Chapter 98: The Hokage Advisor is Dismissed

A whim?

A sense of powerlessness welled up in everyone's hearts.

Their caution and vigilance, their greed and fear regarding the Samsara Game, all their conjectures and judgments had actually been nothing more than the other party's whim.

It was like a Giant abruptly intruding into an ant world, bringing endless panic to the ants; they stood in battle formation, guessing the Giant's intentions, pondering how to make contact with the Giant, and wondering how the Giant viewed them...

Sarutobi Hiruzen tried his best to maintain the dignity of the Hokage, but the corners of his eyes drooped involuntarily as he said nervously, "Mr. Fang Yi, the attack by Shimura Danzo on you was by no means the intention of Konoha. We will definitely handle it seriously and will never tolerate it!"

His attitude was earnest, already revealing the apology and sincerity befitting a Hokage.

"Mr. Hokage, it seems you still don't understand..."

Fang Yi restrained his smile, sighed, and said, "I don't care about the attack. On the contrary, I like Mr. Danzou's courage to strike at me and his intense inner desires; this is the key for players to hunt Pollution Monsters."

"I deprived him of his right arm and right eye, not because he attacked me, but because he played too clumsy a trick in front of me."

Speaking of this, Fang Yi looked at the elderly Hokage with a half-smile and asked, "Are you truly completely unaware of the attack Mr. Danzou launched on me?"

"..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen could not speak.

In normal times, he would have been able to say categorically that this matter was entirely Danzou's doing and had nothing to do with himself.

But facing the gaze of the mysterious merchant, it was as if even the ability to lie had vanished, and he could not summon the slightest thought of sophistry or argument.

Although he had not done it himself, he had indeed utilized Danzou's impatience and craving for certain things, intentionally or unintentionally guiding the other party to strike.

As Hokage, how could he have forgotten Danzou when issuing the order strictly forbidding anyone from provoking the mysterious merchant?

It was just that, at the time, no one could have anticipated that the mysterious merchant's power had already surpassed the limits of what ninjas could imagine.

How was this to end?

Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes slightly and whispered, "Lord Fang Yi, I am willing to bear any punishment you deem fit; I implore you not to implicate the village."

The change in how he addressed the game merchant meant that he had completely discarded the reserve of a Hokage and bowed his head to this mysterious and unfathomable existence.

"No need to be nervous, I am just a merchant selling games; all matters can be resolved through trade."

Fang Yi thought for a moment and smiled, "Let's make a trade. Let's use these Chunin Exams..."

The sun rose as usual.

The incident that occurred in the Death Forest that night was classified as top secret by the Third Hokage, and not a single word was allowed to be leaked.

Secondly, there was an announcement that shocked all ninjas and civilians.

The former Hokage Advisor Shimura Danzou, due to harming fellow village ninjas for human experimentation, was stripped of his advisor status and imprisoned in the deepest level of Konoha Prison, with an unknown sentence length.

"Lord Shimura Danzou, I never realized he was such a vicious person."

Most of the civilians in Konoha Village were families of ninjas, or distant relatives and close neighbors, so they naturally knew a little about the Ninja World.

But a situation like this, where a decree was openly issued by Konoha's highest ruler for all civilians to know, was a first.

Konoha Hall,

where the ninjas from other villages preparing to participate in the Chunin Exams resided, was very luxurious; the ninjas of the Four Great Ninja Villages all had separately designated areas, while the small ninja villages were gathered together.

It was a clear case of differential treatment,

but no one felt it was wrong; this was the Ninja World, where the strength of the Ninja Village and the ninja determined how others treated them.

Inside the building where the Cloud Ninja resided,

"Samui, tomorrow is the Chunin Exams. Are these two brats really okay?"

Yugito, sitting on the edge of the bed and wiping her steel-needle-like claw weapon, asked.

