Sarutobi died, a new order!

"Was... was it over!!!?"

No one knew who had asked that first.

Now that everyone had come back to their senses, they stared at the battlefield before them in shock.

The devastation was truly terrifying!

With just one slash from Susanoo, everything had been annihilated.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had still been resisting moments earlier, was barely clinging to life.

His eyes had lost focus, and his breathing was shallow and uneven. He was clearly on the verge of death.

Was this... the Uchiha's ultimate power!?

Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured inwardly. Now, he began to question whether the decision he had made back then had been right or wrong.

The Uchiha certainly seemed to harbor unstable elements.

But dealing with the Uchiha...

It seemed that was beyond his power alone.

He knew his own body. The moment he had seen Bai Ye's Susanoo, he had already known he was probably doomed.

So he had put up little resistance, using the five elemental release techniques he was most skilled at.

If they could block it, that would naturally be ideal.

If they could not, he had no other options.

Konoha...

He had no idea what would become of it now. It seemed he had failed to live up to what his teacher had once told him, too.

The Uchiha threat theory...

There had been a time when he, too, had wanted to improve the relationship between the village and the Uchiha. But at some point, he did not know when...

Hiruzen Sarutobi had found that he could no longer trust the Uchiha.

Even with many matters in the village, whenever he felt something threatened him or the village, he would tacitly allow Danzo to act, then pretend he had seen nothing.

Perhaps that had been when it all began...

And just as Bai Ye had said, it seemed the time had come for him to repay his debts!

He could sense people gathering around him, but his eyelids were growing heavier and heavier.

He could not open his eyes, nor did he want to anymore.

Perhaps Bai Ye was right. Dying in battle really would have been better than ending up like this.

If he had been the one to sacrifice himself during the Nine-Tails' Rampage instead of Minato...

Perhaps Konoha would not have ended up in this situation?!

Over the years, he truly had failed so many people.

"What should we do now?!"

Watching Hiruzen Sarutobi die before him, Uchiha Setsuna felt conflicted.

He had always clamored for rebellion, for taking back everything that belonged to the Uchiha.

But now that the day had truly arrived, he suddenly felt lost.

Were the Uchiha, who had killed the Hokage with their own hands, still qualified to become Hokage?!

Before doing something, or before succeeding at it, people imagined all kinds of perfect scenarios to convince themselves to go through with it.

But once it was done, they discovered that things were not quite as they had imagined.

Faced with that realization, Uchiha Setsuna truly had no idea what to do.

He turned toward Bai Ye. Clearly, all he could do now was see what Bai Ye thought.

Even if one of them became Hokage, Bai Ye was the only possible choice, wasn't he?!

"The Third is dead..."

Everyone present fell silent.

They looked at Bai Ye with complicated expressions.

Under normal circumstances, after someone killed the Hokage, their best course would probably have been to attack Bai Ye-if Hiruzen Sarutobi had not declared that their grievances would be settled.

After all, he had killed the Hokage.

But now Hiruzen Sarutobi was dead, and Bai Ye was the victor.

For a moment, no one knew what they should do next.

Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi had said that, nothing like this had ever happened before.

Were they really supposed to act as though nothing had happened?!

"Since the terms were agreed upon before the fight, and no one stopped it, why don't we leave the matter at that?!"

Hyuga Hiashi spoke up.

He was not particularly inclined to help the Uchiha Clan.

But were they supposed to start another major battle now?!

Given the strength Bai Ye had just displayed, Konoha could not bear the cost of fighting him.

Besides, both sides had already agreed to those terms.

No matter how they looked at it, this was the best course of action.

"Bai Ye, there's something I want to know. How will you portray this?! The Uchiha control public opinion now. What will you do next?!"

While everyone else remained silent...

Shikaku posed the question directly.

Shikaku was no fool. Of course he understood what was going on.

Bai Ye's so-called settlement of their grievances...

Perhaps he had known from the beginning that he could not possibly lose.

