"Hmph, why are you so worked up? I only said I suspected them, not that it was confirmed. What, are you going to kill me and become the first missing-nin?"
Danzo wasn't afraid of Tsunade at all. She was only an Elite Jonin now, and might not be able to beat him.
Besides, Hiruzen Sarutobi had his back.
Seeing the atmosphere turn awkward, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Hatake Sakumo hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
The others finally managed to talk Tsunade down.
"It's simple enough to clear the Senju Clan of suspicion. Go to the front lines and show the Konoha Ninja what the Senju Clan can contribute."
After leaving those harsh words behind, Danzo departed.
"Fine, we'll go! Konoha is in trouble, and the Senju Clan will never hide behind the others!"
Tsunade's furious shout came from behind him.
"Good. We'll launch a counterattack against the Hidden Cloud Village tomorrow. Let me see how sincere the Senju Clan is."
Hearing her, Danzo's lips curved into a barely perceptible smile.
Heh, now I can openly set the Senju Clan up to die.
If things go well, I might even be able to take the opportunity to get my hands on a few Senju corpses and study where their naturally powerful life force comes from.
It was a secret he had always wanted to investigate.
In the Land of Hot Water, ten kilometers from Konoha's camp, was the foremost position where the Hidden Cloud forces were stationed.
It was also the camp of the Hidden Cloud ninja responsible for gathering intelligence, commonly known as scouts.
Naturally, Ziyun was among the team responsible for gathering intelligence.
After all, the war between the Hidden Cloud and Konoha was far from over. Destroying Konoha's supplies had only slowed its advance and bought the Hidden Cloud time.
Once Konoha recovered, the Hidden Cloud would still be no match for it on the main battlefield.
For ninja, intelligence was life, so Ziyun had volunteered to take on the task of gathering it.
After all, Ziyun possessed Observation Haki, a power unique in the entire Shinobi World.
By now, Ziyun's Observation Haki and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit had merged to a new level, allowing him to extend his Observation Haki over a radius of ten kilometers.
As luck would have it, the argument between Danzo Shimura and Tsunade had fallen right within Ziyun's range of Observation Haki.
Ziyun could only marvel at how lucky he was.
"Interesting. Konoha's already fighting among itself. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, you two really are something."
After hearing Danzo and Tsunade's argument, Ziyun couldn't help laughing aloud.
He hadn't expected that his accidental claim that Konoha had a mole, like a nail, would still be lodged in Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind even now.
And the ones they suspected had turned out to be the Senju Clan.
Ziyun nearly died laughing.
Even if all of Konoha's major clans lined up to rebel, the Senju Clan wouldn't.
After all, Konoha was the creation into which the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, had poured his heart and soul.
The Senju Clan had been brought to the brink of extinction, yet they had barely complained about the Konoha High Command. And now the high command actually suspected them.
Of course, it was also possible that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura had agreed to find an excuse to wipe out the Senju Clan.
Whatever the reason, it was something he could exploit.
Ziyun had instantly thought of a very interesting scheme, one that Sengoku the "Strategist" had used in One Piece.
And that scheme had turned the tide of the Paramount War in an instant.
"I need to go back and report the situation to Uncle Raikage. This will have a decisive impact on how the war unfolds."
Ziyun let C's father, who was in charge of gathering intelligence, know he was leaving, then headed for the Third Raikage's camp.
After the mission to destroy Konoha's supplies, Ziyun's reputation in the Hidden Cloud Village had risen dramatically once again.
By now, Ziyun could be called the Third Raikage's right-hand man. He was effectively the Hidden Cloud Village's second-in-command and had considerable influence over the Third Raikage, the first-in-command.
So even if Ziyun acted on his own, C's father would not, and dared not, object.
Thirty kilometers to the rear was the Hidden Cloud Village's camp.
Ziyun arrived at the Hidden Cloud main camp and entered the Third Raikage's tent, where he found the Hidden Cloud leadership in a meeting.
"Ziyun, you're here. Have a seat."
Seeing Ziyun enter, the Third Raikage deliberately paused what he was saying and had Ziyun sit beside him.
With that gesture, he showed the Hidden Cloud leadership present how highly he regarded Ziyun.
Of course, even without the Third Raikage saying so, the Hidden Cloud leadership knew what Yeyue Ziyun meant to the Hidden Cloud Village.
He was a genius capable of leading the Hidden Cloud Village to the pinnacle of the Shinobi World, and a candidate to become the next Raikage.
The Third Raikage then continued the meeting. Ziyun didn't interrupt, instead waiting for him to finish.