Samui crossed her arms, her expression cold, and nodded upon hearing this: "It's fine. Don't underestimate Omoi and Karui; if they join forces, even you would be injured."

Having been baptized by the Samsara Game, the strength of the two had long since exceeded that of ordinary Jonin.

Even the Raikage, who was gifted and could snap off the left horn of the Eight-Tails with his bare hands, was not as strong as the two of them at the same age.

"I'm afraid they'll be defeated by Konoha's players and bring shame to Kumogakure."

Yugito, who had delicate features and wore her hair in a waist-length braid, said this, but her eyes revealed a look of worry.

She had always been like this; she appeared difficult to get along with, but was actually gentle inside and cared deeply for her partners in Kumogakure.

It was related to her childhood environment.

She had displayed outstanding ninja talent as a child and was chosen as a Tailed Beast Weapon, with the Tailed Beast known as Matatabi sealed within her, and she had become a Perfect Jinchuriki step by step through her own efforts.

Kumogakure was different from other villages.

Kumogakure, which worshipped the strong, did not shy away from the existence of Tailed Beasts; feeling the goodwill yet fearful attitude of the villagers, Yugito naturally developed this arrogant, cold-on-the-outside-but-gentle-on-the-inside personality.

Samui rubbed her sore shoulders and said, "Are you worried that the two of them are too weak and will be kept behind by Konoha ninjas?"

"That's right. If their strength isn't enough, the Cloud Ninja they lead will also be in great danger."

Having had her thoughts seen through, Yugito's voice lowered slightly.

There were hundreds of Cloud Ninja who had come to Konoha to participate in the Chunin Exams. Apart from the Raikage, who needed to be with the Noble Group, the core members were Omoi and Karui, and the team leaders were her and Samui.

All four were Reincarnation Game Players.

Samui and Yugito already possessed Shadow-level strength, and with two additional Elite Jonin, this luxurious lineup was enough to destroy a small ninja village.

Samui rubbed her sore shoulders, looked down with an expression of disgust, and then said, "Relax. The Raikage's mission is to send us here to create as much chaos for Konoha as possible, and to retreat at any time if we encounter danger."

The ninja troops led by Raikage's guards Shi and Dodai had already split into two routes and reached the border of the Land of Fire.

Once chaos was created and the attention of the Konoha ninjas was drawn away, the Cloud Ninja troops would use their lightning-fast mobility to break through some of the strongholds guarded by Konoha ninjas.

She put the wiped weapons on her hands, which looked like two sharp cat claws. She walked to the window, gazed at the rolling rooftops, and sighed, "The towns along the way are all prosperous; no wonder Konoha is a cradle for geniuses."

Samui reminded her, "The team leader for the Stone Ninja is Huangtu, whose strength is very strong. Although we are currently in a state of alliance, don't let your guard down."

The relationship of the Ninja Alliance was very fragile.

Especially since Kumogakure and Iwagakure were mortal enemies; they were only cooperating temporarily because of the plan to carve up Konoha, and they could be backstabbed by the other party at any time if they encountered danger.

"Is there still no movement from Kirigakure?"

"None, but intelligence has come in; spies lurking in Kirigakure have received orders to go to the Land of Fire border to purchase supplies. Hundreds of squads have all received the same mission and are heading toward the Konoha border."

Yugito curled her lip and said disdainfully, "Lady Mabui long ago anticipated that Kirigakure would be unable to resist making a move. Back then, they had their Seven Ninja Swordsmen wiped out by Konoha and then suffered successive internal strife; even with the abundant resources of their island, they couldn't hold out. They would absolutely not let go of such a good opportunity to take a vicious bite out of Konoha."

"That is fine too; the more forces that get involved, the more safely we can leave."

After all, this was the heartland of the Land of Fire, and even the proud Yugito felt uncertain.

Konoha, having erupted with brilliant battle records in two consecutive ninja wars, still held its tiger-like prestige, and no one dared to take them lightly.

(End of chapter)