Judging by the strength Bai Ye had just displayed, could he have lost?!

Absolutely not!

Anyone who faced Bai Ye would be taken down in a single move.

So he might well have proposed those terms deliberately.

To lend legitimacy to his killing of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

But Shikaku had no intention of bringing that up now.

Anyone present with a little intelligence could understand why.

They simply did not want to say it aloud.

After all, even if Bai Ye had intended that, it had been an agreement between him and Hiruzen Sarutobi, and both had accepted it.

But there was one thing Shikaku felt he had to clarify.

With the Uchiha controlling public opinion, no one knew how they would portray this incident afterward.

The others surely wanted to know as well.

After all, Bai Ye had won and controlled public opinion. Didn't that mean he could write whatever he wanted afterward?!

"I'll write the truth. I'll record exactly what happened and leave others to judge right and wrong!"

Bai Ye spoke calmly.

He had already thought this through. Those prejudiced against him would remain prejudiced no matter what he wrote.

He only needed to write an ordinary, factual account of what had happened.

After hearing Bai Ye's answer, everyone fell silent for a while before nodding in agreement.

As long as he did not go overboard smearing them, that was fine.

But on closer thought, there did not seem to be much left to smear.

If everything Bai Ye had said earlier was published, people would probably understand why he had done this.

"Let's bury them according to the usual procedures, then discuss the village's affairs later. How does that sound?!"

Bai Ye looked around.

These people needed some time to process what had happened.

So Bai Ye did not ask them to stay.

After he finished speaking, some people gathered the bodies of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.

Everyone else left the area.

The news was simply too shocking.

And now they had to return and discuss it.

When the news of Hiruzen Sarutobi's death spread throughout Konoha...

The village was plunged into panic.

Although many people already knew why the Uchiha had acted...

Hiruzen Sarutobi's death still left many of them at a loss.

The village was eerily quiet.

The clan shinobi had all retreated to their homes, waiting for meetings to begin.

The usual security patrols still continued through the village.

But clearly, many people's minds were no longer on those duties.

"Hiashi, what should we do now?! The Uchiha are far too powerful. They actually have two Mangekyo Sharingan users, and they even killed Hiruzen Sarutobi!!!

"Most importantly, they won't face any sanctions at all. At this rate, the village might..."

More than a dozen elders of the Hyuga Clan sat together, looking at Hyuga Hiashi, their anxiety plain on their faces.

This was not a matter of overthinking things!

The current situation posed a truly serious problem!

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been killed.

But because of that agreement, the Uchiha did not have to pay any price at all.

That was hardly good news.

After that great battle, the Uchiha's Susanoo had once again appeared before everyone in Konoha.

Many suddenly felt as though they had returned to the days when Madara Uchiha was still around.

They did not know what others thought, but for them, this was certainly no good news!

How could they compete with the Uchiha Clan for the title of foremost ocular jutsu clan now?!

Still, thinking it over, they were fortunate they had not clashed with the Uchiha back then.

If they had, could the Hyuga Clan really have stopped that Susanoo!?

The more they thought about it, the more impossible it seemed!

"There's no need to be so anxious..."

Hyuga Hiashi spoke calmly, looking around at everyone.

Compared with them, Hyuga Hiashi actually thought things were rather good now.

At least, when Bai Ye had laid out the crimes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others...

He had felt that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Bai Ye's actions.

"How can we not be anxious?! The Uchiha can no longer be kept in check, and the village has lost its Hokage..."

"I intend to nominate Bai Ye as Hokage."

"Hiashi, have you gone mad!?"

Hearing Hyuga Hiashi's words, the elders looked at him with a trace of horror.

Had he lost his mind!?

Had Bai Ye's Susanoo frightened him senseless?!

He actually wanted to nominate Bai Ye as Hokage?!

"Why shouldn't I!? Who in the village is suited to become Hokage right now?!

"In terms of combat strength, Bai Ye is unquestionably the strongest at present. Now that the village has lost its Hokage, someone powerful must take over to keep the other villages wary.

