Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado asked curiously.
"Hmph, I think the Uchiha Clan has plenty of potential to be spies!" Danzo snapped coldly.
Pfft. Hiruzen Sarutobi was drinking water, and he nearly spat it out when he heard Danzo.
He had suspected the Uchiha Clan too, right after Konoha was destroyed, but pinning the blame for the destruction of the supplies on them really was a bit much.
The Uchiha Clan had yet to take the field in this war, so they couldn't possibly know where the supplies were stored.
"If it wasn't the Uchiha Clan, then it was the Senju Clan!"
Danzo also felt that blaming the Uchiha Clan was a little unfair, so he turned his sights on the Senju Clan.
"Danzo, you can't make accusations like that. There may be people in the Senju Clan who want to become Hokage, but I doubt they'd go so far as to betray Konoha."
Hiruzen Sarutobi began to show his true colors as a nice guy.
Although he and Danzo had worked together over the years to bring about the deaths of many Senju clansmen through schemes both overt and covert, the Senju Clan had not shown the same dissatisfaction with the village leadership as the Uchiha Clan.
Betray Konoha? Not likely.
"Think about it carefully. Hatake Sakumo has a grudge against Yeyue Ziyun, so it couldn't be him. Yeyue Ziyun violated Jiraiya from behind, so it couldn't be him either. Yeyue Ziyun once gravely injured Orochimaru, so it couldn't be him."
"Other than those three, the only person in the leadership who could have known where Konoha's supplies were stored was Tsunade."
"Once you've eliminated every other possibility, the one that remains must be the truth, no matter how unreasonable it seems."
Danzo began to lay out his analysis in earnest.
The other three were stunned again.
It did sound reasonable, but Tsunade was the First Hokage Hashirama Senju's own granddaughter. Konoha was her grandfather's life's work.
What would she gain by betraying Konoha?
"I never said Tsunade conspired with the Hidden Cloud. What if she let slip where the supplies were stored to a Senju clansman, and then someone in the clan passed it on?"
"That's not impossible."
The three nodded at once, feeling that Danzo had a point.
Danzo gave a sinister smile. "In any case, the Senju Clan needs a stern warning. Hiruzen, leave this matter to me. I'll make a trip to the front."
Danzo Shimura had volunteered to go to the front, so Hiruzen Sarutobi could hardly refuse. In fact, he was rather pleased.
He himself was a little uneasy about the Senju Clan. At the very least, the clan still had a strong foundation and its share of geniuses. What if someone took his position as Hokage?
Since Danzo was so eager to take the blame, Hiruzen Sarutobi readily agreed.
With a wave of his hand, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Danzo to lead five hundred logistics ninja to the front with supplies.
He also wrote to Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo, telling them to avoid fighting the Hidden Cloud for now and strike once the supplies arrived.
Of course, once Danzo reached the front, authority as supreme commander would naturally pass into his hands.
Konoha camp.
Ever since Ziyun destroyed the supplies, the troops led by Hatake Sakumo and Orochimaru had regrouped.
Without supplies, they dared not fight the Hidden Cloud head-on and could only keep retreating.
But a letter from the Third Hokage had arrived, telling them not to lose heart. He had already sent reinforcements and supplies, and they could launch a counterattack against the Hidden Cloud once they arrived.
"Danzo Shimura is coming to the front, and he's going to be the supreme commander. I don't know what Teacher Sarutobi is thinking."
Tsunade was somewhat displeased after receiving the letter from the leadership.
Danzo Shimura spent his days in the village doing things he couldn't let others see, and he bore considerable hostility toward the Senju Clan.
Most importantly, she had seen Nawaki's name on the list of ninja sent as reinforcements.
"Heh, perhaps he doesn't trust us."
Orochimaru didn't think much of it. After all, he and Danzo were on reasonably good terms.
But Orochimaru didn't yet know that no one was better than Konoha at screwing over its own people.
Orochimaru then turned to Hatake Sakumo. "But there is something I'd like to ask you, Captain Hatake Sakumo."
"Go ahead," Hatake Sakumo replied politely.
"After Yeyue Ziyun destroyed your supplies, Captain Sakumo, did any of them survive? For example... anything with insulating material?"
Orochimaru asked expectantly.
"Well, I think a small batch did survive. I'll go ask."
Hatake Sakumo answered, then found the ninja in charge of tallying the losses and had him bring over the list.
Orochimaru took it, and a gleam immediately flashed in his vertical pupils!
Likewise, quite a few items containing insulating material had survived among Hatake Sakumo's remaining supplies.
A single example might not prove anything, but two examples in a row were unlikely to be a mere coincidence.
