Konoha High Command in Panic!

Konoha.

Hokage Office.

"Hiruzen!"

"Something terrible has happened!"

"The streets are in complete chaos!"

"Everyone is talking about Danzo's human experiments!"

"They're even starting to suspect that we high-ranking officials were all Danzo's accomplices!"

"..."

Utatane Koharu's voice was shrill and grating, carrying undisguised terror.

"Impossible!"

"On the day of the incident, I issued the highest-level gag order!"

"Every ninja present was given a severe warning!"

"Who would dare leak the news to civilians?"

At his words.

Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed a palm onto the desk.

Piles of documents were jolted into the air, scattering across the floor.

"A gag order?"

"Hiruzen, stop deceiving yourself!"

"With ninja from dozens, even hundreds, of clans present, how could you possibly silence them all?"

"Paper can't wrap up a fire!"

"The entire Konoha is now churning with undercurrents."

"Those clans Danzo once suppressed are definitely stirring things up behind the scenes!"

"If we don't take forceful action now."

"Forget your position as Hokage—even the lives of us old fools won't be safe!"

Hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's words.

Mitokado Homura tore off the conical hat atop his head and hurled it hard onto the floor.

He let out a cold laugh, his voice carrying a trace of despairing mockery.

At his words.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's chest heaved violently like a broken bellows.

He could not accept it.

The village he had controlled for half his life had slipped beyond his grasp in just two days.

"Guards!"

The next moment.

Sarutobi Hiruzen roared like a madman.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two Anbu ninja wearing cat masks appeared before the desk like ghosts.

However.

Their arrival seemed half a beat slower than usual.

Even the way they lowered their heads to receive orders seemed somewhat stiff and mechanical.

Sarutobi Hiruzen keenly noticed this subtle change.

His heart jolted.

Could it be that even the Anbu directly under the Hokage had begun to waver?

After all.

Anbu were human too.

They also had family and friends in the village.

Had they heard those rumors as well, and begun to doubt the leader they served?

A few beads of cold sweat seeped from Sarutobi Hiruzen's forehead.

But he forced himself not to show it.

"Investigate!"

"Find the source of these rumors immediately!"

"Arrest every troublemaker leading the spread of these rumors!"

"No matter who they are, throw them straight into the Anbu's Heavy Interrogation Room!"

Upon hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's order.

The two Anbu ninja paused slightly.

They exchanged an imperceptible glance, then answered stiffly.

"Yes."

With a soft pop.

The two turned into a cloud of white smoke and vanished from the room.

The office fell into dead silence once more, leaving only the hurried breathing of the three old people.

"Hiruzen."

"Stop being foolish."

"These rumors spread far too quickly, and with far too much structure."

"Someone is absolutely pulling the strings behind this."

"Who else could it be but Chiba?"

"He's attacking our hearts!"

"He wants to use this method to ruin our image in the villagers' eyes!"

"Once we become rats crossing the street."

"He'll be able to take over Konoha's power openly and legitimately!"

A moment later.

Mitokado Homura stepped around the documents scattered across the floor and strode up to the desk.

He planted both hands on the desktop, leaned forward, and stared fixedly into Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes.

"Homura is right!"

"That brat is far too arrogant!"

"Does he think that just because he has Senju Clan blood, he can shit all over our heads?"

"Hiruzen, we can't just sit around and wait for death!"

"We have to strike first!"

"While his foundation is still unstable."

"Send the Anbu's elite, together with the remaining Root loyalists."

"To assassinate him!"

"If they can't beat him head-on, poison him!"

"As long as he dies, everything will be resolved!"

Utatane Koharu moved closer as well.

Her hands trembled slightly from extreme tension.

"Idiots!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly roared.

His arm swung violently, and he viciously hurled the expensive pipe in his hand toward the corner of the wall.

Crack!

The pipe shattered, sending wood chips and sparks flying everywhere.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura jumped in fright and instinctively took several steps back.

"Are your brains filled with nothing but mush?"

"Assassination?"

"Poisoning?"

"What do you take Chiba for?"

"A Genin who just graduated from the Ninja Academy?"

"He's a descendant of the Senju Clan, and he has awakened perfect Wood Style!"

"With that kind of immense vitality and sensory ability."

"What poison could possibly kill him?"

"What assassination could evade his senses?"

"Anyone you send wouldn't be worth crushing with a single finger of his!"

"Once the operation fails and he gets hold of evidence against us."

"He'll have every legitimate reason to level this Hokage Building!"

"When that happens, us three old fools won't even have a whole bone left!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes were bloodshot.

He was like an old lion driven into a corner, able only to bluff and bluster.

Utatane Koharu was left speechless by his tirade.

Mitokado Homura opened his mouth, but could not produce a single sound.

That was right.

Before utterly overwhelming strength.

Every underhanded scheme and conspiracy seemed so laughable and feeble.

Chiba did not even need to guard against them.

Because Chiba had the confidence to flip the table and smash the chessboard at any moment.

And they did not even have the right to flip the table.

"Then... then what are we supposed to do?"

"Are we just going to watch helplessly as he rises to power?"

"We've spent most of our lives building our influence in Konoha. How much effort have we poured into it?"

"Are we really going to hand over the power that belongs to us to some inexperienced brat?"

"..."

Utatane Koharu's legs gave out.

She collapsed heavily onto the sofa behind her.

She was unwilling.

Power was more addictive than the strongest poison in the world.

Once they had tasted the feeling of standing above all others, of controlling the lives and deaths of others.

Making them fall back into the dust afterward was ten thousand times more painful than killing them.

More than ten minutes passed.

Sarutobi Hiruzen opened a drawer and took out another spare pipe.

His withered fingers trembled as he packed it with tobacco.

The sound of a match being struck was especially piercing in the silent room.

Sizzle.

The flame ignited.

Thick blue smoke rose once again.

"I haven't lost yet."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe.

His voice carried an eerie calmness.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu abruptly looked up.

They were like people dying of thirst in the desert who had suddenly spotted an oasis.

"Hiruzen."

"What good plan do you have?"

Mitokado Homura pressed urgently.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze turned toward the towering Hokage Rock in the distance.

The faces of every previous Hokage were carved there.

"Chiba has caused such a huge commotion."

"He merely wants to use righteousness and public opinion to force me from office."

"Fine."

"Then I'll grant his wish."

"I... will step down voluntarily."

The moment those words were spoken.

The two advisers were struck dumb as though hit by lightning.

Step down?

Wasn't that just raising the white flag and surrendering outright?!

"Hiruzen!"

"Have you gone mad?!"

"If you step down, that little Senju bastard will rightfully—"

Utatane Koharu sprang up from the sofa.

Her voice was so shrill it nearly pierced the eardrums.

"Shut up!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen swept a cold glance over her.

The viciousness in his eyes made Utatane Koharu swallow the rest of her words.

"I said I would step down."

"But when did I ever say..."

"That I would give the Hokage position to Chiba?"