"Ziyun, you came all the way back from the Intelligence Division. You must have some important information."
Sure enough, as soon as the Third Raikage finished speaking, he turned the floor over to Ziyun.
The Third Raikage had already decided that once this war was over, he would step down and let Ziyun become Raikage.
So the Third Raikage wanted to give Ziyun as many chances as possible to be seen, build his reputation, and complete more missions. That way, in the future, he could command respect and have enough prestige to give orders to everyone.
"Yes. This time, we learned that Konoha is fighting among itself. Danzo Shimura suspects the Senju Clan of having a Hidden Cloud mole."
"A mole? He suspects the Senju Clan?"
The expressions of the Hidden Cloud leaders present immediately turned complicated, because they couldn't believe it was true.
"Are you sure the information you gathered wasn't false, Ziyun? We're at war. How could they be fighting among themselves?"
One of the Hidden Cloud leaders found it suspicious.
Fighting among themselves during a war? What is Konoha Village doing? They must have staged it deliberately.
And the ones they suspect are the Senju Clan? Have the Konoha High Command been kicked in the head by a donkey?
"Ziyun, could you have made a mistake? ...This is a little..." The Third Raikage frowned as well.
With infighting so rare in Hidden Cloud Village, the Hidden Cloud leadership couldn't understand the Konoha High Command's peculiar way of thinking.
They naturally assumed Konoha had staged this for the Hidden Cloud to see, hoping to make them underestimate Konoha.
Seeing the expressions on the faces of the Hidden Cloud leaders, Ziyun felt like laughing.
It seems the Hidden Cloud Village really is naive without all that infighting. In terms of strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi is a long way from being the "strongest" Hokage.
But when it comes to infighting, Hiruzen Sarutobi is unquestionably the "strongest" Hokage.
No, perhaps even counting all the Hokage in the history of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Hiruzen Sarutobi is the "strongest."
"Uncle Raikage, everyone, I swear on the name of the Yeyue Clan that this information is absolutely true."
Seeing that they didn't believe him, Ziyun immediately swore an oath.
Since Ziyun had gone that far, the Hidden Cloud leaders had no choice but to believe him.
Ziyun then gave them a detailed account of the intelligence he had gathered.
"From what you're saying, Ziyun, the Senju Clan will be leading Konoha's attack tomorrow?"
The Third Raikage understood what Ziyun was getting at.
"Yes. The Konoha High Command must be trying to use this opportunity to set the Senju Clan up to die."
"Ha ha ha! The Senju Clan is highly gifted and a troublesome force on the battlefield. If they lead the attack, we'll have the perfect chance to eliminate their forces."
The Third Raikage burst out laughing. It was simply unbelievable.
If they could use this chance to wipe out the Senju Clan, it would undoubtedly greatly increase the Hidden Cloud Village's chances of winning the war ahead. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Then it's settled. Tomorrow, we'll concentrate our forces and kill every last member of the Senju Clan."
A sharp gleam flashed in the Third Raikage's eyes.
"Uncle Raikage, I have a different idea..."
Ziyun spoke up. "The Senju clansmen are strong. Even if the Kumogakure ninja fight them head-on and manage to kill them, our losses won't be small."
"Right now, we can take advantage of Danzo's suspicions of the Senju Clan. We'll kill only Konoha's other ninja and spare the Senju clansmen."
"That will make the Konoha High Command even more suspicious of the Senju Clan. A rift between them will do even more to divide Konoha's forces."
Ziyun told the Third Raikage about the interesting scheme he had devised.
That was right. The idea Ziyun had come up with was the very strategy Sengoku had used against Whitebeard during the Paramount War in One Piece.
With this scheme, the Marines had deceived Great Whirlpool Spider Squard, a captain under the Whitebeard Pirates, creating the famous "filial son's sword" scene. Whitebeard's injuries had been compounded, laying the groundwork for the Marines' victory in the Paramount War.
As long as the Konoha High Command came to suspect that the Senju Clan really did have a Hidden Cloud mole, the Konoha F4 would deal with the Senju Clan themselves. There would be no need for the Hidden Cloud to lift a finger.
"Ha ha ha! Ziyun, when it comes to strategy, you're even better than me."
The Third Raikage clapped his hands and laughed after hearing it, thinking it was an excellent idea.
This scheme is vicious. Killing them isn't enough; he wants to destroy their hearts too. How terrifying.
I was right about him after all. Under Ziyun's leadership, the Hidden Cloud Village will surely reach the pinnacle of the Shinobi World.