"It seems insulators really do counter Yeyue Ziyun's Lightning Release Ninjutsu." Orochimaru flicked out his snake tongue, his vertical pupils gleaming with excitement.
"Orochimaru, is that true?"
Tsunade and Jiraiya asked excitedly as well. Only Hatake Sakumo still hadn't caught on.
"It's true. Insulators survived in both batches of supplies. It looks like we've found the counter to Yeyue Ziyun's Lightning Release."
Orochimaru said with some excitement, "We can make ninja tools out of insulating materials specifically to deal with Yeyue Ziyun!"
"Hahaha, Yeyue Ziyun, you won't get away this time."
Orochimaru laughed wildly. He could already picture the look of shock on Ziyun's face the next time they met.
"Hmph, great! That pretty boy is far too arrogant. The sooner I run into him again, the better. I'll make sure he gets a good taste of my iron fist."
Tsunade boldly cracked her knuckles, making them pop and snap.
"What are you all talking about? Can someone tell me?" Hatake Sakumo still hadn't caught on.
Orochimaru quickly explained the method he had found to Hatake Sakumo, who burst out laughing after hearing it.
"Hahahaha, Yeyue Ziyun, we'll finish you off this time!"
Hatake Sakumo grew excited too.
He was looking forward to seeing Ziyun's expression the next time they met. It was bound to be something.
The Hidden Cloud Village's genius was about to fall!
"All right, enough talk. I'll use the remaining supplies to make special ninja tools against Yeyue Ziyun right away. Once Danzo gets here, we can launch a major counterattack against the Hidden Cloud!"
At that, Orochimaru's blood boiled.
Finding the weakness in an opponent's Ninjutsu felt incredible!
"And we have to keep this secret. Don't let it get out. The next time we meet Yeyue Ziyun, we'll show him!"
Even Jiraiya wore a scheming expression. Yeyue Ziyun had caused his social death, after all.
The next time they met, he would make sure Yeyue Ziyun died a miserable death.
The people of Konoha who had suffered at Ziyun's hands all smiled schemingly.
If Ziyun learned of this, he would laugh his teeth out.
Enel had been too weak in the original story. He couldn't even use Armament Haki, so naturally he had been completely countered by Luffy, the Rubber Man.
But if they compared him to that weakling Enel, they would be sorely mistaken. They would die miserably.
Over the next two weeks, the course of the war changed noticeably.
The Hidden Cloud Village reversed its earlier decline and pushed the front forward several thousand meters. The main battlefield had now moved to the part of the Land of Hot Water close to the Land of Fire, and was approaching the Land of Fire's border.
Just then, Danzo Shimura finally arrived at the front with the reinforcements.
"Thank you for your efforts. I'll take over command from here."
The first thing Danzo did upon reaching the front was to secure command firmly in his own hands.
Seeing this, Hatake Sakumo and the future Three Sannin were somewhat displeased, but they could hardly object. After all, the order had come from the Third Hokage himself.
"Besides commanding you, I came here for an even more important reason: to investigate the spy in the leadership!"
Danzo spoke as he swept a cold gaze over everyone present.
"A spy? There's a spy in the village leadership?" everyone asked in surprise.
Hatake Sakumo, meanwhile, was somewhat at a loss for words.
He had already checked everyone present carefully, and none of them was a spy.
It seemed the Third Hokage was at it again. As long as Yeyue Ziyun remained alive, the hunt for spies probably wouldn't end.
"Hmph, if there were no spy, how could Yeyue Ziyun have struck our supplies with such precision? From now on, put aside your little schemes. If I catch any of you doing something wrong, I don't care what your background is-you'll all be treated as missing-nin!"
Danzo spoke sternly, then gave Tsunade a cold look.
"Danzo Shimura, if you have something to say, say it plainly. Why are you looking at me? Don't tell me you suspect I'm the spy?"
Tsunade wasn't about to put up with Danzo Shimura. She immediately stood up and angrily confronted Danzo in front of everyone.
She was Hashirama Senju's granddaughter. When her temper flared, she even dared talk back to Hiruzen Sarutobi. She didn't think much of a mere Danzo.
"Heh, of course not. But your Senju Clan is the most suspicious."
Danzo wasn't afraid either and said it outright.
Smack! Tsunade smashed the round conference table to pieces and stood up. Chakra burst from her, the ground beneath her feet cracked, and her eyes seemed ready to spit fire as she looked at Danzo.
"Danzo Shimura, explain yourself! How is the Senju Clan the most suspicious? The Senju Clan has served the village diligently. We could never produce a single missing-nin!"