At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi could never have imagined that his dearest friend was no longer the comrade-in-arms who had fought alongside him and shared life and death. Danzo Shimura Danzō's heart, already consumed by the ambition for the Hokage throne, was a cold, lifeless vessel, devoid of any trace of friendship. Otherwise, why would he have stood by and watched the Nine-Tails' Attack and Konoha Crush Plan, remaining inactive and even sending his trusted subordinates to assassinate the Third Hokage?
Danzo's heart had long since become a dark and twisted place!
Hiruzen Sarutobi failed to recognize this point and still believed that Danzo was still the same person he had been back then, someone who cared about the greater good of Konoha, only a little more ruthless and cruel. After giving Danzo a slight warning and seeing no further action from Danzo in the following ten days, the Third Hokage relaxed his guard.
Danzo grasped this point precisely.
He chose this final moment to redeploy his elite Root forces. He would never repeat the mistakes he made in the Chunin Ninja Exams. This time, he was determined to achieve the goals he had failed to accomplish before!
A full quarter of the people from the Root.
Danzo doesn't believe a mission can fail!?
"Whoosh!"
"Swoosh"
"Swoosh"
"Swoosh"
The night was deep and the night was silent.
These dozens of Root members, blending into the shadows of the night, took a shortcut, avoiding the village's patrolling ninjas. They filed out from an outer wall controlled by Root, heading to a designated area to ambush and carry out the ambush mission assigned by their master, Danzo!
The target of the ambush was the group from Kirigakure led by Ao. Although it wouldn't matter to Danzo which of the Three Great Shinobi Villages he chose, based on previous investigations, it was 99% certain that the elite Root that had been wiped out was a Kirigakure team, or more precisely, Team 7, which belonged to the eventual victorious Kei. With this factor in mind, Danzo naturally chose Kirigakure as his ambush target!
The Danzo from Kirigakure's intended targets, are currently completely unaware of this.
After Qi relayed the message from Qing to the other Genin, all the Mist Ninja packed their belongings.
As night fades and dawn arrives...
"Set off!"
The group from Kirigakure had finished their preparations.
Led by Ao, they filed out of the main gate of Konohagakure and headed east, returning to their own ninja village.
After Qing and his group left.
The groups from Sunagakure and Kumogakure also set off and left Konohagakure one after another. At the same time, the Konoha Ninja responsible for guarding the gate reported the relevant information to Hiruzen Sarutobi had arrived at the Hokage Building to work earlier.
Upon receiving the message.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slightly and said, "Yes, pass this information on to the personnel in charge of border defense, and tell them to pay close attention to the issues within their area. Understand?"
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
After responding in a deep voice, the person below leaped away from the spot.
Hopefully, this peace can last for a while. It would be best to have a proper talk with that Tsuchikage!
A faint, complex look flickered in Hiruzen Sarutobi's cloudy eyes as he silently pondered something.
As the Kage of a village, Hiruzen Sarutobi longed for peace, but he couldn't possibly believe that simply giving up some of his interests would lead to genuine mutual understanding among the villages and maintain peace in the Shinobi World. His position was already predetermined, and he was able to see clearly the various power struggles within the Shinobi World. So, it wasn't that he didn't understand; he was just unwilling to give up easily.
Even if it's just to gain some more time, that's a good thing!
At least that's how Hiruzen Sarutobi saw it.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of proposing such a Chunin Ninja Exams!
Fortunately, my efforts were still meaningful. Even though it was just a series of false and fragile peacees, it ultimately curbed the restless hearts of the various ninja villages, which was a successful start.
Next, Hiruzen Sarutobi considered various other methods!
This includes maintaining connections with the other four great daimyo to further maintain stability in the Shinobi World!
It must be said that Hiruzen Sarutobi really went to great lengths in this regard!
He genuinely hopes that more like-minded people can understand him and work together for peace.
Regardless of whether his sincerity is feigned or genuine, at least that is the ultimate goal of what he is currently doing.
However, this was destined to be a futile effort.
Not only would other major ninja villages not understand or agree with this, but even within their own borders, there was Shimura Danzō, the biggest opponent!
Want peace?
That's wishful thinking. Unless a series of conditions are truly met, even if the leaders of other ninja villages are willing to maintain peace in the Shinobi World, as long as Danzo, that troublemaker, consistently plays his most important role, conflict will inevitably occur!
Just like right now.
After Hiruzen Sarutobi issued the corresponding orders, he buried himself back in his daily work, considering how to proceed with the next round of contact. Less than three hours later...
Hiruzen!
The sudden opening of the door and the stern-faced figure of Mitokado Homura stepping in caused Hiruzen Sarutobi's heartstrings to tighten instinctively.
"What happened, Yan?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at Mitokado Homura with a serious expression, asking a question.
"Reports from the Anbu indicate that a group of people, not bound by orders, left the village last night. Our initial assessment is that they headed east!"
Mitokado Homura replied in a slightly hurried tone.
"What did you say? Last night? Could it be someone from Root?!"
Hearing Mitokado Homura's words.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed instantly, and the words that immediately came to mind were spoken.
"Um!"
As he nodded emphatically to Mitokado Homura, who had a very serious expression on his face.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression also became uglier than ever before.
He truly hadn't expected that just two weeks ago he had warned his close friend, thinking he wouldn't resort to any extreme measures, but now it seemed he had clearly made a huge mistake!
"Summon Jiraiya here right now!"
This was a decision that needed to be made in an instant.