The Best Alibi

At the same time that Danzo was suffering the most devastating blow of his life, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already returned to his Hokage office, where he began to ponder the identity of the No-Face who had caused such a ruckus at Root.

Perhaps they were birds of a feather Danzo; Danzo guessed that No-Face might be Yun Yan, Hiruzen Sarutobi also made the same guess.

It's quite obvious that the conflict between Yun Yan, Danzo, and Root is essentially irreconcilable. Yun Yan's attack on Root and his Root there as revenge is very much in line with his character.

However, compared to Danzo's unreasonableness, compared to Danzo's fondness for fabricating charges, and compared to the saying "if you want to find fault, you can always find a reason, "Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Hokage, still had to be reasonable.

The simplest logic is that although Yun Yan is suspected and has that motive, he was sent out on a mission by Hiruzen Sarutobi long ago.

The place where he went on his mission was far from Konoha, which was on the border of the Fire Country, so he wouldn't be able to return for a while.

Moreover, he wasn't going on the mission alone; he had Kakashi, whom Hiruzen Sarutobi trusted most, by his side.

These circumstances and facts are laid bare before Hiruzen Sarutobi he cannot ignore them.

Yun Yan was thousands of miles away, and he had no way to sneak back without Kakashi's knowledge and secretly disguise himself as No-Face to attack the Root Base.

Unless... unless Kakashi also colluded with him and helped Yun Yan cover it up.

On the surface, the two of them left Konoha to go on a mission, but in reality, they secretly returned and attacked Root.

However... based on Hiruzen Sarutobi's understanding of Kakashi wouldn't do something like that, even if Kakashi and Uchiha Yunyan were friends.

Hiruzen Sarutobi certainly possessed this skill in managing people.

So, if Yun Yan was on a mission and couldn't return in time, then the No-Face who attacked Root wasn't him?

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi silently lessened his suspicions about Yun Yan.

That afternoon, Hiruzen Sarutobi received a message that further diminished his suspicions about Yun Yan, to the point that he almost no longer doubted that Yun Yan was the No-Face.

The message he received was none other than the mission report that Kakashi had written overnight.

The mission report was delivered from afar by Ninja Hawk specially trained by Konoha. The Ninja Hawk hawks are very fast; they were still on the border of the Fire Country last night, and they returned to Konoha this afternoon.

Upon receiving Kakashi's mission report, Sarutobi unfolded his hand and frowned upon reading it.

The mission report was very simple; Kakashi reported to Hiruzen Sarutobi about the things he and Yun Yan had encountered and the things they had taken the initiative to do in the past few days.

On their first day at the border of the Fire Country, they encountered Konoha Ninja squad that had been invaded and killed by the Kumogakure ninjas.

He and Yun Yan were extremely resentful and decided to take revenge on the past, thus launching a counter-invasion of the Lightning Country and carrying out numerous retaliatory actions within its Lightning Country.

Kakashi didn't retaliate much; he only killed a few lone Kumogakure ninja.

But Yun Yan did much more; he killed many people from Kumogakure, significantly wiping out the Kumogakure's fighting force.

In his mission report, Kakashi not only reported these details but also gave a rough count of the number of Kumogakure they had killed in the Lightning Country over the past few days.

When he saw the details of the events described in the mission report, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but frown.

The old man hadn't forgotten that before sending the two of them out on the mission, he had instructed them to act cautiously and exercise restraint.

So this is how cautious and restrained you two are?

You've completely ignored my advice!

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a little angry.

However, when Hiruzen Sarutobi saw the mission report and Kakashi's description of the Konoha Ninja squad's tragic state, he felt both pity and anger.

To treat our own Konoha ninja squad like this is utterly inhumane! The Kumogakure ninjas have gone too far!

Thinking about it this way, Hiruzen Sarutobi could accept that Kakashi and Yun Yan had taken the initiative to invade and retaliate.

But...

Kakashi was alright; he only killed a few lone Kumogakure ninja.

Yun Yan, haven't you killed a bit too many? You wiped out so many people from Kumogakure, won't the Raikage explode!?

