The Third Hokage Was Furious!

Wait, that wasn't the fucking point. The point was that Shimura Danzō had leaked village intelligence and made a deal with Hanzō, hoping he would kill Jingyi.

Hiss~~~

This was a major incident.

"Is everything you said true, sir?"

Hanzō coldly regarded Little Honda.

"This old man disdains lying. This man offended me in the village, which was why he was apprehended. The interrogation report is here; deliver it to the Hokage as well."

"Tell him that if he wants to respond to Sunagakure's provocation, he should not drag Amegakure into it. This old man does not wish to become Konoha's enemy, but neither am I made of clay."

So you took this old man for a Monkey, did you?

Then don't blame this old man for smearing you!

After all, you, Shimura Danzō, had indeed leaked quite a bit of Konoha's intelligence. This old man was merely adding a little water to it. You had to carry this blame, whether you liked it or not.

Something huge had happened!!!

Leaving the corpse behind after saying what he wanted to say, Hanzō decisively withdrew.

Little Honda paced anxiously in circles.

"Why would Lord Danzo want to assassinate Jingyi?"

"I don't know. Could Jingyi have offended him?"

"Whether they had a conflict or not, he should not have done something like this. Worse still, he leaked the village's intelligence and asked someone else to act."

No matter what conflict or grievances Jingyi and Shimura Danzō had, Shimura Danzō was wrong for targeting him and arranging an assassination. Leaking village intelligence as payment and asking outsiders to act was even more egregious.

Little Honda rushed to the Medical Department, explained what had happened, and asked in a panic, "What do we do? What should we do now?"

What could they do? There was nothing they could do.

Sarutobi Mishima covered his face in anguish. Danzo, Danzo, how could you dare?!!

Hiring someone for an assassination would have been one thing, but he had handled it so crudely. Now someone had directly sold him out. He was finished!

Sarutobi Mishima was certain that once the news reached the village, Shimura Danzō would be utterly finished.

Hmm~~~ Even the demigod had some character. Danzo, you hadn't expected this, had you?

Hahaha...

If Little Honda and Sarutobi Mishima had not still been there, Jingyi would have wanted to laugh for a while first.

"I'll make the trip myself."

This matter was too serious for Little Honda and Sarutobi Mishima to handle. They could only return to the village as soon as possible and ask the Third Hokage to decide.

Hopefully Lord Hokage would not be angered to death.

"Hahaha..."

After Little Honda and Sarutobi Mishima left, a burst of laughter rang out from the medical room.

The camp's shinobi looked at one another. They could understand Jingyi's feelings, but was laughing so openly really appropriate?

Shimura Danzō had truly dropped a rock on his own foot this time. Even if his past contributions spared him from severe punishment, the Third Hokage would not let him off easily.

For the foreseeable future, Shimura Danzō had completely lost the capital to keep jumping around.

By the time he could start jumping around again, Jingyi would be able to crush him with ease, just like crushing a tiny pest.

Because the matter was so important, Sarutobi Mishima first used the Ninja Eagle dedicated to transmitting intelligence at the camp to send the news back ahead of him, giving the Third Hokage a warning. He himself carried the corpse toward the village.

Running back to the village from the Border Camp, compounded by the thick winter snow slowing travel, would take Sarutobi Mishima at least two days.

The Ninja Eagle, flying directly through the sky, could reach Konoha in merely three or four hours.

"Lord Hokage, this is a scroll sent by the Intelligence Department. It came from the border camp in the Land of Rain."

Hanzō had arrived at the camp early that morning, and Sarutobi Mishima had quickly sent out the news. Thus, by the time the intelligence scroll reached Konoha, the Third Hokage had only recently finished lunch.

"Put it on the desk."

The Third Hokage, who was reviewing documents, spoke without looking up and continued reading the file in his hands. The scroll could wait.

After carefully reading the document in his hands, pondering it for a moment, approving it, and stamping it with the Hokage Seal, the Third Hokage finally put the file away and picked up the scroll beside him.

Using the exclusive code to open the scroll, the Third Hokage scanned its contents while his hands habitually picked up the pipe on his desk, placed it in his mouth, and began to light it.

"Pfft~~~ Cough, cough!!!"

The instant the tobacco was lit and he had taken only one puff, the Third Hokage's eyes widened. He shot to his feet in shock, knocking over the chair beneath him, while the smoke he had inhaled nearly choked him senseless.

"How could this be!!!"

"This is impossible."

At that moment, the Third Hokage had no mind for smoking. He tossed the pipe aside as quickly as possible, seized the scroll, and brought it right before his eyes, nearly pressing it against his face.

Was this scroll serious?

Danzo had actually leaked village intelligence to make a deal with Hanzō and asked him to assassinate Jingyi?

And then he had been sold out by the other party himself.

After reading it once, the Third Hokage thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. The second time, he could not believe it. By the third reading, rage had spread across his entire face.

"Danzo!!!"

The Third Hokage trembled with fury.

He slammed the scroll down onto the desk.

Startling the Anbu shinobi standing guard outside the door.

He could tolerate Shimura Danzō making a move against Jingyi in the shadows. As long as Shimura Danzō did not use the village's resources or drag him into it, he could pretend not to see.

After all, Shimura Danzō had taken the blame for him many times and made many contributions. Out of respect for those past services, and because he still had use for Shimura Danzō, he had to give him a little leeway.

But the Third Hokage would never have imagined that Shimura Danzō had become so bold that he would actually use the village's intelligence as bargaining chips. How was that any different from betrayal?

The village had just held an important meeting, and then you, Shimura Danzō, took the intelligence to make a deal?

Where was your shame!

"Go bring Danzo to me immediately. And Koharu and the others too. Bring that fat man Torifu Akimichi as well!! Hurry!!"

Hanzō had personally gone to the camp to negotiate and publicly exposed the matter. It could not be concealed even if they wanted to.

Once word began to spread, the impact would be explosive.

If they mishandled it, their entire upper echelon would be affected.

Lord Hokage was furious!

The Anbu personnel did not know what had happened either. Knowing the Third Hokage was in a rage, they could only obediently go summon the others.

"Monkey, why have you called me over again? Didn't I say..."

Torifu Akimichi had been summoned in a muddle and had intended to crack a joke. But before he could finish, he saw the Third Hokage's face, so grim it looked as though water might drip from it. He decisively shut his mouth and obediently sat on the floor to wait for the others.

Though Torifu Akimichi looked solemn on the surface, he was secretly wondering what could have made the Third Hokage this furious.

It seemed this matter was far from simple.

Soon, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura arrived as well.

The moment they entered the Hokage Office and noticed the Third Hokage's expression, they looked toward Torifu Akimichi.

Torifu Akimichi gave them a look that said he did not know either, then settled himself calmly. He had decided that he should stay out of today's matter as much as possible.