"You knew I wouldn't compensate them. You are using me as a shield to reject the Raikage's envoys. That is the whole reason you let those Kumo Envoys leave, you want them to inform the Raikage that it was me, the Senju Clan Head, Senju Araki, who didn't want to give any compensation to Kumo. Now, even if Raikage wants to find fault in someone, he can only do it against me. Saving Konoha while sacrificing the Senju." Araki had a mocking smile on his face while he stared at the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage visibly flinched upon those words, but he didn't deny them.
"Konoha is so pathetic that it can't even take stand for its founding clans. The Uzumaki Clan has already been destroyed, you are already targeting the Senju Clan. I wonder if the Uchiha Clan is next." Araki asked the Hokage with a smile which sent shivers down the Hokage's smile.
"You are just overthinking about the situation. Why would I take any action against the founding clans of the village?" The Hokage tried to say it with an indifferent voice, but his heart was trembling with frustration.
This wasn't what he planned…
Araki was pretty amused by the Hokage's reactions and turned around, "Well, not as it matters. You will feel the consequences of your actions later, monkey." After saying that, he left the Hokage's office.
'Not just the power of Hashirama-sama… He also posses the cunningness of Tobirama-sama. However, he doesn't possess either one's loyalty.' The Hokage thought in his head.
It had been some time since Araki had left the Hokage's Office.
While the Hokage was managing his paperwork, Jiraiya, the toad sage entered the Hokage's office with his blonde-haired disciple following him.
As far as the Hokage remembered, this boy's name was Namikaze Minato. He had been the one to graduate from the Academy with a full score at the age of 10. He had been assigned to a genin team, and after 2 years, he had already become a chunin.
"Sensei, how long do I have to remain in the village? I want to take my disciple outside the village." Jiraiya was pretty much asking a mission for his disciple.
"Not now. You can't leave the village these days. At least not for another quarter of the year." The Third Hokage said with a solemn voice.
"Oii sensei… 4 months?! Are you kidding me?! I can't remain in the village for so long. What about my research for my next novel?" Jiraiya asked while raising his brows and asking the third Hokage. He knew that the Hokage would usually agree when he brings up this point.
This time, the Third Hokage didn't back down. Instead, he had a very resolute look in his eyes as he said to Jiraiya, "Remain in the village. I need your power and prestige here. And if you are worried about your apprentice not getting any experience here, I can assign him a mission with his genin team. You cannot leave the village, though."
Minato knew that some important talk was going to happen between his sensei and the Third Hokage. He tactfully left the office before being ordered by Jiraiya.
Hiruzen was quite fond of this boy. He was powerful for his age, smart, humble, and tactful. This boy had quite good relations with the inheritors of almost all the clans in the village. Well, except for the Senju Clan, Uchiha Clan, and the Hyuuga Clan.
"Alright, tell me what's the matter. What has happened that you need my presence here?" Jiraiya asked in an uncharacteristically serious voice.
'I need to choose my words wisely.' The Hokage reminded himself before narrating the whole scene to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya frowned a little as he heard the story. He had heard of Senju Araki from the mouth of Hatake Sakumo when they last met.
Other than complaining a little about Senju Araki's antics of taking Kakashi out to play, the man was full of praise about Senju Araki.
It wasn't rare for him to hear Hatake Sakumo praising someone. But his last wording surprised him.
"It won't take him long to surpass us if we continue to slack off." This wording was indeed surprising to hear from the mouth of the White Fang.
Jiraiya hadn't taken Hatake Sakumo's words that seriously. He thought that Sakumo was probably just overestimating his apprentice.
However, from what he had heard of his sensei's mouth just now, he realised that Sakumo's words weren't exaggerated.
"Alright, tell me, what do you want me to do?"
"Use your spy network to its full potential to find out any possible movements between Kumo and Iwa. Make sure to find out if they have any plans of allying or not. Remain ready to do a mission." From the Hokage's tone, Jiraiya got the feeling that it wouldn't be anything less than an S-Rank Mission.
"Got it. I will get to work then." Jiraiya mentally decided to train as well. It seems that another great war was around the corner.
Just before he was about to leave, the Hokage said to Jiraiya, "Also, let your apprentice interact with the Uchiha. You should know what I mean."
A serious look appeared on Jiraiya's face as he asked, "Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
"The situation is different now."
After hearing his sensei's words, Jiraiya returned to his place to begin preparations.
In another location, while Arakiw as returning to his Manor. He was attacked on the way.
The ones who attacked him were 20 or so dark clothed men.
Araki didn't even need to think about who they were. Definitely the courtesy of Danzo. He thought in his head 'That man is really persistent.'
It seems that Danzo believed this was the best time to kidnap Araki. The effect of that threat seems to have vanished by now.
"Well, I was already quite grieved when I let those Kumo Shinobi leave. I guess you will also do just fine." Araki said with a smile on his face.
He didn't plan on playing with them at all.
The 20 or so Shinobi stood on top of trees and pulled out shuriken with some strings.
"Do you think I didn't know you were following me? I have known this since leaving the Hokage's office. The reason you have caught up with me isn't because of your ability, it's because I wanted you to. As for why?" Araki gave them a smile before shouting, "Wood Release: Wood Sphere Jutsu!"
A Wooden Sphere completely covered Araki's body, and the 20 Root ANBU were confused as to why he would do that.
"Explode!"
Boundless Chakra seemed to have been injected in the trees within one mile of Araki. Before the ANBU Shinobi understood what has happened, the entire area exploded loudly!
It was so loud that it caught half of Konoha's attention, including the Hokage, Danzo, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Sakumo Hatake.
They had a familiar expression on their faces. Each one held a frown on their face. To them, it felt like this was an attack from an enemy. Well, only Danzo seemed to have the hint of the true reason behind this explosion.
This was a reply from Senju Araki. This could mean a lot of things, but Danzo had a faint idea that this was an action from Senju Araki stating that he was getting fed up with Danzo's little attacks.
Meanwhile, the Hokage and Jiraiya immediately decided to rush at the area. They wanted to gauge the situation first hand. The ANBU wouldn't be appropriate for this task.