"Why are you here again?"
Qifeng looked at Asuma beside him with utter despair.
It had been fine while they were attending the Ninja Academy. Asuma did not come every day, only once every few days when his cigarette craving became unbearable and he came looking for him.
But now? At most, there was only a day between visits. These past two days, he had even shown up right on time every day. Qifeng was speechless.
He was the son of Konoha's Hokage, with no ordinary status. What kind of nonsense was it for him to run to the Morgue every day?
Only because Hiruzen Sarutobi had no time to bother with them right now; otherwise, who knew when he might make things difficult for him again.
Asuma took a drag from his cigarette, clearly showing signs of learning from Qifeng and evolving into a salted fish.
"I heard you went to be an examiner for the Chunin Exams?" Asuma asked.
"What about it?" Qifeng shot him an annoyed glance.
"Were the Genin from the other villages that strong? The old man hasn't looked too good when he comes home these past few days."
"A Chunin Exam alone wouldn't be enough. Your old man is worried about something else," Qifeng replied flatly.
It seemed the village's negotiations with the other three villages had not gone very smoothly.
Naturally.
Everyone could see that Konoha had become a target for all. Everyone wanted to take a savage bite out of Konoha, the biggest piece of meat. At a time like this, if they wanted peace talks or negotiations, it would be impossible without making Hiruzen Sarutobi pay a price painful enough to make his heart bleed.
Besides, in the Shinobi World, interests came first. Even after paying a price, there was no guarantee those Hidden Villages would not suddenly rise up at a critical moment.
Rather than negotiating with them, it was more like buying time for Konoha.
During this period, Qifeng could already clearly feel the entire village filling with a grim, murderous atmosphere.
Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, who had been stationed outside the village, had all returned.
"Worried about what? War?" Asuma stubbed out his cigarette and looked at Qifeng eagerly.
Faced with that look, Qifeng curled his lips but still handed him another cigarette.
Smoking so much at such a young age—he was worried Asuma would get lung disease.
"What else could it be?"
Even students like Asuma, who were still attending the Ninja Academy, knew war was coming. The Konoha Ninja knew it even more clearly.
"Heh." Asuma chuckled as he happily lit the cigarette. "Everyone wants to make a move, but no one dares to be the first. It'll probably still take some time."
It had to be said that although Asuma was young, he was still Hiruzen Sarutobi's son. Having been exposed to such things since childhood, he saw many matters more clearly than others.
"Maybe."
But sometimes, some things were not so easy to control.
Take these Chunin Exams, for instance. Konoha had wanted to use them to reestablish its prestige, but the major Hidden Villages had clearly come prepared as well.
Kakashi had already graduated and become a Chunin. The other gifted talents were either still in the Ninja Academy or, like Kakashi, were no longer eligible to participate in the Chunin Exams.
Facing the deliberate targeting of every village, the only ones barely holding on were the Root ninja Danzo had planted within.
But two fists could not beat four hands.
As someone who collected corpses every day, Qifeng knew very well what kind of situation Konoha's Genin were facing in the Terrifying Cave at this stage.
It would not be an exaggeration to say they were being attacked from all sides.
So overall, Konoha's situation was not optimistic. It even felt like they had lifted a rock only to drop it on their own feet.
The original intention behind the plan had been good. They just had not expected the other villages to be so thoroughly prepared for the sudden Chunin Exams.
"Asuma, you're here too."
As usual, Might Guy appeared drenched in sweat, panting heavily, his eyes brimming with the passion of youth.
Qifeng's Morgue had truly become his resting place by now.
Labor like cleaning was no different from resting for Guy.
Not to mention the Morgue had air conditioning. The moment one stepped inside, the chill was incredible.
"Guy, you're a little early today," Asuma greeted him lifelessly.
All of a sudden, he felt that maybe living like Qifeng, taking some ordinary position in Konoha and peacefully growing old, would be an excellent choice.
As for Kurenai Yuhi—
He glanced at Qifeng, whose expression remained calm.
Kurenai Yuhi had recently been kept at Yūhi Kurenai's side. He had not even had a chance to get close to her. Otherwise, he would not have needed to come here and smoke in lonely silence.
