he's dead just like that."

Perhaps it was a case of "a rabbit mourning the fox's death," but Mitokado Homura seemed particularly concerned about Danzo's demise. "Hiruzen, you must avenge Danzo! He died for Konoha!"

Even before the cause of Danzo's death was determined, Mitokado Homura was already making arrangements for Danzo's posthumous honor. People who didn't know the situation might have thought that the two had some special relationship.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Mitokado Homura with suspicion. "Danzo cannot have died in vain. Whoever kills Konoha Ninja will pay a bloody price."

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly lives up to his Hokage; his words are imbued with the "Will of Fire." It's just unknown whether ordinary Konoha Ninja can truly enjoy such treatment.

"However, the most urgent task is to solve the problem at the Root. Right now, we are short-handed, and without a leader, the Root cannot function properly. What are your thoughts on this?"

This is the problem that is giving Hiruzen Sarutobi the biggest headache right now. You have to know that a large part of Konoha's intelligence comes from Root, which gathers information from the outside. In addition, assassinations, surveillance, and some shady research are all carried out by Root.

Now that Danzo dead, these tasks that were previously completed by Root will quickly become a mess without a unified plan, which will inevitably affect the overall efficiency of Konoha.

In normal times, adjustments can be made gradually, but this is wartime, and everything is done against the clock. Even the slightest delay could affect the outcome of a battle, let alone the paralysis of the entire Root.

Utatane Koharu clearly didn't want to take on this hot potato, and besides, she had no experience in this field, so she spoke first, "Root was originally established to train Anbu, so why not reintegrate it into the Anbu and place it under the Hokage's jurisdiction?"

That makes a lot of sense. If Hiruzen Sarutobi were ten years younger, no, even five years younger, he would have made that choice without hesitation.

But now Hiruzen Sarutobi is old, and for someone who is already considering successors, what he wants is not just practical power, but more importantly, the legacy of his masterpiece.

It's often said that Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi are two sides of the same coin in the Hokage, one basking in the sunlight and the other buried deep underground. This statement is actually quite accurate.

This is precisely why Danzo carries such a heavy burden of sin, something that Hiruzen Sarutobi would never want to be tainted by.

Having spent so long in the sunlight, he now only wishes to step down under that same sunlight.

As for the power exercised by the Root, after the death of Danzo, the founder, his successor could never have achieved the same level of control.

This is exactly what Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted.

One who continues to walk in darkness, yet whose power remains Root.

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Mitokado Homura, wanting to hear his opinion.

Compared to Utatane Koharu, who came from Medical Ninja background, Mitokado Homura undoubtedly had a stronger desire for power. After thinking for a long time, he said somewhat uncertainly, "How about I observe for now and wait until a suitable candidate comes along to replace me?"

This is truly a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too; there's no reason to give back the power you've already gained.

However, this was exactly what Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to do. He pretended to ponder for a while, and under the tense and expectant gaze of Mitokado Homura, he finally nodded in agreement.

"That's possible, but you'll have to wait two days. Wait until Akatora and the others return and have definitively determined the nature of Danzo's death before you take up your post."

"Okay, no problem."

Mitokado Homura himself didn't even realize that the corners of his Kakuzu couldn't help but turn up high as he spoke.

While the Konoha High Command was still discussing Danzo's death, the western front was also met with a fierce attack from Iwagakure.

With continuous reinforcements from Iwagakure's follow-up forces, the Higashishinin finally managed to offset the impact of Taiichi's attack with their overwhelming numerical superiority.

The entire Western Front Battlefield was filled with fierce battles every day, and Taiichi was either fighting Jonin the Jonin of Iwagakure on the front lines or returning to the Medical Camp to treat the wounded.

This is also the only area where Konoha can currently defeat Iwagakure. With Taiichi joining the Medical Camp, apart from the ninjas who died on the spot, Konoha has not had a single ninja return and die in their hospital beds.

This greatly enhanced the resilience of Konoha Ninja in battle, allowing Konoha to withstand the Iwagakure's frenzied attacks when their numbers were less than half of the enemy's.

Of course, this came at a price, because there was no more Chakra stored in the Yin Seal. In the first two days, Taiichi used up 4 Attribute Points just to barely maintain that high Chakra consumption.

All of this was alleviated when the second batch of reinforcements arrived in the village, and Taiichi finally had time to start accumulating the Chakra in the Yin Seal again.

While Iwagakure was overwhelming Konoha, news of Iwagakure's surprise attack on Konoha Camp and their decisive defeat of Konoha's western forces had already spread throughout the Ninja World.

It's said that when a wall falls, everyone pushes it down, and this saying is indeed true. After learning of this news, all the major ninja villages made the same reaction without prior agreement - that is, to take advantage of the situation.

A and Killer B Cloud Village been absent from battle for a long time, reappeared on the battlefield, and the AB Duo's attack power was still as sharp as ever.

Orochimaru could only hold out for a day before he had to shrink his defensive line, trading space for time to minimize his own casualties.

His approach was entirely correct. A day later, the Western Front was stabilized, Taiichi immediately used the Flying Thunder God Technique to come and assist in the battle.

A and Killer B were also surprised that Taiichi, who was supposed to be stationed at the Iwagakure battlefield according to the intelligence, would actually appear on the battlefield against their Cloud Village.

Just as they launched another major attack, Orochimaru showed considerable courage this time, not hiding from A and Killer B as he had before.

Faced with the two's combined attack, Orochimaru, contrary to his usual behavior, fought back fiercely, not backing down even when his nose was bleeding profusely from being beaten.

Just when A and Killer B thought they could kill Orochimaru this time, Taiichi suddenly appeared next to Orochimaru.

