Poor Rasa was busy mining in the desert, leaving intelligence scrolls to be delivered to Chiyo, who was managing the village's affairs in his stead.
"Lady Chiyo, the news about Konoha's scandal will soon spread across the entire ninja world. Should we try to contain it?"
Konoha was, after all, an ally on the surface. Doing absolutely nothing and watching the news spread felt a bit inappropriate…
Setting down the scroll, Chiyo replied calmly:
"With the Kazekage absent from the village, I don't have the authority to handle this matter. Leave it as it is for now; everything can wait until the Kazekage returns."
Suppress it?
Why would we suppress it?
Suna has been tormented so miserably by Konoha, yet they never suppressed or mitigated any of those humiliating incidents for us.
We're not the ones actively spreading the news anyway. Besides, is Konoha so scared of people knowing about their disgraceful deeds?
Let the scandal explode. It has absolutely nothing to do with Suna.
Suna decisively adopted a stance of neither actively spreading nor rejecting the news.
Kirigakure did the same.
In contrast, Iwagakure and Kumogakure gleefully helped spread the news, causing it to circulate through the ninja world in record time.
Konoha's scandal had blown up.
Danzo Shimura, the Hokage's advisor, was exposed for committing numerous unethical acts. He secretly conducted human experiments, abducted people for those experiments, and even targeted Konoha's own villagers.
"Deploy personnel and continue the search."
At this moment, the Third Hokage was deeply troubled. His face, already wrinkled, seemed to have aged several years in just a few days.
He had led a team out of the village to capture Danzo, but they hadn't been able to apprehend him or even catch sight of him. Every time they were close, Danzo found a way to evade them, leaving the Third Hokage and his team chasing shadows.
While the Third Hokage was busy hunting Danzo, unrest was brewing back in the village.
The most notable agitators were Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and members of the Shimura and Sarutobi clans.
Danzo had become a rat everyone wanted to stomp on, and the Shimura clan suffered by association, though not undeservedly.
But at this point, who would willingly accompany Danzo into the depths of despair?
Certainly no one.
Even the Shimura clan had to distance themselves from him.
While they wanted to draw a line, the villagers weren't so accommodating. Since they couldn't find Danzo, their anger shifted to the Shimura clan.
The Shimura clan's misfortune also extended to the Sarutobi clan.
Although the two clans seemed unrelated, their interests were deeply intertwined.
"Elders, is there really no other solution?"
Danzo had become a rat everyone hated, and the Shimura clan was caught in the crossfire.
Although the Shimura clan's rise was closely tied to Danzo, they had at least publicly distanced themselves from him early on.
But the villagers didn't care about any of that.
Because Danzo was a member of the Shimura clan. Just saying you have nothing to do with him doesn't make it true.
The representative of the Sarutobi clan nodded silently.
If things continued like this, the Sarutobi clan might be dragged down too.
And at such a critical moment, the Third Hokage was absent from the village.
"What can we do?"
Koharu Utatane was furious. She pointed a finger at the Shimura clan leader and berated him:
"Danzo committed crimes and was thrown into prison. He should have stayed there quietly. But no, you had to send him benefits, didn't you?"
"Now you've dragged the entire Shimura clan into this mess."
How was I supposed to know things would get this bad?
The Shimura clan leader looked distressed.
Seeing that Koharu was about to continue, Homura Mitokado quickly stopped her and addressed the representatives of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans seriously:
"This situation is already beyond our control. In fact, we've approached Tsunade, but she refused to help us."
The advisory elders' power depended entirely on the Hokage's attitude.
When the Third Hokage was in power, their authority was immense, allowing them to interfere in many matters. But under Tsunade, even though she hadn't officially assumed office, their power had significantly diminished.
"Even Sakumo Hatake, the newly appointed ANBU Commander, doesn't look favorably on us," Homura said with a bitter smile. "Thanks to past incidents, he's deeply resentful—another one of Danzo's masterpieces."
Everyone was left speechless.
Although the Third Hokage hadn't directly participated in those events, his choice to neither support nor oppose Danzo's actions had enabled them.
"But we can't let this situation continue to spiral out of control."
The Shimura clan leader was anxious.
"Elders, send someone to investigate. Right now, not just the entire village but probably the entire ninja world is discussing this scandal. Konoha's disgrace is too significant, and Danzo even served as a Hokage advisor."
"If this continues, every other village will mock us."
Now you're worried? Where was this concern earlier?
The Shimura clan's issues won't be resolved so easily. Tsunade will likely hold them accountable in the future.
Danzo's schemes propelled the Shimura clan, a previously ordinary ninja family, into prominence. But now that Danzo had fallen, the Shimura clan would inevitably face retribution.
"Ahhh…" Homura sighed.
"Send someone to inform Hiruzen. Tell him to abandon the search for Danzo and return to the village immediately. Otherwise, the chaos will only worsen."
At this point, nothing else could be done.
The only solution was for the Third Hokage to return and take charge. Only his presence could suppress the growing dissent.
Even if Danzo's crimes were fully confirmed, they couldn't implicate anyone else. Otherwise, the situation would snowball and spiral out of control, dragging everyone down with it.
In that case, it wouldn't just be a few individuals—it would be all the families who profited from their connections, especially those who had benefited in unsavory ways.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado had already thought about sending someone to urge the Third Hokage to return and stop pursuing Danzo.
Unfortunately, those sent to deliver the message failed to convince him.
With no other options, the Sarutobi and Shimura clans could only repeatedly send messengers, hoping the Third Hokage would give up the search for Danzo and return to stabilize the situation.
Tsunade, meanwhile, wasn't concerned with village politics, as more pressing issues had arisen.
Sakumo Hatake's intelligence team, stationed in the Land of Grass, reported sightings of large numbers of Iwagakure shinobi.
The Land of Grass, supposedly an ally of Konoha, had effectively become Iwagakure's backyard. Their actions had crossed the line, violating the non-aggression pact between the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
Tsunade immediately made a decisive response, sending a team to Kusagakure for negotiations.
Due to Takuyas extreme disdain for Kusagakure and her reminders, Tsunade had already stopped viewing them as true allies.
Anticipating trouble, Tsunade had stationed numerous forces along the border to prevent Iwagakure from using Kusagakure as a stepping stone to invade Konoha.
Had Konoha continued treating Kusagakure as an ally, Iwagakure's army might have marched into the Land of Fire, leaving Konoha unaware of what had happened.
With the risk of war with Iwagakure looming, Tsunade recalled the ninja forces stationed along the coastline.
Orochimaru successfully returned to Konoha with his team.
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DO NOT FORGET POWER STONE AND CHATTING