Chapter 23

According to Xuan Zhe, he had set out from the Land of Rivers with Sarutobi Shinnosuke and only met up with him in the Land of Rain. Then the three of them had slipped into the Land of Wind together and killed the Second Kazekage in Sunagakure.

But Jiraiya had never encountered Sarutobi Shinnosuke at all!

What on earth was going on?

"Before you left, you said you would complete the mission even if you had to watch a comrade die. You certainly kept your word."

After hearing Xuan Zhe out, Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice betrayed no emotion.

"Of course."

Xuan Zhe looked thoroughly pleased with himself.

"My brother faced the same situation before and chose to save his comrade, only to get torn apart for it. Now I've become Konoha's hero instead. That's proof enough that my approach was right."

"I'm sure young master Shinnosuke would want me to do this, even in the afterlife. After all, he nearly drove that foolish brother of mine to suicide with his insults before, didn't he?"

As Xuan Zhe finished with a smile, the index and middle fingers of Hiruzen Sarutobi's right hand tightened slightly around his pipe.

An ordinary ninja would never have noticed.

But every Kage Level expert present caught that detail.

You brought this on yourself. Hmph...

Tsunade snorted inwardly.

She normally couldn't be bothered to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi's old face. She had only come out of curiosity about how he would react to hearing that his eldest son was dead.

"Mm... I think so too."

After more than ten seconds of silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his head again, forced a faint smile, and nodded.

"Now we just need to wait for Orochimaru to deliver the Land of Wind's ceasefire agreement."

Nothing left to say, Lord Hokage...

Though Shikaku Nara wasn't Kage Level, his sharp mind had also picked up on the change in Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression.

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew perfectly well that there was nothing he could do to Xuan Zhe over this.

Last time, Hatake Sakumo had risked his life to save Sarutobi Shinnosuke, only to be berated until he couldn't hold his head up.

This time, Hatake Xuanzhe had simply stood by and watched. With that precedent staring him in the face, no matter how eloquent Hiruzen was, he couldn't argue his way around it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi forced a faint smile. "Thank you all for your efforts on the front lines. Go home and spend some time with your families."

"Heh. Mine were nearly all killed off."

Tsunade coldly tossed out those words, turned, and left without looking back.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened further.

"Tsk. That girl can't keep anything to herself."

Xuan Zhe gave an odd chuckle and followed Tsunade out of the office.

Everything someone like Tsunade thought was written all over her face. She simply wasn't cut out to be a leader.

She was just like Hashirama Senju.

But she didn't have Hashirama's earth-shattering power.

So when she later became the Fifth Hokage, she appeared to have the Elders Council under control, but she couldn't uproot their power at all.

Those two, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, would pop up and make trouble whenever they had nothing better to do.

Honestly, it was a miracle those two actually lived all the way to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.

After Jiraiya, Hatake Sakumo, and Shikaku Nara with his Ino-Shika-Cho Squad had all left one after another.

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately summoned his three old associates-

The Konoha Elders Council F4.

They gathered in the leadership's secret chamber.

"You're saying Shinnosuke died at the Kazekage's hands, Hiruzen?"

After hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi repeat Xuan Zhe's account, Utatane Koharu was the first to question it.

All four of them had agreed to put Sarutobi Shinnosuke in the Hokage's seat.

Even Danzo hadn't objected.

After all, Danzo's relationship with Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't yet deteriorated as badly as it would after the Third Shinobi World War.

Besides, as long as someone from the Sarutobi Clan remained Hokage, real power would stay in their hands.

If the Senju, the Uchiha, or anyone outside the Elders Council took power instead.

Their comfortable days would be over.

So Shinnosuke's death was a devastating blow to Hiruzen Sarutobi, and a bolt from the blue for the entire Elders Council.

Of course, the other three also knew perfectly well.

With Sarutobi Shinnosuke's meager ability, he could only become Hokage if Hiruzen Sarutobi made the position hereditary.

"You have suspicions, Koharu?"

Mitokado Homura frowned. "You don't think Hatake Xuanzhe did something to Shinnosuke... He's never followed the usual rules, but surely he wouldn't be that bold?"

Mitokado Homura immediately guessed what his old associate of nearly fifty years was thinking.

But he thought it was impossible.

Hatake Xuanzhe's way of doing things was nothing like that naive Hatake Sakumo's.

Seasoned, vicious, ruthless, and calculating.

Xuan Zhe was the same sort of person as those in the Elders Council.

Of course, those old bastards would never admit that.

Otherwise, why were they always saying things like "it's all for Konoha"?

"Where's the evidence? There isn't any," Utatane Koharu said coldly. "Isn't how Shinnosuke died entirely down to that brat's word?"

She couldn't stand Hatake Xuanzhe.

For no other reason than his refusal to let the Elders Council control him.

In their eyes, a genius they couldn't control was no different from trash.

"What do you think, Danzo?" Hiruzen Sarutobi tossed the question to the most scheming of the four.

Danzo couldn't care less whether Sarutobi Shinnosuke lived or died.

He thought the boy's talent was mediocre and that he had no right to become Hokage.

He was dead. So what?

If he weren't your son, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would there be any need to make such a fuss and drag me here?

Still, he had to show the Hokage some respect.

Danzo considered it for a few seconds, then replied, "Wasn't Jiraiya involved in assassinating the Kazekage too? Ask him."

After leaving the Administration Building, Jiraiya went alone to the little farmhouse outside Konoha.

The little house that belonged to Xuan Zhe.

He knocked on the door, but no one answered.

"Not here?" Jiraiya frowned and muttered.

Unable to find anyone at the farmhouse, Jiraiya could only return to Konoha and ask Hatake Sakumo.

"Xuan Zhe?" Hatake Sakumo thought for a moment, holding his son's hand. "Nawaki dragged him off for a drink just as he was about to head home. He should be at the Senju Clan's compound now."

"I see. Thank you, Mr. Sakumo."

Even as one of the Sannin, Jiraiya couldn't help addressing Hatake Sakumo respectfully.

"No need for thanks. You helped Xuan Zhe a great deal with that Kazekage business." Hatake Sakumo waved a hand and smiled.

The Kazekage.

At those words, Jiraiya's expression stiffened for an instant.

After a few seconds of silence, he lowered his voice and asked, "Mr. Sakumo, don't you think there was something wrong with that Kazekage mission?"

People were passing nearby, occasionally glancing their way.

So Jiraiya didn't explicitly say "assassination."

"Something wrong?" Hatake Sakumo frowned.

Just then, a middle-aged man around Hatake Sakumo's age approached, holding a little girl's hand.

The little girl was Kurenai Yuhi. One look at her red eyes was enough to tell that he was her father.

"What's this lively conversation about?"

Shinku Yuhi walked up with his daughter's hand in his and asked.

"Oh, Shinku."

Hatake Sakumo nodded to his old friend, then looked somewhat puzzled.

"That boy Jiraiya seems to have some objections to the mission where Xuan Zhe, Shinnosuke, and I attacked Sunagakure."

Seeing nothing unusual in Hatake Sakumo's expression.

Jiraiya had already concluded inwardly that this older brother, White Fang, truly knew nothing about that dirty business.

He sighed to himself, then couldn't help shaking his head with a bitter smile.

He had long since heard about White Fang from Orochimaru and Tsunade.

White Fang, powerful as he was, had nearly been driven to death by a few words of gossip.

He hadn't believed it before, but seeing him again today after so many years, he finally realized-

Hatake Sakumo was absurdly simplehearted, even a little foolish.

Had he really not noticed anything strange about his younger brother's actions?