As soon as he appeared, four chains extended wildly behind Taiichi. At close range, Killer B, in his Tailed Beast Transformation, had no way to dodge and was immediately entangled by the four chains.

The sealing power emanating from the chains immediately terrified the Gyuki.

"Bee, hurry, break free of these chains, or we're finished!" In the mental space, the Gyuki shouted loudly at Killer B.

"I know, but these chains are too strong, and I feel my strength is waning." Killer B was also struggling, but as the chains tightened, his struggles weakened.

"Let me do it!" The Gyuki immediately took control of the body, and his surging Chakra began to surge violently. The tightly bound chains even showed signs of breaking free.

Outside, Taiichi sighed inwardly. There were still too few chains. If there were five, the Gyuki would never have been able to break free so easily. If there were six, suppressing the Gyuki would be a piece of cake.

Unfortunately, there were only four chains; his Chakra was insufficient to materialize more chains.

Feeling hopeless about capturing it, Taiichi simply stopped dwelling on it, channeling Chakra into his Short Sword. The Bright Gold blade aura surged to two meters, and he slashed down at the Tailed Beast's eye.

Even if you don't die from this, it will definitely be enough to give you a hard time.

Sure enough, blood splattered everywhere, and a heart-wrenching scream echoed throughout the battlefield. All eyes were drawn to the scene, where one of the Eight-Tails' eyes was covered in blood, with golden flames still burning on it.

An immense force emanated from the Eight-Tails, no less powerful than a beast's final, desperate attack; its strength far exceeded Taiichi's imagination.

The four Adamantine Sealing Chains broke in succession after only a few seconds, and after four crisp sounds, they turned into golden light and dissipated into the air.

Faced with the Eight-Tails in its berserk state, not to mention Taiichi, even A would instantly distance himself from this behemoth. Tailed Beast can go berserk, and berserk Tailed Beast are ruthless and indiscriminate.

The surging Chakra extinguished the flames in the Eight-Tails' right eye, but the Tailed Beast's powerful self-healing ability could not heal the eye that had been shattered.

That makes sense. Ordinary wounds can heal, and even fractures can be repaired, but it's rare to hear of an eyeball growing back after it's been removed.

The Eight-Tails will likely be missing an eye from now on, unless it dies completely.

With its single, scarlet eye scanning back and forth, the Eight-Tails Gyuki quickly locked onto Taiichi, and the Tailed Beast Bomb in its mouth began to condense.

At that moment, Taiichi knew that his chance had come; the one controlling his body was definitely not Killer B, but the rampaging Gyuki.

Taiichi flapped his wings and flew towards the densely packed area of Cloud Village, while the Eight-Tails turned its head, always pointing at Taiichi.

Amidst Ai's exclamation and the horrified gazes of the Cloud Ninja, a Tailed Beast Bomb flashed by, and Taiichi's figure abruptly vanished at that moment.

With a loud "boom," a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

Hundreds of Cloud Ninja on the spot under this Tailed Beast Bomb.

Ai roared angrily, "Retreat! Scatter! Retreat immediately!"

He understood that Taiichi was trying to use someone else to do his dirty work, using the rampaging Eight-Tails to slaughter them, the Cloud Ninja —it was utterly vicious.

And that's exactly what happened. After the Tailed Beast Bomb, the Eight-Tails locked onto Taiichi again, its massive body carving a deep trench in the ground as it chased after Taiichi.

Taiichi was also cunning; taking advantage of his ability to fly, he would hover around in the air with the Eight-Tails Fox at a distance that wasn't too close or too far.

Those places they wandered around were where the Cloud Ninja gathered, which was a real hardship for the Cloud Ninja's short legs.

Faced with the charging Eight-Tails, the Jonin alright, as they still had the ability to dodge with Body Flicker. However, the Chunin and Genin were in a much worse situation. They couldn't dodge or fight back, and could only helplessly be trampled by the Eight-Tails.

Those who were lucky enough to escape with their lives, and those who were unlucky enough to be buried alive, were simply swept away by the earth.

Just as Taiichi was about to continue, having already circled the Eight-Tails twice, a bolt of lightning flashed above the Eight -Eight-Tails' head, followed by a heavy slap across its bull-like face.

A tiny figure fanning out a huge creature is far more impressive than a cat tossing a dog over.

Gyuki was also stunned by A's slap, but you know what, the slap really worked. Killer B was already Perfect Jinchuriki, and this slap really brought him back to his senses.

"Big brother, I----" Knowing that Gyuki had done something stupid, Killer B was powerless to defend himself.

"Alright, that's enough. That bastard Taichi Matsushita has gotten stronger again. Let's get out of here."

A stood atop the Eight-Tails' head and stomped hard on the bull's head beneath his feet, reminding Killer B to hurry up and leave.

Damn it, this battle was such a loss. Taichi Matsushita is clearly so strong, but he still always likes to resort to sneak attacks. He has no sense of self-awareness as a strong person.

Recalling the last time Taichi Matsushita personally came to provoke them and even captured their Jonin, it seems he used this chain-sealing Ninjutsu. How truly insidious!

Killer B Bee looked around and found that most of the Cloud Ninja had already left. He realized that if he didn't leave soon, he would really be unable to escape. So, he flicked his eight tentacles and shot into the sky like a cannonball, bouncing away with a series of "booms".

Taiichi landed from the sky next to Orochimaru; this was the first time he had seen Orochimaru in his true form since that night.

Orochimaru was also in bad shape. He had endured a lot of mixed doubles beatings from A and Killer B in order to hold out until Taiichi arrived, and now he was covered in bruises.

"Lord Orochimaru, would you like me to heal you?" Taiichi meant well, but was met with a resentful expression from Orochimaru in return.