The Most Unlikely Mole Is Uchiha

"I understand. Fatso here understands. Then I'll speak first."

Torifu nodded in agreement, indicating that he understood:

"First, I need to make something clear. Fatso here doesn't know the specifics of Root's development over the past few years, nor do I know what Danzo has been up to. What I know is limited, and this incident has nothing to do with me."

There had never been anything to begin with, so no one would be stupid enough to take the blame.

Akimichi Torifu was no fool. Otherwise, he would not have chosen to retire early and stay home to enjoy his old age.

Eating and drinking every day without worries, while also being able to shelter the three Ino–Shika–Cho clans, was enough to satisfy him. As for everything else, he could not be bothered to manage it, nor did he want to.

The Third Hokage listened quietly.

Torifu continued:

"The other side's objective is obvious. They're targeting Danzo, perhaps even Konoha and the entire Land of Fire. You might as well start your investigation there."

"Targeting Danzo?"

The Third Hokage frowned slightly.

It was not as though he had not considered it. But Danzo had offended quite a few people in the village. Aside from the Uchiha, who hated Danzo the most, clans large and small all held a negative impression of him, especially those whose members Danzo had personally come to demand.

The Third Hokage knew about all of this. He had simply chosen not to intervene.

"Let's use the process of elimination. First, the Uchiha... uh."

At the mention of the Uchiha, embarrassment spread across Torifu's chubby face.

"Ahem. Let's not mention the Uchiha. They know too few secrets. It's unlikely to be them."

Then why did you bring them up?

On the surface, the Uchiha appeared to want nothing more than to kill Danzo. Unfortunately, they knew too few classified secrets, so it could not have been them.

No matter who it was, they would automatically cross the Uchiha off the list of suspects.

Then they investigated the other suspects.

In the end, after checking again and again, even Ino–Shika–Cho became suspects. Akimichi Torifu wore an expression like he had stepped in dog shit.

How did this go in circles until Fatso here got dragged into it too?

"Hiruzen, investigate it slowly yourself. Fatso here can't take any more."

In the end, Torifu chose to lie flat. Investigate however you wanted; it had nothing to do with Fatso here, and nothing to do with Ino–Shika–Cho.

Even though Danzo had caused trouble for the three Ino–Shika–Cho clans as well.

The people of Ino–Shika–Cho did not like Danzo either.

But going after Danzo over something so minor was unnecessary. Besides, very few people in all of Ino–Shika–Cho knew these classified secrets.

No one really looked like a suspect.

After wasting most of the night, the Third Hokage finally left in disappointment.

"Torifu, how did it go?"

As soon as the Third Hokage left, Nara Shikashin, the foremost brain of the three Ino–Shika–Cho clans, arrived.

"He left. No result. Everyone has problems, but no one could have done something like this."

Torifu rolled his eyes.

"You came at just the right time. Analyze it. Who's the most suspicious?"

Do you think I'm a god?

Shikashin was speechless. He looked disdainfully at the greasy tabletop.

"Just as you said, the most suspicious are the least likely. Everyone else is suspicious, but there's no evidence to accuse them. This matter probably won't have a result."

As long as there was no evidence, even if they turned Konoha upside down, the Third Hokage would choose to give up.

At most, he would make a note of it and pay more attention in the future.

Compared to catching a mole, the situation outside was more worthy of attention.

"You're right. Danzo probably feels like killing someone."

Torifu burst out laughing. "What he cares about most is power, and now it's all gone."

Don't laugh. I can't laugh.

Shikashin was delighted inside, but outwardly remained impassive, as though something like this was not worth any emotional reaction.

In truth, seeing Danzo suffer made him happier than words could express.

Whenever he thought of Danzo coming to Ino–Shika–Cho to demand people, his teeth itched with hatred.

He wanted members of the Nara Clan as advisers, members of the Yamanaka Clan as intelligence interrogators, and...

In short, they really wanted to kill him.

Ino–Shika–Cho was not an exception. The Third Hokage visited every clan with any suspicion attached to it. Even the clans behind Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado could not escape.

The two elder advisers did not object too strongly to this.

If it had been them, they likely would have been even more anxious.

The Third Hokage had not cut them all down in one stroke. Visiting and questioning them one by one already showed considerable respect.

Just as Nara Shikashin had said, this matter ended with no result.

In the end, the Third Hokage gave up on investigating the mole and focused wholeheartedly on dealing with the chaos outside.

The joint questioning from the daimyos of various countries was far more serious than questioning from the other villages. One misstep, and Konoha would become the first village to offend every daimyo.

If that happened, Konoha's development, both economic and military, would be strangled at the throat.

If it truly came to that, Hiruzen Sarutobi would no longer need to serve as the Third Hokage. He could simply lose his job and go home to retire.

"Damn it!"

Given the Third Hokage's temperament, he rarely lost control or cursed like this. But he could not hold it in.

Not only did he curse, the Third Hokage also did something rarely seen: he slammed the message scroll in his hand heavily onto the desk. His aging face gradually flushed red.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, seated nearby, watched the enraged Third Hokage and sighed softly.

Ever since this incident erupted, the Third Hokage's control over his emotions had steadily weakened.

Realizing that he had lost his composure, and that this was inappropriate, the Third Hokage reminded himself that as the leader of Konoha's ninja village, he needed to remain calm no matter what happened. He could not become angry over personal emotions.

Taking a deep breath, the Third Hokage gradually calmed the fury in his heart.

"A message came from the Daimyo's Mansion. The daimyo wishes to invite the daimyos of every country to the Daimyo's Mansion for a gathering and requires Konoha to send a ninja unit to provide protection."

Such gatherings happened once or twice every year.

Logically speaking, the Third Hokage should have long been accustomed to them.

The true reason for his anger was that, in the past, he had always deployed personnel to the Daimyo's Mansion himself. But this time, the daimyo clearly did not trust him and specifically requested that the Uchiha dispatch a Police Department squad to the Daimyo's Mansion.

"The daimyo doesn't trust us. He specifically requested Uchiha personnel to go and take responsibility for the protection."

No wonder you're so angry.

Koharu Utatane sighed.

"In the past, missions like this were assigned directly by the Hokage Office Building. I never expected that this year... sigh."

Circumstances left them no choice. To stabilize the daimyo, Konoha could only continue to compromise.

"Then this year's gathering..."

Homura Mitokado hesitated.

They did not want the Uchiha to keep getting involved in matters like this. Otherwise, it would be easy for the daimyo to side with the Uchiha and publicly support them, while the Uchiha secretly supported the daimyo in return.

That situation absolutely could not be allowed to happen.

But the daimyo would not provide the money and had them by the throat, leaving them no choice but to bow their heads and compromise.