"Lord Raikage!"
The Fourth Raikage waved his hand, cutting off Mabui's words. His expression remained calm as he said, "Mabui, proceed according to the original plan."
"But..."
"If it were someone like Hashirama Senju or a power of that level, the outcome wouldn't be worse. If not, Mokuton (Wood Release) is just a cover. Treat it like any other ninjutsu. There's no need to be overly concerned."
Raikage snorted with a proud expression.
He always held Konoha in disdain.
Hashirama Senju was indeed powerful.
But so what?
There is only one God of Shinobi!
He refused to believe Konoha could produce another Hashirama Senju.
"Understood!"
Mabui understood, nodding heavily before striding away.
Her emotions had also settled.
The shock brought by the appearance of Mokuton was gradually erased by Raikage's steady words.
That is the quality of a leader.
Many times, even if Raikage did nothing, just his presence could inspire infinite courage in the shinobi of the Hidden Cloud Village.
Raikage's face remained stern as he looked out the window, muttering, "Konoha, Mokuton? Hmph, the Fourth Hokage..."
The chaos within the Hidden Cloud Village had come to an end.
When the unrest erupted, the Hidden Cloud Village demonstrated its strength as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Within a few short hours, they had subdued the disorder.
At the same time...
They hadn't neglected the outside world.
If any other village dared to seize the opportunity to attack, hoping to gain an advantage, they would certainly taste bitter defeat.
Their only concern was the possibility of some strong individuals taking action within the village during the chaos.
The situation with the Two-Tails was one of them.
The Hidden Cloud was actively searching for the whereabouts of the Two-Tails.
...
**Hokage's Office.**
Smoke swirled in the air.
In the hazy room, several grim faces could be seen.
The Four Guardians of the Village had gathered once more.
In the office, they sat in the four corners.
And... each looked more frustrated than the last.
If Konohamaru saw them, he would surely sit down and start studying obediently.
The Third Hokage exhaled a heavy puff of smoke through his nose and said coldly, "So, Danzo, your plan failed. Not only did you fail to kill Ichiki Uchiha, but Root also suffered heavy losses. Is that right?"
Danzo, unable to suppress his fury, growled, "Those damned Hidden Cloud shinobi—they've gone mad! We had an agreement, but they broke their promise and attacked my men."
"Those bastards must have been bought off by the Uchiha."
The Third Hokage, barely containing his own anger, said icily, "What about the Anbu?"
"After they wiped out Root, the Hidden Cloud didn't hold back. The Anbu also..."
The Third Hokage closed his eyes in pain, clutching his chest.
The heartache was unbearable.
In Danzo's plan, Anbu and Root were supposed to cooperate with Hidden Cloud to take down Ichiki Uchiha.
To this end...
Danzo gave Hidden Cloud 10 million ryō and promised them Uchiha's body.
From Hidden Cloud's perspective, it was a win-win: they'd have powerful allies, make money, and eliminate a Konoha Uchiha, even receiving a pair of Sharingan in return.
Of course, they agreed.
Raikage even decided to personally take part.
Konoha immediately provided Hidden Cloud with Ichiki Uchiha's intel.
Danzo was confident.
Even if Ichiki managed to escape the first attack, there were more "surprises" waiting for him along the way.
In short: Ichiki Uchiha was as good as dead!
There was no way he could escape.
Danzo even considered using Ichiki Uchiha to set up Hidden Cloud.
As a result...
Hidden Cloud attacked Root before they even encountered Uchiha.
Root was completely wiped out.
What infuriated Danzo the most was that they claimed Root had attacked first.
When they couldn't win, Root members supposedly resorted to self-destruction, killing many in Hidden Cloud.
Ha!
If you're going to lie, at least make it believable.
Each member of Root was bound by the Curse of Absolute Obedience. They would never betray Danzo.
Danzo certainly hadn't given any orders to attack Hidden Cloud.
According to Hidden Cloud's version of the story...
Dozens of Root members suddenly betrayed Danzo, attacked Hidden Cloud, and chose to self-destruct when they couldn't win?
What, did they all plan to have a tea party in the afterlife?
"So you're saying..."
The Third Hokage slowly opened his eyes and said, "Ichiki Uchiha is unharmed, and we lost dozens of our best shinobi, correct?"
"...Yes."
Nineteen from Anbu.
Twenty-one from Root.
Among them were seven Jonin and twelve Special Jonin.
All of them were elites.
Losing so many loyal shinobi at once made the Third Hokage want to hit Danzo with his staff—hard.
This is what you meant by "no problems," right?
Danzo, you're nothing but trouble!
The biggest troublemaker in the whole shinobi world.
"Report!"
An Anbu appeared.
The Third Hokage shot him a cold glance. "Speak!"
"Uchiha and Hyuga clans had a skirmish with the Sand Village's vanguard. Both sides suffered casualties."
"Oh!"
This was perhaps the only good news the Third Hokage had received all day.
His spirits lifted as he asked, "What about the casualties for the Uchiha and Hyuga?"
"Only Eighth Generation and Inaho from the Uchiha survived. The rest were killed in action. The Hyuga clan was completely wiped out."
"Ah..."
The Third Hokage's expression froze for a moment.
He had hoped that the Uchiha and Hyuga clans would suffer heavy losses, but he never expected the losses to be this severe.
Twelve Jōnin, dozens of clan elites, and only two Jōnin left?
Really?
The Third Hokage was filled with doubt.
Danzo suddenly asked, "What about the losses of the Hidden Sand Village?"
An Anbu agent replied, "Based on the initial reports, the Hidden Sand's losses are more than double ours."
"Oh!"
The expressions of the Four Great Beasts relaxed slightly.
"Dismissed. I need detailed data on the Sand's losses."
"Yes!"
The Anbu agent left.
Koharu Utatane hesitated and said, "With the Uchiha and Hyuga suffering such heavy losses, could it be that…"
"Could it be what?"
Danzo snorted angrily and said, "Uchiha Kazuki's forces wiped out the Anbu we sent. I will certainly hold them accountable for this."
As for Root…
There's nothing that can be done.
I can't exactly say, "I secretly sent people to kill you, so how come you're still alive and my people are all dead?"
Could you be secretly dealing with the Hidden Cloud?
I clearly made the first deal with them, and now you're cutting in?
The Uchiha side would explode instantly.
Those red-eyed people, they're hated by everyone.
But when they fight, people fear them.
The Third Hokage slowly said, "Indeed, while the Uchiha suffered heavy losses, our losses aren't small either. If the Uchiha think they can use this to make trouble, they're dreaming!"
As for the Hyuga…
Who even cares about them?
After saying this, the Third Hokage suddenly noticed Koharu Utatane looking at him with a strange expression.
"Koharu, what's wrong?"
"No, nothing!"
Koharu quickly shook her head, but in her heart, she felt deeply uneasy.
What did Hiruzen just say? The Uchiha causing trouble?
Since when did they ever care about what the Uchiha thought?
Hasn't it always been Danzo at the front, with them in the background, constantly squeezing the Uchiha's space for survival?
When did they start worrying about the Uchiha?
The tone of things was starting to change.
This shift made Koharu feel a growing sense of unease.
It felt like this was the beginning of something.
The beginning of their descent into darkness.
An illusion!
It must be an illusion!
The Leaf Village belongs to them, and for decades, it's always been this way. It won't change in the future either.
(End of chapter)