Wait, that's not even the main point. The main point is that Shimura Danzo leaked village secrets to make a deal with Salamander Hanzo, hoping the latter would kill Takashi.
Hiss~~~
This is serious.
"Is everything you said true?"
Hanzo looked at Kobayashi coldly:
"I, for one, do not lie. This person offended me in the village, so I took action. Here's the intel from the interrogation—take it to the Hokage."
"Tell him, if he wants to respond to Sand Village's provocation, leave Amegakure out of it. I don't want to be enemies with Konoha, but that doesn't mean I'm a pushover."
Taking me for a fool, huh?
Well, don't blame me for stirring the pot then!
Since Shimura Danzo did indeed leak Konoha's intel, I'll add a bit more to the story—he'll have to carry this burden.
Something huge has happened!
After dropping the body and saying his piece, Hanzo decisively left.
Kobayashi was in a panic.
"Why would Lord Danzo want to assassinate Takashi?"
"No idea—did Takashi somehow offend him?"
"Regardless of whether there's a conflict or not, this shouldn't have been done. Worse still, he leaked village secrets and asked outsiders to do the dirty work."
No matter what conflict there was between Takashi and Danzo, targeting him for assassination was wrong. Leaking village information to outsiders was even worse.
Kobayashi rushed to the medical unit to inform them of what had happened, visibly distressed:
"What should we do now? What do we do?!"
What do we do? Of course, we wait it out.
Sarutobi Santou held his head in his hands in frustration. Danzo, how could you?!
Assassination was one thing, but handling it so sloppily? Now it's come to this, and you've been sold out—you're finished!
Sarutobi Santou was sure that once this news reached the village, Danzo would be done for.
Hm—the "Demi-God" Hanzo does seem to have quite a personality. Danzo, you didn't see that coming, did you?
Hahaha.
If not for Kobayashi and Sarutobi Santou standing there, Takashi would have laughed out loud already.
"I will head back myself."
This was a big deal, and neither Kobayashi nor Sarutobi Santou could handle it. They needed to return to the village quickly for the Third Hokage's decision.
Hopefully, the Hokage won't be so angry to death.
"Hahaha."
After Kobayashi and Sarutobi Santou left, laughter echoed through the medical tent.
The ninja in the camp looked at one another, bewildered. They understood Takashi's emotions, but laughing so openly—was that really okay?
Danzo had truly shot himself in the foot this time. Even if his past contributions prevented severe punishment, the Third Hokage wouldn't let him off easily.
For now, Danzo's influence was completely diminished.
By the time he could recover, Takashi would be able to deal with him easily—just like squashing a bug.
Given the gravity of the matter, Sarutobi Santou used the camp's messenger hawk to send an early warning back to the village, giving the Hokage a heads-up, while he himself carried the corpse to Konoha.
Traveling from the border camp back to the village, plus the snow-covered winter terrain that would slow him down, meant it would take Sarutobi Santou at least two days to return.
On the other hand, the hawk could reach Konoha in three to four hours.
"Lord Hokage, this is a scroll from the Intelligence Unit—sent from the camp on the Rain Country border."
Salamander Hanzo had arrived at the camp early that morning, and Sarutobi Santou had swiftly sent word, which meant the intelligence scroll arrived in Konoha shortly after the Third Hokage finished lunch.
"Put it on the table," said the Third Hokage without even looking up from the documents he was reviewing. The scroll could wait.
After carefully finishing the document, thinking for a moment, and approving it with his stamp, the Third Hokage finally set it aside and picked up the scroll.
He unlocked it using the specific cipher, eyes scanning the contents. He skillfully picked up his pipe from the table, putting it in his mouth and lighting it.
"Puff~~~Cough, cough!!!"
He had barely taken a puff when his eyes widened in shock. He stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over and choking on the smoke he had inhaled.
"How could this be?!"
"This can't be true."
The Third Hokage, now completely uninterested in smoking, threw the pipe aside and grabbed the scroll, bringing it so close to his face that it almost touched his nose.
Was this scroll serious?
Danzo actually leaked village secrets to strike a deal with Hanzo, asking him to assassinate Takashi?
And in the end, he got betrayed?
After reading it a second time, disbelief remained. By the third reading, anger was all over the Hokage's face.
"Danzo!!!"
The Third Hokage shook with rage.
He slammed the scroll down on his desk, startling the Anbu guard outside the door.
He could tolerate Danzo going after Takashi as long as Danzo didn't use the village's resources or drag him into it—he would turn a blind eye.
After all, Danzo had shouldered many burdens for him, had accomplished much. He still had his uses, so the Hokage was willing to offer him some leeway.
But the Third Hokage could never have imagined that Danzo would be so audacious as to trade village secrets. Wasn't this betrayal?
The village had just concluded an important meeting, and right after that, you, Danzo, used those secrets to make a deal?
Where's your sense of decency?!
"Get Danzo here immediately! And summon Koharu, Homura, and that Akimichi Torifu—get that fatso here too! Move quickly!!"
Hanzo had openly arrived at the camp and made this matter public. There was no way to cover it up.
Once the news spread, it would explode.
One misstep and the entire upper echelon could be affected.
The Hokage was very angry!
The Anbu guards had no idea what was going on but knew that the Hokage was furious. All they could do was obediently summon the required people.
"Monkey, why did you call me over again? Didn't I tell you—"
Called over without any explanation, Akimichi Torifu was about to crack a joke, but he stopped mid-sentence when he saw the Third Hokage's stormy expression. He chose to shut up and obediently sit on the floor, waiting for the others.
On the surface, Akimichi Torifu appeared serious, but in his mind, he was wondering what could have made the Third Hokage so angry.
Clearly, it wasn't something simple.
Soon enough, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado arrived as well.
Walking into the Hokage's office, both noticed his expression and looked towards Akimichi Torifu.
Akimichi Torifu returned them a look that said, "I don't know either," before sitting down properly. He decided it was best to stay out of this.