False Hope

"Who in our clan could stop the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God?"

Takashi Sarutobi sat down without saying a word, as if he had been silenced.

How could he not know that?

Anyone who could become an elder was hardly a brain-dead fool.

He had followed Hiruzen Sarutobi for a long time, and he did not believe Tsunade would let them off so easily.

As far as Takashi Sarutobi was concerned, that was impossible. If he were Tsunade, he would have wiped out the entire Sarutobi Clan.

They had not acted yet only because taking direct action would face considerable resistance.

After all, the Sarutobi Clan had many members.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi's skin had already been stripped away. As long as the matter continued to ferment, the Sarutobi Clan's reputation would eventually be utterly ruined.

At that point, they could casually pin some charge on them and openly slaughter the entire Sarutobi Clan.

This was not just his own thought. It was the thought of many Sarutobi Clan Members.

So even though they had merely imprisoned some people and had not tortured them for confessions—

The Sarutobi Clan Members were still all gripped by constant fear.

But Takashi Sarutobi felt that things were not so simple.

Konoha's highest decision-maker was not only the Fifth Hokage, Orochimaru. There was also the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

No one outside knew what roles the several of them played.

Yet throughout this storm, some people had been deliberately overlooked.

The Sarutobi Clan's strongest core combat power was the group that had previously been incorporated into the Anbu.

Whether their identities were sensitive or they had not purchased property—

They had not been locked up by Konoha. Instead, they had been sent directly back home.

Takashi Sarutobi felt there had to be something wrong with