Who Will Guard the Hidden Leaf

Konoha Gate, the night wind carried the acrid smell of ruins.

After the large black Crow spat out the scroll, its feathers quickly weathered and dissipated in the wind, and the weasel's hoarse warning was completely swallowed by the night.

Sasuke stared intently at the spot where the Crow had disappeared, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning wildly, and his Lightning Release Chakra signs of spiraling out of control. "Itachi... you bastard, where are you?!"

A hand rested firmly on Sasuke's shoulder.

Naruto unleashed a surge of powerful Supreme Yang Chakra from his palm, instantly Sasuke's body. "Calm down. The fact that he can still send information means he's not only alive, but he's also keeping a close eye on Obito's movements."

Naruto bent down and picked up the bloodstained miniature scroll. With a flick of his two fingers, he shattered the outer anti-peeping seal. The scroll unfurled, revealing only a very brief line of text:

"Turtle Island has been fortified with 100,000 White Zetsu troops. The Golem as bait. Do not launch a direct attack. The Raikage has sent an urgent message regarding the Five Kage Summit."

"One hundred thousand White Zetsu?" Kakashi's brows furrowed into a deep knot. "Is Obito planning to start a war against the entire Shinobi World?"

"Even a hundred thousand pieces of trash together are still trash." Naruto scoffed, casually tossing the scroll to Kakashi. "But this shows he's weak and needs a bunch of cannon fodder to buy time. The old woman's probably received the Raikage's letter by now."

Naruto turned to Sasuke, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Let's put the plan to go to the Land of Lightning on hold for now. We just finished taking Danzo, that cancerous tumor, and the walls aren't even properly mended yet. Since Obito has set up such a big show for us to jump on, let him cool off in the sea breeze for a few days first."

Sasuke clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and the bloodshot in his eyes gradually faded, returning to their original black. "I'll listen to you."

Two hours later, in the Hokage's meeting room, which had been temporarily repaired.

The long table was filled with patriarchs and high-ranking advisors from various families, and the air was thick with a sense of solemnity, as if everything was about to be destroyed and then rebuilt.

Tsunade slammed an urgent document bearing the Kumogakure) thundercloud emblem onto the table, her gaze sweeping across the room. "The Raikage has proposed Five Kage Summit, to be held in the neutral Land of Iron, in three days. But before I depart, there's a mess in the village that must be cleaned up."

She rested her chin on her hands. "The Root has been stripped of its membership, and a third of the village's intelligence network and covert defense system are completely paralyzed. Who will fill this hole now?"

After these words were spoken, the conference room fell into a brief silence.

The two old-school elders at the end of the table exchanged a glance. One of them cleared his throat and put on airs, saying, "Lord Hokage, while Danzo may have overstepped his authority, the defenses during this special period cannot be compromised. I suggest that the Root members we've recruited be reorganized and temporarily placed under the management of our advisory group to prevent external enemies from taking advantage of the situation."

"Bang!"

A rough ceramic teacup slammed onto the table in front of the elder, splashing tea all over his face and head, with a few tea leaves clinging stubbornly to his eyebrows.

Naruto leaned against the windowsill, still holding the cup in his hand. He didn't even glance at the two old men, only looking at the night outside the window and sneering, "When all the power is in the hands of one or a few old men, it's easy to breed another Danzo. What, haven't you had enough of being in the gutter? You want to drag Hidden Leaf into the mud again?"

The elder was furious that a junior had publicly humiliated him, his face turning red with anger and his withered fingers trembling. However, intimidated by Naruto's terrifying feats of dismantling Pain with his bare hands and stomping on Danzo, he swallowed the curse that was stuck in his throat.

"There has to be a plan! Defense can't just remain empty forever!" another elder retorted, forcing a smile.

"This is so troublesome..."

A drawn-out mutter broke the silence. Shikamaru Nara, scratching the back of his head, slowly stood up from his chair under the watchful eyes of a group of important figures.

His face was full of resentment at not wanting to work overtime, but his hands moved swiftly and efficiently. He unfolded a battle formation diagram that he had drawn overnight and laid it flat in the center of the long table.

"This is my draft reorganization plan." Shikamaru tapped his finger on the drawing. "Don't put all your eggs in one basket anymore. From today onwards, Hidden Leaf must establish an absolute intelligence hierarchy."

He raised his head, his usually lazy eyes now sharp as a drawn Kunai: "Regular security will be handled by personnel drawn from the Hokage's direct Anbu and various clans, rotating every three months; interrogation and the mental intelligence network will be reorganized under the leadership of the Yamanaka Clan; assassination and foreign espionage will be handled by a newly formed Special Mobile Unit. And the most crucial point—"

Shikamaru's finger slammed heavily on the conspicuous red mark in the center of the drawing.