When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw the battle statistics written by Kakashi in the mission report, he couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Being able to take revenge on the past so thoroughly, killing so many people from Kumogakure, is certainly good, and it certainly lets out a lot of anger.

But your revenge has gone too far! The Kumogakure is almost crippled; with so many people dead, they certainly won't let this go.

If this happens, neither of you will be willing to retaliate, Kumogakure will certainly retaliate in kind. The two sides will then engage in a bloody conflict on the border, further escalating the tensions and friction...

Damn it! I sent you two on a reconnaissance mission to resolve border disputes and frictions, but you've only exacerbated them. It's truly...

If a war breaks out between the Lightning Country and the Fire Country because of this, I, as the Hokage, will not let you two culprits off the hook!

This was a subconscious thought of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Of course, it was just a subconscious thought. After frowning and pondering for a moment with great exhaustion, Hiruzen Sarutobi helplessly realized that there was nothing he could do about things developing to this point.

If he only sent Kakashi to the border for reconnaissance, that would be fine.

Given Kakashi's personality, even if he couldn't resist retaliating, he would at most kill a few more Kumogakure, and Kumogakure wouldn't care about such a loss of manpower.

But then there's Yun Yan. Given that kid's terrible personality, when he took revenge, he really did turn into a bloodthirsty monster, killing so many people and causing such a huge mess!

Sigh... If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have let that kid carry out this mission. What a mistake!

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and leaned back in his chair, looking utterly exhausted.

Regardless, what's done is done, and there's no use being mentally exhausted or weary. As the Hiruzen Sarutobi Hokage only think about the next steps in handling this matter.

After pondering for a long time, Hiruzen Sarutobi still couldn't come up with a good solution. He could only play it by ear, adapt to the situation, and wait for the Kumogakure of the Lightning Country to make its move before Konoha could respond.

With that in mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi unfolded a blank document and began to write new orders for Kakashi and Yun Yan.

The order was simple: they were forbidden from invading the Lightning Country for retaliatory actions, and were ordered to continue their reconnaissance missions on the border of the Fire Country.

Of course, if any more ninjas from Kumogakure invade the Land of Fire Country, Kakashi and Yun Yan will not hesitate to kill them without hesitation!

Furthermore, Hiruzen Sarutobi also indicated in his orders that Kumogakure would definitely not let the matter rest, and the conflict between the two sides would certainly escalate further.

By then, Yun Yan absolutely cannot cause any more trouble. Kakashi must keep a close eye on Yun Yan, and the two of them must exercise restraint and caution to prevent border friction from escalating into a war between the two countries and the two ninja villages.

In this final warning, Hiruzen Sarutobi's words were extremely harsh.

After writing the new order, Hiruzen Sarutobi sent it out, instructing the Ninja Hawk to fly to the border overnight and deliver it to Kakashi and Yun Yan.

After issuing the order, Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief, feeling exhausted, but he was now in the mood to start thinking about the question he had asked at the beginning.

The fact that Kakashi and Yun Yan caused such a big incident at the border ironically became Yun Yan's best alibi.

With Kakashi by Yun Yan's side the whole time, and with Kakashi as a witness, it can be proven that the No-Face caused chaos in Root last night was not Yun Yan after all.

Furthermore, Yun Yan is skilled in Wind Release, while the No-Face from last night was skilled in Lightning Release. They are not on the same level at all, which further proves that the No-Face and Yun Yan have no connection.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt much more at ease.

He was genuinely worried that Yun Yan was the No-Face, and if that were proven true, he would be in a difficult position to deal with.

But...

Hiruzen Sarutobi then thought of another possibility.

If Yun Yan has already mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, he might take advantage of the time he and Kakashi were resting last night to teleport back from afar, disguise himself as No-Face, and attack and wreak havoc on Root.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was amused by his own thought as soon as he had it.

How is that possible? Yun Yan has only had the Flying Thunder God for Flying Thunder God in such a short time. You have to remember that Minato trained for a long time before he learned the Flying Thunder God Technique.

With that thought in mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately dismissed that possibility; he genuinely didn't believe Yun Yan was No-Face anymore.