"Politically, the Uchiha are one of the two ninja clans that founded Konoha. They are qualified to become Hokage!

"Furthermore, the Uchiha Clan is now openly recognized as Konoha's foremost clan. Only with them in power can the village's benefits be distributed better!!"

Hyuga Hiashi laid out his thoughts.

In his view, Bai Ye was the person who should take power now.

He met every reasonable criterion: he had strength and a solid political foundation.

Most importantly, the Uchiha were Konoha's largest clan.

If someone from another clan-a small one, for example-took power, they might seek benefits for their own clan.

Wasn't that exactly what the Sarutobi, Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans had done?!

The Sarutobi Clan was relatively decent. The other three went without saying.

The Uchiha, on the other hand, were already the largest clan.

It did not really matter whether they gained that many benefits.

And most importantly, there was another crucial reason he wanted Bai Ye in power: something Bai Ye had once promised him.

He wanted to resolve the issue between the Hyuga Clan's Main Family and branch family.

He could not resolve it alone. He needed help from someone with authority, strength, and the courage to act.

Bai Ye was now the best candidate.

But he certainly could not tell these elders that final reason.

If they learned of it, they would probably do everything possible to stop him.

The reasons he had already given were more than sufficient.

"Did you make some kind of deal with Bai Ye?! Before all this?"

One of the elders seemed to have thought of something.

Hyuga Hiashi's current attitude was certainly thought-provoking.

After all, Hyuga Hiashi had handed that land back to the Uchiha so readily last time.

In truth, what Hyuga Hiashi had said had indeed tempted them a little.

After all, aside from killing the Hokage,

Bai Ye seemed to have few stains on his record, and he was also the Hokage Konoha needed most right now.

After all, he was strong enough!

It also aligned quite well with the Hyuga Clan's interests.

Although outsiders might see it as admitting defeat, when they thought about it carefully, they couldn't beat him in the first place!

Besides, how could this even count as admitting defeat?!

He was simply that strong. They had always competed for the title of the foremost ocular jutsu clan, but now that he had shown just how powerful he was, what was left to compete over?!

And judging by the current situation, if Hyuga Hiashi had struck some sort of deal with him, then everything seemed to fall into place.

"To some extent, yes. But let's leave this matter alone for now and wait for the other ninja clans and shinobi to make their decisions!"

Something this momentous concerning the village wasn't theirs to decide.

They would have to wait for the others to decide as well.

Meanwhile, the other ninja clans were also discussing what had happened that day, especially the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans.

As staunch allies of the Sarutobi Clan,

the Hokage's death was hardly good news for them.

"Shikaku, what do we do next?!"

Choza Akimichi was truly at a loss now.

He honestly had no idea what they should do.

As things stood, the Ino-Shika-Cho's predicament was probably second only to that of the Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, and Utatane clans.

After all, the others could reasonably claim that they weren't particularly involved in this matter.

Although they all lived in the same village,

at least they weren't vassals.

But their three clans were different.

Although they had a fair idea that, given Bai Ye's personality, he certainly wouldn't settle scores with them,

their future position in the village wouldn't be nearly as favorable.

"This is tricky... What do you think of Bai Ye becoming Hokage?!"

"What!? You want to support Bai Ye!!?"

Choza Akimichi stared at Shikaku in shock.

What?!

Wait, what?!

What on earth was Shikaku thinking?!

If someone who killed the Hokage could become Hokage, wouldn't that mean anyone who wanted the position could just kill the previous Hokage?!

Then what would happen to order in Konoha?!

Wouldn't that make it just like the Bloody Mist Village?!

Although Kirigakure had sealed itself off, the Shinobi World still had a general idea of what was happening there.

After all, Kirigakure had its share of missing-nin.

There had been a steady stream of them over the years, so finding out about conditions in Kirigakure was still quite easy.

Was he really trying to plunge Konoha into chaos too?!