"Any special orders targeting clans within the village, Kekkei Genkai holders, or Jinchūriki must be jointly signed by the Hokage, the staff, and representatives of the relevant clans. Any top-secret orders issued unilaterally will be considered treason!"

A few suppressed gasps echoed in the conference room.

This is tantamount to completely exposing the underhanded dealings of Konoha High Command officials, laying all the blood-stained power bare in the sunlight.

The two old-school elders were furious. "What kind of system is this! In the event of an emergency, this kind of hierarchical approval process will only delay our chances of victory!"

"If you can't even tell the difference between an emergency at the front and eliminating dissidents, then the staff officers might as well go home and farm." Shikamaru retorted without mincing words, not giving an inch.

Tsunade gave Shikamaru an approving look, and was about to make a decision.

"Clatter."

A soft sound.

Hyuga Hiashi stood up expressionlessly and strode to the long table. He took out the Hyuga Clan's patriarchal seal from his wide sleeve and, without uttering a word, pressed it directly onto Shikamaru's proposal scroll.

The bright red characters "Hyuga Clan" crashed heavily onto the paper, shattering the last illusions of the old-school elders.

"The Hyuga Clan, no objections." Hiashi placed his hands on the table, glancing at Hinata standing to the side.

Hinata stared intently at her father's straight back, her eyes slightly moist. The Hyuga Clan, which had once rigidly adhered to the rules of the Main Family families and could only compromise in the face of power, was truly different now.

With the leading statement from Hidden Leaf's largest clan, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Chōza, and others did not hesitate at all and stepped forward to affix their clan seals.

The tide has turned.

"Very good." Tsunade made the final decision, rolled up the scroll and tossed it to Shikamaru. "From now on, Shikamaru officially joins the wartime staff and takes full charge of defense coordination. Ino, you assist the communications team in establishing the village's mental network framework within two days."

"Yes!" Shikamaru and Ino answered in unison.

Outside the window, the first rays of dawn pierced through the clouds and slanted across the solid wood table in the conference room. The old rules of Hidden Leaf, corrupted for decades, were uprooted at this moment.

After the meeting ended, the corridor gradually quieted down.

Sakura walked up to Naruto carrying a thick stack of medical reports. The Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead glowed faintly, and her eyes no longer held the anxiety of before, but instead revealed the tenacity of a medical-nin.

"All the seriously wounded are out of danger, and Haku and Karin's Chakra has stabilized." Sakura handed over the report, her chin slightly raised. "In addition, the remnants of the Cursed Seal in Sasuke's body have been completely removed, and he is ready for high-intensity combat at any time."

Naruto took the report, glanced at it, and smiled, "You're quite efficient. With your skills now, I think that old woman has almost nothing left to teach you."

Sakura couldn't help but smile, "Of course. I don't want to always be watching you guys fight so hard while I can only stand by and watch helplessly from behind."

Just then, a series of extremely hurried footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

Kakashi hadn't even properly adjusted his Forehead Protector; clutching a newly deciphered scroll, his expression was more solemn than ever before. His single eye was fixed on Naruto, and his steps were so fast they created a gust of wind.

"Something's wrong? Kakashi-sensei." Sakura sensed something was amiss.

Kakashi took a deep breath and shoved the scroll directly in front of Naruto.

"A top-level urgent message from Amegakure: Konan's Paper Clone left to guard the hideout have all been burned."

Naruto's smile vanished instantly, his eyes turning icy. "Who did this?"

"I didn't see their faces clearly. But the intelligence says..." Kakashi paused, his voice tightening, "Someone dug up Nagato and Yahiko's graves and stole the remnants of the Rinnegan's Nagato sockets. And that guy left this on the tombstone."

Kakashi turned to the last page of the secret scroll, where he found a piece of paper feather with charred edges. On the feather, a twisted Uzumaki Crest was drawn in extremely glaring dark red blood.

That was the emblem of the Uzumaki Clan, but in the very center of the emblem, a large, provocative, blood-red X had been drawn.

Naruto stared intently at the blood-red fork.

The wooden floor of the corridor creaked under the strain, a sound that made your teeth ache. Golden, materialized Chakra surged uncontrollably across his body, instantly distorting and heating the surrounding air.

"Good, very good."

Naruto laughed in anger, twisting his neck so his knuckles cracked like popping beans.

"Whether this grave-digging rat is Obito or Black Zetsu, it dares to touch something I sealed off myself, and even dares to use the Uzumaki clan crest to disgust people..."

Naruto ripped the paper feather to shreds, turned and strode toward the Hokage's Office, leaving behind a murderous statement.

"Tell the old woman I'm going with her to the Five Kage Summit. On the way, I'll smash this rat's bones to pieces, inch by inch!"