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"Understood, I understand. Let me speak first."
Chōza nodded, indicating his understanding:
"First, let me clarify that in recent years, I don't know the specifics of Root's developments. I have no idea what Danzo is up to. My knowledge is limited, and this matter has nothing to do with me."
Since he wasn't involved, there was no way he would take the blame.
Chōza wasn't a fool; otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen early retirement to enjoy a peaceful life at home.
Eating and drinking every day without worry, and occasionally protecting the Ino-Shika-Cho trio's families was enough for him. As for other matters, he couldn't and wouldn't bother.
The Third Hokage listened quietly.
Chōza continued:
"The objective of the other party is clear; they're targeting Danzo, perhaps even Konoha and the entire Land of Fire. You might want to start from there."
"Targeting Danzo?"
The Third Hokage frowned slightly.
He had considered this, but there were too many people in the village who held grudges against Danzo. Apart from the Uchiha clan, who hated Danzo the most, many other clans had negative impressions of him, especially those he had approached demanding people.
The Third Hokage knew about these things but chose not to intervene.
"Let's use the process of elimination. First, the Uchiha... uh."
When Chōza mentioned the Uchiha, his chubby face filled with embarrassment:
"Ahem, let's not consider the Uchiha. They know too few secrets, so it's unlikely to be them."
"..."
If you knew, why did you bring it up?
On the surface, the Uchiha seemed eager to kill Danzo, but they knew too little of his secrets. It couldn't be them.
Anyone would immediately rule out the Uchiha as suspects.
Then they would investigate other suspects.
In the end, after checking everyone, even the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had suspicions. Chōza was exasperated.
How did it come back to me?
"Lord Third, you continue the investigation. I can't help anymore."
Chōza ultimately decided to stay out of it. The investigation had nothing to do with him or the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
Though Danzo had troubled the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, they didn't like him enough to go through all this trouble. Besides, very few people in the Ino-Shika-Cho trio knew these secret details.
No one seemed like a suspect.
After a futile night, the Third Hokage left in disappointment.
"Chōza, how did it go?"
As soon as the Third Hokage left, Shikaku, the brain of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, arrived.
"He left with no results. Everyone is a suspect, but no one could have done it."
Chōza rolled his eyes.
"Perfect timing. Shikaku, why don't you analyze who is the most suspicious?"
Do you think I'm a god?
Shikaku looked at the greasy table with disdain:
"Just as you said, the most suspicious ones are the least likely. Everyone else is suspicious but without evidence. This matter will likely remain unresolved."
Without evidence, even if the Third Hokage turned Konoha upside down, he would eventually give up.
At most, he would keep it in mind and be more cautious in the future.
Compared to catching a traitor, the external situation was more important.
"You're right. Danzo must be furious."
Chōza laughed heartily: "He values power the most, and now it's all gone."
'I shouldn't laugh. I must not laugh.'
Shikaku was inwardly delighted but remained indifferent on the surface, as if this matter didn't affect him.
In truth, seeing Danzo in trouble made him very happy.
Thinking of how Danzo had demanded people from the Ino-Shika-Cho clan made him grit his teeth in anger.
He wanted a Nara clan member as an aide, a Yamanaka clan member for interrogation, and so on.
Basically, he just wanted to get rid of Danzo.
The Ino-Shika-Cho wasn't an exception. The Third Hokage visited every clan with suspicions, even the families behind Koharu and Homura.
The two advisors had no major objections to this.
If it were them, they might have acted even more urgently.
The Third Hokage didn't immediately cut ties but instead visited each clan individually, which was already quite considerate.
As Shikaku had predicted, the investigation concluded with no results.
In the end, the Third Hokage gave up on finding the traitor and focused on handling external issues.
The united questioning by the various daimyos was far more serious than other villages' inquiries. One wrong move, and Konoha could become the first village to offend all the daimyos.
At that point, Konoha's development, both economically and militarily, would be choked off.
If it reached that stage, Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't need to be the Third Hokage anymore; he could retire.
"Damn it!"
The Third Hokage rarely lost his composure and cursed, but he couldn't help it.
Not only did he curse, but he also slammed the communication scroll on his desk, his aging face turning red.
Koharu and Homura, sitting nearby, sighed as they watched the enraged Third Hokage.
Since this incident began, the Third Hokage had struggled to control his emotions.
Realizing his loss of composure was inappropriate, the Third Hokage took a deep breath to calm himself.
"The daimyo sent a message. The daimyo wants to invite all the daimyos to a gathering and requires Konoha to send a ninja unit for protection."
Such gatherings occurred once or twice a year.
Normally, the Third Hokage would have been used to it.
What angered him was that, in the past, he was responsible for deploying personnel to the daimyo. This time, the daimyo clearly showed distrust by specifically requesting the Uchiha Police Force for protection.
"The daimyo doesn't trust us and specifically asked for the Uchiha to handle the security."
"...."
No wonder you're so angry.
Koharu sighed:
"Tasks like this are usually assigned by the Hokage's office. I didn't expect this year to be different..."
Circumstances forced Konoha to keep retreating to maintain the daimyo's support.
"So, for this year's gathering..."
Homura hesitated.
They didn't want the Uchiha to continue getting involved in such matters. Otherwise, the daimyo might start supporting the Uchiha, and the Uchiha, in turn, might secretly support the daimyo.
This situation had to be avoided at all costs.
However, the daimyo withholding funds forced them to yield.