Chaos in Konoha (4/5)

Just as the civilians of the Land of Waves began joyfully receiving large quantities of basic living supplies delivered by the merchants, Kakashi finally returned to Konoha with one wounded person and two utterly shaken disciples.

After sending Sasuke to the hospital, he immediately went to the Hokage Building to report what he had encountered during this mission.

In particular, he described in full the mysterious person wearing a Root Organization mask and possessing a pair of Two-Tomoe Sharingan, as well as every detail of their conversation.

There was also Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, going berserk.

After hearing all this, the Third Hokage’s expression immediately turned extremely grave. After thinking for a long while, he finally asked, "Do you think those two attackers were really Danzō’s people?"

"I don’t know! But that guy’s Sharingan was definitely real! Although it only had two tomoe, he was extremely skilled at using all kinds of ocular techniques. If he went all out, I might not be his match at all," Kakashi answered without hesitation.

"Since when did Danzō have so many elites under him…" The Third Hokage frowned unconsciously.

He was not surprised by the attempt on Sasuke’s life.

As the instigator and chief culprit behind the Uchiha Clan Downfall, Danzō had always wanted to completely cut off the clan’s bloodline and make it vanish from the shinobi world forever.

But the problem was that Root Organization members did not appear out of thin air. They were recruited from the village’s existing shinobi or selected from the orphans it took in.

Although Root Organization operated in great secrecy, the Hokage could still obtain some information.

That was also why, despite fighting for decades, Danzō had always been the loser.

But now, his old rival had suddenly acquired several trump cards capable of threatening him. It would have been strange if the Third Hokage had not been nervous.

Moreover, ever since Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals, his prestige within the village had plummeted. Many who had once supported the Hokage had either thrown themselves into Danzō’s arms or chosen to remain neutral and watch the show.

After all, while absolute fairness could never truly be achieved, things should at least look fair on the surface.

But the Hokage had directly handed a scroll filled with forbidden techniques to a genin, allowed him to learn Multiple Shadow Clones, and then held him accountable for nothing afterward. Any shinobi who still had even the slightest expectations for the village would be enraged by such blatant favoritism and double standards.

On top of that, only a small handful of people knew Naruto Uzumaki’s true identity, and they had been strictly forbidden from speaking of it. Naturally, the impact became even worse.

It could be said that the Third Hokage was already doing everything in his power just to hold onto his position. He simply had no ability to investigate whether Danzō had truly sent someone to assassinate Sasuke.

"Hokage-sama, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave."

Kakashi clearly understood the Third Hokage’s difficult position and knew just how sensitive Sasuke’s identity was.

It was not only Danzō who wanted Sasuke dead. Those shinobi who had participated in the Uchiha Clan Downfall would not want him alive either.

As for innocence…

Sorry!

No one cared!

Were those who knew nothing about the rebellion, yet had their entire families slaughtered along with everyone else, not innocent too?

"Hmm! Go."

The Third Hokage nodded helplessly.

On the other side, Danzō had also received news that Kakashi and Team 7 had returned to the village. After obtaining Sasuke’s injury report, he immediately sighed. "Less than a millimeter from piercing his heart? This Uchiha remnant is truly lucky."

"My lord, I also heard that after the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki witnessed Sasuke Uchiha’s chest being pierced, he immediately went berserk and even increased the number of tails on his Tailed Beast Cloak to four," a Root Organization shinobi reported truthfully.

"Sigh, forget it. Leave it at that for now. Our current priority is Orochimaru’s Konoha Collapse Plan. As for this Uchiha remnant, let him live a little longer." Danzō let out a regretful sigh.

Just as Allen had expected, he did not vent his anger on anyone because the assassination had failed.

After all, since Itachi’s "defection," this had been the most successful assassination attempt against Sasuke. It had even come within a hair’s breadth of succeeding.

"Understood! Our people are already in position. We are only waiting for the Chunin Exam to begin." The Root Organization shinobi raised his head, his eyes filled with feverish zeal.

In his eyes, only Danzō could lead Konoha out of its current cowardly situation of yielding at every turn and return it to the power and glory of the First Shinobi World War, WWII, and the Third Shinobi World War, when it had swept across the entire shinobi world.

Danzō nodded in satisfaction. "Very good! Remember to tell Allen’s side to keep a closer eye on Orochimaru’s movements. That man will not obediently follow the plan."

"Please rest assured! We have already sent two elites to relay messages. No matter what Orochimaru is plotting, he will not escape our control," the Root Organization shinobi promised firmly.

After saying that, he quickly backed away and vanished into the darkness, leaving Danzō alone in the secret chamber.

Feeling himself surrounded by darkness and loneliness, the old man who had long since fallen completely onto the path of evil gently touched the eye beneath his bandages and murmured in a voice only he could hear, "Perhaps after I become Hokage, I should use it to turn that child into a pawn completely loyal to me. Only then can I safely hand Root Organization over to him to manage."

Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan technique, Kotoamatsukami, was Danzō’s greatest trump card. It was also why he dared to employ a dangerous element like Allen.

At the thought that his dream would soon come true, he could not help laughing, and the more he laughed, the more frenzied he became.

Fortunately, there was no second person here. Otherwise, those Root Organization shinobi who regarded him as a god would probably have thought their leader had lost his mind.

Of course, no one knew whether Danzō was insane, but the Medical Ninja and nurses in the hospital were truly about to lose their minds.

"Move! I’m leaving the hospital!"

Sasuke Uchiha leaped from the bed like a madman, trying to leave the place that filled him with disgust.

"Sasuke! Calm down! You were incredibly lucky that the wound in your chest did not pierce your heart, but you still need several days to recover," Sakura hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Shut up! I’ve had enough of this feeling of weakness! I have to become stronger! Stronger with everything I have!"

Clearly, this near-death experience had viciously struck Sasuke’s most sensitive nerve.

Karin looked about the same age as him, yet she possessed overwhelming power. She had effortlessly pinned all three of them to the ground and beaten them repeatedly, and even his prized Sharingan could not clearly see her movements.

If he continued wasting time like this, forget avenging his dead family—even catching up to Itachi’s footsteps would be impossible.

Just as Sasuke was about to make a scene in the hospital room, Kakashi finally entered from outside and said in a rather lazy tone, "Enough! Lie down and rest properly. I promise that once your injuries heal, I’ll teach you the technique Chidori."

"Chidori?" Sasuke instantly recalled that powerful ninjutsu flashing with electric light and immediately asked excitedly, "Really?"

"Hmm! I promise," Kakashi replied affirmatively.

"Then it’s a promise!"

"It’s a promise!"