Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi listened to the person from Anbu reporting on the situation of Senju Chen.
"In the end... my subordinates were incompetent and lost track of him."
The team leader of Anbu knelt on one knee, his head buried deeply, his voice full of shame.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, smoking his pipe silently, the lingering smoke blurring his expression. He did not get angry or rebuke, he just listened calmly.
"I know, let's go down."
After a long time, he waved his hand, his voice filled with deep exhaustion.
"Yes."
Anbu Captain As if granted amnesty, his figure flashed and disappeared into the shadows.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was the only one left in the office. He looked out the window at the rock wall carved with the faces of Hokage throughout the ages and sighed heavily.
"This child... I can't keep him after all."
He knew that Senju Chen's departure was not just a boy's temporary mood. It was a silent expression of alienation and boredom from Konoha High Command's political struggle.
And I, after all, failed to keep him, just like I couldn't keep Tsunade who left in anger.
You Senju Clan like it so much, do you want to play the trick of running away from home???
Hiruzen Sarutobi temporarily put aside the matter of Senju Chen leaving, and began to think about the subsequent post-war negotiations, that is, the subsequent division of Shinobi World resources. This is the biggest thing for Konoha at the moment. As a victorious country, Konoha naturally wants to open its mouth.
I don't know what the bottom line of these villages Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure is. Of course, these can only be seen at the negotiation table.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was preparing for the next negotiation, what he didn't know was that a dark wind targeting him had quietly begun to blow in the village he had guarded his whole life.
Konoha, a meatball shop in the commercial street.
The afternoon sunshine was just right, and there were customers sitting in the shop in twos and threes. Most of them were women shopping or villagers with nothing to do.
"Hey, have you heard? Senju Clan, that little hero, also left the village two days ago!" A slightly fat woman lowered her voice and said mysteriously to her companions.
"Ah? How come?" The woman next to her looked surprised, "The war has just been won, and he is a great hero! My son regards Senju Lord Chen as his idol in the Ninja Academy, Tenten!"
"Who says it's not the case?" The woman who spoke first curled her lips and said, "I know the inside story." "I heard that I was heartbroken."
At this time, a somewhat downtrodden-looking businessman at the next table came over with a teacup in hand, a somewhat cynical sneer on his face.
"Sad? Huh, more than sad!" He slammed the teacup on the table, attracting the attention of the people around him.
"Brother, what do you know?"
The businessman snorted coldly, looked around, and then lowered his voice and said, "You think it's a good thing to have a lot of credit? Let me tell you, if the credit is too big, it will be in the eyes of some people! I have a distant relative who works in the Hokage building. He secretly told me that based on Senju Lord Chen's credit, someone from the top of the village proposed that he be allowed to directly enter the Council of Elders! That is a great honor!"
"What happened next?" the women's curiosity was aroused and they asked.
"Then?" A look of disdain appeared on the businessman's face, "Then he was suppressed by Lord Hokage! In the end, he was given the false name of 'hero', plus a sum of money, and sent him away! Think about it, is this the attitude towards heroes? It's not obvious that he is jealous of others, afraid that their great achievements will shock the master!"
"Hiss--"
There was a gasp of air all around.
"This... this is so similar to what happened to Mr. Konoha's White Fang'Hatake back then!"
"That's right! Lord White Fang also contributed too much, what will happen to him in the end? Now Senju Lord Chen is being treated like this again... Alas!"
Seeing that the heat was almost over, the businessman quietly dropped a bombshell. "Think again, why did Princess Tsunade leave the village back then? It was not because her lover and younger brother died in the war, and she was disappointed in the village! Now her only brother is forced to leave like this again... This Senju Clan really shed all his blood for Konoha, but ended up like this in the end!"
What he said made the women present filled with indignation and nodded repeatedly.
"Lord Hokage How can this be done!"
"It's so chilling!"
The ninja disguised as a businessman looked at the angry villagers around him. With a cold arc on his lips, he quietly stood up and disappeared into the crowd.
The same scene continues to play out in every corner of Konoha.
In the tavern, the ninjas who had just finished their mission and were drinking were also discussing this matter.
"Damn it! I won't drink anymore!" A strong man with a scar on his face slammed the wine glass on the table, causing the drink to splash everywhere.
"Our brothers worked hard in Kikyo Mountain, but my best brother died in that patch of sand! What are we doing for? Isn't it just to protect the village and to let the heroes get the respect they deserve? What's the result? Senju Lord Chen single-handedly killed thousands of Iwagakure people and established the victory. In the end, we got this result?"
His words instantly ignited the atmosphere in the tavern.
"Keep your voice down! Do you want to be kidnapped by Military Police Force?" someone nearby advised.
"What the hell am I afraid of!" the scarred man yelled with red eyes, "I'm not even afraid of death, why are you afraid of telling the truth? Senju Lord Chen was very resourceful on the battlefield in the north, and even used 'Advent of a World of Trees' behind enemy lines, using the power of one person to fight against ten thousand armies! This kind of skill Qi, let alone Council of Elders, even if you directly book the next Hokage, I am convinced! But what did the village do? Transfer him back from the front line, and then force him away without giving him real power or a position! What the hell is this!"
"Well, speaking of it... Although our village won this war, too many people died. I heard that most of the elites of several big families were lost... In terms of command, is it also..." A young ninja said hesitantly.
The words were not finished, but the meaning was already obvious.
For a time, doubts about Hokage's decision-making, unfair treatment of heroes, and the pain caused by the war, all kinds of emotions were intertwined and turned into a turbulent undercurrent, spreading crazily in the bottom society of Konoha.
Root Base.
In the cold and damp stone room, Shimura Danzō quietly listened to the report of his subordinates.
"... Sir, the rumors about Third Hokage being jealous of talents and suppressing heroes have spread in the village. Most of the villagers and middle- and lower-class ninjas firmly believe this."
"Very good." Danzo's exposed single eye flashed with a cold light of satisfaction, "Keep adding firewood, don't stop."
"Yes!"
"The death of 'Konoha's White Fang' is also brought up together with this matter. Everyone must believe that Hiruzen Sarutobi, for his Hokage chair, will not tolerate anyone whose merits exceed his."
Danzo leaned on crutches and stood up slowly.
"Hiruzen, you are too weak and too nostalgic. Konoha does not need a peacemaker, it needs an iron-fisted leader."
He walked to the map in the stone chamber and looked at the territory of Land of Fire, with a flame called "ambition" burning in his one eye.
"If you don't want to be this evil person, then don't blame me..." I'll help you."
What he wants is not only to shake the prestige of Hiruzen Sarutobi. He also wants to take this opportunity to plant a seed in the hearts of all Konoha people - a seed of admiration and wariness for the hero who "has great achievements and shakes the master".
Today, this seed is aimed at Senju Chen.
In the future, when he Shimura Danzō sits in that position, this seed will become his sharpest ideological weapon to eradicate all dissidents.