Guy skillfully picked up a broom and said, as if talking to himself yet also answering them, "The Sunagakure Delegation suddenly said they were leaving today. My training was interrupted, so I could only come here first."
Qifeng, who had been sitting in a rocking chair with his eyes half-closed, suddenly opened them. He sat up and asked, "Guy, did you say the Sunagakure Delegation just left? They didn't even wait for the Chunin Exams to end?"
"Yeah, Senior Qifeng. Isn't that strange? The Chunin Exams are such an important matter, yet they just gave them up like that." Guy looked rather baffled.
Those were Chunin. He had not even become a Genin yet.
"I don't know what those people are thinking. Youth! How can one retreat!" With that, Guy charged into the Morgue with a look of fearless determination and unleashed his Thirty-Two Way Sweeping Technique.
Asuma, who understood Qifeng best, gave him a surprised look. Noticing his grave expression, he could not help asking, "What is it?"
Qifeng said in a low voice, "This is troublesome. But with the Sunagakure Delegation acting so suddenly, the higher-ups should have guessed something, right?"
"You mean... you mean..." Asuma's pupils contracted, and for a moment, he could not process it.
Qifeng nodded heavily and turned to look in the direction of the Hokage Building.
"War has arrived!"
The Chunin Exams were forced to stop.
The sudden departure of the suna-nin made Konoha, as well as the mist ninja and Kumo-nin participating in these Chunin Exams, realize the severity of the situation.
After the suna-nin left, the mist ninja, Kumo-nin, and ninja from various minor Hidden Villages all chose to depart as well.
It was as though they feared Konoha would stop them if they left too slowly.
Inside an office in the Hokage Building.
"Hiruzen! How could you allow the suna-nin to leave?!" Danzo pushed open the office door with a dark expression. Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who stood by the window smoking, he demanded harshly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned around. Wisps of smoke rose from the tobacco in his pipe, veiling his face and eyes.
Seeing that he did not answer, Danzo walked closer with his cane. "Do you know that Rasa, the one leading the suna-nin this time, is the Third Kazekage's disciple? He is very likely to become the future Fourth Kazekage. If we could detain him, the suna-nin would surely be wary of acting rashly. We—"
"Danzo!" Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted his old friend with a low shout.
A sharp gaze shot from his aged eyes and met Danzo's directly as he said, word by word, "We are Konoha!"
We are Konoha!
Konoha, which had inherited the First Hokage Senju Hashirama's will—the Konoha that would rather give up the Nine Great Tailed Beasts than abandon peace, the Konoha that could have looked down upon the Shinobi World and suppressed the four great nations, yet chose the path of peace.
Besides, the suna-nin had only shown slight signs that something was wrong. No outrageous news had come from the front lines.
If word had come from the front lines that the suna-nin were launching a full-scale assault on Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi might have considered it.
But the Shinobi World was currently calm in an eerie way. If Konoha detained another village's delegation now, it would lose the moral high ground.
Though the Shinobi World was ruthless and people could resort to any means, having a just cause was still a necessary preparation.
Detaining the suna-nin delegation would be easy, but then Konoha's ninja would feel that Konoha had done wrong on the battlefield. Their morale would weaken by thirty percent, and their strength would be greatly reduced.
Even if the person who had come was not the Third Kazekage's disciple Rasa, but the Third Kazekage himself, they could not do such a thing.
It was like the death of the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, who had gone to Kumogakure to sign an alliance. Though it had been the private act of the Gold and Silver Brothers, it still made the Kumo-nin the target of condemnation throughout the Shinobi World, putting them at a disadvantage in their alliance with Konoha.
That was the best proof.
"Pedantic! Foolish! Stubborn!" Danzo cursed three times in fury before slamming the door and leaving.
In his view, Hiruzen Sarutobi was utterly pedantic. At a time like this, why care about propriety? They should detain every delegation, then send troops first to destroy Sunagakure. The first step toward unifying the Shinobi World would be complete.
Yet even now, he still chose to passively take the blows.
The current Konoha was no longer the Konoha that had needed patience amid storms and instability when the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama had just died.
The current Konoha could look down upon the entire Shinobi World.
"Hiruzen really has grown old. He has lost his drive. Someone else should sit in the Hokage position." Danzo strode away from the Hokage Building.
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