Mechuan Steward stood on the same spot, as if nails were driven into the soil on the soles of his feet.
The corners of his mouth twitched several times, and the fat on his cheeks trembled along with it.
Go back? He finally escaped from Konoha, and now he has to walk back by himself?
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to evade, but his eyes fell on the two corpses still bleeding at his feet, and he swallowed back all his words.
He nodded with a grimace and turned around, dragging two long grooves on the mud with his straw sandals.
Yongye glanced at him, with clear contempt in his eyes, and directly cursed, "Idiot!"
Mechuan Steward's shoulders shrank.
Yongye walked up to him, with a hint of impatience in his tone.
"This is your great opportunity! If you impress the shadow of a village, you will be the most famous businessman in Shinobi World. Not even you President can compare to you."
Mechuan Steward paused for a moment.
His eyes lit up for a moment, like sparks blown by the wind in the ashes. But they only lit up for a moment, and that spot Kakkō quickly dimmed.
"Third Hokage has gone crazy! Since he dares to personally lead a team to burn down our trading company, it is impossible to follow the rules and compromise. Negotiating with him is no different from sending death. No matter how much fame you have, you must have a life to spend..."
Yongye interrupted him directly, "I can make Hiruzen Sarutobi retreat once, and Hiruzen Sarutobi can retreat countless times!"
Mechuan Steward raised his head.
He looked at Yongye's handsome face and his dark eyes, and thought of all the legends about this Uchiha boy...
The hope that had just been extinguished surged up again!
His eyes lit up again, this time much brighter than before. He turned to look at his daughter and gave her a look.
Mechuan Riko understood her father's eyes, and immediately bent down and bowed deeply to Yongye, her voice trembling slightly with excitement.
"Then it all depends on Master Yongye!"
On the way back to Konoha, Mechuan Steward walked very slowly. His legs were still weak, and his heels were sore from the wear of his straw sandals.
Mechuan Riko kept holding his arm, and the two discussed in low voices.
After returning to Konoha, Mechuan Steward took Yongye through a remote alley, twisting and turning, and stopped in front of an inconspicuous two-story wooden building.
This is a small stronghold of Five Rings Trading Company in Konoha. The facade is shabby and looks like an abandoned warehouse, and the signboard at the door is hanging crookedly.
Mechuan Steward pushed open the back door and got into the house.
He dug out a clean silk kimono and hurriedly put it on. He washed his face with a basin of cold water and wiped away the sweat and blood spots on his face. He adjusted his collar in front of the cracked bronze mirror on the wall. His fingers were still trembling slightly, but his movements were much more agile than before.
After getting dressed, he took a deep breath and was about to open the door and go out according to plan.
Suddenly Mechuan Riko's cry came from the next room, accompanied by a slapping sound... Mechuan Steward's hand was frozen on the door handle.
He had been there and could hear what the sound was.
He stood there in silence for a few breaths. Then instead of showing any anger on his fat face, a smile of relief appeared on his face.
I offended Hokage and needed a powerful force that could compete with Hokage. Now, this force has come to my door.
He let go of the Opening Gate handle, tiptoed back to the center of the room, sat down on a chair, folded his hands on his stomach, and waited quietly.
Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting behind his desk, burning the tobacco in his pipe one after another.
His eyelids kept twitching, his right eye then his left eye. The documents on the table were piled half a foot high, but he didn't read a single word.
From morning to now, he has been staring at the door, waiting in agony.
Wait for ANBU to rush in and report: Five Rings Trading Company's people are angry and want to see him!
Wait for Mechuan Steward's fat face to appear in front of him, slamming the table and roaring at him.
He had even thought of a response: stern denial, full efforts to track down the real culprit, appropriate compensation... He had rehearsed every step in his mind several times.
But until the afternoon, it was quiet in front of Hokage Building, and no one from Five Rings Trading Company appeared.
This unusual silence made Hiruzen Sarutobi increasingly uneasy. He took off his pipe, knocked the ashes on the edge of the table, and was about to order ANBU to investigate Five Rings Trading Company's movements.
There were rapid footsteps outside the door. A Anbu Ninja pushed the door open and knelt down on one knee. His voice was urgent and tight, and even his salute was a little faster than usual.
"Lord Hokage! People from Five Rings Trading Company gathered in front of Hokage Building with banners! The banner read: Third Hokage commits arson and murder, which is unacceptable! The leader is Mechuan Steward himself, who is complaining to the onlookers about last night's attack!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe slipped from his fingers and fell on the table, splashing a few sparks.
"Also, Uchiha Yongye, come with them!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils shrank suddenly. The blood on his wrinkled face faded cleanly in an instant. His lips moved, wanting to say something, but only a dry sound came out of his throat.
When he heard the name Uchiha Yongye, his head felt as if someone had hit his temples from both sides with a hammer at the same time!
He frowned in pain, and had to raise his hand to press his forehead hard.
There are more and more people watching.
The huge square in front of Hokage Building is now packed to the brim.
