In Konoha: Three Choices at the Start

At noon the next day!

A roar as loud as a great bell swept across all of Konoha on a wave of Chakra!

"Hiruzen Sarutobi! Get out here! The Senju Clan has risked life and limb for Konoha. Is this how you repay us?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned over the documents he was reviewing and hurried toward the gate with the Anbu.

He knew the Senju Clan had returned to Konoha.

He had assumed they were back to rest or report something.

The Anbu had notified him, but he had paid it little mind. After all, the Second Shinobi World War was winding down.

Konoha had plenty of capable people. Even without the Senju Clan guarding the border, he believed the Iwa Shinobi would not dare invade.

So he had tacitly allowed the Senju to return.

But they had come back without the Hokage's orders. He would not arrange a grand welcome for them as he had for Liuyun and the other 370 people.

That would serve as a warning to the Senju Clan.

His only regret was that too few Senju had died. The number fell far short of what he wanted.

The clan's destruction was still a distant prospect. Danzo had disappointed him this time.

But Senju Bai's shout sent everything veering beyond his expectations.

The Senju Clan's outcry immediately drew a crowd of Konoha's great clans and ordinary onlookers.

Liuyun, Kushina, and the other woman were among them.

Liuyun in particular could hardly believe his eyes when he saw how the Senju were dressed.

Every one of them wore tattered clothes stained with blood.

Their hair was a mess, and a foul stench rose from them, as though they had crawled out of a beggars' ditch.

Their eyes were fierce and bloodshot, brimming with grievance and grief.

Those