Inside the Hokage Office.
The Third sat at his desk, sipping hot tea as he worked through the backlog of official business.
After calming down, he felt that Danzo's words were not entirely unreasonable. He was already over sixty, his strength long past its peak and steadily declining. He could no longer suppress the Uchiha's growing momentum.
But even if they were to appoint a new Hokage, the choice would be between Tsunade and Jiraiya.
The others either lacked the support to command respect or were too old for the role.
As for Danzo's other suggestions, he ignored them as always. Having spent so long in the shadows, Danzo was no longer suited to stepping into the spotlight. The Hokage could not have a tarnished reputation.
Just then, an urgent knock came from outside the office.
When the door opened, the Third recognized one of his direct ANBU, responsible for defending the area around the village.
Before the Third could ask anything, the ANBU spoke. "Lord Hokage, the Kazekage has sent intelligence through a Sand Clone..."
After learning the contents of the document, the Third's expression changed.
Kazekage Rasa's message was simple, containing only a single short sentence: "The Masked Man has been spotted near Konoha..."
It was hardly surprising that the Masked Man, who possessed a space-time ability, had appeared near the village.
Even Konoha, with its wealth of talent, had no effective way to counter Space-Time Ninjutsu.
But the villages' envoys were departing right now. If one of them were attacked on the way out, the shinobi village behind them might pay more attention to the Akatsuki, but it was even more likely to suspect Konoha.
During the meeting, the representatives from Kumogakure and Iwagakure had already made their distrust of Konoha abundantly clear.
After a brief hesitation,