Dispute!

After following the two ninjas from the Uchiha Clan, Li was brought directly to the reception hall of the Hokage Building. Upon entering, he saw many unfamiliar faces. The Third Hokage stood at the front with his hands behind his back, while Kushina stood behind him with her head bowed. Seeing Li arrive, she immediately blinked at him; judging by her appearance, she had not suffered much.

To the left of the Third Hokage stood Hatake Sakumo, Orochimaru, and Uchiha Hao, along with several other Konoha jonin. To the right were the representatives from Sunagakure, led by the Third Kazekage, followed by Chiyo and Ebizo. They had also brought quite a few ninjas with them. In the center of the hall lay two stretchers covered entirely by white cloths, suggesting two bodies underneath. Seeing this, Li's pupils constricted instantly, and he understood the situation.

"Greetings, Third Hokage!" Li bowed slightly.

The moment Li appeared, the Sunagakure side immediately cast their gazes upon him, their expressions all looking grim. If it weren't for this brat, they would have already successfully intercepted the next jinchuriki of Sunagakure.

"Li, you must know why I called you here. Tell us exactly what happened last night!" The Third Hokage narrowed his eyes slightly and said indifferently.

"Yes!" Li nodded. He looked at the two deceased on the stretchers and began, "Last night, I was teaching Kushina Kunai throwing techniques. However, these two Sunagakure ninjas took advantage of my absence to break into Kushina's home and abduct her. After I discovered them, I killed them!"

Li was still unsure of the situation, so he could only answer truthfully. Furthermore, since Kushina was here, it meant the matter had already been exposed; lying would be useless.

"Nonsense! What an ignorant brat. My two ninjas were elites even among genin. Setting aside the fact that you are just a brat who hasn't even graduated, even if you were already a ninja, at your age, it would be impossible for you to kill them both, no matter how much of a genius you are! Even the Uchiha Clan lacks such capability." Chiyo snorted coldly, staring at Li with icy eyes before turning to the Third Hokage. She said sharply, "Third Hokage, although my Sunagakure had grievances with your Konoha on the battlefield, the war is now over, and my village has accepted its fate to compensate for your war losses. Yet now, your Konoha still clings to that hatred, killing the ninjas of my village, and you even have the audacity to claim my subordinates were trying to capture your ninja! What is the meaning of this?" Chiyo paused, then glanced at Hatake Sakumo and the others, her eyes narrowing as she hissed, "I suspect some of your Konoha ninjas are taking revenge because their comrades died on the battlefield, using the opportunity of our visit to sign the compensation treaty!"

Chiyo's gaze toward Hatake Sakumo was extremely hostile—or rather, filled with intense hatred. Near the end of the Second Great Ninja War, Hatake Sakumo had killed Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law; she hated him to the bone.

After hearing Chiyo's words, Li realized instantly that Sunagakure wasn't trying to cause trouble for him specifically, but rather using the deaths of the two ninjas to pressure Konoha. He had likely been called here primarily to serve as a witness.

"Elder Chiyo, what do you mean by that? Mirai Uchiha is the number one genius of our Uchiha Clan. Are you suggesting your Sunagakure can run wild in Konoha? He killed them after discovering their crimes; what right do you have to cause trouble for us now?" Uchiha Hao snorted, feeling quite incensed. He might have let it slide if Chiyo had questioned someone else, but Li was a genius of the Uchiha Clan, representing the clan's honor. For Chiyo to question Li's strength was to question the honor of the Uchiha Clan—how could Uchiha Hao endure that?

"The head of the Uchiha Clan? Hmph, your words are meaningless. No matter how powerful your Uchiha Clan is, this is just a brat. Do you truly believe your Uchiha Clan has become invincible in the ninja world?" Chiyo intended to escalate the matter today. Since the attempt to capture Kushina had failed, she wanted to at least offset half of the compensation costs. Sunagakure was the defeated nation, and the loss of resources had already been severe; having to pay Konoha would further weaken the village, likely leaving them increasingly inferior to Konoha in the future.

"You..." Uchiha Hao was instantly infuriated by Chiyo's words. As the head of the Uchiha Clan, he had always taken pride in his lineage. Being insulted like this was unbearable. Back when Madara Uchiha was alive, the Uchiha Clan looked down upon the ninja world; across all nations and villages, who dared to oppose them?

"Uchiha Hao, stand down!" A sharp glint flashed in the Third Hokage's eyes as he glared at Uchiha Hao. The Third Hokage was in his prime, his stature as a "Professor" of ninjutsu fully on display. Under that single look, Uchiha Hao, despite his dissatisfaction, shut his mouth and stepped aside.

Seeing this, Chiyo sneered slightly. The once-arrogant Uchiha Clan was no longer what it used to be.

Li's thoughts mirrored Chiyo's: after such a long period of stagnation, the Uchiha Clan had long since lost its fangs, becoming a tiger that could only roar but dared not bite.

After ordering Uchiha Hao to stand down, the Third Hokage narrowed his eyes and looked at the Third Kazekage, who had remained silent throughout. He said calmly, "Lord Third Kazekage, we do not yet know the truth of this matter. I suggest we sit down and wait a few days. Let us investigate the full story before we discuss this further, how about that?"

The Third Hokage was helpless. Although he knew Sunagakure was targeting Kushina and believed those two ninjas had been killed by Li while attempting the abduction, these were merely his own assumptions. He had no evidence. After all, both witnesses were from Konoha. Even if Kushina was the victim, she was still a Konoha ninja; others would inevitably claim this was a conspiracy orchestrated by Konoha. If the victim and the witness were both from Konoha, and the only ones dead were the alleged perpetrators, it would be impossible to convince anyone else.

The Third Kazekage was just about to nod in agreement when Chiyo spoke up first, "Lord Third Hokage, regardless of the truth, there is one point: this brat, Mirai Uchiha, claims he killed two of my elite genin single-handedly. I have a proposal: if he truly is that capable, then regardless of whether this incident is true or false, my Sunagakure will treat it as if it never happened. How about that?"