The aunt carrying a vegetable basket poked her head out from the east alley. The radish she had just bought fell to the ground and rolled around twice without even bothering to pick it up.
A group of students came running from the direction of the Ninja Academy. They couldn't squeeze into the front row, so they climbed up to the wall next to them and squatted down.
The boss of Ichiraku Ramen Shop's Teuchi took off his apron and put it on his shoulders. He stood at the outermost edge of the crowd and stood on tiptoe to look inside.
Mechuan Steward stood in the center of the square holding a banner.
His silk kimono was soaked with sweat, and the fabric on the back stuck to his skin, leaving a dark stain of sweat. His legs were shaking, his knees collided with each other, and the fabric on his trousers rustled.
But his hands tightly grasped the wooden pole of the banner, and his knuckles cracked loudly.
"Dear fellow Konoha folks!"
He roared at the top of his lungs. The sound exploded over the square, sharp and broken.
"I am Mechuan Steward from Five Rings Trading Company! I have been doing business in Konoha for twenty years! At least half of the salt you eat, the cloth you wear, and the Shuriken you use are transported by our Five Rings Trading Company!"
"Last night, Third Hokage himself, with four of his men, rushed into our trading company! Set fire to it! Kill people!"
He raised the banner to the highest position, and the banner flapped in the wind, with the words "Third Hokage commits arson and murder, which cannot be tolerated by God" clattering on it.
"The trading company was burned to the ground Ruins! Eleven of the guards and employees died! Six were seriously injured! All the goods in the warehouse were destroyed! Medicinal materials, cloth, and grain-all were burned to ashes!
That's goods worth billions! Those guys all have families! Their wives and children are still kneeling in front of the trading company Ruins and crying!"
There was a commotion in the crowd.
The aunt carrying the vegetable basket covered her mouth and her eyes widened.
The ninja students on the wall looked at each other, and one of them almost slipped off the wall. Boss Teuchi frowned, took off his apron, held it in his hand, and twisted it twice.
"I had a quarrel with Lord Hokage yesterday afternoon! But a quarrel is a quarrel - you, the dignified Konoha Hokage, personally led a team to burn down my trading company? Come to kill my guys? Does this Konoha have any more tricks?"
He put down the banner and wiped the sweat and saliva from his face with his sleeve. The sleeve made a wet sound when it was wiped across his face.
"I'm standing here today, and I don't ask for anything else! I just ask Lord Hokage to come out and give me an explanation in front of everyone!"
Someone in the crowd shouted "Yes, come out and give me an explanation", followed by several more people who echoed...
The shouts echoed in the square, getting louder and louder!
Hokage Building's front door suddenly opened.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped out. Hokage The robe was dazzlingly white in the afternoon sun, and the corners of the bamboo hat were pushed down very low, casting a shadow on his face.
Behind him were Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. The faces of the two old consultants were more solemn than the other.
Behind them are twelve Anbu Ninja, wearing black masks and fan-shaped, sealing the door of Hokage Building tightly.
The crowd of onlookers fell silent instantly!
The villagers who were chattering just now all shut their mouths, and those who were pushing forward on tiptoes also retracted their heels.
Some people subconsciously moved half a step back, and some people hid the vegetable baskets behind their backs.
The power of Lord Hokage, the accumulated prestige of Third's forty years in office, overwhelmed all the noise at this moment!
Mechuan Steward stood at the front of the crowd.
His hands held high the banner with black characters on a white background. The words on the banner were particularly dazzling in the sun - "Third Hokage commits arson and murder, which is unacceptable to God."
He could feel his hands shaking, the edges of the banner rustling in his palms.
His scalp was numbing in waves, as if there were ten thousand ants crawling on his head.
Hiruzen Sarutobi When those old eyes glanced over, his knees instinctively wanted to bend!
But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Uchiha Yongye next to him, and Mechuan Steward was holding on forcefully again! He had no way out and could only fight to the death!
He gritted his teeth, and his masseter muscles bulged into two hard lumps on his cheeks. He raised the banner higher and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Lord Hokage! Why did you lead people to attack our trading company!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had swollen veins on his forehead. The pipe was not held in his mouth, but was held in his right hand, almost crushing it!
He gritted his teeth and repeated what he had said countless times, "I didn't do it!"
Mechuan Steward took a step forward and stepped on Stone Slab's ground with a snapping sound.
""No one else has this ability except you! Ash Pile Burning, that is your Sarutobi Clan's signature Ninjutsu! Five Release Great Combo Technique, you are the only one who can use the whole Konoha! You said you didn't do it... Then tell me, who else could it be!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth, but not a word came out.
Because of this irrefutable reason, even the two Hokage Advisor suspected him - they suspected that he was so angry because of the quarrel in the afternoon that he personally led the team to burn Five Rings Trading Company!
At this time, Uchiha Yongye stepped out, passed Mechuan Steward, and raised his voice. "Hiruzen Sarutobi, you are guilty!"